introduction do you chase your tail trying to lose weight? · imbalanced blood sugar makes you fat...
TRANSCRIPT
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INTRODUCTION
Do you chase your tail trying to lose weight?
It’s no wonder. We’re bombarded by misinformation, manipulation, and marketing, that make weight loss – eating - far more confusing than it has to be.
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WEIGHT LOSS DEPENDS ON THREE PRINCIPLES:
1. STABILIZE
2. MINIMIZE
3. EXERCISE
Learn them, and you lose the weight.
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HOW MANY DIETS HAVE YOU TRIED? There are already hundreds of books about weight loss sitting on bookstore, library, and living room shelves, everywhere. It’s not that we lack the information. The problem is that there is far too much of it.
Here’s what I’ve learned through working with people who’ve struggled with weight loss. If you don’t understand the principles, you drown in the confusing details - obediently weighing, counting, and measuring.
Until, eventually, you will grow tired of the dependence and deprivation. And ditch the diet. Again.
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CLEAN THE SLATE
Losing weight can be simple. This isn’t to say that it doesn’t demand effort and commitment. It does. But it doesn’t have to be overly complicated. You can be savvy about it. Strategic even.
Weight loss depends on three principles: Stabilize, minimize, and exercise. When you master them, losing weight is easy. This book is about these principles.
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STABILIZE – THE FIRST PRINCIPLE
IMBALANCED BLOOD SUGAR MAKES YOU FAT
Many people think that weight loss happens when you cut back on calories. Perhaps you believe this as well. This is a reasonable assumption, and partially correct. While it is true that calories do count, in order to lose weight successfully you must stabilize blood sugar levels - before and above all else. Without stable blood sugar, all good intentioned efforts to cut calories will be in vain.
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BLOOD SUGAR AND THE BRAIN
It is your brain that determines whether you burn food as fuel or store it as fat. It decides what happens to the food that you eat. Remember this. When you eat in a way that leads to high blood sugar, the brain panics, because excess sugar is harmful to you. The brain calls on the hormone insulin. One of insulin’s jobs is to lower high blood sugar, which it does by sweeping any sugar out of the bloodstream and into your fat cells. You see, it is the brain that causes you to get fat. Losing weight also depends on catering to the brain. When you stabilize blood sugar, you tend to the brain.
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IF BLOOD SUGAR IS HIGH, INSULIN STORES FOOD IN FAT CELLS
The foundation for weight loss is to stabilize your blood sugar levels - to steer clear of excess insulin. This means avoiding foods that cause high blood sugar and eating foods that steady blood sugar throughout the day. There are many foods that you may believe are healthy – marketing has made sure of this. In actuality, all of the wholesome carbohydrates you eat break down into sugar. No matter how un-sweet they may taste.
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ROLLER COASTER RIDES AND ROCKING DRUG HIGHS
Eating high carbohydrate foods causes your blood sugar to spike. Along with a surge of insulin comes a burst of adrenaline and dopamine, and a pleasant - albeit short-lived - mental high. It’s no wonder we like these foods. They make us feel good, for a short time, until we crash.
The crash that follows the high is the result of insulin racing into the bloodstream, storing food in fat, and then leaving your brain without any fuel. Energy levels and plummet and moods take a dive. You know the feeling. While dense carbohydrates are delightful, both to the palate and the brain, when you understand their impact on blood sugar, you will agree that they are not often worth the temporary bliss they bring.
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WANTING AND WAITING Because of their impact on blood sugar, many carbohydrates leave you tired, hungry, wanting more. Food companies know this. They know that the more of these foods you eat, the more of them you will also want. They want you to want more. They also know that we all want to “believe” that we eat a healthy, wholesome diet. This is why we are never clearly told that all whole grains are comprised of simple glucose. A growing glucose tally throws blood sugar out of whack. Then the brain reacts. It releases excess insulin, and insulin makes you fat. The trick is to keep under the brain’s radar to keep these hormones at bay.
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TRANSLATING HORMONES
The word “hormone” comes from the Greek word meaning “to urge” or “to stir up”.
When blood sugar spikes – from excess carbohydrates – insulin “urges” food into fat. This leaves blood sugar low. The outcome of high blood sugar is low blood sugar.
With low blood sugar comes another hormone - cortisol. The brain calls on cortisol to bring blood sugar levels back up again. No kidding. So what does cortisol do? It stirs up cravings for more carbohydrates - knowing that they are all made up of simple sugar.
Do you see the common variable here? Carbohydrates.
In order to stop the urging and the stirring up, you have to cut back on the one food that is perpetuating the entire cycle. Carbohydrates.
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HORMONES WREAK HAVOC
The reason you stabilize your blood sugar is to keep insulin and cortisol at bay. Actually, it is to keep your brain at peace so it doesn’t summon them in excessive amounts. If you don’t, these hormones will sabotage this, and all subsequent, weight loss endeavors as they have with the previous attempts - no matter how good your intentions have been.
THE BRAIN IS BOSS
We know now that it is your brain that sends insulin and cortisol into the bloodstream. When you balance your blood sugar you kindly tend to the brain so that it doesn’t scream for these hormones.
When blood sugar stays is stable, the brain is content, calm, and collected since it is getting a steady stream of fuel. In this way, you stay under its radar, and away from insulin and cortisol. This is crucial to weight loss.
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CARBOHYDRATES AND INSULIN
This part is complex – but important for going on.
All carbohydrates break down into one of three sugars – glucose, fructose, or galactose.
All grains, cereals, breads, and crackers break down into sugar. All of them are made up of glucose. They all, therefore, can and will spike your blood sugar.
Pure protein and fat do not break down into sugar, and therefore they do not spike your blood sugar.
This is where much confusion lies. Only carbohydrates break down into sugar. Therefore…are you connecting the dots?
Insulin is released in response to an excess of sugar in the blood stream, which is the inevitable outcome of eating high carbohydrate foods. Since only carbohydrates – not protein or fat – break down into sugar, in order to avoid excess insulin, you must substantially lower your carbohydrate consumption.
Insulin will lock up your food if you aggravate it.
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THE INSULIN DRUG SQUAD
Insulin is like a drug squad. Its job is to sweep excess sugar off the streets, out of the bloodstream. In truth, insulin wants only what is best for you - to protect you from harm. But when blood sugar is perpetually high, insulin becomes aggressive in how it does its work.
Insulin will lock up all sugar (in all its forms) in fat cells. And the more sugar it locks up, the more weight you gain. You don’t become sweeter, sadly, just fatter.
The problem is you don’t realize this is happening, so you continue to eat what you’ve been eating, because you’ve been told that it is the correct way to eat. It isn’t. Keep out of insulin’s line of fire. Stop locking food up. Avoid insulin’s sweet-seeking aftermath.
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AFTER INSULIN, CORTISOL COMES TO CALL
After insulin has done its job of storing food in fat, your blood sugar is now very low. Low blood sugar also causes your brain to panic. It calls on cortisol to set things right. Cortisol is a bit of thrill seeker herself - an instigator - that tempts you back into the same sweet trouble.
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A SCREAMING CHILD IN THE CEREAL AISLE
Cortisol will poke at you. It will kick and scream for more carbohydrates, until you eventually give in, justifying your choices as wholesome and natural, fibre-full, and low fat. Like a screaming child in the cereal aisle, cortisol is relentless in begging you for more sugar. Yet every time you give in, you spike your blood sugar, again.
Cortisol will send you spinning - chasing your tail - day after day. It probably already has. It will leave you stressed and starved, fat and famished. Here’s the thing with cortisol. You have to beat it. You can’t wait for the cravings to subside. They won’t. You beat cortisol by changing how you respond to the cravings, and most importantly, by avoiding insulin.
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TURN DOWN THE VOLUME ON CORTISOL
When you’re most craving glucose is when you most want to avoid it. Turn down the volume. Otherwise, high blood sugar will follow low blood sugar like a persistent shadow on a sunny day. Ignore it. Cover your ears.
Be wary at four o’clock, when cookie monster comes to call. You don’t fix imbalanced blood sugar levels by eating more sugar, that’s for certain. You fix it by eating less sugar - more protein and fat – next time.
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HOW DO YOU EAT TO STABILIZE BLOOD SUGAR? 1. Eat protein and fat to balance carbohydrates. 2. Eat low glucose carbohydrates - vegetables 3. Eat a small amount every three hours.
A TIGHTROPE WALKER –
Carbohydrates are like a tightrope walker trying to get the other end of the rope. The rope is the bloodstream, and the muscles and brain are at the other end.
To get across the rope without crashing, a tightrope walker uses a pole as a counter-balance. Carbohydrates must be counter-balanced by protein and fat in order for them not to crash. Therefore protein and fat help prevent the fall by also preventing the spike in blood sugar.
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PROTEIN BALANCES BLOOD SUGAR
Protein acts as a counterbalance to carbohydrates, since it is comprised of amino acids rather than simple sugars. Amino acids do not spike blood sugar, and thus does not trigger insulin. Amino acids are like Lego blocks that re-arrange to build and repair the body’s cells.
TRANSFORMERS
Aside from stabilizing blood sugar, protein is like a transformer in the body. During weight loss especially, when total calories are reduced, protein is versatile and able to transform into various useful forms to fulfill its many necessary functions in the body. Protein nourishes the nervous system, produces enzymes, and repairs muscle. This is all important stuff.
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WHAT IF YOU’RE A VEGETARIAN?
It is understandable that you may not want to consume animal products. The ways of breeding, and treating, and feeding animals for the sake of consumption are wrong. The only concern with vegetarianism is that some of the amino acids are only found in animal protein. You can’t obtain these amino acids from other sources, nor can your body produce them.
Amino acids play a very necessary role in the body’s ability to repair and maintain itself. Of course, you will survive. The body is incredibly resourceful, and will always find a way to adapt if a nutrient is lacking.
YOU CAN’T PRODUCE PROTEIN
There is a profound difference between pure protein and grain-legume combinations. Protein from animal sources contains all of the amino acids that your body needs – with minimal or no sugar. Protein from beans and grains, on the other hand, contains only some of the amino acids, and an abundance of sugars. Which brings us back to weight loss.
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VEGETARIANISM AND WEIGHTLOSS
When it comes to vegetarianism and weight loss, the primary concern is that many of the commonly consumed protein alternatives are actually carbohydrates. Your blood sugar will inevitably be out of whack if the bulk of your diet is comprised of glucose-dense grains and beans. As whole and natural as they may be, these foods are highly concentrated in glucose.
For your brain, your hormones, and your weight, eat vegetables and fats as the primary components of your diet. Heaping plates of starch will only spike sugar and insulin, and make weight loss impossible. Buy a vegetarian protein powder – 20 grams - and add it to a shake for a concentrated dose of protein, without an excess of carbohydrates accompanying it.
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FAT – THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTERBALANCE.
Fat is your most superior form of fuel. Fats are far better than carbohydrates, especially during weight loss. While more concentrated in calories, they are comprised of fatty acids, which are slowly digested compared to simple sugars, and thus provide steady, long-lasting energy to the brain and body. Eating fat is like having a good friend – honest, reliable, and calm during tough times. Weight loss is a trying time.
Similar to protein, fat does not spike blood sugar or insulin. It counter-balances carbohydrates and minimizes sugar cravings - both of which are critical to long-term, sustainable weight loss.
Aside from balancing blood sugar, fat has many functions in the body. It protects cell membranes and nerves, and nourishes the brain. It balances hormones, keeps you warm, levels moods, and allows the body to absorb fat-soluble vitamins. You want fat as your primary fuel.
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THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE
Do you remember the tale of the Tortoise and the Hare? The hare challenged the tortoise to a race. The tortoise reluctantly agreed. From the start, the hare went dashing out in front, bounding eagerly ahead, until, he ran out of energy, crashed and fell. The tortoise, moving slow, but steady and strong, continues on past the hare, and crossed the finish line first.
Carbohydrates are like the hare – erratic and frantic. They are full of short-lived energy. Then they crash. Fat is like the tortoise – slow, steady, stable and sustaining.
When it comes to fuel, fat makes it to the finish line. Carbohydrates very often crash.
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FAT YOU “EAT” VERSUS THE FAT IN “FAT CELLS”
The weight you want to lose and the food you want to eat are not the same thing. This is confusing, I realize.
The fat in food is very different than the fat cells that you want to empty out. It is the accumulation of stored “fuel” in fat cells that is harmful to your health. It is fat itself that fills fat cells – but rather an excess or stored calories from any food.
The good fat found in food is beneficial for weight loss and for long-term health because it does not spike blood sugar levels or insulin. In order to burn the fuel in your body’s fat cells, you must always maintain stable blood sugar while minimizing the calories you’re eating. This is why you eat small amounts of fat through the day.
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WHAT ABOUT CHEESE?
Not all fat is as good for you. Saturated fat – like cheese – is harder for your body to break down. When calories are in excess, saturated fat can be a problem. You don’t want a lot of saturated fat, but a small amount is fine. Remember, no matter what the fat, it curbs insulin. A thumb-size piece of cheese is still better for blood sugar than a handful of low-fat crackers.
A note on cholesterol: If you have high cholesterol, be very wary of saturated fats. However, what is still most important is that you lose the excess weight, by cutting back on calories and carbohydrates. Fat will always help you to stabilize, which is the foundation of weight loss.
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AND FINALLY, CARBOHYDRATES
Enter the dragon. Carbohydrates find their way into almost everything you eat and drink. All foods - except meat, fish, eggs, and oil – contain some carbohydrates. And all carbohydrates - sweet or not - are comprised of simple sugars.
You may argue that you don’t eat sugar, but your meals and snacks, cupboards and fridge, are full of whole grains, legumes, fruit, vegetables, and dairy? All of these foods break down into simple sugars – glucose, fructose, and galactose.
Most of these foods are made up of simple sugars.
IT’S ABOUT THE CHEMISTRY
In order to master this first principle, you want to understand the chemistry of carbohydrates. All grains are glucose. The term “whole grain” is very misleading. As natural as grains may be, they are densely packed with simple sugar - glucose.
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WHAT’S IN A GRAIN?
A small serving of most grains (1/4 cup) contains hundreds of glucose molecules. Yes, even “protein-dense” quinoa, “fibre-rich” cereal, and “gluten-free” bread. The increasing tally of hundred upon hundreds of glucose molecules, is what leads to high blood sugar.
All grains are glucose!
During digestion, what do you think happens to a food? Do grains become miniature versions of themselves? No. During digestion, all foods break down into their smallest chemical components.
Grains break down into glucose. No matter how well disguised they may be.
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ANGELIC GRAINS
Over the years, we’ve come to think of grains the way we do our children - little angels, who can do no wrong. Try to be objective. Those grains that you so adore are not as angelic as you’d like to believe. In large groups, they are quite capable of causing a great deal of trouble.
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HEALTH VERSUS WEALTH
The truth is that the food industry has done a tactful job at making us believe that we are making healthful food choices. It is not coincidental that most carbohydrates – especially grains – are highly profitable and cheap to produce, process, package, and preserve. Since they are enticing and enjoyable, it makes sense that we want for them to be good for us.
The fact is that 100 grams wheat contains 71 grams carbohydrates. That’s almost 75% sugar - 300 calories of sugar in a small amount! It’s no wonder blood sugar gets out of whack. Most vegetables, on the other hand, are made up of 75% water. That’s a lot less sugar and calories.
Have you ever wondered why we feed animals grains instead of letting them eating grass?
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MR. POTATOHEAD
Carbohydrates are like the Potato head toys. Do you remember them? They were a bunch of potato-like figures, disguised in an array of hairstyles, hats, glasses, and bowties. When the guises were removed, they were identical Potato heads. Carbohydrates may come in a variety of pretty packages, proclaiming countless health wonders, but once in your intestines, stripped of all the deceptive disguises, their basic components are simple sugars. No matter the disguise, they are all made of simple sugar.
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WHAT ABOUT BEANS
Beans, like grains, are a carbohydrate known as a starch. Starch simply means a long chain of glucose molecules. Contrary to what you and many people believe, while beans do contain some protein, they are primarily a dense-glucose carbohydrate. Read the label to see.
It is not that beans are bad. No one food is bad. It is how they add to the sugar tally. Stabilizing blood sugar means lowering the tally.
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THE REAL PROBLEM
The problem is that we have no need for all the glucose we eat. We sit at work. We sit at home. We sit, eating an abundance of dense carbohydrates all day, every day, that tally up to spike blood sugar and insulin, continually ending in fat cells.
To empty out fat cells, this pattern has to change.
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IT STARTS WITH VEGETABLES
Eat vegetables as your primary carbohydrate. Greens are best. Vegetables are lowest in glucose and calories compared to any other carbohydrate. They provide you with maximum nutrition for a minimal amount of calories.
Four cups of vegetables = a few forkfuls of grains.
Furthermore, vegetables are vital and essential, full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, water, and fibre. For the few calories they contain, vegetables are both satisfying and satiating.
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BUT…VEGETABLES ARE SO VERY BORING
Are you worried you’ll get bored? Have you ever grown bored of bagels or baguettes? There are an endless variety of vegetables compared to refined grains. It’s not really boredom, but a decision. Decide to like something else. Growing bored means reverting back to the ways of eating that lead to weight gain in the first place. Try changing your view. Look for something different.
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BLOOD SUGAR BEGINS AT BREAKFAST Let’s talk cereal, milk, toast, and juice. These long-loved breakfast items are some of the most sugar dense foods. If you aren’t convinced, stroll down the cereal aisle and look at the nutrition labels. Compare all those sweet cereals to the “healthy, whole grain” ones in your cupboard. The carbohydrates are nearly the same.
Read the side of a carton of milk or juice. Tally up the carbohydrates in a usual serving of each of these foods. It adds up. Not to mention the proportionally low amounts of protein and fat in these foods. The word “Sugar” on a label refers to added sugars. “Carbohydrates” is what you actually want to look at, since this is the amount of total sugar, both naturally occurring and added. Natural or not, sugar is sugar!
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BANISH THE WHOLE GRAIN BREAKFAST These supposed healthy breakfasts we love to eat could be - glucose for glucose – as sweet as a dipped doughnut.
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DON’T JACK BLOOD SUGAR AT BREAKFAST
When you wake up, your blood sugar is low since you haven’t eaten since the night before. Because of this, be very wary of what you eat first thing in the morning. You want to bring your blood sugar gently back up to a smooth steady state that will sustain your waking brain.
WHAT TO EAT FOR BREAKFAST
Eggs, a protein shake, cottage cheese, or Greek yogurt (protein), a bit of fruit or vegetables (carbohydrates) and a few nuts or seeds (fat).
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THEN, EAT BY THE CLOCK
If breakfast has done the job of firmly fixing your blood sugar in place and fueling the brain, then you will have a consistent level of mental energy and focus for the next few hours. This is what you want to have happen; a sign that your food is being used as fuel, not stored as fat.
Hold on a second! Don’t wait until you’re hungry, or until lunchtime, before you eat again. Once hunger has set in, then blood sugar has already dropped, and it’s too late. The brain will begin to panic, and release cortisol. Keep under the radar - don’t wait for blood sugar to fall.
When it comes to losing weight, stay a few steps ahead of the game in tending to your brain.
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SNACKS ARE LIKE TRAINING WHEEELS
Think of snacks like training wheels on a bike. They are put in place to prevent the fall. While they aren’t the driving wheels, they avoid the potential crash. While you may not feel hungry, a morning snack means you don’t crash by lunch.
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PEACEKEEPERS Snacks are peacekeepers for your brain. Since a high level of stress is a contributing factor to weight gain in the first place, while losing weight, the less stress you have the better. By maintaining steady blood sugar levels - warding off insulin and cortisol - you help keep the brain as calm as possible, thus it will more readily let go of the fuel stored in fat cells.
Snacks prevent the perils of low blood sugar, so the brain is willing to give up its hoardings.
IGNORE THE FOUR O’CLOCK COOKIE MONSTER Mid-afternoon is a common time for crashing and craving. Cookie Monster will taunt you, “Me want cookie!”(often the aftermath of a hefty lunch) Ignore the monster!
WHEN AND WHAT TO EAT FOR SNACKS
What you want for snacks are small, times doses of protein or fat. Nuts are a simple, balanced snack that will keep you steady through the day. ¼ cup is plenty. Beware of those 100-calories, quick-carbohydrate snacks. They will only make you spike and crash.
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DON’T LET WINE THROW YOU OFF
Be very careful about wine. It can easily throw your blood sugar – and you - off balance. Wine is a source of both carbohydrates and alcohol. The same way too much will send you careening off balance, so too will it throw off your blood sugar and your insulin levels.
A single glass of wine adds 25 grams of sugar to your meal. This tally steadily climbs with every additional glass you drink. Don’t let wine send you spinning in circles with your weight loss.
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SUMMARY OF STABILIZE
The foundation of weight loss is stable blood sugar. All foods are comprised of protein, fat, or carbohydrates. When you eat too many carbohydrates or not enough protein and fat, blood sugar will be high and insulin will store food in fat, rather than burning it as fuel.
Stabilizing blood sugar is the first principle. There are no forks in the road to weight loss. This means there are no shortcuts, no alternate routes. If you want to lose the weight, keep it straightforward and simple. Keep that tightrope walker counter-balanced. Balance your carbohydrates (vegetables) with protein and fat.
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MINIMIZE – THE SECOND PRINCIPLE
MINIMIZE THE FUEL IN YOUR FAT CELLS
With blood sugar solidly in place, the next step is to burn the fuel that has been accumulating in your fat cells. The weight you want to lose is nothing but a reserve of unused calories - not some strange substance or “fat” from food. To lose weight you must burn your stored fuel.
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HOW DO YOU DO THIS? You minimize calories by cutting back on carbohydrates. In the same way that you stabilize blood sugar by cutting back on carbohydrates you also satisfy the second principle of minimizing calories. This makes it easy to remember. If you want to burn the fuel in your fat cells – which you do – then your daily calorie intake must not be sufficient to meet your body’s fuel demands. This is the only way you will lose weight.
SPEND YOUR SAVINGS Think of it another way. If you want to spend all the money that you’ve been saving up in your bank account, how would you do it? First, you would have to stop adding more to your savings. Then you would have to burn through everything you’ve saved. Not that you’d ever want to blow your money this way, but when it comes to weight loss it’s exactly what you want to – and need to – do. Stop saving and burn the fuel you have saved. Spend it!
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EMPTY OUT THE STOCKROOM
Here’s a story. A shop owner has been running a small business for many years. Until recently, his business has been going along smoothly – inventory ordered matching inventory sold. Any product that came in went out - nothing accumulating in the stockroom.
Then, business took a turn. Sales began to slow down, yet the shop owner continued to order the same amount of product. Inventory began to pile up in the stockroom. This is not the best way to run a profitable business. It is also not the correct way to run the body.
The solution is the same for both. Sell off what you have in stock. Empty out the stockroom. Get rid of your inventory. Cut back on your ordering.
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CALORIES ARE INVENTORY
Calories are like inventory. You order them when you eat and you sell them as you burn them off. You stock them when you store them in fat. If you want to get rid of the calories in your stockroom (fat cells), then you have to cut back on your orders – the food that you’re eating.
Two things to know:
1. You deplete caloric inventory if you burn it as fuel. 2. This only happens if you aren’t eating enough fuel.
As you empty your fat cells of accumulated calories, you will begin to lose weight. This takes some time.
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EMPTY THE STOCKROOM DAY AFTER DAY
You must cut back on calories day after day after day. Be patient.
It’s sensible business to get rid of extra inventory that’s piling up. It is resourceful to sell off what you already have in stock. This applies to the body the same as it does to a business. Minimizing the accumulation of calories in fat cells is sensible and resourceful. Most importantly, it is healthful. Storing food in fat cells is harmful.
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SUBTRACT TO MAKE SMALLER
Weight loss is about ongoing subtraction. Every time you burn the calories in your fat cells, there is less inventory remaining. As you continue to subtract, you lose more weight. It is this ongoing subtraction that will empty out the stockroom. Keep it up until inventory is depleted.
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IT COMES DOWN TO THE MATH
You lose weight when you continually subtract calories from fat cells. This only happens when you aren’t getting enough calories from food. You will always burn food first. If the body still needs more, then you will turn to fat cells for the rest.
If you burn 2000 calories a day and eat 1500 calories, that’s 500 calories less than what you need. The 500 remaining calories that you need will come from your fat cells. Aha. If you do this every day for a week, you will lose a pound. As long as your blood sugar remains steady.
In 140 days, a daily calorie deficit of 500 calories can burn 20 pounds of calories from fat cells. “Daily” and “deficit” are the key words.
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MINIMIZE CALORIES AND CARBOHYDRATES
Now we know that the only way you subtract calories in your fat cells is by cutting back on the calories you’re eating. In order to rid your inventory, you have to not be ordering enough from food. Be very careful! As you cut back on calories, it’s important that you keep your blood sugar and your brain steady. This is why you cut back on carbohydrates, primarily.
Keep the balance as you take away.
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TEND TO THE BRAIN
Yes, here it is again. As you minimize, continue to tend to the brain. This demands a bit of strategy. The brain won’t permit foolish deprivation. It only allows you to empty the stockroom if you are savvy about the subtraction. If you lose the balance, the whole thing collapses. If you minimize food by 500 calories, which foods get the boot? Those most likely to send blood sugar soaring. A cup of pasta is 500 calories of glucose. Farewell farfalle.
KEEP UNDER THE RADAR
The brain is a hoarder. We already know this. It will not so easily give up all the fuel it has so diligently collected. You’d better stay below its radar as you take from its stash. Both high and low blood sugar will set off the brain’s panic alarms. Remember stress and cortisol? Every time they make the panic alarm go off, the brain clings more tightly to its hoardings.
If your brain is relaxed, it will more readily release the hold it has on its fat cell hoardings. Prevent the highs. Prevent the lows. Don’t spike. Don’t crash. Keep steady while you subtract.
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DROPPING POUNDS REQUIRES STRATEGY
Have you ever played the old video game Tetris? It’s a game of strategy and subtraction. The goal is to arrange the falling blocks into solid rows before they pile up to the top of the screen. You have to ponder, prepare, and plan ahead. Each time you make a row, the bottom one drops away. You win based on how strategic you are in your subtraction.
Weight loss is a similar sort of game. You must be strategic about how you do it. Balance blood sugar. Steady the brain. Subtract calories. Cut carbohydrates. Stabilize. Minimize. Over and over again.
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PACK ONLY THE ESSENTIALS
Think of it like packing for a long trip with a small suitcase. You must carefully consider what is essential. Only so much food fits into a day, while emptying inventory. What gets left out? Any accessory foods that offer nothing more than glucose fuel.
What stays in? Protein. Fat. Vegetables. They provide you with much more than fuel. During weight loss, you can obtain much of your needed fuel from your fat cells, but you still need a daily supply of amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fibre.
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MAXIMUM NUTRITION, MINIMAL CALORIES.
If calorie space is limited – which it is - then the first foods to go are glucose-dense grains, processed and packaged carbohydrates. The reason is that there just isn’t any room. Aside from the fact that they spike blood sugar, these foods provide nothing more than simple fuel.
To burn the unused fuel in your fat cells, you can’t fill up your suitcase with glucose.
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LET GO OF THE CARBOHYDRATE LOAD
In order to burn the “fuel” sitting in your fat cells, you have to cut back on the “fuel” you’re getting from food. You divert to fat cells if two conditions are present:
1. Your blood sugar levels is stable 2. You aren’t consuming enough calories.
When you minimize glucose-dense carbohydrates you satisfy both.
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VEGETABLES MAKE SUBTRACTION SIMPLE
With vegetables as your primary carbohydrate it’s easy to lose weight. Greens, in particular, can be enjoyed in abundance - kale, collards, spinach, arugula, broccoli, rapini, broccolini, swiss chard, beet greens, dandelion.
The thing with greens is that since they’re so dense in water and fibre , they are relatively low in calories and glucose – so you can eat them to your heart’s content.
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NOT ALL VEGETABLES ARE MADE ALIKE
Not to squash your hopes, but it’s worth noting here that while you can eat leafy and cruciferous vegetables with reckless abandon, tubers and roots are much more dense in glucose and calories – similar to grains. If you’re going to fill your plate, pack it full of greens. Remember that “healthy” is not what leads to weight loss. Ongoing calorie deficit is the only route. While all vegetables are nutritious, they differ in their calorie density. It is by eating the lowest glucose carbohydrates that you will most easily and quickly lose weight.
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WHAT ABOUT WINE?
Ah, wine again…
Can you drink wine and minimize? That depends. Wine is concentrated glucose calories. Those same calories you want to minimize. A single glass is fine. Two makes for another dinner. Two dinners won’t lead to weight loss.
Cutting back on carbohydrates means cutting back on wine. Best not to pour your hard-earned daily deficit back down your throat at dinnertime. Sip slowly.
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STRETCHING CALORIES SPEEDS SUBTRACTION
When you stretch a fewer number of calories across the day, stabilizing and minimizing are both attained. Stretching carbohydrates calories also straightens blood sugar. And the smaller your meal, the more often you divert to fat cells for the remaining fuel you need.
The less calories and carbohydrates you eat at one time, the easier it is to keep your blood sugar stable. This, in turn, ensures that if you are eating minimally you will burn all the food you’ve eaten, and then easily access the calories in fat cells for any additional fuel you need.
HOW FAR CAN YOU STRETCH 500 CALORIES?
That depends on you. You can swallow 500 calories in a small bowl of plain pasta. Or stretch it into two small meals of protein and greens. When you feast on greens it’s easy to stretch.
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SNACKS KEEP YOU GOING AND GOING…
Speaking of going for longer on less…that’s what your snacks are for.
Ever wondered why endurance athletes fuel every hour during a long race? It’s to prevent their blood sugar from crashing so the brain allows the activity to continue. If blood sugar is steady, the brain will to allow physical work to go on. The fuel an endurance runner takes in does not cover their total energy demands. Their primary fuel comes from their fat cells and muscle glycogen.
While you may not be doing endurance races, the principle is the same. In order to continue to burn the calories stored in your fat cells, you need the brain’s ongoing permission. While you may not be sucking on energy gels as snacks, small doses of nuts and protein will steady your blood sugar so your brain continues to liberate its fat hoardings for your fuel demands.
Snacks allow you to keep hauling that inventory up from the stockroom.
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A NAKED LUNCH
At lunchtime, do you file down to the food court? Don’t do it. Eating a big lunch, especially when much of our day is spent sitting down, is not the way to fuel the brain, let alone lose weight.
Lunch is a critical time of day for weight loss. Steer clear of insulin. A big lunch will always lead to both weight troubles and mental fog after food is stored in fat. When insulin stashes food away in fat cells, there is no fuel available for your working brain. Have you ever wondered why you crash at 2pm, after a hearty lunch?
Strip lunch down to a meal of the bare essentials. Ditch the bread. Have a small soup, protein scoop, or a salad.
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OR GRAB A LIQUID LUNCH…
You want to keep your brain going but a heavy lunch is not the way to fuel it. It will put you right to sleep. A walk will do much better for your body and your brain. Bring a protein shake with you. It’s a convenient way to get fuel. Low in calories and carbohydrates, the protein, fat, and fruit will keep you going, while you continue top up with the fuel from your fat cells.
POURING FROM TWO PITCHERS
Here’s another way to help you think about minimizing and how it works. Losing weight is like filling a glass from two pitchers. One pitcher contains fuel from food and the other contains fuel from fat cells. A full glass is the total amount of fuel your body burns in a day.
You lose weight when you pour from both pitchers – from food and from your fat cells. You will always pour first from the food pitcher. You only pour from the second pitcher if you leave room in the glass. You lose weight when you continually pour from the second pitcher.
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BECOME A MINIMALIST
If it’s an excess - of food and carbohydrates - that makes us fat in the first place, then it would seem that the solution – or prevention – would to become a minimalist. Buying less food means wasting less food. (And money)
Less in the fridge and less in the cupboard means less in fat. In one sense, weight loss means less calories being stored in your fat cells. In another sense, it means less food being wasted in your cupboards and fridge. Being a food minimalist is as much about losing weight as it is about not wasting.
HOW TO BE A MINIMALIST
Minimize the total quantity of food that you buy. Minimize packaged, processed foods. Minimize what you fill your cupboards with; all those staples that you don’t need. This may seem obvious but it’s incredible how powerful and enduring habits can be. Weight troubles are not due to a lack of common sense. The real problem is that we’ve been brainwashed to think we need all this abundance, variety, and excess that fill up our kitchens. We don’t. Embrace simpler eating, and you’ll lose weight.
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PATIENCE
No matter how strategically you minimize - emptying out the stockroom will take time. It demands much patience and perseverance. Losing 10 pounds of caloric inventory means burning 35,000 calories of stored fuel. This requires careful and continual subtraction from your daily food intake by stabilizing and minimizing.
Be patient. You’re on the right track. THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING How do you know you’re doing things right? You’ll know.
1. Are you losing weight? 2. Are you free of cravings? 3. Are your energy consistent?
If you answered yes to all three, you’ve nailed the first two principles - stabilizing and minimizing You’re two thirds of the way there. If you’re losing weight, ongoing, and your energy levels are steady, you’ve got it. The formula works. You will see and you will feel it when you’ve mastered it.
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SUMMARY OF MINIMIZE
Minimizing means emptying out the stockroom. You do this when you sell your inventory. The more you sell – and the less you order - the quicker this happens.
If you eat 2,000 calories a day, and you burn 2,000 calories a day, no matter how healthy you’re eating, you won’t need any inventory from the stockroom. This does not lead to weight loss.
If you eat 1,500 calories a day, and you burn 2,000 calories as day, you’ll have to take 500 calories of inventory out of the stockroom. Do this every day for a week, and you’ll lose a pound.
This is how you lose weight.
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Next, we will talk about the third principle - exercise – and how it pulls the first two along. If you walk an hour a day, you burn another 300 calories. More inventory sold. When you build muscle, you burn more calories – to repair and maintain it. Now you’re selling even more.
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EXERCISE – THE THIRD PRINCIPLE
PULLING THE FIRST TWO PRINCIPLES ALONG…
Exercise is the third principle. Any form of movement speeds up how quickly you empty out the stockroom. Muscle allows you to sell more stock, year after year. Exercise does two things:
1. Quickens weight loss, now. 2. Prevents you from gaining it back again, later.
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THE HORSE THAT PULLS THE CARRIAGE When you walk for an hour a day, while following the first two principles, you deplete fat cells of stored fuel. When you build muscle, you boost your metabolism and make a better fuel tank for excess calories in the future.
Moving daily hastens weight loss, while muscle ensures fat cells won’t easily fill up again. Exercise is therefore both proactive and preventative.
Exercise is a vital to weight loss as the first two principles. In fact, the first two depend on it. Exercise is the horse that pulls the carriage. Both stabilizing blood sugar and minimizing calories are critical, but to keep that weight loss going, you must move and make muscle.
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THERE ARE TWO RULES TO EXERCISE:
1. Build muscle 2. Walk an hour a day (Or some activity you enjoy)
All activity burns calories. But, if you don’t want to get fat again, you build muscle.
The more you move, the more fuel you burn. This is well and good, and it will lead to weight loss. What you also want – in the long term - is for your body to burn more – not fewer -calories on a daily basis, after you’ve lost weight. A smaller body requires less fuel, unless it’s lined with muscle. By building muscle you boost your metabolism, and keep the weight off.
Walking is an activity you can do anywhere, anytime, in any weather. Because it is low intensity, it tiptoes under the brain’s radar. Walking burns calories while also tending to the brain. This is why it is an optimal activity for weight loss. Empty your fat cells while you walk.
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WE SIT, THERFORE WE ARE…FAT
Aside from imbalanced blood sugar, excess glucose and excess calories, the main reason we gain weight in the first place is because we sit all day long. We inhabit these bodies that are designed to move. While you work towards losing the weight, you might also consider living more in line with the body. When you do, things will magically begin to change on their own.
The body is designed to move.
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THE BODY IS A MACHINE
The body is a fine-tuned machine, whose purpose it is to produce energy by burning food as fuel. This is no exaggeration. Producing energy takes work and it is the job of muscle to do this work. The more work you demand of your muscles, the more calories you will burn.
Let’s look at this in the context of weight loss. The more calories you’re burning – and the less you’re eating – the more fuel you will take from your stockroom in order to cover your needs. Your body is a machine. Use it often, and give it work to do. This is how you will keep it lean.
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WHY EXERCISE IS ESSENTIAL TO WEIGHT LOSS
1. When you move, you burn more calories than when you sit. No matter how hard you may think, or brilliant you may be, muscles will always burn more calories than your brain. Combine daily activity with ongoing calorie deficit, and you will more quickly burn through the fuel in your fat cells.
2. When you do strength training, you use additional fuel, to build and repair your muscles. When you “lift, push, or pull” a heavy weight, your body adapts to the work being demanded of it. Your nervous system responds to the demands by building stronger, more densely packed muscle, in anticipation of more challenging work. This burns through many calories.
3. Finally, muscle boosts your metabolic rate. This means that if your body is lined with strong, elastic muscle, you will burn through more calories in a day, because, unlike fat tissue, muscle is active tissue. It uses ongoing fuel to maintain itself. Think of it like maintenance fees – The greater your muscle density, the more calories you burn to keep it. Fat cells, on the other hand, require no maintenance to idly sit around and wreak havoc.
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CHANGE YOUR BODY COMPOSITION
In order to stay lean, you have to get lean. You get lean with muscle. Building muscle is like building a better fuel tank. If you lose the weight to get “skinny”, you will become “skinny-fat”, and then, likely, fat again. As you lose the weight, you must build thyself some muscle.
Without muscle, you will go from being fat to sort-of skinny, to skinny-fat, back to fat because your metabolism will slow down to a crawl and then to a halt, if you minimize calories, without also building muscle. What you want is to be lean. Not skinny. Lean means muscle.
MUSCLE KEEPS YOU LEAN
When you are actively tearing and repairing muscle, any excess of calories you eat will go to muscle glycogen, where it is kept compact and accessible - rather than going to fat cells. All exercise is good. But muscle is your best strategy if you don’t want to gain the weight again
Without muscle, any excess food you eat will be stored in fat. Muscle works to keep you lean, as you get older, allowing you to continue to enjoy food without fattening up by the year. Without it, eventually, you’d be resigned to eating lettuce all day in order to not get fat.
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FUEL IN FAT FERMENTS
When fuel accumulates in your fat cells, it wreaks havoc. It triggers a dangerous domino effect in the body. High body fat combined with excess carbohydrates leads to elevated levels of insulin and cortisol, followed by chronic inflammation and the production of cholesterol. Eventually, it messes with brain chemistry, and hinders your thyroid and adrenal glands.
When you store extra fuel in muscle – which means building muscle – this has a positive domino effect on the body. Muscle can help reverse many of the problems fat perpetuates.
FAT DOESN’T TURN INTO MUSCLE
As you begin losing weight, a magic wand doesn’t suddenly transform your fat into muscle. Muscle is built and the fuel in your fat cells is burned. Both demand effort. Fat does not turn into muscle. No such luck. However, both fat and muscle are storage tanks for extra fuel. Fat cells store fuel harmfully - from excessive and imbalanced eating. Building muscle might redirect fuel from fat to muscle.
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LOSE FAT AND BUILD MUSCLE
1. You lose fat when you empty your fat cells of stored fuel. How? By stabilizing blood sugar, minimizing calories and exercising.
2. You build muscle by strength training, which increases fuel demands due to repairing and maintaining of muscle.
Strength training increases the number of calories you burn in a day. This can certainly speed up how quickly you empty calories from your fat cells. Any calories can be used to repair muscle. In time, any extra calories will be diverted to muscle rather than going back to fat.
Keep minimizing calories while you build that muscle.
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MUSCLE HIRES FUEL FROM FAT Think of active muscle as a thriving business, in need of energetic employees to do its work. Muscle goes to the fat cell factory to recruit some of its idle workers. The more work it has, the greater the need for extra workers. If you aren’t eating enough calories, muscle will turn to fat cells more often for the extra calories it needs. As muscle continues to thrive, the fat cells factories will shrink and begin to close up shop.
The weight you want to lose is nothing more than idle fuel. To get rid of it, give it something to do. This is the benefit of strength training. It puts calories to work.
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MUSCLES ARE LIKE QUALITY COOKWARE
Building muscle is like buying quality cookware – it is a worthwhile investment. The long-term rewards far outweigh the initial costs. You will reap the rewards for years to come. Both muscle and good cookware make food more enjoyable. Invest the time and effort into building muscle. In time, you will find it is worth every hour you invest. While you may initially complain about the time it takes, it is returned to you, tenfold, in the long run.
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INNOVATION
When it comes to the body, nothing – muscle included - stays the same. No matter what you weigh, without strength training, you will lose muscle mass each year. If you are not actively “innovating” your muscles, they will continue to atrophy, which means trouble.
With less muscle you have less need for calories. Less muscle = less food. No thank you. By continually advancing your muscle, you keep your body functioning at its optimum potential. You innovate so you don’t go backwards.
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SKINNY (EVENTUALLY) MEANS FAT
Initially, you will lose weight without strength training. For a time, the stabilizing and minimizing might be sufficient. But then, just when you think you’ve nailed it, your metabolism will adjust, weight loss will halt, and then things will reverse.
Your body will adapt to being a smaller size, and muscle will begin to atrophy with each passing year. Combined, both of these factors mean that if you don’t want to gain the weight back again, you will have to eat less. And less. Further weight loss will be near impossible.
Even walking – while wonderful – is not enough.
You have two choices:
1. You can build muscle, or 2. You can wait to get fat again.
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MUSCLE MEANS YOU CAN EAT MORE A smaller body needs a smaller amount of food.
This is an unavoidable truth that will befall you, unless you line your body with active, dense muscle tissue. Your metabolism will steadily increase once you begin building muscle.
The more muscle you build, the less you will have to keep minimizing after you’ve lost the weight. It takes the pressure off a lifetime of watching your every bite. In truth, muscle is the only way to lose weight and not gain it back, while leisurely enjoying food from time to time.
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A POWERFUL FOOD PROCESSOR
A body with dense muscle can handle a greater amount of food compared to a body with minimal muscle. Like a powerful food processor, string muscle can process food more quickly and efficiently than its weak counterpart. A scrawny blender can handle only a small amount of food at a time, and it doesn’t always do so well with that.
THE STRONGER YOU ARE, THE STRONGER YOU CAN BECOME
Strength begets strength. The stronger you are, the harder you can train, so the stronger still you can become. The harder you train, the more calories you use building, repairing, and maintaining your muscles, so you will have nothing left over to go to your fat cells.
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OVERLOAD MEANS HARD AND HEAVY
Building strong muscles is hard work. It demands overload. You must overload your muscles, which means exerting great effort against much resistance. This is the only way to get strong.
During strength training, you tear muscle fibres. This isn’t a bad thing. After the workout, your body sets to work, repairing them. Over time, these fibres strengthen and multiply. As your body becomes more densely packed with muscle fibre, you grow stronger and leaner.
This overload process makes your muscles and your mind more resilient, which allows you to perform harder work and endure greater challenges. Resilience is a good asset to have.
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BORING IS BETTER THAN FAT
Do you find strength training to a bore? While you may consider it boring, doing something good for your health – however unexciting - is far better than being fat. Brushing your teeth can also be quite a bore. It takes at least four minutes a day. That’s almost half an hour a week. And then there’s flossing. That’s another half hour. An hour a week on your teeth seems tedious. But you do it because your teeth impact your health.
An hour a week is all you need to begin a strength training routine. Half an hour, twice a week can have a profound impact on your strength and your metabolism. Doubling that amount of time would be better, but begin with an hour and build up. It’s worth your time.
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HIRE A TRAINER
A knowledgeable trainer will teach you the most effective, time-efficient exercises. Focus on strengthening the largest muscle groups – your legs, buttocks, back, abdominals, and chest.
Begin with three sets of ten reps – the weight should be heavy enough that it is a challenge for you to complete the set. Remember that the purpose is to increase muscle density. It should be difficult. Remind yourself of your mission - to build thyself a better fuel tank.
IF YOU BUILD IT, THE MIRACLES WILL COME
Stop thinking about it and start doing it. The miracles will come – in more ways than one. Strength training brings with it positive mental manifestations as much as physical transformations. You’ll be amazed. Aside from weight loss, improved immunity and increased energy will also appear. The wonders of muscle extend far beyond your weight
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KEEP YOUR CARDIO UNDER THE RADAR
A certain degree of stress can be a good thing. Strength training is a form of positive stress that forces your body to respond and adapt to increased physical demands, making you physically stronger and more mentally resilient.
When it comes to cardio and weight loss, be again wary of the brain. High intensity cardio can elevate stress and hinder weight loss. Remember cortisol, that screaming kid in the grocery store? If you overdo it, your cardio will elevate cortisol and interfere with weight loss. LESS IS MORE
Unless you’re already in good condition, less intense cardiovascular exercise – for a longer time - is best. Vigorous forms of cardiovascular activity can exacerbate stress. Activities that spike your heart rate will also spike cravings. If you’re trying to lose weight, you want to minimize stress. If you’re doing high intensity cardio, while minimizing calories, your brain will panic and demand more food – especially sugar. If activity is of lower intensity, your brain will use fat as fuel.
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CARDIO, WEIGHT LOSS, AND THE BRAIN
You may - rightfully – be wondering how any form of exercise can be a bad thing. How can something that burns calories actually hinder weight loss? The simplest answer is that it has to do with keeping your brain at peace. Stay under the radar.
The first principle of weight loss is to stabilize blood sugar – to steady the brain. Reducing the brain’s overall stress must underlie all weight loss efforts. Stabilize, minimize, and exercise, carefully. So the brain allows you to take from its hoardings.
You minimize calories so you can burn the fuel that is stored in your fat cells. Minimizing calories can cause the brain to panic, if you aren’t cautiously stabilizing. Since exercise burns even more fuel, this heightens the potential for panic. Always keep in mind that it is your brain that determines whether you lose weight or not. High intensity exercise may arouse stress, which may not be what you want.
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WHY NOT WALK?
Why not pursue an activity that burns calories from fat and also alleviates stress? Physically and mentally, walking is best. The more you walk, the better you feel.
You can walk wherever is it you need to go. Or just to wander. It is convenient, versatile, whimsical, social, and enjoyable. Walk every day to unwind. Once you’re in the habit of it, you may find it overrides other comforting habits – like food.
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WALKING + MINIMIZING = EASY WEIGHT LOSS
Thirty minutes a day of even the slowest walking burns about 75 calories. That’s seven and a half pounds in a year from a daily half hour walk. Double the pace, and you can burn 150 calories a day in thirty minutes. In a year, that’s fifteen pounds.
Increase that now to an hour a day, and you can burn thirty pounds. The key with walking is to do it every day. Never underestimate the difference a single daily habit makes. If walking isn’t for you, find another activity that you will do every day. Walking is most practical.
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DON’T EAT AWAY YOUR EXERCISE
Be very careful, especially at the start. A few bites can add back the fuel you burned in your workout. No amount of exercise can override “cheating”.
You may be proud that you’ve undertaken an exercise regime. As you should be! Take pride also in how well you’ve stabilized blood sugar and minimized calories. After a tough workout, you may be tempted to reward your efforts. Don’t do it.
The math doesn’t work that way. To lose weight, you need a constant deficit. Exercise hastens the deficit. A rewarding post-exercise binge does not. To lose weight, you must continue to minimize, even after hard exercise.
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BITE OFF WHAT YOU CAN CHEW
You may be ready and raring to shed the weight, and this drive is necessary at the start, but then reality returns. There is still the same number of hours in your day. Don’t bite off more than you can chew with exercise. In between excess and excuse there is room for activity.
Keep it simple. Surprisingly, it need not be complicated.
You want a routine that you can sustain – not to mention one that you enjoy. Think of it like a long-term partnership over a short-lived fling. If the thrill is gone after a few short days, your weight loss commitment won’t endure.
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MAKE A COMMITMENT
When it comes to exercise, you have to commit to the course. Building muscle takes effort. And walking takes time. Like any relationship, it demands ongoing dedication.
Make the commitment to getting stronger. It takes blind faith at the start. You may wonder how you will find the time or the energy in your chaotic life. How can expending more time and more energy possibly make you feel better?
It can. It will. Activity produces energy. Exercise is its own reward.
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LIVING IN LINE WITH THE BODY
Here’s the truth. We don’t get decide what the body needs or how it works. Our job is to learn the rules and live by them. If the body becomes sluggish, it’s because we aren’t caring for it correctly – namely, eating too much and sitting too much. Eat less. Move more.
In order to lose weight, the body has to have reason to burn through its fuel. Work is really what it needs. Aside from stabilizing and minimizing, weight loss means regular physical activity. The body is a machine. Fuel it right. Keep it lean.
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THE PERKS EXTEND BEYOND THE POUNDS
The reasons you want to exercise extend far beyond weight loss. Increased bone density and joint mobility; improved immune and cardiovascular function; reduced cholesterol, blood pressure, inflammation; and lower levels of cortisol and insulin. Not too shabby.
The domino effect of improved wellbeing is set in motion by moving the body every day, and building muscle. Exercise profoundly impacts every aspect of your vitality.
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ORGANIZE - THE PRINCIPLES MADE PRACTICAL
How do you implement these principles into your every day life? How do you transform dietary changes into unconscious habits? How can you make weight loss practical and easy? Plan, ponder and prepare.
In the same way that daily habits cause weight gain; it is also habits that lead to weight loss. Developing new habits requires some organizing. You likely have to change how you buy, prepare, and cook food. Perhaps you will need to re-design your cupboards, your fridge, and your office. But most importantly is to organize your mind around what it is you’re doing.
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BE ARMED AND READY
Be ready for battle. Weight loss will be a battle. You’ll run into trouble – repeatedly - along the way. Bring it on. You can handle it. Here’s the truth about losing weight. After understanding the principles, there is one word that separates those who complete the course from those who quit. It is “resilience”.
It takes resilience to win at weight loss. It takes time. Temptation lurks everywhere. Being wishy-washy won’t work. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Be prepared to persevere.
Defend yourself against temptation. It’s just another habit. Remember the story of Peter Pan? Tinkerbell was forever luring him into trouble. Peter couldn’t resist! It is worthwhile to train yourself to fight temptation. Tinkerbell will taunt you endlessly if you let her.
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JUST SAY NO
Sometimes, the only solution in a given situation is to say, “No”. Sometimes – most of the time - to your own self, and sometimes to someone who wants you to eat what they are eating. Most often, it is the power of resistance inside of us that most tries to sabotage all good things you’re doing for your long term wellbeing that offer none of the immediate exciting short term thrills that come from quick carbs.
Get your brain on board. Quiet the chatter that leads you astray.
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LISTEN TO YOUR VOICE OF REASON Do you remember Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio? He was Pinocchio’s conscience, always keeping him out of trouble. “Perhaps you want to reconsider this,” he would say, usually referring to a tempting bout of short-lived troublesome fun. With weight loss, try to tune in listens to your own voice of reason. It always has your own best interests at heart.
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PESSIMISTS PREPARE
Pessimists are known to anticipate – or expect - the worst. In anticipation of an impending storm storm, they will often be highly prepared. When it comes to losing weight, it’s not a bad idea to be pessimistic. When you expect obstacles, you are ready and armed for anything!
Losing weight will be a challenge. Life – people mostly - will get in your way, day after day. No matter how optimistic you may be, this is a task at which many fail, over and over again.
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DO IT FOR THINE OWN SELF Conquer obstacles ahead of time. Losing weight can be a lonely journey, at times. Many worthwhile journeys are solitary ventures. In the end, the most the fruitful quests are lonely during the course. That’s okay. The world around you is not always in your corner, especially when it comes to food. The food industry is not on your side - that is for certain. Most people are still fighting their own resistance. You must watch out for yourself. Do it for your own health.
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WHAT FILLS YOUR FRIDGE FILLS YOUR FAT CELLS
When unused food goes bad in the fridge, this is wasteful. When unused fuel collects in your fat cells, this is harmful. If weight loss is about subtraction, we want less, not more. We want less food. Since the fridge is the in-house storage compartment for food, then it only seems right to begin organizing by shrinking the fridge. EMPTY THE CUPBOARDS
What about those foods hiding at the back of the cupboard, in case company comes? “Company” will live without them, but they will taunt you every night after dinner, when boredom and the urgent need to do something join forces and lure you into the kitchen.
Toss them. Or give them away - though gifting others with the same foods you are avoiding may not be deemed kind.
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WHAT TO KEEP IN YOUR CUPBOARDS
-Nuts and seeds -Vinegars and oils -Cans of fish -Nut and seed butters -Dark chocolate (85%) -Protein powder -Dried seaweed snacks Dried figs – dip in almond butter
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GET IN GEAR AT WORK
Many of us spend more time at work than at home – awake anyway - so you might want to get things in gear at the office as well. Here are a few foods to keep on hand at work:
1. A small jar of olive oil and a lemon - for a simple
salad dressing. 2. A container of Greek yogurt or cottage cheese - for
snacks or quick lunches. 3. A jar of dry roasted nuts – and a ¼ cup measure -
for sustaining snacks. 4. Whey protein powder and Almond milk - for
quick snacks or lunch shakes. 5. Cans of sardines, salmon, tuna, or herring – for
high protein salad scoops. 6. A jar of carrots, celery, pepper, fennel, and
cucumber in water – for snacks. 7. Small apples and boiled eggs – half an apple and
an egg is an ideal snack. 8. Dried figs and almond butter – a fig dipped in
almond butter is delicious. 9. 85% Dark Chocolate – a small amount will satiate
and satisfy.
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DO YOUR MISE EN PLACE Ask a chef you know about the reason for preparing your mise-en-place. It saves time. It means readying your vegetables and ingredients. Mise-en-place allows you to prepare tasty meals pronto, since much of the washing, chopping, even cooking has been done ahead of time.
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MISE-EN-PLACE
1. What would you like to eat? 2. Who else will you be feeding? 3. What foods can you make ahead of time? 4. Write out a shopping list - vegetable/fruit,
nuts/seeds, protein, and herbs/spices. 5. Set aside an hour or so on the weekend to wash,
chop, steam, roast, and cook: a. Wash and roll in cloth towels – kale, arugula,
spinach, collards, swiss chard, lettuce, and herbs. b. Wash and chop – carrots, celery, fennel, cucumber,
cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini. c. Roast in 400-degree oven – beets, mushrooms,
peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplant. d. Blanche – greens beans, snow peas, broccoli,
cauliflower, carrots. e. Make soups – mushroom, pea and zucchini, and kale
and sausage. f. Roast – chicken, sausage, fish, for a quick protein to
add to any meal. g. Make a scoop salad with Greek yogurt – tuna,
salmon, herring, or egg. h. Boil some eggs. i. Divide cheese into 30 grams servings for sacks or
spreads.
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FIND THE TIME
Time may indeed be scarce. This may not change anytime soon. There is no choice but to work around it. If you’re worried that you won’t find time to shop and cook, this is reasonable. But the powers of determination somehow have a capacity to re-arrange time and squeeze in tasks that never before seemed possible.
If you write a list of your new priorities, “time for eating right” might be at the top. Magically the time you need will appear. The discipline need only last until you’ve changed the habit.
BE CURIOUS
Be curious. Be interested. It might be fun.
Buy a peppery olive oil. Try a strange vegetable. Look though recipe books for. Find new ways to prepare old favorites. Make a bouillabaisse. Spend Sunday afternoon simmering Bolognese. Serve it over shaved, sautéed zucchini instead of a bowl of pasta. Be inventive.
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THE MEALS
BREAKFAST –
Breakfast “breaks the fast.” In the morning, after a night of sleep, blood sugar is low. There is a way to gently bring it back up. Sugar is not the way. Spiking blood sugar at breakfast will have you riding the insulin roller coaster all day long - fun for a time, but not for weight loss.
Protein and fat do the gentle job of bringing blood sugar back into balance. Jack in the box jumps up and gets slammed back down. To lose weight, you want to avoid jacking your blood sugar first thing with cereal, milk, and juice.
SHAKES
Here’s a simple raspberry shake -
In a blender, mix ½ cup frozen raspberries with one cup unsweetened almond milk. Add one tablespoon of flax seeds, and one scoop of vanilla whey protein.
Shakes are convenient blend of balanced fuel, with less than 300 calories, 20 grams protein. No spiking, no storing. No crashing,
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EGGS
Boiled, baked, scrambled, poached, fried. Eggs are another complete protein to have for breakfast. They contain inositol, lutein, calcium, iron, CoQ-10, and Vitamin A.
Have an egg for breakfast - or any time of day. With 75 calories, six grams of protein, and five grams of fat, you will search far and wide for another single food more balanced than that.
Make an omelet with asparagus, peppers, and pesto. Fry an egg and serve it on tomato sauce or a spoonful of Bolognese. With the array of egg options, you’ll never be bored.
A note on cholesterol… Don’t fret about the cholesterol in eggs. The cholesterol conundrum has led many people wrongly astray. Be wary of the cholesterol your body makes from the fuel stored in your fat cells – often from excess glucose. It is excess glucose and insulin that cause the body to produce harmful cholesterol. Of course, low fat; whole-grain breakfast pushers don’t want you to know this. The way to lower cholesterol is to balance blood sugar and lose weight.
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YOGURT AND COTTAGE CHEESE
Greek yogurt is quality protein to have a breakfast. Have half a cup with chopped walnuts and sliced grapefruit. Or for something unusual, have it with fresh mint, and orange.
Cottage cheese is another quick breakfast. Have it with a few almonds and grapes or sliced apple and cinnamon. While both of these are dairy products, since they are high content of protein, the carbohydrates are low. This means lactose is minimal. Even people with dairy sensitivities find them easy to digest.
Finally, a dried fig dipped in almond butter is a satisfying bite and a quick pre-workout snack.
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DON’T SKIP SNACKS
You aren’t hungry? That’s okay. You snack to prevent the crash. Low blood sugar means you’re too late. Cortisol will already be screaming for sugar. Snacks are a strategy to beat cravings.
A boiled egg ¼ cup nuts ½ an avocado ½ cup plain Greek yogurt or cottage cheese One scoop whey and one cup almond milk One dried fig and one tablespoon almond butter ½ a small apple and 30 grams of cheese One packet of dried seaweed strips One cup chopped vegetables dipped in olive oil 85% dark chocolate – a little bit!
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LUNCHES
Keep lunch small, slowly absorbed and sustaining. A liquid lunch or a naked lunch, are the best options. Mid-day, the brain is doing its best to stay focused. Lunch should be simple and small – a steady stream of fuel. Protein and fat are most useful at this time. Bring a shake and take a walk. DINNER, DECONSTRUCTED VEGETABLES Prepare two vegetables, fibrous and green. Roots and tubers are as dense as most grains, so a little goes a long way, calorie-wise. Two vegetables for two people, three for three, four for four.
PROTEIN Choose one – fish, seafood, chicken, pork, lamb, beef, or eggs. A palm size per person is suffice. Protein keeps blood sugar steady, so best not to skip it.
FAT Add fat to satiate and keep your blood sugar in balance. A tablespoon (120 calories) of olive oil is a maximum per person, and often added in the preparation or to salads. Avocado, nuts, seeds or fatty fish also count. However, while fat is optimal fuel, it’s concentrated, so pick one option per meal. Subtraction must be maintained.
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CHEESE AND SPREADS
For long days when you get in late and all you want is a snack, or when company’s coming and you don’t want to cook, spreads are a fine alternative to dinner, if carefully chosen, well-balanced, and slowly savoured. A thumb-size of cheese is 100 calories, as is the same amount of meat. A dried fig is 50 calories, as is a date, half an apple or half a pear. ¼ cup of nuts or olives is 200 calories, so just a small amount. Pickled vegetables are fairly low in calories – Green beans, carrots, asparagus, gherkins. Fresh chopped vegetables are also good. Put out an array of fibrous vegetables a crunch.
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A few ideas to get you started:
- Nuts - walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews, pistachios - Dried fruit - figs, dates, apricots, mango, apple - Cheese – Chevre noir, Manchego, Morbiere,
Chabichou, Stilton, Bocconcini - Meat – chorizo, pate, grilled sausage, salami, turkey - Vegetables (raw, blanched, pickled, roasted) –
fennel, celery, endive, tomato, arugula, asparagus, beans, peppers, artichoke, hearts of palm, beets.
- Fruit – apples, pears, clementines, grapes, berries.
This suggestion of spreads it not intended to lead you astray. Be aware that the calorie density of these foods is much greater. But it is an option that may prevent you from going astray if you’re exhausted and don’t want to cook a meal. A few bites of vegetables, protein, and fat in whole food forms stays in line with the principles. Savour each bite. Sip slowly.
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WHEN YOU HIT INERTIA, REVISE
You will, at some point, hit inertia. Be ready for it. Suddenly, when the skies feel like they have opened up for you, it will come to a halt. Nothing will change. But the weight loss will stop. Then it may go backwards. A few pounds will pile back on.
This is another reason why you don’t want to depend on a diet. If you master the principles, you can tweak what you’re doing. Inertia will frustrate you if you allow it. So, don’t allow it. Your body requires less fuel as it gets smaller. It adapts. It only makes sense that weight loss will slow down, even if you’re doing all the right things.
It’s okay. Try not to panic and throw in the cards. That would only be chasing your tail again.
Assess, evaluate, modify. Whatever you do, don’t sabotage your efforts now. Go back to the first principle. Are you eating to sustain stable blood sugar? Switch that hearty salad for a smaller soup to keep minimizing further. Enhance your muscle density and metabolism. Push harder.
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OVERCOME YOUR OWN RESISTANCE
Resistance is a beast. It will come back at you again and again. It is you. Be ready to fight it.
Resist the urge to quit. Revising is better than quitting. There is always a way to modify your eating rather than be miserable about it. Modifying is essential to overcoming inertia. Stabilize and minimize. Then minimize further. Build more muscle. Push harder. Walk longer.
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VITALITY OVER VANITY
Why do you want to lose this weight? Your vitality would be a rather worthwhile motivation. Weight is one of the greatest determinants of both physical and mental wellbeing. An excess of food in fat cells is harmful to your health. Lose the weight for vitality’s sake.
If it is for vanity alone, you may soon tire of the effort it entails. The pounds will never fall off fast enough. Forget the size of the dress or the pounds on the scale. They will both take care of themselves if the desire is to be lean, strong, and energized. Be fascinated by your body and how it works. If your focus is vitality, the weight will come off with unimaginable ease.
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TO BE SAVVY IS TO BE STRATEGIC The difference between knowing the principles and blindly dieting is that you can be savvy and strategic. Strategy comes from having a concise understanding of how something works, and then devising a clear course of action. It is wise to be savvy about weight loss. You can be savvy now that know how it works. It’s simple. Stick to the principles. Lose the weight.