RESEARCH EVERYTHING
Are Two Words to Live By
I'm never going to give you advice or opinions on something unless I've researched it. I'm a science geek like that and I get better results because of it. First off I would like to introduce you to a five minute podcast by the Angry Trainer. He's going to lay down the foundation of this post for me as I move us onto the next steps.
Doomed Diet
I'm going to teach you how to make a diet from scratch. Sounds hard and tedious, but really it's dirt easy and will save you tons of money while making it more personalized to YOU and your family. FOR FREE.
Applying what I stated before in
Basic Facts. Use the widgets, and charts to figure out where you stand and how many calories you need to consume daily.
Once you have that figured out use this simple guide, posted below, to build your menu's. This guide is from
Alton Brown, a chef who got the skinny on himself but followed in the same thought process as the Angry Trainer did and didn't use the diet as a temporary fix. A diet isn't a temporary fix for some weight to come off, it's a permanent change, which is why
it's so important that you don't follow a fad.
Diet, has lost its true meaning and gone commercial for profit. I'm all about saving money and bettering myself so Diet is getting the boot and Diaita will its place. Diaita or Diet is Greek (
diaita) and means "A way of living". This is what dieting is really about. It's about eating. Not binging or purging certain things from your daily intake. It's about how you live and what's going to work for you while sticking to the guidelines that you figured out in Basic Facts.
Alton Brown's Diaita List
Fruits
Whole Grains
Leafy Greens
Nuts
Carrots
Green Tea
Oily Fish
Yogurt
Broccoli
Sweet Potato
Avocado
Red Meat
Pasta
Dessert
Alcohol
Fast Food
Soda
Processed meals/Frozen Dinners
Canned Soups
"Diet" anything
Explanation's and Substitutions
All right you have the list, now what and why? Most of it is self explanatory and true to some of the more beneficial things you've probably heard in the rumor mill about them. Other things may be new territory to you such as the Tea's, Avocado's and our personal likes and dislikes with food. Rule #1 though, don't be afraid to try anything new and don't be afraid of change. This is all about your benefit and health.
Daily - Meaning to consume everyday 7 Days a week, 52 weeks of the year. Why Green Tea?
Harvard's list of benefits
3 times a week - This means out of 7 days you can pick 3 days in which you eat the foods listed.
Also, note that the Sweet Potato isn't the canned ones seeped in syrup. No cans! Get familiar with the produce aisle.
Don't like fish? Try taking Omega-3 pills and eating white meat such as chicken or pork. Not Hot dogs!
Why Avocado?
AHA approves and don't forget to sample new territory you may find and discover something you like and never had before. I tried searching for a substitute for it and found peas and asparagus. It's not like you
must have avocado in your diet. But if you can swing it, why not give it a whirl?
Once a week - This means ONE DAY per Week you can pick
one of this group to have.
Cost & Calorie Cutter! - Cut Back on your Groceries Shopping and Calorie by having 2 days of the week all Veggie Days. You can stand to go Vegan just two days a week, or even one. Start small and look up new and interesting salads and steamed or roasted veggies as your meals instead of meats.
WEEK 1
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Daily | Daily | Daily | Daily | Daily | Daily | Daily |
| All Veggie | 3x's yogurt | All
Veggie | 3x's Fish | | 3x's Sweet P. |
| 1x's red meat | Day | | Day | | | |
The chart above shows a quick set up of the week. However, try to keep the variety going. So week one may look like that. But week two can look like;
WEEK 2
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Daily | Daily | Daily | Daily | Daily | Daily | Daily |
All
Veggie
| 3x's Broc. | | 3x's Fish | All
Veggie | | 3x's Avocado |
| Day | | | | Day | 1x's Pasta | |
BUYING BEWARE and PORTION CONTROL
READ the Back of that Label!! I can't stress of how important it is to LOOK at what you're buying. A proper measured portion of cereal to fall into the calorie guidelines does not look like the full bowl on the front of the box! So Be Aware!!
Secondly, and this is
my personal rule of thumb. Never buy anything over 300-400 calories per portion. And if the Fat Calorie content is half or greater, apart from cooking oils and nuts. Don't buy it.
Also, the less ingredients listed on the back the better. This is one time when Less is More when it comes to our health. No chemicals, preservatives, sodium and syrups to disrupt our systems. I like turning over a box of raisins and all it says is California Seedless Grapes.
Example of a
Do Not Buy:
Pillsbury-Sausage-Veggies-Egg-Scrambles-8-oz
| Nutrition Facts |
Serving Size 226 G
Servings Per Container 1 |
| Amount Per Serving |
Calories 280
Calories from Fat 140
|
| % Daily Value* |
| Total Fat 16 G | 24 |
Saturated Fat 5 G
|
25
|
Trans Fat 0 G
|
|
| Cholesterol 315 Mg | 105 |
| Sodium 880 Mg | 37 |
| Total Carbohydrate 21 G | 7 |
Dietary Fiber 3 G
|
10
|
Sugars 5 G
|
|
| Protein 14 G | |
| Vitamin A | 15 |
| Vitamin C | 4 |
| Calcium | 10 |
(-) Information is currently not available for this nutrient.
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs:**
** Percent Daily Values listed below are intended for adults and children over 4 years of age. Foods represented or purported to be for use by infants, children less than 4 years of age, pregnant women, or lactating women shall use the RDI's that are specified for the intended group provided by the FDA.
| Calories: | 2,000 | 2,500 |
|---|
| Total Fat | Less than | 65g | 80g |
| Sat. Fat | Less than | 20g | 25g |
| Cholesterol | Less than | 300mg | 300mg |
| Sodium | Less than | 2400mg | 2400mg |
| Potassium | 3500mg | 3500mg |
| Total Carbohydrate | 300mg | 375mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 25mg | 30mg |
Calories per gram:
Fat 9·Carbohydrate 4·Protein 4
Learn Portion Control
I'm sure we all remember the food pyramid. The mini Egyptian wonder that was presented to us consistently through elementary school and for some of us, most of our adult lives.
Well that's now changed. The new Food Pyramid, has now become a more conscious item. The Food Plate. And is where I get a lot of my research information from when it comes to creating a menu and diet.
To make life easier on yourself get a digital kitchen scale. I got one for $12.00. It's small flat and has a tare button. If you can afford to spend the extra two dollars buying that "Weight Watchers" program food or that "Diet Soda" then you can make the change and get the cheap digital kitchen scale. That's all you need to start getting ready to figure out your new Diaita.
Putting it Together
Okay so we have our Daily Calorie Intake number: 1800 for me.
I want to eat 3 meals a day. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner and maybe have a snack or two.
1800 divided by 3 = 600
And a snack I want to keep it around 100-200 calories.
So I can have a:
Breakfast 400 calories
Snack 200 calories
Lunch 500 calories
Snack 100 calories
Dinner 600 calories
Totaling up to 1800 calories daily
You can play with your calories for your meals and snacks. You can even have 6 meals a day if you wanted at 300 calories a piece. It all depends on what your Daily Calorie intake would be and how often you want to eat.
**Don't bother removing the 500 calories from your diet just yet. Instead focus on your exercise burning 500 calories and getting used to eating healthier and in controlled portions.
KEEP TRACK
You keep track of how many miles you did on the treadmill, and how many pounds you lost on the scale, why don't you keep track of what you eat? A notebook, calendar, dollar store agenda, excel print out anything will work as long as you can pull it out and keep track of what you eat. Drinks included because those are calories too, unless they're water.
Write down what it was you ate, how much you ate (this is why you measure and read the back of the box) and how many Calories it was. Keep track and add it up after each meal to show you how many calories you've consumed. Before you know it, you won't need the journal. You'll have gotten into the habit of knowing what to eat and what not to eat.
Once you've gotten the hang of portion control, calorie count, and keeping track of what you eat in order to burn it off. You can master your body both inside and out.
MENUS & MEALS
When starting out this is the hardest part. Figuring out what to make and keeping it interesting without tasting like cardboard and getting board with it. My advice. Keep it simple but colorful. Choose My Plate offers this
sample menu. To get started with.
List of Recipe sites that offer up everything you need to keep it interesting, tasty and controlled.
Food Network Healthy Eating - Check out the Special Diets tab. It's great for the "All Veggie Days" just click on Vegetarian. Or how about making two of the week days Low carb or Gluten-free days? Mix it up but stay in your Calorie range. That Tofu Parmesan Sub looks mighty good.
Spark Recipes - Looking for the easiest method to get started? Spark lets you search by Calories per serving! Need a 200 calorie snack? Just select 200 from the drop down tab and go! How about a 300 calorie meal? Drop the tab down pick 300 and search! Its so easy and you can keep changing it up!
Mayoclinic - They give you the ability to browse with special diets, main ingredients, course, meals, and serving sizes! Breakfast is always a mundane thing for me but with a single click I get a list from fruit smoothies to waffles.
All recipes - The Best trial and error with taste buds and opinions to boot. A HUGE Diets section to choose from. You will never run out of options with this place and you'll always find the results true to reviews.
Eating Well - Check out the Easy 500 calorie Dinners or Chicken Dinners for 350 Calories or Less. Just because your trying to lose weight doesn't mean you can't eat well.
Acefitness - Why rely just on cooking sites to get you on the right track? Fitness sites work as well and don't be afraid to check out online magazines such as Self, Women's Health, Men's Health, Shape etc to get recipes from their listings to try.
There's just so much information out there on the Internet that it's a waste not to use it to its fullest potential. Don't bother buying into the magazines, gimmicks, or cookbooks that promise miracles or the diet fads that change like the weather. You have everything you need given to you for free! It's just having to search for it that makes it hard. I've done the work for you. Now all you have to do is apply it to yourself.
Happy Diaita!
