The comfort food diet: surprise! You can indulge yourself with delicious food and still lose a pound a week. Our seven-day meal plan shows you how

Natural Health, Jan-Feb, 2003 by Cheryl Redmond

If YOU'RE TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT, YOU'VE PROBABLY given up dishes like garlicky mashed potatoes and pot pie with a biscuit crust. Most of us think the only way to drop pounds is to forgo all rich, comforting foods. But while this strategy may work for a few weeks, in the long run it's the worst thing you can do, according to John Foreyt, Ph.D., a medicine and psychiatry professor at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. "When you get hungry, the first thing you think about are the foods you've denied yourself," says Foreyt. "You build them up in your mind until they become an emotional interference in your life, and then finally you binge."

You can avoid this pitfall and you can eat foods you thought were off-limits. To show you how, we took some classic comfort foods, lightened them, and put them into a sensible seven-day weight-loss plan. Our meals are packed with flavor, so you will be satisfied with less.

You'll increase your chances of weight-loss success if you follow Foreyt's diet advice: Give your full attention to each meal--turning off the television, eating slowly--so you can really appreciate them. Because overeating is often the result of mindless eating, if you pay attention to the food you eat and the way your body feels, you'll be less likely to eat too much.

Our plan, which averages 1,630 calories a day, is designed to help you lose about a pound a week. For best results, you should combine this plan with at least 30 minutes of exercise a day (like a brisk walk after lunch or dinner).

7 Satisfying Comfort Foods

ENJOY THESE LIGHTENED VERSIONS of classic comfort foods in our seven-day meal plan, above, or simply as part of a healthy diet.