Exactly What Constitutes A Cheat Day

Within our nutritional program, we suggest to our clients that they have a
cheat day. A day where they can have some of the foods they enjoy tasting, but
might not be on their particular menu plan when it comes to losing weight.

The thought process behind that is if you eat more good meals than bad, your
body can handle a few meals that might not be on the up and up.

Upon studying meal logs from our clients, we have morphed the cheat day into a
few cheat meals. Meaning, that most of our clients don't pick Sunday as their
cheat day and gorge themselves with all the food they have been craving.
Usually, they will pick one meal on this day or a lunch with friends on that
day and continue to surround those meals with healthier choices that stick with
their meal plan.

Most of our clients have to eat frequently throughout the day and this breaks
down to about 6 meals/small meals daily. So over a 7 day period that is 42
"feedings". What I have noticed with my clients looking to lose weight is that
if you have 3 or 4 cheat meals within that 7 day period and keep everything
else on point, you can still accomplish the health goals you desire and not
sabotage your program.

As an example, I will discuss a few of my cheat meals this past weekend. I
went to Indianapolis for a seminar and sometimes you have to make due with what
you have available.

I got in to Indy Thursday night. Throughout the day, I had been eating my
normal schedule - lean steak, whole wheat pasta, mixed veggies, fruit, almonds,
occasional meal replacement bar. Once I arrived in Indy, I was pretty hungry
so I ordered a pizza from Domino's. They had some special going on so I
ordered two medium pizzas (one with sausage and onions and the other with
chicken and mushrooms). I probably could have done without the sausage (an
unhealthier choice), but I said what the heck. I saved one of the pizzas in
the refrigerator for the next night and drank water with it.

The next morning I ate a waffle (without butter), a bowl of fruit, and for some
protein, bacon. I didn't bring any snacks with me so I didn't eat again until
lunch which was a footlong ham sub loaded with veggies and some baked lays.
This is one of their leaner subs. After the seminar, I ate a chicken breast
sandwich at the Hard Rock Cafe, some fries, and for dessert a peanut butter
something or other in a shot glass (I ate half of it). Finally, my dinner was
the other pizza I had in the fridge.

The next morning, the seminar provided some orange juice and bagels which I
ate. For lunch, I went to Panera's and had a bacon turkey bravo (one of the
leaner choices) and a baked lays with water. I then got a mocha shake from
Steak and Shake, didn't like it, and pitched it (the whipped cream and half of
it was remaining). After the seminar, bought some trail mix, some sour patch
kids, and headed back to C-bus, where I promptly resumed my normal eating
schedule.

So as you can see, not every meal was a total cheat and I tried to make some
healthier choices along the way. I allowed myself to have a few indulgences to
satisfy any cravings, but still tried getting some carbohydrate and protein
with some veggies. You can do this too. If you follow a healthy eating plan
most of the time, you can EARN the right to have a few cheat meals throughout
the week. Your body will not self destruct and you can still enjoy some of
those delicacies that might not otherwise be on your menu.

The Top 5 Fittest Foods To Eat

If you have a choice about what to pick for a healthy food, then my guess is that you will want to start with one of these next five foods. I discovered this list in Men's Fitness. A great magazine that I read monthly. There is no doubt that if you want to start eating healthier, pile these foods on your plate.

1. Salmon - An excellent source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids. This means it helps prevent memory loss as you age and improves your heart health. This low-fat option helps burn calories and keep you from packing on unwanted pounds.

2. Blueberries - There was an article recently that said this fruit was an excellent cancer fighter. It has a bunch of antioxidants in it which help you prevent disease and acts as an anti-aging food. It is rich in fiber and also helps prevent memory loss. Throw it in a smoothie, on your cereal, or down your throat, get these berries as often as possible.

3. Oatmeal - When I create meal plans with our Metabolic Nutrition program, this is one of the very few breakfasts the software likes. Try to avoid the packaged oatmeal because it has added sugars in it, but get the instant oats and add your own sweetness to it i.e. blueberries or other fruits. Oatmeal helps get rid of the bad cholesterol and get you very heart healthy.

4. Tomatoes - Tomatoes have a nutrient in it called lycopene. Lycopene gives tomatoes its red color and is a powerful antioxidant that helps to prevent a lot of diseases, for men this includes prostate cancer. Studies have shown that men with a lot of tomato based foods in their diet are less likely to develop prostate problems. NICE!!

5. Broccoli - My mom repeatedly told me this when I was growing up, "Eat your broccoli, it is a cancer fighter." This is probably the best vegetable to choose because it helps your circulatory system, fighting colds, and your bones. Try sneaking it in your salads or some stir fry.

Rounding out the top 10 are spinach, yogurt, almonds, whole-wheat bread, and beef. So, start devouring some of these foods and see your immune system improve, unwanted fat drop off, and just feel overall OUTSTANDING!

Why A 1200-1500 Calorie Diet Will Make You Fatte

I get a lot of people talking to me about what particular diet they are on. They try this diet or that diet, see initial results, and then nothing happens or it is slow to happen. Rather than blame it on the diet, they blame themselves for not being 100% perfect with the diet and that is why the weight loss slows down.

I'm here to tell you that isn't the case. It is the diet you chose. A lot of those diets are 1200-1500 calorie diets and folks, that just isn't enough calories for most individuals to lose body fat (notice I didn't say weight). Unless you are 120 pounds to begin with (and why would you want to diet), 1200-1500 calories won't cut it.

But, Adam, aren't you supposed to eat less calories than you burn.

Yes, you are, but a lot of people underestimate how many calories they burn throughout the day. Take your bodyweight and multiply it by 10 and that is a rough estimation of how many calories you burn throughout the day if you were to just lie around doing nothing (your resting metabolic weight). But most of us don't do just that, so you have to factor in more calories to compensate for your daily activity level, plus how many calories you burn exercising.

That is your total and for some people it could be between 2200-2500 calories or more a day. So that could be 1000 calories or more a difference between what you are consuming and what you are burning. You need that caloric deficit to be between 300-500 calories. Greater than that, your body thinks it is starving and will go into survival mode.

Survival mode means your body starts burning muscle and stores fat because fat is emergency energy. This is the initial weight loss people see, but it is slowing your metabolism down and you're not losing fat. Because you are keeping the fat and losing muscle, your bodyfat percentage is either staying the same or rising.

Obviously, that is not what we want to have happen.

So once you figure out how many calories you burn throughout the day, you can then be put on a proper meal plan with the right caloric amount that will allow you to burn bodyfat, keep your muscle which will make your metabolism faster, and then see the weight loss you desire.

So the next time you want to try getting slim, fast, you might want to avoid those diets that have you take a shake for breakfast, a shake for lunch, and a sensible meal for dinner. The weight might fall off quick initially, but is it worth getting an increase in bodyfat and having mushy arms??

Ohio Improves Its Obesity Rate? Or Did It?

In yesterday's Columbus Dispatch, there was an article about the announcement
of the latest state obesity rates. The news wasn't rosy. My state, Ohio, was
ranked the 10th worst state last year, but this year we tied for 13th with
Texas. In Ohio, 29% of all adults are considered obese. Mississippi was
ranked #1 with almost 34% of the adults considered obese.

Now Ohio shouldn't be too happy. We didn't drop 3 places because we actually
got slimmer. Basically, there were other states that dramatically had their
obesity rates increase at such a pace, that they leapfrogged Ohio.

Well, that stinks!

Just to clarify, in terms of the Body Mass Index (BMI - a version of the
height/weight chart), anything 30 and over is considered obese. So, a 5'9"
individual who weighs 169 or more is overweight and if that person weighs 203
or more is obese. BMI doesn't take into consideration bodyfat percentage, so
really it provides us with a general indicator.

If you go by bodyfat percentage, generally for women 25% - 33% is considered
overweight and 34% and over is considered obese. For men, 21% - 25% is
considered overweight and 26% and over is obese.

That is why when clients come to me and we do measurements, yes I look at the
scale to see how the weight has changed, but I pay closer attention to the
bodyfat measurement. Someone can actually stay the same weight, have the
bodyfat percentage drop, and look like they have lost weight.

Basically, this shows that we really haven't made any progress with this
obesity epidemic. I know I will keep plugging away and helping people who want
to make a change in their life. As long as their is hope, we will have a
fighting chance to lick this once and for all.