FORT LAUDERDALE, FL December 15, 2012?Several factors beyond diet and exercise play vital roles in the overall strategy required to effectively lose and maintain weight, according to award-winning author and nutrition researcher Diana Hunter. In her latest book, Me Myself & Food: Conquering the Struggle Against Overweight and Obesity Without Dieting (Consumer Press, 2012), Hunter, who has coordinated on food issues with the National Institutes of Health and other governmental agencies as well as nutrition researchers worldwide, details a distinctly different approach to weight loss than the conventional norm.

"Beating overweight and obesity requires synergy," says Hunter. "It's that simple. Achieving healthy lifelong weight control requires more than being on a diet."

Among the factors Hunter deems essential are self-perspective, nutritional knowledge, shopping skills, social eating strategies, hydration, and specific sleep patterns. She notes that given a person does not have underlying health problems such as hypothyroidism, employing the factors is highly effectively for producing weight loss and fending off obesity.

"Proper use of willpower is also important," stresses Hunter. "It shouldn't be used for food restriction, as most people think, but rather to focus on making better choices?and learning how to effectively make those choices."

For more information visit FoodSmart.org.

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