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…”
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The Calorie Counting Myth
Many people are obsessed with calories.
“How many calories are in that donut?”
What a silly question!
“There are 320 calories in this bag of almonds!”
This is meaningless!
There in fact could be fewer calories in that donut than in the bag of almonds. But guess which food item is going to raise your insulin levels and have a deleterious affect on your health? Hint: It’s not the almonds.
We now know there have been countless examples of people who increased there calorie intake, and, despite common wisdom. LOST weight! It comes down to keeping your insulin levels in check. A sugar-laden donut will shoot insulin levels up pretty high, and you will end up storing fat in the process. Almonds will keep you at an even keel level.
Beyond that, counting calories is a total pain. Eating lots of good fats, and eating when you are hungry is a good call. Choose wisely: Eat whole foods where ever possible, and avoid downing straight carbohydrates- and you will have more energy and keep your body in fat check mode instead of fat storage mode!
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Keeping your diet together on vacation
I’m on sort of a working vacation trip at the moment, and have had a few challenges in eating healthy. My 
family doesn’t eat like me (they’re not yet quite on board with low carb, although I’d like to think I’ve had SOME influence), and staying with them makes it a little more difficult to stay on track with my eating.
When hanging out with friends and family who may not share your desire to eat optimally, the most important thing is to stay strong psychologically. There will certainly be a lot of pressure to conform to the group, to eat more, and to have celebratory desserts and drinks.
If you stick to your guns, and only have the desserts and higher carb meals when YOU want to, eventually the people around you will likely respect your choices.
So what should these choices consist of?
Stick with whole foods: Fruits, nuts, things that don’t come from a package. If you have a big high carb meal, turn down desert. Your insulin levels will be spiked from your meal, and piling on a dessert could really wreck you, especially if you’re not used to lots of carbs! Explain why you eat the way you do, but do not try to convince others that they should eat that way as well. Family especially will be tough to convince, so your best bet is just to be as healthy as you can- and let them know you are doing this to better yourself, and because you want to, but that you’re not trying to change them. Eventually they may see the benefits of low carb as you stay healthy and fit!
Enjoy your family & friends as much as you can. No sense in letting yourself get stressed out- this can be worse for you then a couple of frosted old fashioned donuts!
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The idea of slipping on your diet
Just talked to a friend yesterday (who is also a healthy mind fit body podcast listener!) who has successfully cut carbs down and lost fat for a 
while, only to slip back into old ways and regain the lost weight.
Easy to do, I’m sure. He has 2 kids, and a full time job, and tries to squeeze in a workout most days too.
So how does a slip happen?
Partly, it’s what you are buying at the store, and partly, it’s having demanding children around. The grocery shopping part is easy. Don’t buy unhealthy items and have them around your house. But I’m sure you’ve heard that before!
The kids thing is a bit more difficult. They may be demanding because you have provided them with junk food in the past, and they have become accustomed to it, maybe even addicted to carbs! If this is the case, instead of telling them they can’t have any of the crackers, cookies, sodas, etc. that they may be used to, just simply don’t buy it. They will have plenty of opportunities to get that stuff outside the home, but eventually, they will get used to the healthier meals and snacks, and the candy just won’t taste as good!
And then, you as the parent won’t have easy access to all that bad stuff either. Win-win!
“Slipping” also only happens if you are still viewing eating low carb as “being on a diet”. It’s crucial to start to change your psychology to thinking about an eating lifestyle, rather than just a diet. We have much more on this in the free audio below, and in the book, Healthy Mind Fit Body!
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Do we need bread?
Even with low carb eaters, bread seems to be a difficult thing to give up.
Should we give it up? Do we need to? If so, what do we replace bread with? And for crying out loud, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO PUT THE CONTENTS OF THE SANDWICH ON!!?!
I bring up this topic because I, too, had all of these questions above even as recent as a few months ago. I had a daily sandwich with 1 slice of flourless sprouted wheat bread and thought I was being very healthy. Compared to the typical American lunch, I was being healthy. But me reasoning for eating bread at all was that I needed to put my turkey, avocado, and cheese on SOMETHING!
I have since switched to mixing in my lunch meat, tuna, or grass fed ground beef with a bowl of vegetables like broccoli, asparagus, or artichoke, then mixing in a fat source like olive oil and/or guacamole.
But why did I give up bread, and why should other people do the same?
Bread, although considered a staple food, and for many it would be unheard of to not eat bread. You might as well tell these people to not breathe air! It is so ingrained (no pun intended) in us that bread is a must, that getting it out of our diets may cause a little anxiety. But bread is not a natural food that we as humans were meant to eat. Grains, which most bread is made out of, have only been in the human diet for about 10,000 years. Grains contain high levels of plant toxins called lectins. Research has shown that lectins can disrupt gastrointestinal function and immune system.
What about the benefits of whole grain bread over plain white bread?
It’s really negligible. Whole grains contain harmful phytates, glutens, and lectins that promote inflammation. And, while you do get fiber from these grains, this, too can be seen as a negative. Excessive fiber intake (which easily happens when you eat a lot of whole grains) can increase appetite and interfere with healthy digestion, mineral absorption, and elimination. Whole wheat bread may burn a little slower, but the important thing is you will produce the same amount of insulin to deal with the glucose load!
So with all this, my plan is to simply skip grains altogether most of the time, and replace them with vegetables and fruits. It’s not that much harder than making a sandwich and will lead to a healthier body and less chance of disease in the long run.
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