It's funny, I get asked that question a lot. More specifically, I get asked, "Are you on a special diet?" or, "Are you doing Weight Watchers?" or something like that. The answer to that question is that I am not on a special diet, I am just counting calories and following a few simple rules that I have picked up over the years. And I am exercising for about an hour, six days a week. Because I am getting this question asked so often, I thought it might be worthwhile to answer it in my blog.
After trying most diets known to man over the last 30 years, including various fad diets, Jenny Craig, Nutri-System, Weight Watchers, Atkins, Curves, the Zone, and several others I can't really remember (one involved hot dogs and vanilla ice cream, believe it or not), I have come to the conclusion that it comes down to one simple word: calories. If calories-in average less than calories-out, you will lose weight. The bigger the difference between calories-in and calories-out, the faster you'll lose weight. I do believe, in theory, that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie when it comes to losing weight. So whether you eat 1200 calories of white sugar or 1200 calories of something else, it's still 1200 calories. Now, that's not to say that I think it makes sense to eat 1200 calories of candy bars a day, and nothing else, because some calories lead to other problems. If I ate only sweets until I reached my 1200 calories for the day I would be starving for the rest of the day. My body would be craving more "instant energy" any way it could get it. Specifically it would crave sugar and alcohol. I learned a lot from reading The Zone about insulin and how our systems react to simple sugars. Insulin spikes are not a good thing and I try to avoid them by not eating simple carbs, particularly by themselves. I also believe, based on research results that I have read, that regular exercise plays a vital role in keeping insulin levels steady throughout the day.
So the very first, most important thing for me, is counting calories. That is a lot easier than it sounds with all of the handy tools out there today. I have a great little book that fits in my purse called The Calorie King. For a while I took it with me everywhere. If you happen to end up at a fast food restaurant, you can whip out the Calorie King, look up McDonalds, and know what the best choices are for you at that particular restaurant. When you see that a crispy chicken club has 630 calories and a medium order of fries has 380 calories, for a total of 1,010 calories for a not so large lunch and a Chipotle BBQ wrap with grilled chicken has 260 calories and a caeser salad with no chicken has 90 calories, and the Family Recipe Italian dressing has 60 calories for total of 410 calories for another not so large lunch, and you are giving yourself a total of 1200 or 1500 calories for the day, it's a pretty easy choice to make. For me, it was a VERY eye opening experience to count every calorie. Some things really surprised me the first time I started counting calories which, surprisingly enough, was only two years ago. For my entire life, I avoided counting calories by following one diet plan or another. I had a mental block against counting calories. But once I started counting calories, I never looked at food the same way, again. Even when I wasn't counting, meaning I wasn't adding them up at the end of the day, I always looked at what I was eating and estimated the number of calories I was consuming. Remember, food is how we fuel our bodies. That's it. Plain and simple. And calories are how we measure that fuel. We don't measure it by the gallon, like we do for our cars, or by the BTU, but by the calorie. So the questions is, how many calories do I need to get through the day to break even, and how many do I need to reduce it by to lose weight at the rate I want to lose weight?
Smart phones make counting calories even easier. I use an app called My Fitness Pal. It has a pretty cool feature in it that helps you decide how many calories you should be eating. When you first sign up for My Fitness Pal (it's free, by the way) it asks you how much you weigh, how active you are, how much weight you want to lose, and how fast you want to lose it. The app then recommends a daily net calorie count to achieve that rate of weight loss.
The app also has a daily diary. You simple click "add" then you select "breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack" and then you type in the foods you are eating. It will search for the food and come up with the closest match. If you are eating packaged food you can scan in the UPC label and it will tell you the nutritional content of the food. You can also build recipes or just add total calories. If you go to a well known restaurant, it also has calorie counts for many of the menu items. Sometimes I just pick what looks closest. I use the app to track all of my daily calories. You can also add your exercise and it will show you the calories burned for whatever exercise you are doing, for a net calorie count. The app also tracks your progress, has a 3 month progress chart, and allows you and friends to follow one another.
No matter how you choose to do it, counting calories, for me, is the first, most essential tool for deciding what I am going to eat every day. My goal is to consume less than 1500 calories a day. I don't recommend doing this, but if you are not exercising and you want to lose weight, that number might be more like 1200 calories a day.
After deciding the number of calories I am going to eat, I need to think about the types of calories I am going to eat. I heard someone say yesterday, "If it doesn't grow that way, don't eat it." I think that is a great rule. The closer your food comes to the way it appears in its natural form, the better. I look at it this way, processed foods comes partially digested. It's kind of like momma birds pre-eating food and regurgitating it into their babies' beaks. That way the chicks get food that is partially digested and their bodies can convert it to energy faster. Well, that's great for baby birds, but for you, that pre-digested (processed) food turns to glucose really, really fast and causes insulin spikes, cravings, and other undesirable effects. Also, do you really know what all those ingredients are on that label? Think about it. So, rule number 2, eat food in the most natural state that your situation and lifestyle allows. Cereal is a perfect example. I cannot tell you the last time I bought a box of cereal. I know it was over 8 years ago. There is not a cereal out there, even shredded wheat, that does not quickly convert to glucose in the blood stream. Breakfast is very important, don't skip it, but there are tons of breakfasts better for you than cereal.
Rule three is eat a small amount of protein or healthy fat every time you eat. I don't mean you need a steak or a piece of chicken every time you eat. In fact, most of my meals do not include meat of any kind. I mean protein. That can be eggs, yogurt (I've heard that Greek yogurt has twice the protein of regular, but I don't like yogurt without sugar in it, so I don't eat it at all), cottage cheese, beans, nuts, tofu, seitan, tempeh, mushrooms, quinoa, or a number of other things. If you have never done any research on what has protein in it, you might want to do a google search on protein in different foods. It is quite enlightening. Also, I always eat my protein first. I got this from the Zone, but it makes sense to me. By eating protein before the carbs, you slow down the conversion of glucose in your blood stream and keep your insulin levels more constant. This helps prevent cravings and insulin spikes. Try to avoid eating anything without eating some form of protein or healthy fat, first. Want an apple? Eat some almonds or a piece of low fat cheese, first.
Rule four is veggies. Eat your vegetables. I like the rule, the darker and more colorful, the better. Those dark green, purple, red, and orange veggies have all kinds of great nutrients in them that your body needs. Avoid, at all costs, meals that are all one color, particularly if that color is the color of a french fry or piece of fried chicken. Think about it. I know you've done it. You've ordered a meal at a restaurant and the plate comes out and everything is tan. Yeah, bad sign. If you're plate is colorful it's a good sign that you are getting a variety of nutrients. Also, a big plus for veggies, is that you don't have to count the calories in veggies. They're free!! Fill up your plate and tummy with that broccoli, lettuce, asparagus or veggie of your choice.
Rule five is five meals. It really makes a difference. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner. Some people add a snack after dinner to make a sixth meal. You don't get more calories, you're just eating less per meal. Some experts recommend eating meals off of a salad plate so you don't put too much on your plate. There are studies that suggest that the bigger the plate or the container, the more you'll eat. So if it helps, eat your meals off of smaller plates.
And I guess rule six is the only real "don't," rather than "do." Don't eat sugar or white flour. Try to avoid it at all costs. Simple carbs are just plain bad for you. If you actively work at avoiding white sugar and white flour you will still eat it sometimes, but it will be so much less than you are eating it now. Another interesting thing to google is sugar consumption in the United States. It is mind blowing how much sugar we eat. Also don't drink soda. And I mean all soda, diet or otherwise. In fact, I've given up all artificial sweeteners after reading and hearing in several places that artificial sweeteners cause you to gain weight around the waist. That is a problem area for me. Also, I believe it is true that artificial sweeteners keep that taste for sweets alive. There was also a recent study published that indicated that sugar consumption makes you less smart. Another interesting tidbit to google...
So that's pretty much it. In summary, my food plan is this:
1) Eat less than 1500 calories per day
2) Eat food in its most natural state
3) Eat protein or a healthy fat with every meal
4) Eat lots of veggies, particularly dark, colorful ones
5) Eat snacks
6) Avoid sugar and white flour.
In addition to my eating plan I exercise six days a week. Three days a week are cardio (either a five mile jog or 100 floors on the stair master and 2500 strides on the elliptical machine) and three days a week of strength training. My exercise is vigorous and strenuous, it's not just a walk in the park. There are some days that I do choose to walk the five miles instead of jogging them, but that is not often and it is usually after a particularly hard day at the gym. The strength training is essential, particularly for women over 30. You must do it!!!
I'll talk more about exercise in another post. This one has gotten long enough, for those of you that read to the end...
The simpler the better. I like your plan Roberta. You are amazing.
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