For most of us, our daily eating habits are actually contrary to our body’s needs. We skip breakfast, eat a quick lunch that is often lacking in proper nutrition and then end the day with a huge dinner. Eating lightly at dinnertime is actually better for our bodies and helps us to lose weight and alter our appetite in a good way. For example, relatively soon after adapting to this method, you should wake up hungry and ready for a good breakfast. Having eaten breakfast, you won’t be as hungry at lunchtime. You also won’t need to snack incessantly in the afternoon and will be satisfied with a light diner. All in all, you will consume fewer calories later in the day and will still feel satisfied. This way of eating is better suited to your metabolism.Back to the top

One of this method’s primary benefits is that it reflects a new way of eating rather than a diet with restrictions. Here, the practice of having a lighter dinner becomes part of the daily routine rather than an enforced restriction. Restrictions are what make dieting so difficult over the long term.

After just a few weeks of following this method and allowing your appetite to adjust to a different rhythm, you will no longer have to consciously think about eating this way. In the beginning, you will lose weight just from your cutting back on fats and sugars at dinnertime. Afterwards, this modification of your dietary rhythm will help you stabilize your weight. In addition, you will probably feel better physically as a result of your new eating routine.Back to the top

The fork helps us control what and how much we eat. The foods, which we can eat naturally with just a fork, tend to be proteins and carbohydrates, such as fish, vegetables, starches and grains. These foods are filling, but not necessarily high in calories. We also eat slower with a fork, are more conscious of becoming full and, as a result, tend to eat less.Back to the top

The answer is no. The psychologists and nutritionists we spoke with all expressed the importance of limiting restrictions while dieting. Restrictions are what make dieting difficult and what often result in the failure of the diet. What is unique about this method as compared to many diets is that the evening meal is the only time you must restrain food choices. Furthermore, the Fork It! method isn’t really restrictive because you can satisfy any evening cravings on the following day at breakfast or lunch.

The importance of meeting your nutritional requirements is another reason not to limit utensils at breakfast and lunch. Our medical experts all confirmed that the Fork It! method is completely safe provided that practitioners meet their daily nutritional needs. According to the French National Nutritional Health Program (PNNS), those daily dietary requirements include at least five fruits and vegetables and one source of calcium (milk, cheese, yogurt, etc), while limiting the consumption of saturated fats found in meats, cheese, eggs, etc. Daily exercise is also recommended.Back to the top

According to one nutritional expert we interviewed, “A good diet is for life.” A bad diet, on the other hand, creates frustration and will never be successful because it can't be maintained over the long term.

The challenge with most diets is the need to alter eating habits. This process usually involves depriving ourselves the pleasures of the foods we enjoy. So, if and when we eventually lose weight on a “frustration-type” diet and are able to eat normally again, our bodies still remember the deprivation we experienced. This is why dieters often end up gaining back the weight they had lost and then they need to diet again. This action and reaction prompts a terrible cycle called the yo-yo syndrome that involves dieting, losing weight and then gaining it back.

The way to prevent this yo-yo cycle is not to frustrate your body! The Fork It! method accepts and understands the importance of avoiding dietary frustrations. Over a period of time, you achieve a more balanced way of eating by meeting your daily nutritional requirements, by not experiencing dietary frustration and by learning to eat the foods you love in moderation. At that point, you will understand the futility of asking how long you need to diet. This method is not a diet, but rather a way of eating that liberates you from dietary restrictions and difficulties.Back to the top

This method will help you to implement and follow an important nutritional concept: begin the day with a copious breakfast, follow it with a good size lunch and finish it with a light dinner. As a general rule, we expend less energy at night than throughout the day, and our eating habits should reflect that shift. Think about how uncomfortable you feel after eating too much. When you eat lightly in the evening, you do not go to bed on a full stomach, you will probably sleep better, and the following morning, you should wake up hungry and ready for breakfast.

This dietary rhythm can help you reacquaint yourself with healthy feelings of hunger and of being full. After years of dieting and overeating, many of us have lost touch with these messages our body sends us. Your goal is to feel better, both physically and psychologically, and to establish a healthy relationship with food. We think the Fork It! method can help you do that.Back to the top

These two options share the basic premise behind Fork It!: Eat whatever you like at breakfast, do the same thing at lunch, and at dinner eat only what you would eat naturally with a fork. Your breakfast can include bread, butter, honey, eggs, ham or bacon and fruit. For lunch, you are allowed a first course, a main course and a dessert. At these two meals, you are encouraged to use a knife, fork and spoon. It is important not to feel deprived during the day.

With either option, you also need to eat certain foods at specific times of the day. For example, by late afternoon, you are advised to cut back on your consumption of oils and fats. If you get hungry around 5, then can satisfy your craving with a sweet snack, such as fruit or even chocolate.

The main difference between the two options is that the light option is more lenient. At dinner, you continue to eat with just a fork, but are allowed to use a knife in the preparation. That means your dinner menu can include raw vegetables, salads, cut up pieces of light meat, (i.e. chicken and turkey), shellfish with the shells removed (clams, oysters, mussels and shrimp), boiled eggs and omelets.Back to the top

Before buying any frozen products, take a look at the ingredients. Try to avoid foods that contain ingredients ending in the suffix -ose. That often indicates that glucose is present. Otherwise, decide for yourself if the food you are buying can be eaten naturally with a fork. If the answer is yes, then go ahead.Back to the top

This method advises against sweets in the evening. Brushing your teeth after dinner with your favorite choice of toothpaste (mint, strawberry, bubble-gum, etc) will leave your mouth tasting fresh. We also recommend drinking an herbal tea, such as fruit, licorice or anis-flavored teas, to satisfy sweet cravings.Back to the top

It helps if you can choose the restaurant as some food is more easily adapted to our method than others. But, regardless, you can usually find something on a menu that can be eaten with just a fork. Naturally, a steak and potatoes type of restaurant would have limited menu choices, but most restaurants today offer at least a couple of fish dishes. And some restaurants will even have a variety of possible foods. For example, Italian restaurants have pasta and risotto, Indian restaurants usually have a surplus of vegetarian dishes, sushi is a good alternative at a Japanese restaurant, and Chinese restaurants have rice dishes and shrimp or vegetable dishes.

You can also think about eating less or only eating the food on your plate that requires a fork. Another solution, if you are feeling up to it, is to explain that you are following a special dietary regimen. Most people are interested in hearing about healthy and lighter ways to eat.Back to the top

There are those who believe that no liquid should accompany meals as it hampers the efficiency of our digestive gastric juices. However, for most of us, drinking during meals is an accepted and customary practice. If you want to lose weight, it is obviously best to limit consumption of wine, beer and sodas. That said, we have noticed that the scales do not indicate any difference at our morning weigh-ins after an evening when one or two glasses of wine was consumed as opposed to evenings when only water accompanied dinner.

Naturally it is best to avoid an excess of alcohol consumption by not drinking too much at dinner and by not drinking every evening. Pregnant women should always abstain from alcohol. We prefer to savor the pleasure of drinking for dinners with friends and/or restaurant dining, provided of course, that those drinking are not driving!Back to the top

Are you truly “obese” or do you just feel that you are very overweight? If your weight problem prevents you from living a normal life, or if it endangers your life in anyway, then we definitely advise consulting a doctor or nutrition specialist before beginning this method. The physicians and medical specialists we consulted all agreed there was no danger in following the Fork It! method. However, in your case, you need a complete medical exam to verify your physical health before beginning any diet or weight loss program. This is especially pertinent if you have experienced failures with numerous diets. It is difficult to overcome the challenges and frustrations of years of unsuccessful dieting. You need help and guidance to establish a healthy relationship to food. However, if you are interested in the Fork It! method, please speak to your physician about it and see how s/he recommends adapting it to your needs.Back to the top