I weighed it at 213 this morning, for a total loss of 5 pounds in 5 days - a really good start. The plateau I hit only lasted 1 day this time because I really focused on the new habits: 5 meals, not mixing starchy carbs and meat proteins, and minimal exercise. I can tell this new routine is starting to stick because today I found myself planning a trip to the gym early in the day. Nice!

Let's introduce the topic of NOT mixing starchy carbs and meat proteins today. This will take a few posts to cover completely, so this is just an introduction to the idea.

The simple fact: it is extremely difficult for the body to digest starchy carbs and meat proteins at the same time. Here's why: digestion of starchy carbs begins in the mouth while chewing and in the small intestines with enzymes excreted from the pancreas. When you eat starchy carbs, the stomach stops production of acids, because acids cancel out the pancreatic enzymes in the small intestine. Conversely, digestion of meat proteins begin in the stomach with acid. Please keep in mind I like to over-simplify! So if you eat starchy carbs and meat protein at the same time, you are bringing the digestive process to a screeching halt. The starchy carbs soak up the stomach acid, then can't be digested in the small intestine by enzymes, because the acid neutralizes the enzymes. The stomach stops production of hydrochloric acid because there are starchy carbs present, so the meat cannot begin digesting in the stomach. It's a food traffic jam!

This is the "secret" of why 66% of Americans are overweight. Meat and potatoes. Meat and bread. Meat and pasta. Meat and cheese (meat protein) on crust. Meat and rice. And the list continues. Eating this combination of food, for the majority of people on Earth, brings the digestive process to a screeching halt. This, in turn, slows down metabolism too. Can the body work this out? Of course, but it takes time, and makes the process extremely non-efficient. So for many of us, before the body has worked out the traffic jam, we are eating more food and compounding the problem. What does your body do then? It stores most of this as fat.

Please keep in mind I am talking ONLY about starchy carbs. These are typically processed food like bread, desserts, pasta, rice, chips, etc. There are also a few veggies that are starchy by nature, like potatoes and creamed corn. The creamed corn is actually a processed food, but serves as a great example. Breakfast cereals, pancakes, waffles, muffins, etc. - all starchy carbs. If you are unsure if a food besides potatoes or rice is starchy, just ask if it is made with flour or sugar. If it is, then your body processes it as a starchy carb. However - DON'T WORRY - starchy carbs are not bad for you when eaten by themselves or with carbs (veggies). It is only when eaten with meat protein that they are troublesome.

Here's the kicker: be careful what you drink with a meal because it may be a starchy carb too! Coke, Pepsi, sweet tea, beer, wine....all starchy carbs. In fact, a can of coke has over 40 grams of carbs - about 2 servings of starchy carbs!!! Diet sodas, however, are not processed as starchy carbs, so they will not slow down your digestion. I guess that's why I am a HUGE fan of Diet Coke and Diet Dew!!!

So think about this introductory post and let me know if you have any questions. I will drill down on this topic and include either lists or links to lists for you with examples of carbs (veggies and fruits), meat proteins, and starchy carbs. I will also talk about fat and how it plays an importnat role in your diet. Sneak prevew - fat is not really bad for you (don't tell your dietitian I let this secret slip!)

That's it for now. Cheers!

OK, so I have weighed in at 214 again, signifying my first plateau. This will happen again and again as I go through the process. As you lose weight, your body will reach and hold "set points" along the way, like mine is doing at 214. So I dropped 4 pounds really quickly - in 3 days. My body is trying to stabilize at a new set weight, so it will try to remain constant for a time span of 1-3 days. At this point it is imperative to remain focused on the goal and remember to follow the new habits we are working on. When I break through this set point, it will be a nice drop.

Yesterday I followed my plan of 1 serving for breakfast, morning snack, and afternoon snack, 3 servings for lunch, and 2 servings for dinner. Someone commented about servings, so I will briefly talk about that now. In my weight loss program, I focus on the number of servings I eat in a meal and a day instead of trying to count calories or assign points to carbs or meals, etc. I do this to KEEP IT SIMPLE!

So what is a serving? Great question! Learning this will help you understand better how to eat and what your body really needs in a day. Let's oversimplify and make this as easy as possible.

Carbs (veggies) - 1/2 cup to 1 cup
Carbs (fruit) - 1 apple, banana, orange, etc
Carbs (starchy carbs) - about 25 grams
Meat Proteins - about 4 ounces (about the size of your hand)
Fats - about 1 tablespoon

So when I talk about eating 1 serving for breakfast, it is usually 1 serving of eggs or other meat protein, cereal or other starchy carb, or fruit. That's it. When I eat 1 serving, it is anything I feel like eating at the time. When I eat 2 or 3 servings for dinner or lunch, it it a combination of meat proteins (1 serving) and veggies (1 -2 servings). It could also be a combination of veggies and starchy carbs, but never ever meat proteins and starchy carbs at the same time. Why? because when you mix those together, it brings your digestion, and thus your metabolism, to a screeching halt and makes you fat. I will discuss this further in the next few days. For now, good-night, and cheers!

I weighed in today at 214 - a 4 pound drop in three days! Nice to hit 10% in three days, but I will not get too excited about it. Your body reacts quickly to change, and it's very easy to lose 10 pounds. I will start getting excited when I drop over 20 pounds.

At this point it is important to stick to the new habits! I am eating 5 times a day to keep my metabolism revved up, watching what I eat so I don't mix starchy carbs and meat proteins to keep my digestion efficient, and watching the number of servings I eat so my digestive system will keep running after the food is processed. Yes, the key is to limit the number of servings so your body will switch to burning fat after all the food you eat is digested.

Think of how digestion can affect your metabolism rate. (I am going to waaay over-simplify this!) If it is very efficient, and your metabolism gets sped up, then your body becomes more efficient and burns fat. Imagine a dish washing machine. When you load it and turn it on, it starts a cleaning cycle that runs a specific amount of time. The cycle is designed to completely clean a full load of dishes. The fewer dishes in the machine, the less time it will take to get them clean, but the cycle time remains the same. So if you put in 1 dish and run the full cycle, a lot of that cycle time is splashing water, but not really cleaning anything.

Now imagine a similar process in your body. Your digestion is efficient and your metabolism has increased because you are eating food plenty of times a day - it's a feast! If you reduce the number of servings you eat (dishes in the machine) then your metabolism will burn up the food you have eaten quickly....then switch to burning fat stored in your body because the cycle is not finished.

This is the process I am looking for. I want my body to be used to digesting food quickly, metabolizing it, then metabolizing fat. So as I eat throughout the day, I limit the number of portions like this:

Breakfast - 1 serving
Morning snack - 1 serving
Lunch - 3 servings
After noon snack - 1 serving
Dinner - 2 servings

(How much is a serving, or portion? I will get to this in a few days)

Now limiting quantities to this number of servings is for a very rapid weight loss program. It is NOT for the timid! In fact, using this structure properly will cause you to be hungry for about an hour before meals. The mental part here is to remind myself that when I am hungry, the cycle is running and I AM BURNING FAT - YEAH BABY!!! Like I mentioned before, this is strange (different) for about 21 days, then it is routine, so I don't even notice it. But what a difference it makes in my life. I used to suffer from acid indigestion - no more! I used to go into a food coma after a meal - no more. I used to get soooo bloated from eating too much and be miserable for hours - no more! Do you suffer from any of this?

Tomorrow I will talk about how eating starchy carbs and meat proteins in the same meal cause all the effects mentioned above. More importantly, I will explain why mixing those items has caused 2/3rds of Americans to be FAT. Cheers!

Weighed in today at 216 - more good news!

Worked yesterday on getting the 5 meals/snacks in place, but I missed breakfast - argh! That is the most important meal by far, because it gets your metabolism started up for the day. There are two ways to start your metabolism: by eating or exercising. For the purpose of this journey, eating is by far the most important. It is more important that exercise as an early morning event because it lets your body know there is an abundance of food. Confused? Let me explain.

Metabolism is the process of chemically processing foods to provide energy. That's the oversimplified version, of course. Most people have heard that metabolism generally slows down as a person gets older. That is a fair statement, but it is usually because of poor eating habits. Fundamentally, the body works on the feast or famine principle. When there is plenty of food, or "an ongoing feast", then the body's metabolism speeds up and processes food faster. In other words, burns more carbs and fat for energy instead of storing it as fat. When there is limited food, or "a famine", the body's metabolism slows down to store fat for future needs. So when you skip meals, especially breakfast, your body tends to believe there is a famine, so slow down your metabolism.

What I do to speed up my metabolism is to eat meals and snacks 5 times every day, spaced out 2.5 to 3 hours apart. My day generally looks like this:
6:00 Breakfast
8:30 Morning snack
11:30 Lunch
2:30 After noon snack
5:30 Dinner

A person's metabolism naturally starts in the morning with a meal or exercise, peaks around mid-day, then slows down throughout the day, and drops significantly after around 3:00. Because of this fact, I kick-start my metabolism early, eat the most during lunch, and usually do not eat anything after dinner. By bedtime, your metabolism is very slow to prepare for sleep. Many people who eat late-night snacks have trouble with their weight, because their body stores any digested food as fat instead of burning it for energy.

The digestion process is extremely important to understand as well. Tomorrow I will talk about how to maximize the efficiency of digestion to help increase metabolism and burn off fat. Cheers!

I weighed in at 217 today - off to a good start!

Yesterday I started on the most key factor: the mental part. Many people, including myself in the past, fail at losing weight because they start off bt telling themselves that "I will try....". Like Yoda says, do or do not, there is no try! If the goal is high and doubts creep in, start by setting a goal that is easily attainable. For instance, I will lose 10 pounds, I will lose 20 pounds, or I will do this for 21 days.

I encourage the 21 day message to yourself - it definitely works best for me. Any psychiatrist will tell you that it takes 21 days to change a habit. Notice the word change. Changing a habit or activity greatly increases the success rate compared to only stopping an activity. The best example is smoking. If a smoker just stops that behavior without replacing it with another behavior, it is almost impossible. However, if they chew gum instead, there is a new habit to focus on, and the process is easier.

The same is true for any behavior you want to change, especially eating. Make small changes to the eating habits you have now, and your body will adjust. Make the right changes, and you will drop as much weight as you want to. Keep those new changes, or "habits" for 21 days, and you will have new habits. In other words, if you can convince yourself that 21 days is a short period of time to change eating habits, or change your diet, then the rest is easy.

The new habit(s) I worked on yesterday was eating 5 times, keeping meals and snacks 2.5 - 3 hours apart, watching the number of portions I ate, and not mixing starchy carbs and meat proteins in the same meal.

Tomorrow I will talk about portions. Cheers!