HOUSTON (The Houston Chronicle) - Houston financial adviser John Desenberg is into challenging sports. The 35-year-old father of three trains up to 50 hours a month for his many competitions, from skiing to adventure racing and long-range endurance events.

Yet when he climbed Mount Rainier in August, Desenberg was disgusted. He was overweight and lacked energy.

``I made the summit,'' Desenberg says, ``but I didn't perform the way I wanted to.''

Desenberg had gained 23 pounds since college, about two pounds a year, despite his rigorous workouts.

In September, his trainer talked him into seeking advice from nutritionist Catherine Kruppa at the club at the Houstonian. Kruppa analyzed his diet and found he was skipping breakfast and loading up on protein and carbohydrates late in the day.

She gave him a nutritional makeover.

``I eat all day long now,'' says Desenberg. ``I eat at 7 a.m., I have a snack at 10 a.m., I eat lunch at noon. I have a snack at 2 p.m., I eat at 6 p.m. and I have an optional snack after dinner. She got me to eat the bulk of my calories before dinner.''

He now eats more fruit and vegetables, less meat and starches. His calories were reduced, but only from about 2,600 a day to 2,100.

``I don't deprive myself,'' says Desenberg. ``You can have anything you want. It's just how it fits in with the rest of the day.''

As a result, Desenberg reached his main goal, which was to increase his energy level for sports. But he also lost 25 pounds: He went from 183 pounds to 158.

``I went on a 40-mile hike in November when I'd taken off 15 pounds. I felt like I'd floated uphill. It was incredible. I went hiking and skiing last week. I just felt much lighter.''

Desenberg makes a great poster child for the benefits of a nutritional makeover because he is far from sedentary.

``We have 49 million Americans totally sedentary,'' says Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the Dallas wellness expert who created the aerobics concept more than 30 years ago. ``They aren't doing anything.''

Desenberg was not eating a horribly high-calorie or high-fat diet. He never ate fried foods.

Yet he had a weight problem. And that made him a typical American.

``Fifty-five percent of Americans are overweight,'' says Karen Calabro, a nutritionist with the University of Texas Medical School of Nursing.''

Many are a lot more than just overweight.

``A few years ago, we rarely saw 300-pound people come in,'' says Dr. John Foreyt, a nationally recognized diet expert at Houston's Baylor College of Medicine. ``Now we see them every day.''

``More people (in the United States) are overweight and obese now than 10 years ago,'' says Deanna Hoelscher, a registered dietician at the UT School of Public Health.

Like many Americans, Desenberg thought he understood how and what he ate.

``I tell people all the time, `Come see me, I'm a professional, I'll help you with your money','' Desenberg says. ``But I'm out there trying to design my own meal plan with really bad knowledge. Now that I've worked with a professional nutritionist, I realize how little I knew.''

With the new year, millions of Americans passed resolutions to improve their lives. Some resolved to lose weight: A recent survey found that 63 percent of Americans want to lose at least 20 pounds.

Others simply want to improve their health, physical and emotional, and increase longevity.

Yet many overlook what should be obvious: Without the right nutritional information, we are not likely to succeed.

Good nutrition affects weight, energy and well being, say experts. It can help your body resist diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

``There is more and more information that substantiates this,'' says Dr. Rebecca Reeves, a dietician at Baylor College of Medicine. ``We can become more of a preventive society (with better nutrition). Reduce our risk of cancers, of heart disease, osteoporosis, hypertension.''

When she learned she had Type 2 diabetes, Evalyn Krinsky, a 57-year-old executive assistant, decided it was time to get serious about her diet.

``I had a sister who passed away at 60 from complications from severe diabetes,'' Krinsky says. ``I have three grandchildren, and I want to be there for them.''

She told her doctor she wanted to control the disease without drugs and agreed to see a nutritionist at the UT School of Public Health. Dietitian Karen Calabro recommended a new nutritional plan and mild exercise.

``I've lost 50-something pounds (in eight months),'' Krinsky says. On Jan. 4, her doctor told her she no longer needed blood-pressure medicine. ``I can keep up with (my grandkids) and outwalk them now.''

So what is a nutritional makeover?

Like a diet, a nutritional eating program often requires a reduction in food, especially if the goal is weight loss. Eating the right foods in the right proportions at the right time is far more essential.

Remember the USDA Food Pyramid you learned about in high school? It's still around, albeit in a modernized version. Nutritionists still see it as a sound starting place for good nutrition.

The pyramid emphasizes bread, cereals, pastas, fruits and vegetables as the basis of a healthy diet. It's the fruits and vegetables that are the hard parts for many Americans.

``Typically I have people shoot for 9-10 servings (a day) of fruits and vegetables, and then fill in in other areas,'' says Kruppa. ``That's going to cut down your meat intake, your high-sugar foods. If you are eating 9-10 fruits and vegetables, you are going to feel full.''

But the pyramid is only a guideline. For example, not all vegetables are created equal. If you are eating five servings of french fries (say in one super-sized fast-food meal) and calling it your vegetables, you're mastering in self-deceit. Likewise a ``fruit'' drink with more sugar than fruit is not helping your health, or waistline.

Nutritionists recommend fresh fruit and fresh or frozen vegetables whenever possible, to get the most from their nutrients.

``You are better off doing a whole fruit, rather than a juice or sauce, because the whole fruit has more fiber,'' says Kruppa. ``That helps keep you full.

``The vegetables, fresh or frozen, are fine. Sometimes the frozen can have more nutrients than the fresh. It depends on how long the fresh has been sitting out.

``Canned is a third choice. They have added sodium and have lost some of their nutrients.''

But that doesn't mean canned can't help.

``Depending on what nutrients you want, a lot of times canned may be as healthful as fresh,'' says Hoelscher. ``Canned peas will still have the amount of fiber you want.''

But that's just the beginning of nutritional knowledge.

``You would want to make sure the fruits and vegetables you eat tend to be the more brightly colored ones,'' says Hoelscher. ``Spinach, carrots, strawberries, cantaloupes. Those tend to have the most bang for your buck. They tend to have the most nutrients. Apples or pears (not very colorful on the inside) have nutrients, too, but not as many.''

And there are different pyramids, too, all with the same basic concept but different emphasis and proportions. Calabro, for example, prefers the Mediterranean Food Pyramid, which suggests even more fruits and vegetables, less red meat and lots of olive oil.

So what's a person to do if he's serious about improving his health and waistline?

Nutritionists agree that the first step is for the person to start a food diary to discover what he is really eating in his old diet, and then keep track of his daily intake in his new program.

``It is the most powerful behavioral tool we teach people, keeping track,'' says Foreyt. ``People eat unconsciously. They don't really know everything they're eating. When you start writing down everything you're eating, it really makes you aware.''

In Baylor Behavioral Medicine, Foreyt and Reeves follow the ``100-100 rule,'' which suggests that an overweight person who deducts 200 calories from his average daily intake will lose significant weight.

``Just take in 100 calories less a day from hidden fat (such as salad dressing),'' Foreyt says. ``Then add 100 calories (worth) of physical activity. Which is 20 minutes. You can do it in two 10-minute segments of walking.

``And that's it. Just stay at that level and in a year you'll be down 20 pounds, without even trying.''

Copyright 2002 The Houston Chronicle. All rights reserved.