Make Lunch Your Bitch
this guy does - and everything else
I was having a conversation with a family member a few days ago --- one who also runs a very busy schedule.
He said --- There is no way I can follow these so-called guidelines on eating food every 3-4 hours. I do good if I eat one meal a day
This opinion will be parroted by a lot of people out there I am trying to reach--
My response to this in print is -- "Congratulations ! -- You are training your body to be a very efficient fat storage machine !"
Now this person does not have a weight problem, so I cannot knock him personally on that ---- but eating one meal a day and following it up with a couple of evening beers or glasses of wine to get to sleep is not an efficient way to fuel your day regardless of your size
Some people just don't put on a lot of extra weight -- fact of life. But running a 25 year diet like this will cause you to turn into the 50 year old guy at the party who proudly proclaims -
-- "I've been wearin' the same size pants since my failed attempt at junior college ! "
---- maybe -- but now those pants ride 4 inches lower because you cant get 'em over your little beer pooch efficiently- plus your arms look like little candlesticks --- this is the "skinny-fat" syndrome that affects a lot of guys (sometimes girls too)
So go ahead --- have 5 cups of coffee for breakfast, then by 10:30, when you're starving, be the first in line at Chili's/Applebees/RedRobin/Fuddruckers -etc etc for a 1300 calorie burger platter ---
when the effects of carb overload flood your brain at 2 pm, simply fight it off and keep driving forward, because its only 3 more hours till 5 o'clock ----- then its beer time, and sleep time
Sounds like fun , huh?
But how's your 2 mile time? How many pushups can you knock out before your arms collapse like wet noodles?
Guess what? Although that's a horrible meal ( except for the occasional necessary cheat day that is good for your soul) -- at the end of the day, you are still not clocking in an optimum amount of caories to fuel a whole day
lets see -- coffee is almost a calorie negative, then add in 1300 calories at Chili's , a few diet sodas, then 5 beers ---- your only at 1800 calories when ideally you should be running on perhaps 2500 - 2600 if it was spaced properly
You would think that working on a 800 calorie per day deficit from ideal that you would be as skinny as Twiggy, --- but whats happening is your body has adjusted to the deficit, -- set its thermostat quite a bit lower, and has also turned on the internal valve that causes you to burn carbohydrates for fuel instead of fat
that late afternoon energy dump you feel after a big lunch is an insulin reaction to processing a big meal --- and because you are now somewhat carb dependent --- that first afternoon beer starts to perk you up and bring you around ---- puts you into "party mode!" Woo Hoo
--- But -- its not really a party mode -- it has more to do with carb dependence. It has similarities to when a diabetic feels run down, but when they eat a late afternoon candy bar , - it perks them right back up
Kind of scary that your " 1 meal a day" plan has your system in such a state of flux that it can compare to the effects a diabetic feels
------ How the hell would I know this? Easy -- I have already divulged that I'm my first and best customer, - that means I've done this and felt this too
Wouldn't it be better to know that with just a few tweaks and modifications to how you currently perform your day, -- that you can be more productive? More productive at work, more energetic at home, and having the ability to bounce out of bed in the morning with enthusiasm ?
Some may say ---- "That sounds alright , Mr Johnny Atlas, - but I work for a living --- I don't sit on a computer all day dreaming up my next long, exhausting stint on a rowing machine, or my next turkey Panini recipe !"
I know you work hard --- so do I, in all reality--------- A couple of my early blog posts from December deal with how to overcome some of this. - and I'd recommend re-reading them, but I will also be adding new ideas to the mix periodically ( http://fitclaimspro.blogspot.com/2013/12/a-poor-worker-blames-his-tools-and.html , http://fitclaimspro.blogspot.com/2013/12/a-poor-worker-blames-his-tools-part-2.html)
The ideas I have in these page's are also just that -- ideas . Its not gospel---- so put your own spin on things --- but if I suggest maybe tucking a couple of apples in your cooler in the morning, -- don't make it a caramel apple , -- know what I mean ?
You may blow $300 bucks trying to find a protein or meal replacement powder you can stomach-- because its physically hard to eat a real meal 5 times a day, but in the long run, my plan may actually wind up saving you money
--- I have some recommendations on some good ones, but I'm not on any companies' payroll but my own, -- so if you want a solid recommendo, shoot me an email (Not the bars --- geez , every time I go to a nutrition store - there are 37 new bars there, - I cant make sense of all of them)
-- One general recommendation I can make on bars though, is to steer clear of the "energy bars" and instead look to bars that have a higher percentage of protein . Some of these energy bars have as much sugar as a Red Bull and as many calories as a regular cheeseburger from MackDonalds.
Your protein infused meal replacement bar will have plenty of calories too, but the greater % of protein to carbs lessens the effect of the late afternoon energy dump
A lot of bars are marketed at the endurance sports crowd too (ORiginal Clif bars and Powerbars just to name a couple) --- these have a huge carb to protein ratio and should be avoided by many of us -- although I think these companies also have options for people who don't need that many carbs
---- The little tiny Nutri-Grain type bars , OTOH, are also mostly carbohydrate, but their calorie count is pretty low - maybe 90 or so, -- and they make a good complement to your protein or meal replacement shaker bottle. You get 220-250 calories or so from your big scoop of high protein drink mix, then you add in 80 calories of carbs with a nutri- grain bar and it helps provide a little glue to hold everything together in your stomach , and makes you feel like you actually had a light meal, instead of feeling like you just drank a big glass of chocolate milk ---
-- it also comes close to what a lot of dietitians now think is the pefect ration of fats to proteins to carbs, -- with most recommending no more than 40% of your daily calories to come from carbs -- sometimes less
Basically , carbs should complement your meals , not dominate your meals ----- whether its a snack like I talked about just now, or if its a real food meal -------
want some examples (2 good and 1 bad) ? ---- myself and 2 of the staff went to lunch yesterday and here is what was on the table
Meal 1 -- First up is mine -------- yep, I still foolishly think a sandwich should have a little bread involved --- but in this case the bread is sourdough --- we have all heard that darker breads are more nutrient dense than spongy white wonder bread -------- well sourdough is a white bread that acts like a dark bread because of whatever is in there that makes it "sour" (yeast fermentation or some such ) -----stacked up turkey, tomatoes and lettuce with feta cheese in lieu of other condiments ----
---also went for grilled veggies instead of fries or chips
MEal 2 - Next on the table is this good lookin' Mediterranean salad --- I see some grilled chicken in there, crumbled up Feta to give it some flavor (and a bit of good fat ) -- plus a little bit of toasted pita bread or lavash bread or something ---- but like I said, the little squares of lavash complement the meal, not dominate it
----------- personal note though - I like salads, and can do a big salad like this on occasion, maybe even a couple of times a week -- but I still sort of regard daily salad consumption as a chick thing
So where's the bad in all this? --
Meal number 3 --- Chicken noodle soup made with orzo (tiny little greek pasta pellets that look like rice)
Chicken - good; Veggies - Good; Chicken broth - marginal due to very high levels of sodium - probably a days worth in a cup of soup like this ; then add in the Orzo and saltine crackers,( which are basically processed white flour, water and lard -) and you have a lunch time favorite that looks good - and might even be confused with a "healthy dish" --- but has a lot of drawbacks
None of these meals bust 500 calories -- - and even with the negative thoughts I had on the soup, its still more harmless than a lot of things mainly due to its low calorie count -- but if you do something like that at luch , compensate throughout the rest of the day with greater percentages of protein and even fats
- But lets compare any of those above with America's lunchtime favorite, pictured below --a phat-ass cheeseburger -- this is exactly what I'm talking about --- a meal like this will stuff you to the extent that you really don't feel like eating for hours and hours------ The bun alone likely has as many calories as that bowl of chicken noodle -- then all those fries
-- carbs are absolutely dominating this meal and making you their bitch. While in my first 2 examples above, its the opposite - -- those meals don't fore-go the carbs, but the ratios are much more complementary
I have repeated this several times --- there is still room in your life for your so-called "normal meals" - like a big burger and fries -- don't make this seem like work . Just engineer some cheat days in every couple of weeks ------- but my first 3 examples?--- You can eat stuff like that everyday if you get stuck doing a lot of business lunches or just need one meal a day away from your cooler
----- I'm not implying you should be eating sourdough bread and pitas at every single meal during the day though ---- its just that the custom of lunch trips a lot of us up -- eat a solid 5 or 600 calorie lunch -- then get on with your day and keep maintaining a steady positive stream of nutrients the rest of the day
A 1300 calorie platter though -- that's like throwing a 2 foot wide barricade in the middle of your positive stream that's only 3 feet wide -- Yes, you can get around , and it probably won't kill you, but it impedes forward progress and ruins efficiency for a while
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---- I am picking up new readers everyday, but still want to stress --- the site grows through the efforts of the readership, as this is entirely a word of mouth exercise right now and not a public entity
, ------ so if you like what you read, forward this to a friend in need -
--- and if your reading for the first time, drop a quick email simply stating "subscribe" to Dougmcbride@fitclaimspro.com and I will get you on the subscriber list
Thank you and have a great day
-- Doug
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