Diet Basics
- Drink
Water!
- At
least 8 glasses per day, Sodas do not count! Stay away
from even the diet drinks! I’d suggest that fruit
drinks, lemonade, and such are no longer part of your
permanent diet. Drink water instead.
(Note: I really
think this is key!)
- Drink
one glass of water before each meal, and a half a glass
afterwards.
Drink one glass of water before you eat a snack (If you
feel hungry between meals the odds are that you are
really thirsty, so water first and then snack later ---
if you still feel hungry.)
- If
your tap water does not have a good flavor -- get a
filter
- NO
caffeine! One dose of Caffeine stimulates Insulin
production for over 18 hours!
The reason this diet works is that it lowers
blood serum Insulin levels, which also helps with a
whole bunch of other health threats, like high blood
pressure high cholesterol levels, and diabetes type II.
- NO
aspartame! Or as close to none as is practical, it
increases your appetite so you eat more, makes you crave
sweets, and increases insulin production.
Caffeine and Aspartame together pack a hard
one-two punch, that takes you out of the game for good!
- Count
your Effective Carbohydrates!
- An
effective carbohydrate (Carbs) is the amount of
Carbohydrates less the fiber, in grams.
(I.E. 5
grams of Carbohydrates and 3 grams of Fiber in a food,
equals 2 grams of Effective Carbohydrates.)
- 35
Grams per day, for 30 Days, then 55 grams per day until
you reach your goal.
- After
you have reached your goal, add Carbohydrates into your
diet at a rate of about 5 Grams per day each week until
you stabilize. (I.E. 60 grams the first week, 65 the
second, 70 the third…) You will probably stabilize at
around 100% to 130% of the amount of protein you should
consume for your lean body mass.
(Remember to shoot for percent body fat, not
weight as your goal. Go on how you look and feel!)
- That
means NO Sweets, NO Soft Drinks, NO Doughnuts, etc.
until you stabilize, and then watch it.
You can splurge occasionally, but you may need to
go back on the basic 35 Carbs diet for a few days after
a splurge.
- Count
your Protein!
- Get
your minimum amount every day for your lean body mass --
around .6 (6/10) ~
.8 (8/10) grams per pound of lean body mass (for example
at 6’ 2” and big boned I get 100 grams a day, my
wife is at about 60~70 grams minimum) Find your body fat
using a scale such as the Tanita®
Body Fat Monitor/Scale
As an alternative
most wellness clinics, or your personal Doctor can test
you. (I have a limited number of fat calipers on hand, send
me $10.00 to cover postage and such and I’ll send you
one, if you want to check it by hand.)
- Fat
is OK!
Choose the right types of fat, and keep it low to
moderate.
- Don’t
make a big deal out of the fats, you don’t have to
count them, but don’t go wild either.
- Choose
the ones that contain Omega 3 Fatty Acids: Butter!
(yes!), Nuts (watch the cashews), Olives, Avocados,
Olive Oil.
- EPA/DHA
comes from cold-water fish oil, it is proven in clinical
studies to reduce heart attacks --- take a supplement if you don’t have three servings of fish a week.
(Around my house we could use their “Brain
Health” supplement as well <grin> …)
Plus it counter acts the negative arachidonic
fatty acid found in red meat and egg yolk.
- Consider
supplementing Evening Primrose oil for GLA and Linoleic Acid to shorten or stop
plateaus of weight loss, and to compliment the EPA
(Also it is very good for women, and their
special needs.)
- Meats
that contain fats like Bacon and Sausage and such are
O.K., but keep an eye on your fats.
Don’t consume them indiscriminately.
(Note: Trim as much fat as possible from red
meats.) Calories are calories so make your fat
calories count on good fats like Olives and Nuts and
such.
- Vegetables
are great!
- Most
Vegetables are unlimited, but watch the Carbs!
- Corn,
beans and potatoes have a lot of Carbs so hold off on
those until after the first 30 days.
- ONE
slice of bread contains over 1/3 of your whole days
Carbs. Take it easy on things with flour!
- Fruits
are good in moderation, some --- like strawberries and
melons have very few Carbs, but a lot of flavor.
- Supplement
your micro-nutritional needs! (Especially
during the first 30 days!)
- If
you take a vitamin and do not feel more energy, change
supplements. (try Goji
Juice to speed things up)
- You
can adjust your vitamin supplementation according to how
you feel after the first 30 days, but it is very wise to
continue supplementation until after you reach your
goal, and are stabilized and on the maintenance diet.
Even then I would consider a good high quality
supplement considering the high stress environment that
we live in. Most
of us just can’t consume enough veggies to give us the
micronutrients that we need for our stressful
lifestyles. A
good diet, get enough sleep and lower your stress level
and you won’t need the supplementation, or not as much
anyway.
- Use
a top quality Vitamin. Vitamins like One a Day and such do nothing for
you; if you are not
going to supplement, increase your Vegetables by double!
(But keep an eye on those Carbs.) Consider Calcium /
Magnesium and Vitamin C at a minimum.
Many herbs and such can help with bone density
loss and other problems.
- Keep
an eye on your Potassium levels as the diuretic effect
of the diet can lower your potassium levels too far.
Morton Un-Salt (Potassium Chloride) is a good
choice to help keep the potassium levels up.
Or if you use a Water Softener use Potassium
Chloride to recharge the water softer.
- Deserts!
- Fruits
like Melons, some berries and such, but keep an eye on
the carbs and have desert well before bedtime.
Carbohydrates affect the release of Human Growth Hormone
(which is helping to correct the Fat / Lean body mass
problem) by suppressing its release an hour after you go
to bed.
- Cut
a Chocolate Mint or the Fudge Protein bar up into
chocolate kisses for a desert
- Aspartame,
if misused, can have extremely negative side affects,
especially when combined with caffeine; it is best to
stay with natural sweeteners like fructose and such.
Even sugar is better --- in moderation.
- Snacks!
- If
you are hungry, EAT! --- hunger causes binges.
Drink water first, as most likely you are thirsty
rather than hungry, (80% of Americans are sub-clinically
dehydrated, and just 2% dehydration can affect your
thinking.) If
after a drink you are still hungry --- eat a snack, chew
on some Jerky, eat some string cheese, piece on a chocolate mint or fudge protein bar
--- low Carb / high Protein stuff.
- Sleep!
8 Hours worth.
- Preparation
for the diet should include getting eight hours of good
sleep every night for one week before you start.
The first week will leave many people tired and
exhausted as the body switches from Carbohydrate burning
to Fat burning mode. Plus good sleep habits increase the
natural release of Human Growth Hormone (HGH), which builds the lean body mass essential to
creating a lasting change of body composition. HGH is released after the first hour after going to
sleep and during the 4th stage of sleep (that
last hour of REM sleep).
Too many Carbohydrates in the blood stream will
suppress the first release, and insufficient sleep will
prevent the second release from happening. Dr. James B.
Maas, author of Power Sleep, states that
"Between the seventh and eighth hour is when we get
almost an hour of REM [rapid eye movement] sleep, the
time when the mind repairs itself, grows new connections
and puts it all together. REM sleep occurs about every
90 minutes, and the periods of REM sleep get longer as
the night progresses. If you're a six-hour sleeper,
you're missing that last, important opportunity to
repair and to prepare for the coming day."
- HGH
is also released one hour after exercising --- so NO
carbs after exercise.
Eat a Protein bar
instead
of carbs before/after exercise.
(Also good for a quick meal on the run, or to
give a chocoholic a fix.)
- HGH
release stimulators are now available, but they are
expensive (around $70 a month at vitamincart.com)
and their safety has not been adequately proven.
However, early clinical studies indicate that it
is more effective than HGH shots, which created huge
gains in lean body mass and a general shift in
metabolism towards a more youthful period in your life.
- Exercise!
- Lift
weights; try to build your lean muscle, rather than just
aerobic exercise. If
your body fat percentage is not corrected your weight
will remain unstable. This is a MUST! If you are just starting an exercise
program consider crawling on all fours to start with.
Crawl 15 seconds a day and increase it by 5 seconds a
day --- when you can crawl without raising your heart
rate, until you can crawl for say 5~10 minutes ---
without raising your heart rate.
Then start your weight lifting and aerobics
program. If your nervous system is not in shape to begin
with it will take a lot more exercise to get in shape,
so get the nervous system in shape by crawling first.
If you have to stop and think about how to crawl,
or your heart rate elevates when crawling contact Eldon
at I-Can-Soar@home.com,
he has a system than can help you re-coordinate that
right / left brain activity in just a few hours.
- Fiber
- Shoot
for at least 25 grams of fiber per day.
- Remember
Carbohydrates are counted as Carbohydrates minus Fiber. I.E. 3 grams of Carbohydrates and 2 Grams of Fiber
means that you only count 1 gram of Effective
Carbohydrates (Carbs).
Questions? Feel free to write me ---
mike@glamography.com
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