How to eat your way to fitness in 4 steps

The common notion out there is that to lose weight, you must simply eat less and exercise more.

Then, as we have discussed on this blog and on our podcast, the truth is far from this common notion. It turns out that many people are actually eating MORE calories and losing lots of unwanted fat! This is undoubtedly quite surprising to adherents of the common notion—and of course it jibes with the numerous controlled and comparative studies that show subjects who consumed the same calories but differing amounts of carbs, fat, and protein (isocaloric studies) lose significantly more fat by eating a higher percentage of fat and lower percentage of carbs. As we’ve discussed on the podcast numerous times, insulin is the main hormonal factor here.

So how do you “eat your way to fitness” if not by cutting out calories? Here are 4 steps that will get you started:

1. Write down what you are eating for a couple of days. Don’t keep track of calories, just write exactly what you eat. Then put an “I” next to the foods that will raise your insulin levels; this will mostly be your carbohydrates (not counting veggies).

2. Look at your “I” foods one by one, and circle the ones you can definitely do without, no problem.

3. Take the list of foods that’s left, and go through each, one by one. Write down 6-8 endings to this sentence stem for each food: “When I think of the idea of going without __________, I feel…” Write these endings down without giving it much thought—just whatever comes to your mind first.

4. Re-read your list and really focus on the feeling what you wrote gives you. Then, write down 6-8 endings to this sentence stem: “As I reflect on the nature of what I’m feeling…”

Sign Up here and receive:

“The Three Pillars of Achieving Your Perfect Weight Through the Mind-Body Connection” Audio