What Makes You Thin... Once Again!
[7 Days To Permanent Weight Loss - Day 5]
Eating well and losing weight are part and parcel of the same equation. Whether you are seriously overweight or just want to lose a few pounds so that you can fit into your new dress / pair of pants, the principle remains the same: Your current weight - just like your current eating habits - is an artificial product of social evolution. In order to return to your natural (ideal) weight, you must adopt a natural diet and in the process, bring your metabolism back to its natural, active state.
Cutting out the excess weight thus involves reverting, step by step, to a natural eating pattern that complements our metabolism and allows it to help us lose weight. It's important to remember that:
A) You're not trying to just lose weight - this is about building and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. B) It is possible to lose weight just by trusting and following the process - as long as you avoid the "bad foods" as discussed in the previous lesson and implement the strategies (and the diet suggestions) in this lesson.
There's a lot to cover today, so make sure that you take notes (for best results, print out this article - it'll help you in understanding and retaining the information in here).
The Natural Diet
Throughout this series of lessons I've made the point about how there is a "natural" diet that our bodies (and most importantly our metabolism) is suited to. This isn't specific to certain foods - instead, this has a lot to do with the division of fats, proteins and carbohydrates in our diet, along with "how" we plan our meals.
So, what is this natural diet in a nutshell? If I were you, I'd take my current diet, and do the following:
* Drastically reduce the amount of processed foods and replace them with low-carb alternatives.
* Increase the quantity of fruits and vegetables in the diet - Fruits are a great source of "natural" energy - they are not heavy on carbs and contain enough fiber and protein to give you a balanced portion.
* Cut down on the high-fat items in the diet, and replace them with low-fat alternatives (making sure that you aren't actually increasing the carbs in the process).
* Chances are that you aren't taking enough proteins and fiber in your meals. Increase these two vital components in your diet - either as snacks (mini-meals) or in your meals.
The biggest obstacle to weight loss can be processed foods in your diet (along with, to a lesser extent, high carbs) - for example, there is a chemical called monosodium glutamate (MSG) that causes your pancreas to excrete much more than the normal amount of insulin. The result? You get food cravings, increased fat storage and eventually, obesity.
And where is MSG found? In virtually all types of fast food and most processed foods.
The Natural Eating Plan
The beauty of the "natural diet" is in its simplicity: as soon as you develop the right mindset, you will intuitively understand which foods you should avoid and which foods you should take. In addition, once you realize that your metabolism and its "health" is key to losing weight, you will automatically start molding your daily routine around your new eating habits. In fact, once you start prioritizing your health, you'll realize that you don't even need to "fit" things in - everything will take care of itself.
The "Eating Plan" is quite similar to your average, 3 meals a day eating patterns - that makes it a lot easier to manage. In fact, you can summarise everything into just a few key points (thus integrating everything we have learned so far about our metabolisms):
* Keep the cardinal equation in mind (calories leftover = calories consumed - calories burned off).
* Have 4-5 meals a day (4 if you are relatively inactive, 5 if your daily routine involves some sports and even 6 if you are seriously working out every day).
* Reduce the portion size of your meals - in other words, eat less per meal. This should ideally be calculated while keeping your daily calories requirements in mind. In any case, make sure that you eat less per meal, as this is vital to the process of losing weight.
* Make your breakfast your primary meal of the day (instead of lunch or dinner, as is the case for most of us). This will help your metabolism become more active during the day, and will allow you to burn off the "excess" calories by the time night falls.
* Take a light dinner (and lunch) - our metabolism automatically slows down during the night, so packing on extra calories then will just mean that they are converted into extra pounds because they wont get burned off.
* Take a late afternoon snack as your 4th meal.Alternatively, you could skip lunch and schedule two snacks either side of lunch time - a snack at noon and another one at 4 works really well for me. Plus the time saved during "lunch hour" can be used to exercise (if you are so inclined) or catch up on work, or just have fun.
Also, if you are working out or playing sports, ensure that you include a post-exercise snack in your schedule - a hi-protein, energy snack will do wonders in helping your body recuperate quickly from physical exertion and go a long way towards staving off any hunger pangs you might feel after some rest.
And that's about it - you'll notice that all this plan requires you to do is to make small changes in your lifestyle - once you've taken that step, everything else (like looking after what you eat and shouldn't eat) becomes automatic.
I've also included two types of "diets" that you can use, depending on your daily routine.
The Low-Carb Diet
A low-carb diet is the ideal solution for those of us who want a natural solution to losing weight, are not too over-weight and are not particularly thrilled with physical activity. Of course, there is no substitute for exercise in "supercharging" your metabolism, but if you can manage creating "natural" eating habits and adopt a low-carb, healthy diet, you'll already be well on your way towards building a healthy lifestyle. And for most people, the issue is not a lack of exercise - it's the eating choices that we make.
A low-carb diet is fairly simple - there is an overarching emphasis on reducing the carbs in your meals - all meals, even snacks. Wherever possible, you should be looking to sacrifice the carbohydrates from your meals, even if it means that you have to prepare meals that contain a bit of extra fat.
The trouble with fat is, as I told you in the last lesson, that most people blame all their weight problems on the fat in their diets. While for some this may be true, it is more often the case that people are able to cut out the fats but not the carbs, and the end result is that they keep gaining weight despite drastic changes in their diet.
If you want to seriously "charge up" your metabolism, focus on reducing the carbohydrates from your diet.
The High-Protein Diet
A low-carb diet isn't sufficient if you play regular sports or enjoy exercise. In such a scenario, you need the maximum amount of "energy" that you can get in order to make your workouts effective while keeping the calories in check so that you can lose weight as well.
That's where the high-protein diet comes in. It not only gives you the extra "proteins" needed if you have are physically very active, but it also allows for more carbohydrates so that you have "extra fuel" to burn during exercise.
However, a high-protein diet doesn't automatically mean that you will be eating more carbs - it is simply a shift in mindset, focusing on providing you with enough energy and nutrients in order to maintain an active lifestyle. If you want to build muscles through workouts (while losing weight), you'll have to ensure that you give your body enough fuel in the form of carbohydrates and proteins so that not only do your muscles get proper help, but that you also get the extra energy you need for the workout - i.e. you don't feel tired and sleepy after each workout.
In all other aspects, the high-protein diet is similar to the low-carb diet: Eat less calories than you burn, make sure that you eat foods that stimulate your metabolism (and not put it to sleep) - except that in this case, thanks to exercise, your body can tolerate more carbohydrates before they start to affect your metabolism.
Putting it all together
In the next lesson (lesson number 6), I'll synthesize everything that we've learned in these 5 past lessons into a simplified, distilled formula. Now that you've followed the process from the beginning to the end, you'll be more informed and thus in a better state of mind to implement the "natural eating plan" that I've provided for you. In addition, I'll also discuss dieting and exercise, and tell you why these two popular weight-loss remedies are NOT the magic pills they are made out to be.
All the best,
Brad Callen
Health and Fitness Consultant
http://www.dietplannerplus.com/
