Changing the Way You Eat

So you've decided to take some action and start getting fitter. You've taken the basic steps in last week's blog. You've started increasing your activity, and have cut out the obvious abuses. You're walking some on most days, increasing the distance and intensity. No more marathon Oreo-eating sessions for you. What's next?

The most important thing you can do for your fitness is to change what and how you eat.

Before I go any further, let's talk about diets. "Your diet" is whatever you habitually eat. It's what you eat most of the time. It's not some special eating plan. The concept of "going on a diet" implies that you are doing something unusual, artificial and temporary. I'm talking about changing your diet, not "going on a diet." Changes can be rapid, but gradual changes are more likely to be sustained.

One bit of background information, in case you this is new to you: all food can be divided into 3 categories, called "macronutrients"; protein, carbohydrate and fat. Proteins come from meat, eggs, dairy. Some veggies have some protein, but for various reasons (that will be the subject of a future blog) aren't as good a source. Carbs come mostly from plant products, grains, fruit, veggies, and in the form of "refined sugars". Fats come from animal foods and from grains.

Here are my "Rules to Eat By." I like rules to be short and simple, easy to remember. They shouldn't be technical. If anyone can suggest a better way to state #3, I'd be happy to change it.

1. Eat often, eat well
2. Eat lots of fruit and vegetables
3. Minimize other carbs, shift toward low-GI/GL carbs and don't eat carbs without fat or protein.
4. Don't fear eating fat, fear being fat
5. Eat plenty of protein
6. Occasional slip-ups aren't the end of the world
7. Don't drink calories
   

1. Eat often, eat well. Many people find that they lose weight better if they divide their food intake over 5 or 6 meals per day. Each meal should contain a mix of protein, carbohydrate and fat. Don't worry (at least for now) about exactly how much of each. Eat things you like. Please note that I didn't say "eat anything you like." But what you eat should be things that you like. Don't bother with food that you don't enjoy. I mean, isn't this obvious? Forcing yourself to eat something that you find disgusting just won't last long, no matter how "good for you" you may think it is. Try not to let yourself get hungry.

2. Eat lots of fruit and vegetables. This gives you your vitamins, fiber, flavor, refreshment and all the carbohydrate you really need. You don't like veggies, you say? Don't write them off without giving them a fair chance. Eat them fresh or cooked, whichever you like. Eat them in salads or singly. Adding fruit to salads can make them really good. Don't cover them up with creamy dips or dressings--that'll pile on the calories in a hurry.

3. Minimize carbs, favor low GI/GL and never alone. This one just sounds too technical, but I'm working on it. This means to cut way down on bread, rice, pasta, pancakes, waffles, biscuits, cookies, cake, pie, candy, jams and jellies, etc., etc. What carbohydrates you don't get from fruits and veggies should come in forms that don't cause a rapid rise in blood sugar. Glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) are ways of rating foods according to their tendency to raise the blood sugar. There are simple tables on line to help with this. Here's a link. And another. It's not nearly as complicated as looking up the nutrient content of foods. So another way of stating Rule Number Three is "favor low-GI/GL carbs." That's going to steer you to whole-grain bread rather than white, brown rice rather than white, etc. Eating carbs with protein or fat slows their digestion and absorption, thus lowering their effective GL.

4. Don't fear eating fats, fear being fat. The fat in your diet has much less impact on the fat on your belly than do the carbohydrates you eat. This is probably different than what you've been told, but some fats are actually good for you.

5. Eat plenty of protein. That's mostly meat and eggs.

6. Occasional slip-ups. This is inevitable. You have long-standing habits and preferences, and you probably aren't going to change those over night. And you live in a world filled with people, most of whom have never seen Jungledoc's Seven Rules for Eating. What do you do if you are invited to a friend's home for dinner, and the food that is served doesn't conform to the rules? Eat it, compliment your host/hostess on it, enjoy it. Try not to eat too much of it. Eat lots of the best of what's on the table. If there's a salad, take a large amount, ask for seconds, minimize the dressing. If there are veggies, take lots, ask for seconds. If there is meat, take a good helping. If there is rice, pasta, potatoes, take small helpings, but don't fuss about it. If there's desert, ask for a small portion, eat it slowly, savor every mouthful, and then call it quits.

But what if you really "blow it" and binge out? This should be the subject for a whole blog. Basically, forget it, forgive yourself, and go on doing things right. The only real serious problem is if you find yourself binging often. If it's happening more than once or twice a month you need to ask yourself serious questions about why you do it.

7. Don't drink calories. I decided a long time ago that sugary beverages were something that I could get along without. I drink water, black coffee and Crystal Light. A Coke is a very rare treat if I'm very hot, thirsty and tired. I haven't had one for a couple of months. When eating at friends' homes they usually offer a choice of beverage, and it's easy to ask for water. Ice and a twist of lemon can dress it up a little. Water also helps to fill you up, so drinking plenty of water with the first part of a meal will help you not keep going after you've eaten enough.

Ok! I think that's enough to digest (yeah, pun intended) for this week.

See you on the road!
Doc

COMMENTS

Getting Started

Often, the hardest step of the journey is the first one.

I of course don't know where exactly you're starting from. A former jock who has let himself go for a few years? A life-long couch potato? A bit overweight, just deciding to cut down? Serious obesity threatening your life? Relatively healthy so far, but worried that it won't last unless you take action? Already in health trouble, and needing to act now before it's too late?

Each of those scenarios requires a different sort of response. But the one thing they all have in common is that you have to get started. So here are some suggestions for what you can do now and in the next few weeks to start heading in the right direction.

1. Move. That's right, move. Get some physical motion in your life. Struggle up off the couch (put the remote control down, if it's weighing you down!) and walk somewhere. Maybe around the room, but hopefully a bit further. Out in the yard. Down the street and around the corner. Walk until you feel tired. If you don't feel very tired after walking a half mile or so, the next time you need to walk faster. But wherever you go, move. Each day go a little farther or a little faster. Walking won't be adequate exercise for ever, but if you haven't been doing any exercise, it's a good place to start.

2. Stop the obvious excesses right now. I'm not talking about decisions about which kind of salad dressing is less fattening, or the benefits of low-carb vs. low-fat eating, or subtle differences between different forms of exercise. (We'll talk about all of those things eventually.) I'm talking about sitting down and devouring a whole pack of cookies. I'm talking about knocking off a 6-pack or two by your self in an evening. I'm talking about going to the buffet restaurant and going back and loading your plate 8 times. ("Oh good, he's not talking about me--I've never gone back more than 7 times"). You know what I mean, and you can apply it to yourself.

Story: My mom had a friend who struggled with her weight. Well, sometimes she struggled, but mostly she just gave up and gave in. One day she baked a chocolate-cream pie "for my husband and the boys" (her husband and her boys didn't really need the excess calories either, by the way). When it was done, she ate a small piece just to sample it. Apparently it was quite good, so she had a second slice. And a third, etc. Suddenly she "realized" that she'd eaten half the pie. She couldn't bear to have her husband and sons come home and see a half-eaten pie, so she ate the rest and baked a new one for them!

3. Get honest. STOP lying to yourself, your family and your friends.

• "I can't imagine why I don't lose weight, I don't eat a thing!"
• "It's a genetic defect, and I can't do anything about it."
• "I've got a thyroid problem."

This kind of talk is self-deceptive, and dishonest. Maybe you don't know the best ways to lose weight. Maybe you have a genetic defect (sure, your parents and grandparents were overweight), and maybe you even have a thyroid problem. But your genes, your ancestors and your thyroid gland haven't been putting food in your mouth. They haven't been holding you in the Stra Lounger.

4. Find like-minded friends. Call it a support group, call it group therapy, or just call it friendship, but find people that you can help and on whose help you can depend. The measure of success of such groups as Weight Watchers and TOPS are due in large part to group dynamics (and we'll talk later about why they haven't been very successful long-term).

5. Start learning. Get this straight right off the bat--you may not have had much success at weight loss or fitness in the past because you didn't have the best information about diet and exercise. Adopt the mind-set that what you think you know may be wrong. When you hear dietary advice that is different from what you have thought was the best, consider that it may have some truth. Look into it. Read about it. Google it, for goodness sake!

On this blog I won't be preaching anything that is not supported by reason, experience and even research, but I will say some things that fly in the face of conventional wisdom. I'm a doctor, and a fairly main-stream one. I'm not a conspiracy theorist. But I don't agree any more with what most doctors believe about diet and many aspects of exercise.

6. Make up your mind. I often hear people talk about will power. I don't actually know what will power is. I do, however, understand the power of a decision. Decide now that you will get your life under control, whatever it takes. Decide now that what might seem like failures will only be stumbles, and that you will get up after every one and keep going forward.

Story: Mr. Miller was my Taekwondo instructor for many years. When it came time to test for a new rank, he had one firm policy. He'd say, "the only way to fail this test is to quit." As long as a student kept trying, the test was still in progress. He'd also say things like "if you need to go outside to throw up,we'll still be here when you get back," and "if you need to go to the emergency room, we'll continue when you return." Life is like that. If you are willing to keep trying, you haven't failed.

So that's your job for this week; get started.

If you are just getting started at fitness, click on the "COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS" link below, and tell me about it. I'd love to be a part of that support network.

See you on the road!

Doc


COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS

My Journey

For a long time now, I've thought of creating a blog for people who are coming to fitness relatively late. They may have been involved in fitness activities in the past, but have neglected it. Or, like me, they may not have started any kind of exercise or nutritional awareness until later in life.

I've been at it now for a few years, first through martial arts, and more recently through weight lifting. My main qualification is myself. I've lost about 60 pounds in the last year and a half, and am keeping it off without any real struggle (at least at the moment--"if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall," I Corinthians 10:12).

I have a couple of advantages over many of you. I live in a a rural part of a small third-world country where we have no access to fast food (very little access to any kind or restaurant food) and little prepared food. We make most our food from scratch. I have also found a form of exercise that I enjoy. However, periodically we return to our home country (the U.S.). During that time we travel extensively doing public speaking. When we do, fast food establishments are very convenient and tempting. Our hosts when we speak always try to feed us "well". That translates into feeding us a lot of not-always-so-good food. During those times it is very challenging to find a place and time to do my favorite exercise. So I will have some challenges ahead. I can't promise how well I'll handle them.

In a sense, no one has "arrived" at a final fitness destination. When you quit progressing, you fall back. But this blog is not mainly intended for those who have been on their fitness journey for a long time, and are a long way along. It's for those of us who are starting out, just finding our way. We need help and support. We need each other.

So this is not about the destination so much as it is about the journey. Let's walk this road together!

Please feel free to post comments, questions or to share your ideas thoughts or concerns. I'll answer as best I can. Also, feel free to answer other people's comments. Blogger does not provide a very obvious comments link, so I'll try to add a big, obvious one. I do allow anonymous comments--just sellect "anonymous" in the window that asks you to identify yourself. However, if you use a name, nickname, screen name or something to identify yourself, I can reply specifically to your question or comment.

COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS