We love to eat; we have to eat.
If you say that you don’t love to eat, then you are lying to yourself. You
have a favorite food, or at least foods that you like. How do you decide
what you’re going to eat? You choose based on your likes and dislikes and
what you’re “in the mood” for. You may not love to eat, but you sure as hell
like it a lot.
Eating is the problem with fat people. Most of us can push ourselves to get
up and move around, but when it comes to food, we have to have it,
literally. It would be so much easier if we didn’t need food. We must have
food to survive so we must face our biggest enemy daily. We can’t just put
food out of our minds; we can’t just ignore food in the hopes that it will
go away.
Since we must eat, we need to learn how to control food, not allow food to
control us.
This becomes harder to do because “bad” foods are so cheap. Let’s look at
something everyone loves - brownies. Go to your local supermarket and
chances are you will see the same thing that I see; regular (by regular I
mean loaded with calories, fat and chocolate) brownies are around $.99 -
$1.50; now check out the low-carb, healthy brownies, they are usually around
$4.99.
Those of us that fall into the lower to middle class income brackets usually
have a set amount of money to be spent on food for a month and $5 brownies
aren’t in the budget.
Vegetables are usually cheap, but let’s admit it; most of us don’t like
vegetables. We like the chocolate. We like stuff covered in cheese and chili
and anything else you can pile on there that isn’t green or leafy.
Another problem that many of us don’t recognize is frozen foods. It’s much
easier and cheaper to buy some frozen dinners and just throw them in the
microwave. There is very little food, so we think that can’t have that many
calories. Wrong! Frozen dinners are loaded with calories and fat. They don’t
fill you up and you are usually end up eating again within a few hours. You
basically just added to your calorie and fat intake for no reason. You even
have to be careful about the types of frozen vegetables that you buy; this
is where checking those labels come in handy. You have to check the labels
to see if there are “added” calories or fat, such as in “cheese or butter
sauces”. Here is a good experiment - the next time you are at a store, check
the label for a frozen pizza (Tombstone or Red Barron Regular Size) and then
multiply that by the number of servings in that pizza, that use to be my
lunch.
I’m just like you guys, I don’t want to live off of salads and carrot sticks
and I refuse to do that. I thought that in order to lose weight I had to
give up all of those wonderful foods that I love. The fact is any food can
be worked into a healthy lifestyle.
My lifestyle probably will not work for you, but you can try what I do and
then adapt it to fit your new healthy lifestyle.
I try to keep my calorie intake between 1,300 – 1,500 calories per day.
Anything less than 1,000 for anyone is unhealthy. Allowing yourself anything
less than 1,000 calories a day is basically starvation and starvation does
not work, that is a proven fact.
Calories are not the only thing to worry about though; there are some high
calorie foods that are very good for you, for example – peanut butter.
There are 12 “power foods” which should be in your daily menu. The more of
them you eat, the better your body will be able to increase lean muscle mass
and avoid storing fat, of course this is where sensible eating comes in.
Eating an entire jar of peanut putter for dinner is a bad idea. You should
include two or three of these foods in each of your three major meals and at
least one of them in each of your snacks.
Almonds and Other Nuts
These help to build muscle and fight cravings. Nuts are high in protein
and monounsaturated fat.
Beans and Other Legumes
These help build muscle, burn fat and regulate digestion. They are low
in fat and packed with protein, fiber and iron.
Spinach and Other Green Vegetables
Vegetables are a critical part of your body-changing diet. Spinach
supplies a full day of Vitamin A and a half a day’s worth of Vitamin C in a
single serving.
Dairy Products
Dairy is good for building strong bones and firing up weight loss. Be
sure to go with the fat-free or low-fat.
Instant Oatmeal
Instant Oatmeal boost your energy and sex drive, reduces your
cholesterol and helps maintain your blood sugar level.
Peanut Butter
Peanut Butter is packed with heart-healthy monounsaturated fats that can
increase your body’s production of testosterone, which can help muscles grow
and fat melt.
Eggs
Eggs are great for both building muscle and burning fat. The protein in
eggs is more effective at building muscle that protein found in other
sources. Eggs also contain Vitamin B12, which is necessary for fat
breakdown. Eggs are high in cholesterol, so don’t go out of control with
them. More and more research shows that eating an egg or two a day will not
raise your cholesterol levels.
Turkey and Other Lean Meats
Not only do these help build muscle, they help improve your immune
system.
Olive Oil
Olive Oil helps lower your cholesterol and boost your immune system. It
also helps control your cravings and burns fat.
Whole-Grain Breads and Cereals
Whole-grains help prevent your body from storing fat. Your body craves
carbohydrates because your body needs them; the key is to eat the ones that
have all their heart-healthy, belly-melting fiber intact. Whole-grain bread
keeps insulin levels low, which keeps you from storing fat.
Extra-Protein (Whey) Powder
Whey protein contains essential amino acids that build muscle and burn
fat. The powder is good because it has the highest amount of protein for the
fewest number of calories.
Raspberries and Other Berries
Berries help protect your heart, enhance eyesight, improve memory and
prevent cravings.
I
usually eat 3 meals a day with 2 snacks in between. The key is to schedule
yourself to be eating about every 2 – 3 hours; this helps control hunger. I
was never a breakfast eater and that was one of my mistakes. You are always
told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day for a reason,
because it’s true.
Eating first thing in the morning, at least within the first 30 minutes,
gives your body energy and kick starts your metabolism. Another metabolism
kick-starter is exercise, which is in the next section.
“The vast majority of obese people get at least half if not three-quarters
of all their calories after 6 in the evening,” says Dr. Jay Kenney, R. D.,
Ph. D., nutrition research specialist at the Pritikin Longevity Center. Mr.
Kenney also goes on to say “when you eat less, your body will burn fewer
calories in an attempt to minimize weight loss.” Your body doesn’t care if
your overweight or not, your body is trying to keep you from starving.
This was always my biggest problem. I would either starve myself or I would
skip breakfast and lunch and eat everything at night, and I mean EVERYTHING.
This hurt me in other ways too. Any time you eat a large meal, your body
puts out an excess of insulin which prevents your fat cells from releasing
fatty acids into the bloodstream where they can be picked up by other
tissues and burned. The less insulin you have, the more fatty acid your body
will burn. Eating several small meals a day instead of a few large meals
takes care of this.
I usually eat a bowl of cereal (no character cereal) with some skim milk. A
cereal with a cartoon character usually isn’t a good cereal for weight loss.
I try to stick to cereal with flakes, some almonds and maybe even some
fruit. Any cereal with the word “bran” in it is usually good for you. The
healthy cereals are usually on the top shelves, far from the eye level of
sugar loving children. Those kid cereals may have the same amount of fat or
calories but they are loaded with sugar and that is something to stay away
from.
If you don’t like cereal or milk, you can go with oatmeal or some peanut
butter toast. Peanut butter is loaded with calories and fat, but its GOOD
calories and fat. I’m not going into all the nutrient stuff because I really
don’t understand it myself. You can do research on the internet, read books
or get your self a good health magazine; I recommend Men’s Health or Women’s
Health. I get Men’s Health monthly and it’s a great source of information.
Many people don’t like to count calories but for me, counting calories is a
huge part of my success. There are several online food journals that will
help with this, I use
www.fitday.com, and it basically does the work for you. It’s a good
practice to keep track of everything that goes into your mouth throughout
the day. Every chip or drink of soda should be written down. I always lied
to myself; if I ate one potato chip, then I figured it didn’t count because
it wasn’t enough calories to matter. The truth is that I was eating one
potato chip, 20 times a day, which added about 150 calories to my daily
count that I didn’t keep track of.
The journal should be kept for you, not anyone else. There is no point in
lying about what you ate or how much exercise you did for a day because you
are only lying to yourself. Keeping track of what you eat and how much
exercise you did throughout a day allows you to find those little problems
that are keeping you from losing weight. It’s usually the little things that
make the biggest differences.
It’s also good to use your food journal to write down your feelings and
thoughts for the day. Keep track of how often you go out to eat. You will be
surprised at the number of times you spontaneously go through a drive
through. A journal helps you take control of the situation and allows you to
see that you are probably eating more than you realize.
A big part of controlling what you eat is using the nutrient labels that are
on all foods. Don’t just glance at the label and throw the food into the
cart. Look at the label, read the label, understand the label. The more you
do this, the more you will not have to do this. You will start learning how
many calories are in certain foods. This helps when you can’t read the
labels, such as going out to eat or to a friend’s for dinner. You will be
able to look at the food and make a reasonable guess as to the calories,
fats and carbohydrates that a food contains.
I try to break down my day as follows –
6:30 am – breakfast – 400 calories
10:00 am – snack – 100 calories
12:00 pm – lunch – 300 calories
3:00 pm – snack – 100 calories
5:00 pm – dinner – 300 calories
7:00 pm – snack – 100 calories
That is 1,300 calories; sometimes it goes up to 1,500 calories depending on
what type of snacks I have. You can clearly see that I eat all day, it
really does seem like I’m always eating and I’m never hungry. You will be
hungry at first because your body is so use to eating so many calories, but
once your body gets use to the new schedule, hunger is a thing of the past.
I try to have a snack around 10:00 am, which is usually a granola bar, a
fruit and nut bar or a 100-calorie pack of something, which you can find at
your local supermarket. There are several healthy, low calorie snacks out
now and they are usually reasonably priced. Applesauce or a piece of fruit
can be another great morning snack.
I eat my lunch around 12:00pm. A great food for lunch is tuna fish. It’s
easy and has countless health benefits. I may eat a tuna fish sandwich on
multi-grain bread, some light chips and a pickle. If you don’t have time for
good size lunch then you can get a quick mini-bag of popcorn, throw it in
the microwave for about 3 minutes and munch on the go.
Some more ideas are a grilled chicken salad or a trip to your local subway
for a 6-inch Chicken Teriyaki sub.
I have an afternoon snack around 3:00pm of usually fruit or a mini-bag of
popcorn. When you're shopping for popcorn, remember that a regular bag of
popcorn usually has around 3 servings. So if the box says its 100 calories
per serving, a bag actually has 300 calories, this is why I look for the
mini-bags; they are single servings.
One of my favorite things to have for dinner is grilled chicken, sugar snap
peas with garlic and maybe some corn, peas or rice.
Then if I’m still hungry, I’ll have a small snack around 7:00 am while I’m
watching some television. I usually have some kind of fruit or light ice
cream. Then I do some exercise from 7:30 – 9:30, watch some television and
head to bed.
The next few paragraphs are the most important aspect of controlling your
food. Allow yourself to eat ANYTHING (control the amount) you want one day a
week.
To most people, this sounds crazy; however, I have found that this is
perfect for me. I watch what I eat 6 days a week and then on Sunday, I don’t
worry about counting calories and I eat one meal of whatever I want-
hamburgers, hot dogs, Chinese food, fried chicken; it doesn’t matter. Don’t
eat until you make yourself sick, but try to teach yourself to recognize
that full feeling. You will gain a little bit, but this will keep your
metabolism going strong and will allow you to burn more fat the next week.
If you eat 1,300 to 1,500 calories everyday, then your metabolism will
adjust for that amount of calorie intake and it will take more exercise to
keep burning the same amount of calories and fat. I have found that by
allowing myself one day a week, I don’t get frustrated with counting
calories, I don’t miss any food that I love and I keep my metabolism going
strong.
If you are like me, then you love going out to eat. You can eat healthy at
just about any restaurant that you choose to go to. The key is to do the
research before hand. Most restaurants now have nutrient guides. Many
restaurants offer healthy choices and even post the nutrients on the menus.
If the restaurant doesn’t offer these guides, then check out their web pages
or do research on the net. A great website that I use is
www.dietfacts.com; this web site has every type of restaurant that you
could imagine. If you can’t find the restaurant you are looking for, then
try something close to it and try to make a reasonable guess.
As an example, lets take a restaurant that you wouldn’t think could be
healthy, Taco Bell. My fiancée loves Taco Bell, so we eat there regularly.
It’s not healthy but it is doable. I usually go with a three-taco meal, no
cheese. Each taco is about 150 calories, which I found on
www.tacobell.com. The cheese adds calories and fat but you usually can’t
even taste it, so take it off. Keep the lettuce as a filler and if you don’t
like the taste of lettuce, throw some taco sauce on there and it gives the
lettuce that taco flavor and you can’t even tell that your eating lettuce.
Adjust the rest of your meals to allow this 450 calorie meal to fit into
your calorie range.
Most people don’t realize that a majority of their calorie intake comes from
drinking sodas (ex. Pepsi, Mountain Dew or Dr. Pepper). Soda’s can contain
as much as 170 calories per 12-ounce can. Those calories can add up quick.
The best thing to do is stay away from regular soda’s and to limit the
amount of diet soda that you drink. A lot of diet sodas are not good for you
because of Aspthemine. If you choose to drink diet soda, look for the ones
made with Splenda; Diet Rite is an excellent choice.
The best drink for you is obviously water. There are ways of finding out how
many ounces of water that your body needs per day but most of us hate water
and I’m not going to drink 80 ounces of water a day. I push myself to drink
one 20-ounce bottle of water before lunchtime and one after lunchtime. I
drink another 20-ounce bottle during or after my workout. The more you drink
water, the more you will actually start to crave it. Regular sodas start
tasting like really sweet syrup after you haven’t drank them for a while and
you will get to the point that you drink only water because everything else
just taste yucky. I have a diet soda from time to time but I stick mostly
with water, it’s not really a choice anymore, it just natural now.
A big part of eating healthy is doing the research and knowing what you’re
eating.
You only have one live and you should eat the foods that you love but if you
control your intake of those foods, then you can both be healthy and enjoy
food. Eating healthy is all about compromise.
