Well, we have all heard the adage, “You are what you eat.” There is some semblance of truth in that statement. If you follow the tips in the following Eat Smart Pyramid, you have a better chance being healthier and increasing your energy; getting leaner by losing some body fat.
At the bottom of the pyramid is the start of the day. You have the whole day ahead of you, so this is when you should eat the larger meal of the day. The pyramid gets smaller at the top, indicating that you should eat the smaller meals at these times of day. This is because most people are less physically active later in the day, as they are winding down to rest for the evening. Eat for the oncoming event or day.
If you are going to be sedentary for the day, eat less. If you are going hiking, then you are justified in eating a little more, as you will need and will burn more calories.
Use the guidelines below for maximal success when it comes to practical eating. No weird fad diets are needed for long term success, just some time-proven workable know-how on food, some willingness to make change, and a touch of discipline to run control and to keep focus and on target.
“Let your food be your medicine and let your medicine be your food.”
– Hippocrates
Eat Smart Pyramid
How to Eat to Increase Energy and Metabolism, While Reducing Body Fat
1. SUGAR:
Reduce sugar & alcohol from your diet; that includes white processed carbohydrates, breads, soda, etc.
2. SUGAR SUBSTITUTES:
Reduce diet & sugar-“FREE” products: diet drinks, sodas, snacks, gum, food (avoid Aspartame).
3. LARGER TO SMALLER MEALS:
Eat your largest meal of the day early (that’s breakfast or lunch) and eat smaller meals later at night. We’ve heard the saying “Breakfast like a King, lunch like a Prince and dinner like a Pauper”.
4. CALORIES & ACTIVITY LEVEL:
Eat for the oncoming event, day or activity. If you have a busy physical day ahead, eat a little more, if you will be sedentary or have little activity, eat less.
5. ARTIFICIAL DRINKS:
Avoid all diet drinks, sodas and foods. These artificial sugar replacement products can have deadly effects on your physical and mental health.
6. ARTIFICIAL FOODS:
Avoid, as much as possible, most artificial, man made, processed foods. The less the food is tampered with and altered by man the better. These artificial man-made foods can have deadly affects on your physical and mental health.
7. BALANCED MEALS:
Balance all meals & snacks; include all three nutrients, proteins, vegetables (carbohydrates) and low fat.
8. PORTION SIZE:
Control your food portions for body fat loss. Reduce portion size for most meals to drop weight (lose fat).
9. PLAN & SCHEDULE:
Planned & scheduled eating; eat and keep most meals & snacks apart about every 3 to 5 hours. Do not snack in between these scheduled meals. This avoids overloading the digestive system.
10. WATER:
Hydrate well. Besides getting fluids from fruits & vegetables, include 8 to 10 glasses of water daily.
11. MAXIMUM FAT LOSS PER WEEK:
One pound of fat has 3500 calories. To lose one pound of fat per week reduce or use up 500 calorie per day.
Science says the body can only reduce a maximum of 2 lbs of fat weight per week, anything more is muscle or water loss.
12. MAXIMUM MUSCLE GAIN:
To increase muscle weight or gain: increase calories by 250 to 500 per/day, but you must include weight training, otherwise the excess unused calories will store as fat.
13. LEAN PROTEINS:
Increase quality low-fat, lean-protein in your diet: fish, eggs (mostly egg whites), chicken, veal, turkey, tofu, protein shakes.
14. ORGANIC:
Increase quality organic vegetables, especially the dark green vegetables.
15. MINIMUM CALORIES:
The minimum daily recommended calories for a female is about 1200-1500 cals/day. For males it is about 1500-1800 cals/day.
16. EFFECTS OF TOO LITTLE CALORIES:
If you eat less than the minimum daily recommended calories your metabolic rate will slow down as a result. The body is constantly adjusting to survive. If you eat too little, your body thinks you are trying to starve it, so it slows down the metabolism (chemical reactions) and attempts to survive with the morsels given. The end result will be that once you start eating a little more normally, (as you can’t survive eating morsels) the body which is now operating at a slower speed, will start to store the apparent extra food as fat.
This is the cause of constantly getting fatter each time you “diet” known as the Yo-Yo effect, it is one big roller coaster ride, each time getting larger & fatter.
17. HOW TO BREAK THE YO-YO DIET EFFECT:
The way you break the Yo-Yo effect is by:
a) Eating 4 -6 regular small balanced meals per day, no less then recommended minimum (as mentioned before).
b) Each meal has some protein, carbohydrates and fats.
c) Include daily regular balanced activities that include some strength, cardio and stretching training. This will stop the breakdown of muscle tissue for use as fuel (due to insufficient calories), which leads to lowered metabolic rate, leading to increased body fat storage.
18. TAKE A DAILY MULTI VITAMIN, MINERAL & OIL SUPPLEMENT:
As a minimum of natural drug free supplementation, take a daily vitamin & mineral supplement and some oil. These are basic and fundamental to help good metabolic functioning.
