I don't like the word "diet." I want to audibly groan and roll my eyes when someone tells me, "I'm on a diet." When I hear that word, it screams FAILURE to me. In my mind, "diet" means some fad thing that you try when you want to drop some weight by taking some ridiculous measure that you can't possibly sustain for any length of time.
Diet = quick fix = failure.
Come on, we've all tried at least one crazy "diet." I remember a college friend of mine trying the Cabbage Soup Diet. There's Atkins, South Beach, Grapefruit Diet....I don't even think I'm scratching the surface here. Think about all of the pills out there that claim they can magically help you melt away? (Ha!) What have you tried and how long could you stick to it? What happened when you stopped your "diet?" Let me guess.....you gained some or all of your weight back and maybe even a little more. Then, you had to start all over again. How frustrating and discouraging!! These "diets" don't teach you anything about making sustainable changes in your eating habits.
To make change last, you have to put in place a sensible, sustainable plan. These changes need to be built into your life, not on top of what you already have going on. Below is a list of general guidelines that I gave to my small group FITclub this week. They aren't all mine-- I got most of them from a trainer/author that I follow from Results Fitness; Rachel Cosgrove. I eat this way and it works for me. These are common sense "rules" to follow when you are trying to clean up your eating and give your body what it needs each day to optimally function AND lose weight. Here's some of what Rachel says (I tweaked some, it's not verbatim)-
1. Clean out your kitchen! Eliminate the junk and stock up on healthy fuel. You cannot have a house filled with tempting foods and expect success. First you need to eliminate anything that is likely to trigger you to slip up.
Everyone has trigger foods and the last place they should be is in your house. Don't test your will power; it's not that strong. Then you'll need to stock your house with everything you need to be successful and get in the habit of being prepared! The key to success is to prepare ahead of time.
Hit the grocery store and fill your cart with healthy food to fuel your body!
2. Supplement daily with a multivitamin, six to ten grams of Omega-3 fish oil and 2000 IUs of Vitamin D3. If your body is deficient in any of the vital nutrients you will not burn fat and achieve your goals. Taking these supplements daily is your insurance policy that you are getting everything your body needs to function optimally. These daily supplements are a mandatory part of guaranteeing success.
3. Eat breakfast within 15 minutes of waking up, followed by a meal every 3-4 hours eating four to six meals a day. You must keep fuel coming in all day to keep your blood sugar stable, starting first thing in the morning. Think about prioritizing breakfast and then de-emphasize dinner.
4. Have a protein source at every meal. Protein contains amino acids, which is what your body needs to recover and repair itself. Never eat carbohydrates alone. Carbohydrates raise your blood sugar, some faster than others, telling your body to go into storage mode. Protein blunts this increase in your blood sugar keeping you in a stable fat burning mode. At every meal have a source of protein with a carbohydrate. It is important you eat a protein with each meal to keep you in a fat burning state all day long. For your breakfast, lunch and dinner shoot for 4-6 ounces of protein, which looks like the size of the palm of your hand. You do not need to get your scale out, just eyeball it, but make sure you are getting enough.
5. Eliminate all processed carbohydrates. Again, some carbohydrates will raise your blood sugar faster than others. You want to completely avoid the carbohydrates that will shoot your blood sugar straight into fat storing mode, which includes processed foods such as bread, cereal, crackers, pasta, pretzels and sugar. All of your carbohydrate sources should be from fruits, vegetables or whole grains.
6. Eat healthy fats. Don't be afraid of fats! You need good fats in your diet. Plenty of avocado, fish, nuts, coconut oil or milk, and olive oil - these are essential to making you healthy! There has also been research that shows Omega-3 fatty acids, the kind found in fish, increase and help regulate your body's fat burning potential!
7. Drink mostly water. Drink half your bodyweight in ounces of water every day. Being dehydrated takes away from your exercise performance, leading to decreased results; and causes fatigue and increases your cortisol levels, your stress hormone that breaks down muscle tissue. Your urine should be clear. If your urine is not clear you are not drinking enough water. You can have coffee and tea in moderation. Think of water as your fat burning liquid.
8. Always drink a workout shake either during your workout or within 10 minutes of finishing your workout. Use a high quality whey protein shake (with 20-30 grams of protein) mixed with fruit or another carbohydrate. You will not get everything out of your workout if you skip this step. You must replenish your body immediately after your workout with quick releasing carbs and fats (a shake is best) to ensure optimal recovery.
9. Keep a journal of what you are eating. Keeping a journal will keep you accountable and keep you on track. To achieve your goals, you must keep track of what you are doing, so you can look back and make changes if you need to.
Here's what I have to add-
10. Plan, plan, and plan some more. If you are busy, this will help your chances of successfully meeting your goals. Make meals ahead of time that you can reheat or use your crock pot. Bring snacks with you everywhere that you can eat in a hurry.
11. Have planned splurges-- splurges can include dessert, baked goods, candy, pop, pizza, eating out, etc. Things that you "shouldn't" be eating on a regular basis. Look at your upcoming week and decide when a splurge can happen. Plan to have 3 total during the whole week.
12. Eat more on days that you work out versus days that you rest and recover. How much more? Just a few hundred calories.
Choose one and work on it. When you've mastered it, work on another, then another until you can do them without thinking about it. If you go off the mark sometimes, move forward and get back on track the next time you eat. Nobody is perfect- give yourself a break!
This isn't the perfect list or the magic advice. There is always contradictory research out there that will talk about other ways to eat. Like I said, I follow this advice and I can talk about it because I know that it works. I have the transformed body to prove it.
