Change How You Think Of Dieting For Success

Sure, typical weight loss diets are boring and awful. Chicken, broccoli, rice, salad, and eggs are generally staples of this diet. Some of the fad diets out there (and there are no shortage of them) say to only eat one type of food and ignore others. It's difficult to find the right diet to follow with so many out there - just check out the tabloid magazines, books, infomercials, and celebrities all promoting various diets. After you've picked one, now you have to shop to prepare for it, and stick with it for the duration. But guess what, most people fail to follow their diets because their diets are boring, don't taste the best, don't fit in well with our busy lives, and because cheating on your diet is way more rewarding in the short term than waiting for the long term outcome of your goal. Let's face it, after a day or two of dieting, we all crave something and can't stop thinking about it. Also, I should point out that there are some diets out there that are just downright dangerous. But there is a hack that discovered and I follow to this day that makes it easier for you to stick to a diet - whether your goal is to lose weight, build muscle, or fuel for a sports event. It's actually quite simple and can fit in effortlessly with anyones busy life. But first, I want to share what a lot of people do not realize, or they do realize, but it bears repeating:

• Weight loss comes from a caloric deficit - you are burning more calories than you are intaking.

• Weight gain comes from a caloric surplus - you are consuming more calories than you are burning.

This simple mathematical rule never waivers. It's how you gain weight or lose weight. Furthermore, what is interesting is that a calorie is a calorie - it doesn't matter if it came from a steak, a pizza, or a carrot. Calories are an energy unit of measurement - a calorie is a measure of how much energy is in a food. If you expend more energy than you intake, you lose weight. If you consume more energy than you use, you gain weight. Food is energy, and just like a bank account, you either run a surplus or deficit of energy. But, calories come from the foods we eat by way of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats - the macronutrients essential for life. Your body, just to maintain homeostasis uses all three. Any diet that lacks any of these three macronutrients is a dangerous diet to follow and can put your health in serious jeopardy. Forget about diets that are zero fat or zero carb. Fats for example, are important for hormone production and regulation, carbs provide energy for body processes and brain power, and proteins are important for cellular functions and generation.

Now, not all calories are equal. Yes, a calorie is a calorie, just like a gram of protein is a gram of protein - regardless if it came from a turkey or a fish, or a pea. But, that doesn't mean the bio-advantage of a Big Mac combo is the same as a well balanced meal. I think dieters get too hung up on counting calories alone when choosing foods to eat. Being aware of calories is important, but you shouldn't get hung up on it, and you shouldn't forgo more nutritious and wholesome foods, to consume typical high caloric low nutritional value foods. For example, if you eat that Big Mac combo and use your whole days' worth of calories in that one meal, you don't get to eat anything else all day, and you'd be losing out on vital nutrients and minerals needed to function optimally. In fact, if you do this, you'll force your body to cling to those calories and store them primarily as fat. You'll also be starving all day and cranky, and crave high caloric foods. Highly processed or fast foods do have their place in any diet - the cheat day - but they should not be the backbone of your diet. Eating nutritious foods all day long is more important for what your body needs to function, to lose or gain quality weight (i.e. muscle) than just hitting your calorie limit.

Here's my diet "hack" that can be modified to either gain or lose weight. How I arrived at this diet is I combined the theory behind Weight Watchers with Lee Labrada's diet strategy. I found that when combined, they were effective for me and took the guesswork out of portion sizes, and it didn't leave me with cravings. It's this simple:

1. Divide your plate into thirds.

2. Fill each third with one of: 1 cup protein, 1 cup carbohydrate, 1 cup vegetables. If you don't have a measuring cup, just use the size of your closed fist.

3. Eat foods you want, just follow the portioning rule above, or stick to standard portion sizes of recipes or on the package of the product.

4. Intake fats. Intake carbs.

5. Eat 3 main meals and at least 2-3 snacks a day. Eat every 2-3 hours.

6. For each snack, try to include a fat, a carb and a protein.

7. Eat only proteins up to 2 hours before your bedtime. No carbs late at night. No exception. If you're starving before bed, have some protein and fats.

8. Give yourself 1 cheat meal per week, but be cautious of portion sizes - for example, go ahead and have that Chinese Food you crave, but skip the buffet.

9. The most important step - I give myself mini-treats a day. I love sweets, so I have one sweet a day, but I don't overindulge. For example, I'll have 1-2 cookies but stop there, and don't eat the whole sleeve out of the package.

Eating to be healthy isn't too complicated, and if you eat foods you enjoy, then your chances of falling off the diet wagon get seriously reduced. Also, by ensuring your eating carbs, proteins, fats, and vegetables, you are ensuring your body will be running optimally, regardless if you are trying to cut or bulk. Now, I would start off with these proportions and adjust accordingly, depending on your goals. For example, if you are trying to gain weight, you may want to increase your portion size, or number of meals you eat through the day, and conversely, if you are trying to lose weight, you could even drop to half a cup portion sizes. But, for the vast majority of North Americans beginning to lose weight, I would start off at a cup portion size. The main point is to:

• Stick to portion sizes

• Eat every 2-3 hours

• Reduce junk foods and foods with low bio-value

• Have 1 cheat meal per week
  

• Remember to drink more water

How does this style of died translate into your busy family lifestyle? How can you lose weight if you're making chicken fingers and french fries for dinner for you and the kids? Easy - stick to portions. Have 3-4 chicken fingers, have 1/2 to 1 cup of fries, adds some veggies and opt for a lower calorie dipping sauce. Dinner done, and you and the kids can eat the same food - no cooking 2 separate meals. The problem parents often run into is that they eat more than a standard portion size, or go for seconds - leading to a calorie surplus that just gets stored as fat. I'm a big fan of the idea that you have to like what you eat. Thats' why I don't necessarily restrict what foods I eat, I just moderate the portion sizes. Eating better to lose weight doesn't have to be complicated, and you can still have foods you like without starving yourself.

But, often overlooked in the caloric equation is energy burned. If you just eat food all day and don't move a muscle, you will gain weight. An effective "diet" plan has to be accompanied by physical activity. Even that doesn't have to be overly complicated. Take the stairs where available, go for a walk, opt to stand more versus sit, park further away from the shopping mall entrance. In the course of a day, getting physical activity doesn't have to be complicated, and you don't need to go to a gym either. Eating poorly, eating too much, and being sedentary are what causes weight gain. But also so does starving yourself - your body will desparately try to cling to calories and store them as fat if it believes it is facing a famine. However, what is interesting is that the more muscle you can build, the more calories you will burn - so if you add weight bearing exercises to your workout, you will lose weight faster. Building muscle increases the caloric requirement to maintain homeostasis in your body.

Often people also think that to eat healthy you have to spend more money, and I'm also here to debunk that myth. First, and controversially, I will suggest you don't refer to the food pyramid - it has been known for some time know that different businesses and agricultural lobby groups have influenced its development heavily, and it is not necessary based on what is actually required for physiological functioning. Now, with that said, here are some staples in my shopping lists that are budget friendly:

• Rice, pasta, breads, oats

• Ground beef, tuna, lean deli meat

• Frozen vegetables

• Eggs, milk, cheese

• Natural peanut butter

• Apples, bananas

I've lost 60 plus pounds, increased strength and musculature, and increased my cardiovascular endurance following the diet basics I've mentioned above, coupled with a good workout plan. I still eat the foods I like, but in moderation. I have a cheat meal once per week, and still let myself having a little sweet snack each day. And ironically, after using this diet method for over a year I have actually reduced my desire for high processed foods and sugary foods. You will notice that if you fuel your body right, you will crave less of the junk foods. Also the expendature part of it makes it more economical to eat this way than to rely on fast foods - I can feed myself in a well balanced and healthy way for $100 per week, but it would cost me double that if I ate fast food all week.

A couple of things I want to point out is the use of the word diet and the use of a weight scale. First, we in modern culture use the word diet to imply a caloric restriction to lose weight. In fact, the word diet simply means foods we eat. For example, an archeologist may be interested in the diet of Roman gladiators or ancient Egyptians. It doesn't imply they were trying to lose weight, but simply means the foods they ate to give them sustenance. I would suggest replacing the word diet to mean its scientific term in your daily life - you would be amazed at how thinking differently of your diet will change you. You will look at food as what it truly is intended for - fuel for the body - and you will make better food choices when shopping at the grocery store or at the restaurant. Second, I would suggest only stepping on the weigh scale once a week at a maximum. The oddest phenomenon occurs when people start a diet and exercise to lose weight - their body weight usually increases at first. Don't be alarmed if this happens to you, and it does not mean your efforts aren't paying off. Your body is simply building muscle which adds to the scale when you check it. After enough time and consistency, you will notice your weight decrease as you build muscle and burn the body fat you are trying to shed. A scale is a tool, but if mistreated (i.e. checked daily) it can be your biggest enemy and crush your goal. It's easy to say your plan is not working and fall off the wagon, but remember, your weight will increase at first and then you will see the drop off occur - trust me. Besides, a better measure of how you are losing weight is if your clothes are getting looser and if other people are noticing a change in your body!

Changing how you think of food - by thinking of it as fuel - you will find yourself shopping and ordering foods that will fuel your body for your needs. If you eat nutritious foods in the right proportions over multiple meals a day, you will provide your body with the energy you need optimal functioning. If you increase your exercise, you will force your body to consume more energy, allowing you to burn fat at a higher level. If you allow yourself mini cheat items a day, and one cheat meal per week, you will drastically reduce the temptation of getting off the diet wagon. If you eat balanced meals and exercise, you will notice your clothes becoming looser over time.