Eat
More Pizza; Less Tuna
Dr. Joe
Klemczewski
Despite
all the biochemistry, physiology, and wordsmithing in my
book, Metabolic Transformation, the phrase most quoted back
to me by readers is, “If-I-eat-another-chicken-breast-I’ll-puke
syndrome,” as I described variety and creativity in
crafting meals. Dieters relate to that statement all too
well. Just yesterday a new client sat across from me and
said intently, “If you make me eat eggs, oatmeal,
or cottage cheese, this isn’t going to work.”
Luckily for him, the second pillar of my program is variety
and flexibility.
The first, of course, is structure. There is a right and
wrong way to attempt to lose weight; metabolic physiology
is a concrete science, but within the boundaries of that
structure, there is a great deal of room for personal preference
and allowance for a moving world. Life happens, right? If
you’re someone who loves spending an entire day on
the weekend planning and cooking your meals for the week,
placing them in color-coded containers, writing the nutritional
value on each, and carrying around a cooler every day, this
article isn’t for you. I’d love to have you
as a client, but I’d also probably be afraid that
when life throws you a curve, you will crumble.
Another client emailed today and said, “Aren’t
you going to give me a new menu to follow every day?”
No. A big part of permanent success with weight loss and
maintenance is learning how to eat foods we like and fit
them into our plan. It’s also important to learn how
to flex with our changing schedule and life’s unexpected
twists. I remember a client saying, “I was at church
all day setting up the Christmas play set, we hadn’t
eaten all day, and then I got dragged to McDonalds.”
So? “Well, I had a double quarter pounder with cheese
and large fries.” Oh, I guess they ran out of grilled
chicken and salads that day? Even when we get tossed way
out of our routine, we have to know how to make the best
of an “abnormal” day. Hands on learning along
the way, is not only way to not only survive, but to confidently
stay on top.
Let’s get some nutritional priorities lined out and
I think you’ll see you have room for food that tastes
good. Regardless of the type of diet you chose, the first
step toward success has to be food volume. The number of
calories and the grams of protein, carbohydrates, and fat
have to be right, have to be tracked, and have to be consistent
if you want to enjoy consistent weight loss. The next factor
of importance is how you structure that into your day. Although
your meal planning should spread nutrients out fairly evenly,
this isn’t a rigid issue.
Some times you’re going to miss snacks, some times
you’re going to be hungry and eat early, and some
times you’re going to be high or low in one nutrient
category. A competitive bodybuilder looking to gain every
ounce of muscle possible, should be more focused on things
like exact protein intake and exact times, but for someone
trying to be lean, healthy, and be able to eat “real”
food successfully for a lifetime, see if you can follow
my more elastic approach.
I know you’ve heard that you have to eat protein every
three hours. I know you’ve been brainwashed to think
you have to eat protein, carbs, and fat with every meal.
These may be the most effective ways to build muscle and
may, I repeat, may, give you a tiny advantage with weight
loss, but in a pinch or as part of a flexible plan, you’re
not slowing your progress or ruining successful maintenance
by ebbing food around your schedule that breaks these rules
as long as it’s still within your daily food volume
goals and it’s not a completely ludicrous pattern.
If you want 125 grams of protein per day, don’t eat
25 in one meal and 100 at another “just to get it
all in.” At the same time, you don’t have to
have exactly 25 grams exactly 3.25 hours apart in exactly
5 meals. I often tell clients to make sure they have a good
protein source in at least three meals, preferably every
other meal at a minimum. If you don’t have much protein
at breakfast, for example, you may want a small protein
shake as a morning snack.
If you have protein for breakfast: a shake or maybe an egg
white omelet, feel free to have a small carb snack midmorning
to get you through to lunch. Dare I even say that it’s
ok to have a small carb snack late at night if you’re
within your daily goal of carbs? If that doesn’t make
you think I’m a nutritional heretic, I think we’re
on the way to liberating you from your obsessive/compulsive,
tuna and broccoli mentality.
This brings us to the quality of the nutritional categories;
protein, carbohydrates, and fat. I like to build within
a healthy framework when creating for body comp changes.
Just because you want to lose body fat, don’t think
you should give up the best foods. “I can’t
eat that fruit, it has carbs in it!” Wrong. Don’t
tell anyone I told you this, but, ummm….it’s
even ok to have juice once in awhile. You read that correctly.
You can use a small glass of fruit juice as a carb source.
It may not fill you up as well and you may enjoy eating
rather than drinking your carbs, but sometimes when the
right opportunity is there or you just want something different,
it’s ok.
When food is controlled carefully, a snack can simple be
something that keeps blood sugar stable until the next meal.
If the amount of carbs isn’t too high, even a high-glycemic
source won’t make you crash and burn. It will simply
raise blood sugar for a short time, keep energy stable,
and take the edge off of hunger. I often, with long-term
approach general population clients, include a splurge meal
per week. I set up their program so they can lose weight
and still have a moderate splurge meal once a week. This
allows a little pizza, dessert, or steak and dinner rolls
– whatever they have been sacrificing, but in less
than a gut-busting amount. If you have portion control problems,
this may take some practice.
But, what if you really, really, really want something not
considered appropriate dieting fare and it’s not your
splurge meal? I say go for it, but it has to fit your daily
goals. If you have two cookies, they may take the place
of another carb and fat source, but enjoy the cookies –
maybe because of a socially appropriate event, and it’s
not going to hurt your progress. I promise. Don’t
make this a habit and undermine healthy food intake. It’s
not the best approach as a rule, but as an exception, like
I mentioned earlier, it’s real life.
Now, I’m going to take one sample of a female trying
to lose weight and show some alternative meals and days.
This isn’t the right diet for everyone; each person
has a metabolic rate, body type, and social considerations
that make nutrition a very individual application, but this
will simply show how you can bend with taste and still be
on track.
| GOAL:
100 g of protein, 125 g of carbs, 25 g of fat |
| |
| TECHNICALLY
BODYBUILDER OBSESSIVE/COMPULSIVE PERFECT: |
| |
Protein |
Carbs |
Fat |
3 egg whites
1/2 cup oats
Cooking spray or 1⁄2 tsp oil to cook eggs |
12
5
0 |
0
27
0 |
0
0
5 |
| |
Ready-to-drink
protein shake
Small apple |
20
0 |
3
20 |
1
0 |
| |
3
ounce chicken breast
Low-carb tortilla wrap
Salad (no bacon, cheese, croutons)
|
2
2
0
15 |
0
10
10
15 |
3
1
0
5 |
| |
| Half-sized
protein bar |
15 |
15 |
5 |
| |
4
ounce chicken breast or fish
2 cups vegetables or large salad
1/2 cup rice |
28
0
2 |
0
15
22 |
4
0
0 |
| |
| TOTAL
FOR DAY |
105 |
122 |
22 |
| |
1,333
CALORIES |
| |
| QAULITY-MINDED,
BUT MORE REALISTIC: |
|
|
Protein |
Carbs |
Fat |
1
cup high-fiber cereal
1⁄2 cup skim milk |
3
4 |
32
7 |
0
1 |
| |
| Ready-to-drink
protein shake |
20 |
3 |
1 |
| |
3
ounce turkey breast half-sandwich
Cup of raw veggies
Small amount of veggie dip
1 oz baked potato chips |
24
0
0
1 |
12
6
4
18 |
5
0
5
1 |
| |
4
oz chicken breast
Large salad, light dressing |
28
0 |
0
15 |
4
3 |
| |
| Rice
cake with 1 tbsp peanut butter |
4 |
11 |
8 |
| |
| TOTAL
FOR DAY |
94 |
128 |
30 |
| |
1,380
CALORIES |
The first example is textbook, diet-culture perfect. The
second is more relaxed in food choices and the third is
a harried, hard-to-keep up day. Without perfect quality
foods, protein in every meal, and choices sometimes due
to circumstance instead of choice, calories actually ended
up lower and macronutrition volumes weren’t that far
off. Not, the best way at all to eat every day, but a salvaged
day and no progress lost.
The key is to shoot for as many great meals as you can,
plan well, allow yourself options, and always be prepared
to have to just survive a day if you have to. If you’re
mentally prepared for all three, nutrition can be more enjoyable
and confidence building than worrisome and paralyzing. Don’t
just stop to smell the roses in life, stop once in awhile
and taste the pizza! |