Have you ever tried to completely change your eating habits, trying to become healthier by cutting out processed foods but find you still don't lose weight or burn fat where you need it most? First of all I would say... GREAT JOB making such an important change for the better by eliminating processed foods. That's probably the BEST thing you can do for your health and bettering your chances of living a long happy life. "But why am I not seeing any weight loss or fat loss..." you might still be saying?
It might be that you are not paying attention to the kind of foods you are combining together. We all know we should eat a good combination of carbohydrates, good fats and proteins, but did you know the way you combine these foods and what time of the day you eat them is just as important?
If you want to eat in a way that will help your body become a fat-burning machine 24/7 then consider the following ways to best combine foods when you eat each meal.
Eat protein at every meal... especially if you are performing high intense weight training on a regular basis (3-4 days a week). Protein is needed to help muscles rebuild, repair and become stronger after a workout. Digesting protein also requires a greater amount of energy for the body than does the digestion of other macro-nutrients in the body and therefore causes a greater metabolic effect/environment in the body.
You also want to combine the protein that you eat at every meal with either a carb or a good fat source but never both a carb and a fat together with your protein.
Eat you carbs only in the morning for breakfast and then eat a lighter portion at lunch. Eliminate all carbs after lunch. It would be great to get your work out done in the morning too if possible. The carbs you eat in the morning will give your body a good amount of energy to finish your workout strong and your workout will use up the energy in carbs so your body won't store them as fat. Even doing a quick 10 minute workout will do wonders! (See previous post... 5 Fat Blasters for Busy People, for ideas).
Never combine fats and carbs together at any time. This combination is guaranteed to create an environment for deadly fat-storage. When you eat fat, fatty acid is released into the blood. When you eat carbs insulin is released into the blood to shuttle blood sugar to storage sites. So avoid fat storage by NEVER eating the 2 together at the same time.
If you stick to this formula all week then on your 7th day take a cheat day...by the way... this is not optional.. It is a must to help your body consistently run like an optimum level fat-burning machine. How so? When your body goes for 5-6 days on a lower calorie diet it begins to slow down metabolically. To keep your metabolism raging you need to eat a higher calorie and higher carb diet every 7 days in order to "trick" your body from believing it needs to hang on to fat stores by slowing down your metabolism. When the body thinks it might be in a time of famine it slows down and stores fat. When it thinks it's feast time it speeds up metabolism and therefore fat doesn't have a chance. A cheat day would include ANY food you desire to eat in any combination! (yes, oreos included!) Having a cheat day is always fun to look forward to and doesn't prohibit you from ever eating your favorite foods again just because you are "dieting".
So here is a weekly plan you might follow...
Day 1-6 Breakfast... eggs and oatmeal (protein and carb) or protein shake with fruit and oatmeal (use whey protein isolate powder) NO BUTTER in oatmeal.
Mid morning snack... banana with peanut butter (organic brand).. great for post workout snack. Or some nuts... only a handful. (protein)
Lunch... lean meat sandwich with lettuce and tomato and whole grain bread. (protein and carb... no mayo plz... that would be combining fat and carb which is a no-no always!)
Mid afternoon snack.... yogurt or cottage cheese. (protein)
Dinner... lean piece of meat with tons of veggies (drizzle olive oil over veggies, cook meat in grape seed or coconut oil.... great fat source) or have a salad with green leafy lettuce and other raw veggies of your choice, include a hard boiled egg and a sliced up chicken breast and sprinkle slices almonds over the top... drizzle with a dressing made with 2 parts olive oil, 1 part balsalmic vinegar or lemon juice, and 1 packet of stevia sweetner. SO Good! (protein and fat)
Day 7... Pig out on whatever you want all day!!!
When I first started a diet similar to this I was hungry at night without my beloved carbs... however a few weeks into it I no longer felt hungry after dinner and actually felt and continue to feel incredibly energized because I don't have that bloated full feeling that often comes after eating a meal heavy laden with carbs and more importantly my body is receiving all the nutrition it needs. Many times when we are addicted to processed food or mainly carbs and that's all we eat our diet isn't balanced and our body isn't getting all it needs nutritionally, so therefore still feels hungry after we eat because it's craving what it needs and is trying to communicate that it wants better quality nutrition. When the body is satisfied nutritionally it will turn off the hunger pains and will feel satisfied. So again, the best time to eat your carbs is early in the day when you body needs the most energy. For most of us evening time is wind down time and our body no longer needs the energy that carbs provide. So fill up with veggies instead.
Give it a try and see if optimizing your nutrient combining and strategic overfeeding one day out of 7 give your the extra edge you need in your pursuit to lose weight and burn fat!
