Diet Pearls in Ascending Order of Difficulty
- Drink water! Water can fill you up when you're hungry and adds zero calories.
- Not hungry? Don't eat!
- Eat slowly! You'll be satisfied with less if you enjoy it.
- Don't eat until you're "stuffed", eat until you are satisfied.
- Start with small portions on your plate or just use a small plate!
- Eat as much salad or vegetables that you want, they generally are nutrient dense and low in calories.
- If you're hungry when you get home from work, exercise! Exercise activates the sympathetic nervous system and shuts down your digestive tract, making your body forget it was hungry!
- Brief fasting can be good for the body. Your liver is designed to provide energy to your body when there is no food available for 24 hours.
- A low calorie, liquid diet for brief periods (24-72 hours) of time may "jump-start" your body into a catabolic state (breaking fat stores down). There's also the added benefit of allowing your stomach to shrink, which means when you do eat solid food, you will feel "full" with less.
Balance and Variety
As with everything in life, balance is key regarding our diet. Our body requires certain nutrients that we acquire from different types of food. The chart here outlines the basic types of foods and the average amount you should consume each day. Below is a 7 day example menu of a balanced diet.
| worksheet_2000_18plusyr.pdf |
A nice source of information and a good place to gather more information: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/
Here's a link to the full diet: http://neilarey.com/mealplans/modern-hero-diet.html