Lose Weight by Eating More — Food that is Virtually Impossible to Store as Body Fat
July 8th, 2008 by Go Weblog
Certain foods are extremely difficult for the human body to convert into body fat - not impossible but damned near impossible. By consuming calories derived from these foods, the anabolic margin of error is extended dramatically, which means it will be easier to lose fat and gain muscle, if you choose.
Lean protein, protein devoid of saturated fat, has been the staple, the bedrock nutrient of elite athletes for 50 years. Why? You can eat a mountain of lean protein and not get fat - assuming you train with intensity sufficient enough to trigger muscle growth. Lean protein is difficult for the body to break down and digest. As a direct result of this digestive difficulty, the body kicks the metabolic thermostat upward to break protein down into subcomponent amino acids.
The human body wants to preserve stored body fat as a last line of defense against starvation. If overworked and under-fed, the body will preferentially eat muscle tissue to save precious body fat.
Obese people that go on crash diets, precipitously slashing calories, might lose 100-pounds of body weight, yet still appear fat. Despite losing from say 350-pounds to 250-pounds, they still appear fat because they still are fat. The body has cannibalized muscle tissue and saved the fat. Though they might weigh 100-pounds less, they still possess 25-40% body fat percentile.
Lean protein is the bedrock nutrient in the physical renovation process because it supplies muscle tissue battered by a high intensity weight workout with the amino acids needed to heal, recover and construct new muscle tissue. Lean protein is a bedrock nutrient in the physical renovation process because it causes the basal metabolic rate (BMR) to elevate; the metabolic thermostat, the rate at which our body consumes calories, increases when digesting protein. Lean protein is a bedrock nutrient in the physical renovation process because it is damned near impossible for the body to convert it into body fat.
The other bedrock nutrient in the physical transformation process is fibrous carbohydrates: carrots, broccoli, green beans, bell peppers, spinach, cauliflower, onions, asparagus, cabbage, salad greens, Brussels sprouts and the like. Fibrous carbohydrates, like lean protein, are nearly impossible for the body to convert into body fat. Fibrous carbohydrates require almost as many calories to digest as they contain. A green bean or carrot might contain 10-calories yet is so dense and difficult to break down that the body has to expend nearly as many calories to break down that bean or carrot as the vegetable contains.
Fibrous carbohydrates have a wonderful “Roto-Rooter” effect on the internal plumbing: as they work their way though the digestive passageways they scrape mucus and gunk off intestinal walls and help keep sludge buildup to a minimum. For this reason fibrous carbohydrates are the perfect compliment to a lean protein diet. Too much protein can cause bile buildup: fiber is the Yin to protein’s Yang. The two nutrients should be eaten together.
Both protein and fiber have a beneficial dampening effect on insulin secretions. It is no accident that professional bodybuilders, the world’s best dieters, capable of reducing body fat percentiles to 5% while maintaining incredible muscle mass, construct their eating regimen around protein and fiber.
The best way to eat is to eat often. If you eat 3,000 calories a day the best way is in five 600-calorie feeding or six 500-calorie feedings instead of a breakfast containing 400-calories, a lunch of 1000-calories and a late dinner of 1,600-calories. Avoid calories easily converted into body fat.
Eat multiple small meals in the 400-600 calorie range comprised exclusively of foods near impossible for the body to convert into body fat. Plus, these foods cause the metabolism, the BMR, the body thermostat to elevate in order to digest them. Optimally you should eat every three hours: in about the time the nutrients from the previous meal have dwindled, been expended and exhausted, in about the time the elevated metabolism is ’settling back down to normal,’ eat another small protein/fiber meal. This reestablishes anabolism, kicks the metabolism upward once again and gives the body more practice at assimilating and distributing quality nutrients.
They say practice makes perfect and by eating small, power-packed, tough to digest meals every three hours, the metabolism is kept elevated, anabolism is established and maintained and the individual never feels hungry. A person who is not hungry is far less inclined to binge on sweets and treats, junk and trash then the crash diet/calorie cutters who always feel hungry, deprived, listless and lacking energy.
The small meal/protein/fiber approach has been used successfully by elite athletes for decades and is not some untried dietary abstraction - rather it is the proven method of choice, one that has withstood the test of time, one that has been used for decades and been proven effective time after time.
If a person is able to establish a multiple meal schedule comprised primarily of lean protein and fiber eaten every three hours, then adds to this eating schedule some serious weight training and a cardiovascular regimen, physical transformation is a biological certainty.
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Tags: bodybuilding, diet, dieting, exercise, fat, fat loss, fitness, food, nutrition, obesity, weight lossThe Stop Dieting Diet Forget Everything You’ve Read
May 17th, 2008 by Go Weblog
“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” - Margaret Thatcher
“One swallow does not a summer make.” - Aristotle
“Fed Up!” read the cover of Newsweek, which went on to ask, “Is there anything left we can eat?” No area of health has been more confusing and misunderstood than diet and nutrition, especially as related to cholesterol levels and the risk of heart disease. The message is everywhere. Good Morning America is featuring weight-loss tips every day this month. AOL tells its subscribers via e-mail that it’s “Time to lose your spare tire.” Magazines lining grocery aisles exhort you to “Lose 10 pounds this month!”
According to US News, Americans spend more than $33 million a year on diet books, foods, programs, gadgets and DVDs in the hopes of losing weight. Yet, about two thirds of the American population remains overweight. Some 30 percent are obese and half of them are dieting. So, it’s become crystal clear that dieting does not work! The solution is simple: stop obsessing about every morsel you put in your mouth.
Most people think that eating properly means cutting out everything they love, and thus feeling deprived and dissatisfied. But the facts are that eating healthily and reducing weight does not have to involve pain and sacrifice. In all likelihood, many of your favorite foods are healthy, and many of your favorite recipes can be modified easily to become healthy. Proper eating requires only a few simple adjustments.
You need follow only one rule and keep one commitment. The rule: cut down the fat by making simple substitutions. This decreases not only cholesterol levels but also the number of calories. The commitment: Set aside your preconceived notions about food and become a thoughtful eater. Being a thoughtful eater mans thinking clearly and objectively about the food you eat; making adjustments and substitutions more knowledgeably and comfortably; experimenting and learning what works best for you; introducing changes over time rather than abruptly; AND, allowing for slips. Being a thoughtful eater also means becoming interested in learning relevant information about food and health.
Below are some suggestions for dietary changes. These are meant as general guidelines. You may want to adjust some or make other changes in your own eating plan.
Seven Substitutions:
l. Use skim or low-fat milk and cheese and nonfat yogurt in place of whole mile and regular cheese, butter of ice cream.
2. Eat more fish and chicken (with the skin removed) and complex carbohydrates such as pasta, brown rice and whole-grain bread. Eat lean cuts of mean with the fat trimmed, and in smaller (e.g. 4-ounce) portions.
3. Use egg whites and/or egg substitutes instead of egg yolks.
4. Avoid high-cholesterol foods such as liver, kidney, brain and sweetbreads.
5. Cut back on processed meats such as sausage, bologna, corned beef, pastrami, salami and hot dogs. Try chicken or turkey breasts with mustard instead of butter and mayo.
6. Adopt healthier methods of cooking: boil, stream, broil, roast or bake instead of frying.
7. Choose salad dressings and sauces made with olive oil and soy and avoid saturated oils. Flavor your meals with herbs and seasonings instead of butter and fatty sauces.
Lastly, by making food label evaluations a routine part of your shopping, you will become more knowledgeable and conscious about food and naturally more aware of the amount of fat you eat. Remember: compulsive eating leads to guilt, more compulsive eating and ultimately to defeat and resignation. Stay aware, make conscious choices, learn form your experiences, and stay with your plan. As Gandhi once said, “We cannot in a moment get rid of the habits of a lifetime.”
Richard Helfant, MD, a Harvard-trained cardiologist. Courageous Confrontations, Dr. Helfant’s latest work, is about how to use the mind-body relationship to combat disease. Many stories in the book include examples of diet and weight loss.
Tags: calories, cholesterol, diet, dieting, eating, fat, food, nutrition, overweight, weight lossThe Foolproof Diet
May 14th, 2008 by Go Weblog
Weight-loss gurus often tout impractical and absurd diets. They push their products and posit their heft-reducing theories, each claiming to have unlocked some previously undiscovered or undisclosed secrets. These hucksters market all kinds of nutrition plans, from the never-eat-anything-bigger-than-your-fist to the fill-up-with-enough-fiber-to-start-your-own-gas-transmission-plant variety.
One man I know (whose name I won’t mention) has been following a high-fiber diet so long that he’s become a hazard to others’ health. In fact, he should be forced to wear a sign that reads: WARNING: CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE.
The sheer magnitude of weight-loss programs today causes me to develop apathy toward the entire industry. Why would I want to join some fat-reducing organization from the West Coast when I live in Texas? Who wants to spend their time counting points or calories? And what’s so great about drinking unsweetened green tea? This is the Southwest (home of “sweet tea”)not the Orient.
If I have to purchase prepackaged foods sold only through authorized distributors to banish my bulge, then I’ll keep my fleshy rolls (and my yeast ones, too), thank you very much. So stop asking. No, I haven’t called Jenny yet!
I prefer to follow a healthy eating program that includes all my food groups: chocolate, ice cream, pizza, fried potatoes, and specialty breads. And finally somebody has developed one; it’s called The Flavor Point Diet.
Now, if I correctly understand the concept, The Flavor Point Diet works by flooding your taste buds with one central flavor for an entire day. So on tomato day, for instance, the diet recommends eating tomato products at every meal. The next day, you’re instructed to switch to a different flavorlike pineapple.
On tomato day, then, I would eat cold pizza for breakfast, tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich on tomato/rosemary bread for lunch, and lasagna for dinner. Somehow I don’t see myself shedding much weight on a plan like that. But from a foods permitted standpoint, this program I’ve come up with a weight-loss program of my own. Here’s how it works:
Allow yourself to eat only bland foods at every meal. Appropriate dishes include plain, unsweetened yogurt, boiled oatmeal without added sweeteners, salad greens with no dressing, celery (no dips), plain chickpeas, and tasteless vegetables such as hominy.
If you’re uncertain whether a specific item might be appropriate for this diet, here’s a simple test to help you find out:
1) Take a bite of the food in question.
2) Swirl the sample in your mouth.
3) Determine if this morsel tastes good. Depending on results, follow
“a” or “b” below:
a. If this food holds no appeal, swallow and continue eating.
b. If you’d like a second sample, spit out contents. This is not suitable fare for the The Flavorless Diet plan.
Follow this diet for one week and I guarantee you will have no desire overeat. You’ll feel no craving whatsoever to excessively consume any of these foods. And you will absolutely lose weight the whole time you stay on this programeven if you don’t exercise.
There’s only one drawback; dieters following The Flavorless Diet are advised to wear a sign. To be safe, they’ll want to warn those nearby to exercise caution when lighting a flame.
Diana Estill has been a freelance journalist and humor columnist for ten years. Her work has appeared online, in magazines, and in newspapers such as The Washington Post, The Miami Herald, and The Dallas Morning News. She was a finalist in the August 2005 America’s Funniest Humor Contest. Her book, Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road: Humorous Views on Love, Lust, and Lawn Care, will be released in June 2006. To see more of her work, visit http://www.DianaEstill.com
Tags: diet, diets, eat, eating, fads, food, humor, weight loss, women, womens