The 20/20 Diet (6 page)

he metabolic

process by which your body produces heat; in other words, it’s related

to your metabolism. There are different types of thermogenesis, and I’l

explain more about that later in this chapter, but right now I’m specifical y referring to “diet-induced thermogenesis.” Some scientists believe that certain foods may increase your metabolism after you eat them.

Did you ever think food could increase your metabolism? This is what I

mean when I say that not all foods or calories are created equal.

Foods That Stick to Your Ribs

If you’ve ever sat down and polishe
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d off an entire family-size bag of

nacho cheese chips at record speed and then felt hungrier than when

you opened the bag, you know that not all foods you put in your

mouth satisfy you.

But, believe it or not, there are also certain foods that research

suggests may increase your satiety; they tell your brain that you’ve had enough and you don’t need any more after eating a reasonable (not

gargantuan) port
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ion. They help you feel fuller than other foods in

their same category—or, as we say in Texas, they really stick to your

ribs. For instance, codfish and chicken are both lean proteins, but

research indicates that people who eat cod report feeling fuller than

people who eat chicken. I used this type of information to compile

this list of filling foods. Think back to other skimpy diet meals you’ve eate
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n and how you’ve been left yearning for more. Maybe you even

wound up in front of the open refrigerator, wiping drool from your

chin, and then eating everything in there like a starving vulture. Well, the meals in this diet plan have been designed to help you leave the

table feeling full and satisfied.

A Diet That Defies Your Logic | 27

You might be thinking, “Yeah, feeling full right after my meals

is great, but what about later when I’m running on empty again?” I

know just how this goes: It’s the first morning of your new diet and

your paltry breakfast already seems like a distant memory, when all of

a sudden, your stomach gives a little gurgle. Oh no. You try to ignore

it but before too long, the gurgle has evolved into a full-on growl so

loud that your boss heard it from across the office. You st
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are at the

clock as each second feels like an eternity, your head begins to ache,

and images of pastries begin to usurp all of your rational thoughts. It

becomes a mental tug-of-war, and you know you’ll never survive until

lunch. You finally surrender and think, “Now, where did I stash those

‘emergency’ candy bars?”

This post-meal hunger scenario can lead to rebellion. So how do we

address it it? Well, studies have revealed that certain foods have the particular ability to suppress your appetite, meaning they delay the return of your hunger so you can last until th
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e next mealtime without having

to seriously consider gnawing off your own arm. And because you’re not

hungry, you won’t be haunted by cravings anymore.

I think what will really surprise you is that these are not the weird,

unappetizing foods that can only be found at the pricey health food

store. These also are not “fat-blasting” fad foods from some exotic

rainforest somewhere. Examples include almonds, apples, and yogurt.

Nothing crazy there! I want you to think of these as “everyday super-

foods” that should be eaten in the right proportions.

Time-Release C
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ombinations

The final method comes from new theories that suggest that foods

should be combined to create a time-release type effect in your body.

These theories suggest that the right combination of carbohydrates

(that’
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s right—carbs are
not
the devil!), proteins, and what I call “fit fats”

can cause your body to break meals down slower, and slower is better

because it means your brain continues to receive the “ful ” signal for

hours after you eat these meals. Plus, research suggests that eating these foods can help you feel more energized, which can help reduce the need

to grab a sugary snack in the middle of the day for a pick-me-up. But

28 | The 20/20 Diet

the right portions are
really
important and the meals in this diet are designed with this in mind. By the end of the plan, you’ll know how to

combine foods and create appropriate portion sizes on your own so you

can truly adopt this as an ongoing lifestyle.

Delicious, Flavorful Foods (No, Real y!)

We’ve all heard the saying, “If it tastes good, spit it out.

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” That’s because

if something tastes good, there’s no way it could also be good for you,

right? Because heaven forbid that a healthy meal could possibly be

enjoyable or, oh, I don’t know—have a little hint of flavor. How many

diets have you done that had you eating foods with about as much

flavor as Styrofoam? Most people equate “diet” with “bland” because

that’s always been their experience.

Just because you’re losing weight doesn’t mean you should have to

dread every flavorless, predictable bit
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e. Plus, there’s a whole world of

new information out there on the health benefits that various season-

ings and herbs have to offer. Your body wants and needs these things,

so why would you deprive yourself of them?

30-Second Strategies

This plan incorporates fascinating 30-second behavioral strategies

to help you achieve your goals, and I think you will be amazed by

what you can ac
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complish in just 30 short seconds with these. (And

if you can’t spare 30 seconds, then there are other problems we need

to discuss first!) Furthermore, some of the meals can be assembled

in 30 seconds, and even the exercise program is based on 30-second

“bursts.” Here’s what it entails:

Exe
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rcise: Less Is More!

New theories suggest that long, drawn-out cardio sessions may not be

necessary when it comes to weight loss and that shorter workouts of var-

ied intensity may also be effective. There’s lots of good news here: First, you don’t need some kind of expensive equipment or membership at a

state-of-the-art gym in order to perform this kind of exercise. Secondly, A Diet That Defies Your Logic | 29

you may be able to exercise
less
, but still burn calories, making this exercise plan easy to fit into your schedule.

Don’t get me wrong: you’re going to be doing some work. If

you’re one of those people who leaves the gym looking like you

just left the beauty salon, not a hair out of place and not a bead of

sweat on your body, then you’re not fooling anyone and you’re wast-

ing your time. But the secret to this exercise program li
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es within

30-second bursts of intense activity in between less intense activ-

ity. And if you hate running or can’t run, don’t worry: this method

applies to biking, swimming, walking, or any other kind of exercise

that floats your boat.

You’ll learn all the ins and outs in chapter 10, but the bottom line

is that this routine can help you lose weight, burn calories and fat, and tone shapely muscles—all in less time than you might imagine, and

all in your own home.

Splurging Al owed (Yes, Even Alcoh
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ol)

“Cheat days” have become a trend in diets lately, but sticking to a plan for six days and then going completely bonkers at the all-you-can-eat

pizza bar on day seven is going to get your body chemistry off kilter

and you know it. So here’s a concept: follow the plan every day, but

know that you can have a reasonable splurge once or twice a week.

Then you’re not fixating on that day seven pig-out all week long, it

doesn’t take as mu
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ch to satisfy your need for a little something that’s

“off plan,” and it doesn’t affect your steady weight loss.

After the first phase of this diet (which is only five days, by the

way), you’re allowed a splurge once or twice a week—this even includes

a glass of wine. (In fact, some research suggests that some people who

drink alcohol in moderation weigh less than people who don’t!) There

are so
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me simple guidelines you’ll follow to achieve fail-safe splurging:

you’ll ask yourself if you’re really trying to fill an emotional need with food and, if so, address it in a different way; the splurge food must fit in the palm of your hand (I’ll give you specific examples of splurge

sizes so you don’t overdo it); and you must do some form of exercise

on days that you splurge.

30 | The 20/20 Diet

Ultimately, this technique takes your focus
off
cheating because you know you are allowed to splurge, and in my experience, simply

knowing that it’s available means you actually end up splurging less

often than you do on other, more restrictive plans.

Body Composition Overhaul

On a lot of popular diets, you may lose both fat
and
mu
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scle because

you’re drastically restricting carbohydrates, which your muscles des-

perately need, and you’re not exercising properly. Even if it reflects

a lower number on the scale, you really do not want to lose muscle

because it is the “furnace” that burns fat. Less muscle, smaller fur-

nace. Smaller furnace, slower weight loss. But the meals in this diet

are designed to allow you to maintain and build muscle.

Plus, with this plan we have provided a number of exercises that

are easy to incorporate into your dai
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ly life that are designed to build

muscle and help tone your body. So when you follow this exercise plan

and lose 10 pounds, it might actually feel like 20 because the overall

shape of your body is improving. You might even fit comfortably into

clothing you wore when you weighed less. I know it seems strange, but

your weight is not the whole story. Body composition is critical.

Getting in Tune with Your Hunger

Let’s conduct a li
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ttle experiment. Close your eyes and imagine biting

into a crisp dill pickle. What happened? Come on, I can see you wip-

ing the drool from here. Your mouth watered, of course! You began

producing saliva in anticipation of eating a pickle. Maybe that doesn’t

seem like an earth-shattering revelation, but think about it: you didn’t
see
a pickle, you didn’t
touch
a pickle, you didn’t
smell
a pickle; all you di
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d was
think
about one.

Your thoughts have the ability to produce physiological responses

in your body. In this plan, you’re going to harness the power of your

thoughts to help you lose weight instead of letting them run amok and

contribute to the problem. One way you’ll do that is by implementing

my Hunger and Fullness Scale in your daily life. This scale will help

A Diet That Defies Your Logic | 31

you identify the difference between real, physical hunger, habit hun-

ger, and that fake “mind hunger,” which is just a feeling conjured by

your thoughts, emotions, or responses to triggers.

Mind hunger is what happens when you succumb to either an exter-

nal cue, like a candy jar or fast-food commercial, or an internal cue,

such as stress or loneliness. It’s not accompanied by physical symptoms of hunger like a growling stomach, which means your body doe
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s not actu-

al y need nourishment. The Hunger and Ful ness Scale on page 71 wil

help you understand, based on signals your body is sending you, just how hungry you are so that you shouldn’t get too hungry and you shouldn’t

eat when you don’t actual y
need
to. By getting in tune with your body and its signals, you will begin to gain control over your eating habits.

You’ve probably heard me say it before, and I’ll say it again—you

can’t change what you don’t acknowledge. Until you acknowledge that

not all “hunger” means you must stuff something in your mouth imme-

diately or risk passing out and dying f
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rom starvation, you can’t have

successful weight loss. I could throw every healthy food known to man

at you, but if you haven’t learned to pay attention to your body, and not overeat, you will remain overweight. And once you start paying attention, you will be shocked at how often you’ve been eating purely out of

“mind hunger” or “habit hunger.” It happens to everyone, but what sets

you apart is that you’re now identifying it and taking control over it.

Cal ing in the Experts

It’s hard to lose w
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eight if you
just
change your food, or
just
change

your exercise, or
just
change your thinking. To be successful, we’ve got to tackle this from all angles. You have to shake it up to break it up.

That’s easier said than done and probably impossible to do alone. So,

in order to give you a diet plan that addresses all of the “ugly truths”

abou
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t other diets that have failed you, as I alluded to earlier in this