avocado

My Saving Grace

Hail, the mighty avocado.  This one fruit singlehandedly saved me on my weight loss journey.  Did you know that it is 7000 years old?  Cultivated in Central America and brought to the New World in the 19th Century.

From WebMd:

It’s true that avocados are high in fat — one reason they’ve earned the nickname “butter pear.” A medium-sized avocado contains 30 grams of fat, as much as a quarter-pound burger. That’s why diet experts have long urged Americans to go easy on avocados in favor of less fatty fruits and vegetables. But now nutritionists are taking another look. They’re finding that most of the fat in an avocado is monounsaturated — the “good” kind that actually lowers cholesterol levels. Thanks to this new understanding, the U.S. government recently revised its official nutrition guidelines to urge Americans to eat more avocados.

I almost started a riot at my Weight Watchers® meeting when I discussed my very own “avocado diet.”

I didn’t really just eat avocados (I certainly don’t advocate single-food diets, like the Grapefruit Diet, or the Cookie Diet, et al), but they take center stage in my diet.

Now, to the “riot”:  the main technique in Weight Watchers is the use of what they call POINTS®.  Surely you’ve heard of them (if not, just check out the basic tenets of Weight Watchers online – and learn more).   They are a portion-control concept that helps you keep track of what we eat.   In the literature, avocados are pretty high in points.  Online, it’s a different story.  You can eat as many avocados as you need to satisfy you – for a mere 2 POINTS®.  For me, that means that occasionally I have an entire avocado (never more than one) for a meal, or a snack.

When I mentioned it at a meeting, the other people in the room were ecstatic, the leader apoplectic.  I became known as the Avocado Woman.  Turns out when there is a discrepancy between the “book” and “e-Tools” – you’re supposed to go with the book.  The leader gently asked me not to tout my avocado fixation in the room.  I stopped talking about it there.  But, I kept eating.

And, THAT, my friends, is how I lost my 50 pounds:  the amazing Avocado Diet!