These days it seems like everyone is into writing a book on dieting. The other night while visiting Barnes and Noble, they had a whole table of diet books and they were all new! Today in the Wall Street Journal, they had an article on the good and bad diet books.
Well, I am going to give you a bonus. Here is my book on dieting and it will only be an article and cost you nothing! Guaranteed to lose weight if you do what I say! What are my qualifications to write something like this? My wife would tell you that I have none. However, I do have opinions on things and am not shy about sharing them!And, last but not least, I have also dealt with weight as an issue and conquered it for the moment. However, it is like being an alcoholic; you can't let up, ever. You always have to fight the fat and be aware of what you eat and the amount of excercise you get.
Here we go.
Chapter One. Commitment.
Do you want to lose weight? No, I mean do you really want to lose weight? You have to be committed and willing to change your habits. You need to be willing to not eat the good stuff. For example, when eating your turkey sandwich for lunch, you can’t have the fries with it. Get fruit or nothing at all, not even the chips. You can’t get the fries and say you will only have a couple. None, zip, nada, zilch; you get the point. None means none. So, are you committed and ready to move onto the next chapter?
Chapter Two. What to eat for breakfast.
First of all, eat a good breakfast. This is the most crucial meal of the day and it should be nutritious. Get a lot of fiber here also. For example, I eat two eggs, two pieces of whole wheat toast (loaded with fiber) and a banana. I drink a glass of orange juice but drink two glasses and each is one half juice and one half water. Now I can’t even order juice in a restaurant because it always tastes too sweet! The fiber in the whole wheat toast will also help you have a good dump in the morning! A banana a day helps the “little men” in your colon to shovel the s*** out each morning!
This breakfast will carry you through until lunch although you can have a nonfat snack if you need one about 10:30. A couple fig newtons or low fat vanilla wafers are ok with a glass of water.
As an alternative, you can substitute the pieces of toast and eggs with a whole wheat bagel.
Fruit in any quantity is good and can be a substitute for anything.
Chapter Three. What to eat for lunch.
You can eat a sliced turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, onion. You can have some mustard on it if you want. You will notice that I did not say “with cheese” and I certainly did not say “with mayonnaise”. NO MAYO under any circumstances! This goes for any meal: NO MAYO. And in fact: nothing that is white and creamy on any thing that you eat for evermore! This stuff is loaded with fat so don’t ever eat it any more. The cheese is also loaded with fat so it is also a lifetime no-no.
You could eat a grilled chicken sandwich also but the same corollaries apply as to what to put on it and what not to put on it.
Again, you can eat a snack and have a glass of water about mid afternoon. Fruit is good anytime.
Chapter Four. What to eat for dinner.
You can have a salad with some grilled chicken or shrimp. The only dressing you can have is a non fat dressing. No cheese or creamy white dressing (do I have to say this again?). You can also have a piece of grilled chicken or fish or small steak or hamburger. Baked potato is ok but use salsa instead of butter and certainly no sour cream (remember the white and creamy rule?). Fruit and vegetables are good at any time as well.
That is it. There is nothing else on the menu at this point.
You can have a small snack about 8 or 8:30.
Let me make another point about dinner. Eat it around 6 or 6:30. The latest time you should start dinner is 7:00pm. Eating late only lessens the metabolism and lets the fat stay on instead of burning it off before you go to bed.
If you can take a walk after dinner, that is good.
Chapter Five. What to drink.
You will notice I have addressed breakfast: juice. Coffee is ok but use artificial sweetener.
For lunch, drink water or diet drinks. You are off sugared drinks forever. You get that? None, zilch, nada, zip. No sugared drinks any more!
For dinner, drink water or decaf coffee or other decaffeinated diet drinks.
With any snacks, drink water or anything with no sugar and no caffeine.
The only “good” thing you can have to drink is a beer or glass of wine from time to time.
Chapter Six. Exercise.
Yes, there is that word again. You thought you would or could get by with out seeing or dealing with this issue? No way Jose!
It is crucial that you get enough exercise. You have to jump start your metabolism and keep it going. That goes for any age. It can be done. I have done it several times.
It is the fire that burns all this stuff up. What is not burnt, the “little men” I spoke of earlier will deal with!
You have to exercise twice a day. Yes, once in the morning or at lunch and then once in the evening. 15 to 30 minutes each time. What should you do? As much as you can. Walking, running, lifting weights, swimming, elliptical or treadmill or stationary bikes etc. All these are good and will work.
But, they don’t work by themselves. You have to do it. And, you have to be dedicated and committed (yes, there is that word again) and do it every day two times each day!
Chapter Seven. Summary
There is nothing revolutionary here. It is all common sense. It is all dedication and will power and commitment. It is built on eating sensibly and stoking the metabolic fire with exercise and constant eating (of non fat foods).
My suggestion is to get a yellow pad of “post its” and put many of them around your home and office on the walls, desks etc. Write on each one of them the number of pounds you want to lose. Each time you are ready to eat a meal or do something, look at the number, let it burn in your memory.
Weigh yourself each morning at the same time. Right after you get up but before breakfast. I know other methods say to only weigh once a week but come on; you need constant feedback on how it is going.
Chapter Eight. Final summary.
The key words here are Committment and Discipline; Fat Grams; and Excercise. They are all important components of your fight. Fight the Fat is the motto!
So, that is it. Call me with any questions. Also call me and let me know how much weight you are losing.
I will look forward to hearing from you.
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1 comment:
Ray, great post. They key is defininely exercise as it not only increases circulation and descreases stress of all sorts, it increases metabolism and shifts one's appetite toward healthy nutrient rich foods and away from fried, processed nutrient poor foods. I think an hour a day is ideal, but 30 mins is acceptable. And it's better to do what you can every day even if it's only 15 mins, rather than try to make it up by doing more on the following day.
Make every calorie count - which means eat only foods that have nutrition or conversely, don't eat any empty calorie foods where you are not getting nutrition as part of them. Buying and eating base foods (fruit/vegetables, whole grain breads/cereals, meats, cheeses) instead of processed foods is essential.
Don't put a bunch of calorie-laden spreads on your food; if you buy quality you don't need to because the flavors are great without condiments and your taste becomes more nuanced.
U.S. portions are out of control. People should swear off seconds as you never need them, and leave the table feeling like you could have eaten more instead of wishing you hadn't eaten so much. It's ok to leave some food on your plate - you don't have to finish everything. There was a recent big study where mice who are always a little bit hungry live a lot longer than ones who were always satisfied by "all they could eat". So, the benefits are both physical as well as chemical. Your body runs better on less, not more.
Drink water. Almost no one drinks enough and it affects energy, immune system, digestive system, circulation, and overall feeling of health. Water solves a lot of problems and keeps your body working at optimal levels.
Finally, people should remember that your body can only process about 250 calories an hour. So, why would you eat a 1000 calorie lunch that makes you feel tired, slow, and full until just before dinner (or even beyond)?
To hit on a key piece again, though, frequent exercise to promote circulation and health, raise metabolism, enhance one's moods, and shift toward a more controlled healthy appetite is the key across all these points.
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