A few students and I were discussing my birthday goal of having a "six pack". (for those of you that know me, it's not what you think ;)
Which brought up an old saying "you don't lose your gut in the gym, you lose it in the kitchen."
So I was asked for some advice, just little tips, of things you could do to get your diet on track. Here are just a few;
- Start a food journal.
Get a little notebook and pen and keep track of what you eat. If you can't commit yourself to this tiny responsibility, the discipline to correctly diet may prove too difficult for you. Here's what you should keep track of. Date, time of meal, what you eat, how much you eat, mood. Don't forget to list snacks and beverages! You would be shocked if you knew how many calories sneak into your body with a soda or gourmet coffee! At the end of the day, if you are serious, you can actually add up the calories of what you have eaten that day.
Mood is important, you will discover the bad habits you have in eating are sometimes tied to emotion. I crave beer after a long hard day! Some people crave cake when they're sad. Discovering your bad habits are key in stopping your bad habits.
Here is one more tip... write in your food journal what you are about to eat.... not what you have just eaten. This will foster the discipline to make better choices in eating. It is much better to be disappointed in what you want to eat... than what you have just eaten.
- Cut calories to lose weight!
Duh! Read that again! I didn't say cut fat, or cut carbs... calories! Your body needs all the basic building blocks if you are going to healthily and successfully lose weight. That said you should understand that carbs are important! Carbs are your body's fuel, without them your body will start to burn protein for energy. What you want is for your body to burn the carbohydrates in your body for energy, and store protein for building and healing muscle. How much protein do you need?
| I never work out! |
0.4 Grams X your weight |
| I do some stuff |
0.5 Grams X your weight |
| I work out |
0.6 Grams X your weight |
- SALADS!
They are nutritious and low calorie! Until you make them "delicious". : )
Dressing; a 2 tablespoon serving (pause to picture the size of that serving) has on avg about 12-20 grams of fat. McDonalds small SMALL french fries has only 10.
You know those dressing packets you find in cafeterias and restaurants? That usually about 4 tablespoons and could range from 400 to 800 calories. That's almost half the calories you should be consuming a day!
Reduced fat/cal dressings... you might be surprised! read the labels and compare to regular. no big difference! It is as disappointing as when I learned that some "lite" products weren't necessarily low cal, just made with lighter colored corn syrup!
You want to be sure... go fat free.
Bleu cheese, ranch, sour cream, cookie dough, maple syrup, they're all delicious, but not necessarily the best toppings for our low cal nutritious salad. Better ideas, and relatively still tasty- fresh herbs, vinegar based dressings, mustard based dressings, or my favorite, use salsa sauce! (no seriously... try it!)
- Caffeine is bad, mmmmkay?
Some body builders claim it gives them a boost in the gym, and I agree. In the long run however it is a diuretic which inevitably leads to dehydration which leads to muscle failure, fatigue, and loss of coordination. I would be a hypocrite to say lose the caffeine as I am a big fan... but in the end it only provides false energy, dehydration, that "crash", and delayed muscle development.
- I already said why protein is important... what about carbs?
They are your FUEL! You've heard of complex carbs as opposed to common carbs. Let's have a quick lesson.
like values: Complex=good
addition: More vitamins + more minerals = complex
subtraction: Total Carbs - dietary fiber - sugars = complex carbs
Ingredients are listed in order from most to least. So look at the top of the list! If the top 2 are oil and sugar, you are probably holding a package that is healthier for you than the product it contains.
What does 99% fat free mean? It means BUY ME! But seriously, it means that's the amount of fat free that product truly is, is based on the weight of the product.
Caveat emptor! Turn that product around and read the truth. The nutrition label will tell you the calories and fat grams you really need to know.
- YUMMMMMMM Trail mix and dried fruit!
Great meal substitute.... sometimes.
Dried fruits are not always low cal. But they are good in moderation and properly portioned. They can become villainous when!!!!;
sweetened with sugar
or when banana chips are sweetened THEN FRIED IN OIL!!!
So who are the good guys?
Raisins, apples, dates, prunes, figs, pineapples. Virtually no fat, and high in potassium!
And for a quick boost of beta carotene, try my favorite, dried apricots!
Apricots along with raisins also have a bucket of iron.
- Stop Drinking Carbonated Beverages.
Normally they are packed with tons of crap we don't need and can't use. It is processed, and our bodies waste time figuring out how to digest the trash.
How about Diet? Yeah, about that... Sugar is bad, I get it. But fake man-made sugar is even worse. You do what you need to do, but my opinion is there is no such thing as a good or acceptable carbonated beverage.
You need the sugar?.... no you don't.
You need the caffeine?... have tea or coffee.
Diet is low cal?... Fine, it is still a synthetic chemical not meant to be in your body.
But beer is carbonated!... Ummm yeah, that's a tough call. But believe it or not it is carbonated, packed with calories, AND alcoholic which is also a diuretic (see concerns regarding caffeine in point #4).
At the very least carbonation puts air and gas inside the belly which distends the stomach and makes more room for more hunger/food/calories.
You don't have to believe me, but drink nothing but water for one week, and see what happens to you. Just one week. You'll be surprised.
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