4-Nuts
( After completing step 1 it may be difficult to hold back from eating greater amounts between meals. This step keeps you on a healthy track to holding back and eating healthy)
When was the last time you were truly hungry? Is it possible to even recall such a time? In the fight towards a healthy weight it is important to recognize the difference between eating out of habit and eating out of hunger. Remember that the adverse health effect of being overweight is equivalent to smoking ten cigarettes a day. Furthermore, studies show that regular fast food consumption is as damaging to your health as being a regular smoker. This is why we can’t stress enough how drastic weight is to one’s overall health.
Eating is often a pattern that comes from boredom or having a
desire for food, rather than a need for it. Some dieticians suggest that
hunger is the need for nutrients rather than food. This means if your
food isn't providing nutrition then the feeling of hunger will come much
more frequently. Many of the processed foods also have chemicals that
can be as addictive as cocaine (sugar as one example). We are wired to
want to eat, just as a smoker’s mind tells him or her that a cigarette is
needed. Due to that reason, I would say this step is the most difficult to
break. Yet at the same time, this is also one of the most powerful tools in
becoming healthy and prolonging life.
I am by no means saying that you should not eat between meals. It is actually important to eat between meals to keep up metabolism and prevent overeating during a meal. The two concepts involved in step 4 are as follows; eat only when you’re hungry and choosing the right foods to snack on. Start this process by going without eating for 12 daylight hours. Do this one time as a way to remind yourself what it truly feels like to be hungry. You won’t be starving yourself but will rather regain the sensation of what hunger truly feels like. Gain an appreciation for this feeling and think of it as, ‘being healthy is more filling than food ever will be.’
It’s time to say good bye to the simplicity of eating junk food when you’re hungry. Plan ahead and bring the right food to eat when that time comes. This applies to both eating and drinking. Drinking too often results in consuming useless calories. Barry M. Popkin, a PhD professor of nutrition and director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Obesity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, revealed that we consume more than a fifth of our calories from what we drink. That is anywhere between 400 – 750 calories a day or 146,000 – 273,750 calories a year (41.7 – 78 pounds). This is also a prime place to start the 30% calorie reduction we are aiming for! Beware of the so called “health drinks” such as vitamin water, Gatorade, sugar-filled teas, etc, which may contain a few vitamins, but they also contain around 120 calories per serving from sugar. You can get all the vitamins you need from a good dietary supplement without any of the calories. I would also recommend avoiding fruit juice. They contain twice as many sugar calories per ounce as the actual fruit and are far less filling. When it comes to artificial sweeteners, we suggest avoiding all fake sugars and most importantly avoiding aspartame (equal©) at all cost. Aspartame is the artificial sugar used in almost every diet soda. It is the most dangerous of all sweeteners with over 90 side effects to its name, including addiction, weight gain, and cancer. Only 6 months after aspartame was introduced brain tumors rose 10%, diabetes rose by 30%, and brain lymphoma tumors by 60%.
Following is a list of recommended drinks:
- Water (With the right diet and dietary supplements water is all you need)
*Must drink at least 6 glasses of pure water each day. Then the choice is yours
- Any type of vegetable juice (Avoid those with added sugar)
- Skim milk or an unsweetened dairy-free alternative (Soy/Almond/Rice)
- Tea/Coffee (Recent studies show 6 cups a day to be beneficial; especially for men)
* Note: 6 cups is not the same as 6 glasses. A mug can hold more than 3 cups.
Now for the snacks! The best type of food to include into your snack routine are nuts. Loma Linda University discovered that by eating approximately two ounces of nuts a day for five days out of the week, adds approximately 2.9 years to a person's life expectancy. As healthy as nuts are, it is still important to keep them in moderation. For all other snacks, our greatest recommendation is to stick with fruits and vegetables. Pick your favorites and prepare them any way you choose before leaving the house, or simply take them raw. Cooking or freezing fruits and vegetables are not going to hurt them nearly enough for you to worry about as long as you don’t cook them directly in water. In fact studies show that cooking some vegetables like tomatoes adds to their nutritional absorbtion in the body. We suggest grain only as a second option simply because the carbohydrates can cause calories to add up fairly quickly. They are still a much better substitute to fast food or the common sugar filled quick-snacks. Be sure it is whole grain to help stabilize hunger and to avoid diabetes. Any other type of food you chose should contain more fats and protein than sugar. Avoid sugar more than any other natural substance.
Now for a topic that very few Americans follow. A majority of our daily food intake should be in the first half of the day. Breakfast should be the largest meal and then it should go down from there. Food is our source of energy. That is why it is so important to consume those calories in the morning when you have the entire day ahead of you. It is especially important to keep dinner proportions to a minimum, especially if you’re inactive afterwards. You should try avoiding any food within 90 minutes of bed. Those who eat breakfast everyday are 40% less likely to be overweight.
It is important to keep all of this as a conscious effort. Get up a few minutes earlier and make yourself a lunch and pack one for your kids as well. When putting food away at home make sure the healthiest foods have the easiest access. Most all fruits and vegetables do not need to be refrigerated so don’t do so (if it wasn't cooled at the store it's ok to keep it out at home). Pre-wash the fruits and vegetables and keep them where they are easily seen. Put away the bowl of candy and replace it with a fruit bowl instead. Don’t keep unhealthy food in the same location as your healthy foods. Separating them will keep them 'out of sight and out of mind.' It’s often the simplest changes that make the biggest difference.
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Complete step 4 and:
Consume nuts 5+ times a week - Add 2 years
Drop calories from drinks to under 150 calories - Add 1 more year
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