9

Root of the Eating Plan

Copyright 2002, Terry Duschinski.

  Want to know how a cheese stick can be more satisfying than several Oreo cookies? Put it onto an eating plan.

Picture this. Let’s say the urge for a snack arises. Ordinarily, you’d raid the cookie jar. But you realize that your plan calls for a cheese stick or an apple in about an hour. You’ll hold off on the cookie jar, and wait to enjoy your prescribed snack.

It isn’t that a cheese stick is more satisfying than a fistful of Oreo’s, but mastering your plan carries a great sense of satisfaction. This is about the only way a cheese stick can surpass an Oreo in dietary delight.

If you’re trying to shed excess pounds, devise an eating plan. If you’re not interested in slimming down, devise an eating plan. If you’d like to gain lean body mass, devise an eating plan. You’re going to be eating for the rest of your life, plan on it.

Having a plan is like having a budget. It makes you much more judicious in "spending" calories. At least once, for a spell of time, don’t eat by whim or by chance but strictly by plan.

Your first concern in devising a plan is probably setting a calorie level for sensible fat loss. Generally, about 10 times your target bodyweight should provide a net-calorie deficit for a person who will be exercising the way we’re encouraging you to do. This restricted-calorie level is appropriate so long as your target is not greater than a 10 percent drop in total scale weight. For someone who weighs 200 pounds wanting to be 180, that’s 1800 calories. For someone 250 pounds who wants to be 150, you’ll have to make it and hold a weight of 225 first, so eat 2250 per day during this 6-week period.

This is a rough approximation. Greater accuracy in pinpointing a calorie level is possible if you’ve determined how many daily calories sustain your current bodyweight. If you know the figure, subtract 500 to 1000 from your sustenance level.

Remember that this is generalized. People use calories differently. One thing that determines how efficiently you burn calories is surface-area-to-volume ratio. A tall person weighing 160 pounds will burn body fat more easily than a short, stocky person of the same weight. The tall person has greater surface area for the 160-pound volume.

A lot of surface area compared to volume is like a building with a lot of exits; calories can more easily evacuate.

I’ve operated programs firsthand that were successful placing woman on 1200 calories for two weeks, then 1100 calories the next two weeks, and 1000 calories the final two weeks. We never advised going below 1000 calories and we never recommended staying that low for longer than two weeks.

The typical man also followed a descending-calorie diet, starting at 1500, then 1400, then 1300 in 2-week segments.

So that it would be somewhat easy to follow, the plan was simplified, providing two basic choices for breakfast, two for lunch, and then a different dinner every night of the week. The client could select which of the breakfasts or lunches she or he preferred, switching back and forth as much as they liked. The seven dinners were comprised of two nights of beef as the main dish, two nights of chicken, two nights of fish, and one night of pasta. The dinner cycle repeated itself every week, and also included frozen dinner options and meal replacements for emergency situations.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner combined for the same calorie total each of the 6 weeks. The descending calorie total – the 100 or 200 fewer calories each segment – were taken out of snacks, of which there were at least two if not three each day.

Another theme of our program was just add water. And more water. Lots of water. Water intake is critical to fat loss. A couple of sessions ago, session 7, explained this in detail.

We also provided guidelines for dining away from home, which soon follow.

The average, healthy person is not likely to encounter serious hunger on such a well-balanced plan, but discipline is required. You see, many times we eat not in response to hunger but because we enjoy the taste of the food. Craving-induced eating will be a temptation, but you shouldn't have more than a twinge of actual hunger.

You are welcome to elaborate upon our simplified plan. You can refer to the Food Guide Pyramid devised by the USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services. This divides food into five separate groups plus the pinnacle of the pyramid which calls for sparing usage of fats, oils and sweets.

Progressing toward the base of the pyramid:

·     Milk, yogurt and Cheese group – 2-3 servings

·     Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Eggs, and Nuts Group – 2-3 servings

·     Fruit Group – 2-4 servings

·     Vegetable Group – 3-5 servings

·     Bread, cereal, rice and Pasta Group – 6-11 servings

   Many things we eat contain a mixture from two or more of the groups, so you’ll have to divvy out servings.

Another option, instead of counting calories, is an exchange plan. Devised by the American Dietetic Association and the American Diabetes Association, this scheme places food into six categories and allows exchanges within each category. Copies of the exchange list guide are available from the American Dietetic Association.

Whatever type of plan you choose, look upon this as an adventure. When you start to learn the calorie costs of food, I used to tell my clients, eat ANYTHING you want – so long as you know how it effects your plan.

My clients really enjoyed cheese sticks.