Everyone wants a quick fix; that’s human nature, right? People tend to be lazy. They want to do something the easy way and expect to see great results. Well too bad! If you want to have low body fat and a lean looking body, you probably need to make a lifestyle change.
I can’t tell you how many people have come to me and said, “I lost 50 pounds last year when I was on the “blah blah” diet, but then gained it back after a year.”
I don’t want to get into any trouble by listing the diet companies out there that rely on calorie counting and point systems, but these are the stories that I hear day in and day out.
When someone attempts a calorie-obsessed and counting diet, they will most likely lose some weight in the beginning. However, the failure rate over time is around 95%, with most of those people gaining all the weight back and sometimes more.
“I feel like a broken record, but I don’t think that people are getting the concept of “dieting.”
One client said to me, “I liked such-and-such diet because I was able to eat whatever wanted. I just had to be conscious of calories. The down part was that I was hungry all the time and sometimes I wasn’t able to control my appetite.” That is no way to live in my book.
It’s tough to go around starving all the time, especially with the amount of tempting food that surrounds us every day. It is human nature to not only succumb to the temptations but to over indulge. This overindulgence makes you feel like a failure, which in turn causes people to give up entirely.
If a calorie-obsessed, point system or extreme diet is what you want to be on, then I suggest you stop reading this article (if you’ve miraculously made it this far) and I wish you the best of luck.
How to Achieve a Healthy, Lean Body
Having been a Nutritionist actively working in the fitness industry for over ten years, I have had the privilege of helping hundreds of people change their eating habits by merely educating them. Not only have these people lost weight, but they have managed to keep it off.
They feel great, hardly get sick anymore, and are stronger and leaner. The weight they lose stays off, they don’t feel like they’re starving all the time, and they can indulge from time to time.
People should be striving towards implementing this type of nutrition into daily life; forget about portion control and eating the 100 calorie packets of cookies or eating a protein bar that’s full of highly heated, cheap, protein fillers that don’t even absorb properly and have artificial sweeteners added. “But Lauren, I know they’re cookies, but it’s only 100 calories. But Lauren, there are zero carbs in that bar and 20 grams of protein.”
“Eating a high processed cookie made from refined flour, sugary corn syrup, and other additives will set something off in your brain. Every time they eat those foods, it strengthens their neuro-circuitry to eat that food again.”
That’s great, but soon you’ll be craving other junk foods since your brain naturally becomes addicted to the sugary, processed foods once you’ve eaten them. According to Dr. David Kessler, former Head of the FDA, there are documented studies that show that when eating a particular combination of sugar, fat, and salt, your brain will trick you into wanting to eat more, even if you aren’t hungry.
Eating a high processed cookie made from refined flour, sugary corn syrup, and other additives will set something off in your brain. “Every time they eat those foods, it strengthens their neuro-circuitry to eat that food again,” says Dr. Kessler. You might feel satisfied temporarily after your craving is met, but chances are you will make up for it later by eating more for dinner than you would normally have.
The same goes for ingesting artificial sweeteners. Your brain is expecting to get sugar when you are tasting that sweet protein bar filled with sugar alcohol. Therefore, your body will end up craving sugar later which will result in eating an increased amount of food that your body doesn’t need.
So let’s get to what we SHOULD be eating to achieve a healthy, lean body. I am going to lay out a sample day of eating that consists of foods that don’t take long to prepare. In this busy day and age, with everyone racing against the clock, I feel it’s important to have healthy choices which can be prepared quickly.
For those of you who do have ample time to prepare your meals and enjoy cooking everything from scratch, then that’s better. For the sake of this article, I will just provide sample meals and snacks that don’t take too long. In the sample day below, take note that I refer to breakfast as “Meal 1” and lunch as “Meal 3.”
I prefer to call them meals since I don’t believe in feeding yourself if you have no desire to eat just because it’s supposed to be “lunch time.” Some people do better without even eating lunch and having just a snack instead. Everyone is different, so follow your hunger. Turn to a snack if your body isn’t telling you to eat one of the larger meals. The following diet also provides two options per meal.
The diet outlined below is not an exact nutrition plan for you to follow but merely a template. For some, it may be too much food for others not enough. Use the following diet as a guideline to give you an idea how you should outline your 2017 nutritional lifestyle.
The No Nonsense Shredded Diet Plan
Meal 1
2 Organic Free Range Eggs Omelette
Handful of Spinach
1 tsp of Hummus
1 tsp of Roasted Tomato Salsa
¼ cup of Oatmeal (Optional)
or
Hemp Protein, Sprouted Rice Protein or Grass Fed Whey Protein
1 cup of Organic Blueberries
1 Tbs of Flaxseeds or oil
8oz of Water
Meal 2
Handful of Raw Almonds and Walnuts
1 small Organic Apple
or
Organic Full Fat Greek Yogurt
1 tsp of Flaxseed oil
½ cup of berries
Meal 3
2-3 Cups of Organic Mixed Greens
topped with Green Onions, Tomatoes, Cucumbers
3-5oz Chicken
Slices of Avocado
or
1 serving of Quinoa
3-5oz Chicken or Turkey
2-3 cups of chopped Cucumbers, Tomatoes, and Avocado
1-2 Tbs of Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar
Sweet Craving or Afternoon Pick me up (If NEEDED)
1-2 Squares of Dark Chocolate of greater than 73%
Green or Herbal Tea
Meal 4 or Pre/Post Workout Snack
2 Scoops Grass Fed Whey Protein
½ banana
6-8oz of Cold Water
or
1 or 2 Hard Boiled Eggs
Organic Pear
Meal 5
5-6oz Baked Wild River Salmon
Half a bunch of Grilled Asparagus
Fist Size portion of Quinoa
1-2 Tbs of Balsamic Vinaigrette
1 serving of Rice or Almond Crackers (if desired)
or
Veggie Tacos
½ cup Low Sodium Black Beans
Roasted Tomato Salsa
1/3 Avocado smashed placed in Corn Tortilla with Grilled Zucchini and Peppers
Evening Snack (if still hungry)
Herbal Tea such as Chamomile or Bed Time tea
Apple Sauce with Cinnamon or Lightly Popped Low Sodium Popcorn
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