Post 4 | How Much Am I Allowed to Eat?!?!?!

Greetings,

How much am I allowed to eat? That is the proverbial question that tortures every dieter.  Let's tackle it head on.

Most diet programs ask participates to drastically reduce the portion sizes of their MEALS and SNACKS.  This rationale is usually derived from nutritional scales which compute the amount of macro nutrients the average healthy person should consume.

I contend that, while FACTUALLY correct, these recommendations are the ABSOLUTE WRONG approach to helping MOST overweight Americans reverse their poor relationship with food.

Think about it for a second. Have you EVER met an overweight person that was overweight because they ate too many MEALS and SNACKS (as defined in Post 3 | The 3 Food Groups). I certainly have not!

Don't believe me? Find an overweight person (should be very easy to do; you can start with yourself) and observe and/or ask them which types of foods do they routinely eat. Then mentally categorize them into one of the 3 Food Groups.  I can GUARANTEE that you will observe that they routinely do at least one of the following if not all three:

1) Eat a disproportionate amount of TREATS
2) Sometimes replace MEALS and SNACKS with TREATS and
3) Inject or smother what would be a MEAL and SNACK with loads of TREATS.

Allow me to make it even clearer.  NOBODY is overweight because they are eating too much fresh fruit; steamed veggies and lean chicken breast. They are overweight because they eat too many donuts, potato chips, and anything on the McDonald's menu.

Let me take it another step further.  Regularly eating at an ALL YOU CAN EAT MEAL restaurant wouldn't cause you to pack on the pounds if they only served MEALS and SNACK (as defined in Post 3); but we know that is not the case.  They only serve TREATS along with a few MEALS which have been covered in TREATS.

Ironically most overweight people eat LESS FOOD than healthy people; but CONSUME MORE CALORIES!"

Wow that is a bold statement; let me repeat, "Most overweight people eat LESS FOOD than healthy people; but CONSUME MORE CALORIES!"  This truth is at the CENTER of why you are overweight.

Think about it for a second.

People over 35 probably remember growing up eating lots and lots of food ALL the time.  As a kid we never went a day without a nice breakfast, school lunch and then a nice big dinner. SNACKS were plentiful.

And if we still were hungry we would go over to grandma's house or auntie's house and have yet another dinner.  On the same token, it was not uncommon for my parents to feed the entire neighborhood. 

Ala Jay-z, "We Had 99 Problems, but Food Wasn't One.

So why didn't we develop the beer guts and/or the premature breasts that kids nowadays have? Part of the reason can be attributed to a lack of exercise.  Another part of the reason is portion size.

But the biggest reason of them all is that WE ATE MORE FOOD, BUT LESS TREATS THAN THE KIDS TODAY. 

With that new rationale in mind, The Rules suggest that you NEVER eat more than 8 ounce at any one setting.  Regulating the max you should eat during one setting can be a tiny bit tedious, I know, but for the first two months it is crucial that you recalibrate your eyes to the proper portion sizes of food and treats. 

The Rules however go on to state that you should eat as many MEALS and SNACKS as you need.

Also remember that the ONLY TREATS that are forbidden are sugary drinks.

Think about that. There is only ONE treat that you are not allowed to have.  Maybe it is my Christian faith, but that sounds awfully familiar!

So the recommended amount of MEALS per day is 4 to 5. The is no recommended amount of TREATS. 

The recommendation for treats are that you consume treats occasionally, cut back on the treats that you add to your MEALS and SNACKS and when possible PLAN to enjoy your treats in the same way that you plan your other meals.  For instance, I sometimes carry a Fiber One bar or a small cup of chips.

Remember, HUNGER IS UNDEFEATED AGAINST WILL POWER. So when you get hungry it is MANDATORY that you eat a small SNACK. Over time as your body begins to realize that "there is a new sheriff" controlling your brain, it will begin to use the extra fiber and protein to "level out" your blood sugar and metabolism.

This basically means that you won't feel so hungry so quickly. 

In short; eat no more than 8 ounces per meal; and surround yourself with snacks for when you get hungry. That is really all you need to remember.

When I first started living by The Rules I would often eat air popped popcorn (without all the junk but with a pinch of salt) BEFORE and AFTER meals.  At that time my body was still used to eating HUGE portions so I needed the popcorn as a "filler" until my body adjusted.  Think about the popcorn as "portion control training wheels". I carry my training wheels everywhere I go. If I feel the need to munch I pull them out.  Before I go on a long road drive, I pop several bags of training wheels so that I don't pick up junk at the convenience store.

THE BIGGEST MISTAKE THAT YOU CAN MAKE EARLY ON DURING THE PROCESS; IS TO REDUCE YOUR PORTION SIZES WITHOUT ADDING SNACKS, AND PLANNING FOR THE OCCASIONAL TREATS.

Trying to do so will only result in failure.

When people fail to stick to a diet they think it is because they are lazy and undisciplined (And yes that is sometimes true). 

But in most cases that could not be further from the truth.  The truth is that in theory ALL diets work, but in practice they demand an unnatural and unsustainable approach to eating. 

Driving at a speed of 100mph will certainly cut your morning commute to work in half.  But is that practical? NO!  Is it sustainable? NO!

So over time I hope to convince you that if you don't stick to The Rules (or a very very very close variation) it is ONLY because you lack the DESIRE to change or have FEAR of changing (more on desire and fear in a later post)

Happy eating,