This week let’s talk about the diet we’ve recommended to our Biggest Losers. I’ve always been a big believer that the best diet is… no diet! Now I know there are some very well known diets and meal plans out there and you can lose weight on them.
I’ve come to believe, though, that most diets really work because they impose discipline on the eater, typically by restricting certain “bad” foods and encouraging “good” foods. In many (if not most) cases, diets almost always end up being too hard to maintain over the long haul.
A much better approach is to learn how to eat correctly. I call it “eating right.” For most of us, its also comes down to learning how to manage your portions.
Women usually need to learn how to start eating breakfast and midmorning snacks. This means they need to learn how to eat more. This is a real paradigm shift for most ladies who’ve typically beaten themselves up about food, and are now scared of every single calorie.
Guys typically need to learn how to eat less, by learning some portion control. For guys, this also means they need to quit eating all the junk they shove in their mouths.
It also helps to slow down a little bit. When I was losing my 32 lbs, I realized that a lot of times, I’d eat past the point of being full—just to be eating. Later, it got easier to eat less, and now I find myself filling full sooner, on smaller portions!
This doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some of the foods you like. You should be able to enjoy them—once in awhile. We’ve been given a palate for a reason. Foods are for fuel and enjoyment.
A good plan is to have a cheat meal or even a cheat day once in awhile. Another is to pick your times. If you know you’re going to have something higher in calories you can plan for it by pulling back earlier, perhaps missing a snack. You can also plan in extra activities to burn it off.
Remember, food is fuel. If you’re eating in the right amounts and covering your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) which I talked about a few weeks ago, you’ll just burn what you eat. It won’t be stored as fat.
With all your new activity, you’ll also be coming up a little short during the day so your body will go to fat stores for fuel. This is called a calorie deficit and the basis for weight loss.
If you don’t lose a lot of pounds right away don’t worry too much—people often see changes in their clothing first. Last week, two ladies told me that while they both only lost four pounds in the first five weeks, they’d each lost 10 inches around their midsection and hips!
So here’s the Meal Plan: eating right means eating a balanced diet that contains a serving of Protein, Starch, and Fruits or Greens (vegetables). If your plate looks like this, you’re probably doing fine.
Next week, we’ll talk about food choices from each category, how your body uses them, and how this can help you feel and perform better!
This week’s Biggest Loser was Jennifer Bell, who lost 1.8 percent of her body weight and 3.6 lbs! Michelle Clark was second, losing 1.7% and 2.6 lbs. She also won the workout challenge this week, logging 16 hours, 10 min total workout time! Vince Porter placed third, losing 1.6% and 3.8 lbs.
If you have any questions about fitness or working out, please feel free to contact me at Tom’s Fitness on Facebook!
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