Like many people, I have always had trouble maintaining my weight. I have never been obese but have had many times when I thought it would feel better to weigh 20 pounds less. At 5'11", ideally I should weigh about 172. According to most medical texts, I should weigh between 150-190 for my age. My frame is narrow and therefore a lighter weight suits me better. Those with broader shoulder may need to be on the higher end of this ideal.
What follows is my own preferences and you will have to see what works for you. Eating cookies and cake when no one was watching wasn't really working for me. This plan for me morphed over a few weeks but I have fine tuned it as I saw necessary.
I have come to realize that our bodies are machines. When you start a machine the first time, you add gasoline and it keeps asking for gas forever. Our bodies are fed sugar early and the rest of our lives we are chasing that sugar 'high'. Break the habit.
First things first. As a family, my wife and I decided 6 months ago to stop buying products containing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). That in itself is no easy task. We went through the grocery store for almost 2 hours reading labels and left with very few groceries. The 'stuff' we did bring home was not all that appealing to the kids. We are now way beyond that and should have known from the start that there is very little difference between sugar and high fructose corn syrup. Even ketchup has sugar!!!
This takes true blind faith. Sorry. Actually this part takes the most will power and strength of character you can imagine. But if you are serious about your health and weight, just do it. Stop eating sugar in everything you eat. All kinds. Sugar, organic or otherwise, cane juice, evaporated or not and HFCS. This is without question the hardest thing you will do. No ice cream, no cakes, no cookies, no M & M's. None. I no longer get energy swings during the day. Of course, I used to eat about 30 jelly beans a day, multiple mini chocolate bars, and anything else I could get my hands on. I choose not to eat any sweeteners at all and have given up on Splenda, Equal and Sweet-n-Low as well. There are alternatives such as truvia or stevia, agave and xylitol which are plant based sweeteners. Will power is something you will be fighting with for the next few days, but you will get over it. Be strong!
The next step is dropping the carb load. I am not advocating the Atkins technique where you eat protein almost exclusively. I do eat a good bit of protein but from a variety of sources. I start my day, everyday, with a cup of fat free plain greek yogurt. There are several types of greek yogurt and some with fruit, but all have sugar except the fat free plain. The difference between a cup of regular fat free yogurt and fat free greek yogurt is astounding. The plain yogurt has 18 grams of carbohydrates and 12 grams of protein per serving. The greek yogurt has 9 grams carbohydrates and 23 grams protein for the same serving! Add fresh fruit, raisins, or whatever else you want. Blend it for a smoothie.
The next step is cleansing the carb addiction is to stop eating most breads and pastas. When we eat these quick release carbs, our body tells the pancreas to excrete insulin to handle the breakdown of these carbs and store the sugars as fat. Thats right, fat. This is the main reason for the astronomical rise of diabetics in the US and now, the whole world. Your body does not need all that sugar (carbs are broken down to sugars) and so insulin is released and its job is to store excess glucose for use in times of starvation. To keep insulin from being secreted so frequently, we need to keep our blood glucose (sugar) levels low.
Some historical information. At the beginning of the last century, early 1930's, grain was harvested and left in the field until it was gathered for sale. In that time, the grain would gather moisture by night and sprout as all seeds, nuts and legumes and grains do. The grain was then collected, dried, milled and made into flour. The fact that the grain had time to sprout, allowed the grain to break down many of the enzymes within the grain proper. “An increase in proteolytic activity during sprouting is desirable for nutritional improvement of cereals because it leads to hydrolysis of prolamins and the liberated amino acids such as glutamic and proline are converted to limiting amino acids such as lysine.” According to Chavan and Kadam (1989), most reports agree that sprouting treatment of cereal grains generally improves their vitamin value, especially the B-group vitamins. Certain vitamins such as α-tocopherol (Vitamin-E) and β-carotene (Vitamin-A precursor) are produced during the growth process (Cuddeford, 1989). During the mid 1930's the combine harvester was invented and sprouting essentially ended. The grains could be grown and stored immediately after harvest. What does all this mean? It means that you will have to start buying breads and pastas that are made from sprouted grains. They are now widely available at your local health food store AND at most local grocery stores. A good brand is Food For Life. They sell breads, raisin bread, bagels, hot dog and hamburger rolls and pasta. I must admit that the bread should be toasted first because it is a little dry. For me it was easy, I prefer a hearty bread. You will get used to it. We are now buying the sprouted flour and making our own breads and other baked goods. There are some places to buy sprouted flour online but it is costly to ship. Locally in the Baltimore region, the only retailer I have found to carry it is Wegman's in Hunt Valley. Please use the internet as a valuable tool in finding info on sprouted grains and sprouting in general.
The rest of my diet is based on healthy eating. Read all labels! I eat all the veggies and fruit I want, usually 6-8 servings per day. I eat whole eggs and no longer eat only egg whites. I use real butter in place of any man made chemical spread. If you think this will break your budget, you will be surprised to find out that as soon as you start eliminating cereals and cookies from your grocery list, the bill all evens out. We still buy some sweets for the kids and cereal but far less than in weeks past. Don't forget to drink 6-8 glasses of water a day.
Here is a sample daily meal plan for myself and since following this for the last 7 weeks, hardly ever find myself hungry. I never use dressing on my salads anymore and can't believe I did for so many years! What a waste of calories and they all have sugar! I still will use apple cider vinegar and a splash of lime or lemon and/or olive oil.
6:30 am Coffee with sugar free flavored creamer (International Delight) the only fake stuff that goes into my body anymore, 1 cup fat free organic greek yogurt, fresh berries if I have them
8:30-9:00 One slice of sprouted grains wheat bread with organic peanut butter (not low fat) I like Smuckers brand but there are many out there. The ingredients for the peanut butter should be peanuts, salt.
11:30-12:00 A portion of meat, hamburger, chicken breast or thigh, salad, fruit. Brown rice is ok as well as sweet potatoes, they are lower on the glycemic index (how quickly a starch breaks down to sugar) than white rice or regular potatoes. The whole trick is to minimize insulin production and secretion to keep from storing your sugars as fat.
3:00 Fruit or veggie, carrots, yogurt, 1 egg or handful of nuts, raw. Nuts are another excellent source of protein often overlooked. A small portion of cheese instead is also ok as well as another slice of delicious sprouted wheat bread.
6:00 Dinner salad, protein in the form of chicken, fish or beef. Protein is good but try to mix it up with fish and other seafood as often as possible. The omega 3 fatty acids that are essential for functioning are strongest in salmon.
So while it may seem impossible, I implore and challenge you to try it and see if you don't shed a few pounds in the first 2 weeks. I will be very anxious to get feedback, positive or negative. Please keep me abreast of your progress.
As for sprouts and sprouting and related topics, I will get to that another day!
John Flaks
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