WEIGHT-LOSS GUIDE - Printer Friendly

WEIGHT-LOSS GUIDE

Chris Aceto

Almost anyone can lose 10 pounds in two weeks--just severely restrict your eating and your muscles will atrophy, your strength will plummet, your energy level will nose-dive and your body will absolutely refuse to give up a single ounce of bodyfat. Not only that, but the weight comes right back on when you eat normally again!

Obviously, you need a more effective approach to ditch those last stubborn pounds once and for all without sacrificing your health. Using several sound weight-loss techniques, we'll show you how to lose up to 15 pounds in 12 weeks--no taboos, no hunger. And the best part is that the diet works even if you cheat a little!

Every weight-loss plan has a few rules, but we guarantee these are a lot easier to swallow than eating cabbage for a month or overdosing on fatty protein foods. For healthy, sustained weight loss, keep these important principles in mind:

1) Eat foods high in fiber.
Fruit, vegetables and whole-grain breads and cereals are all low in calories but high in bulk, which helps satisfy your appetite. Yes, high-fiber foods are made up of carbohydrate, but these aren't the kind anyone should avoid.

"Everyone's trying to do the no-carb thing, and I try to tell them it isn't going to work because you can't live with it," says 1998 Fitness Olympia champion Monica Brant. "When you stop, you go right back to where you were. Plus, you can't exercise on a no-carb diet, and exercise is half the battle in controlling your weight."

No-carb or other quick-fix diets that may radically restrict calories trigger a downshift in your metabolic rate, the number of calories your body uses at rest. That's why eating dramatically less food can cause weight loss via water and muscle but leave you at a virtual standstill in terms of losing bodyfat.

Female athletes in particular risk a lot on such a diet. Melinda Manore, PhD, RD, professor of nutrition in the department of nutrition at Arizona State University in Tempe, says: "Some of the health consequences of long-term energy restriction in female athletes may include poor energy and nutrient intakes, poor nutritional status, decreased resting metabolic rate and total daily energy expenditure, increased psychological stress, and increased risk for a clinical eating disorder, exercise-induced amenorrhea and osteoporosis. Besides, if you restrict your energy intake too much, you lose lean tissue and can't build new lean tissue even though you're exercising."

2)Drink plenty of water.
Hydration is important not only for good health but also for optimum workouts. "I go through at least a gallon each day," says 2000 Fitness International champion Kelly Ryan. She also warns against confusing thirst for hunger.

Water is nature's perfect no-calorie solution to thirst, and as a fit woman, you need to drink more than the eight recommended 8-ounce glasses a day. According to Janet W. Rankin, PhD, professor of nutrition in the department of human nutrition, foods and exercise at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Blacksburg), "Too little water can worsen performance and health, so consume plenty of fluids throughout the day to efficiently excrete waste products and promote your body's ability to sweat and therefore cool itself on a hot day or during strenuous exercise." She notes that although most athletes don't drink enough fluids, drinking extra water over and above your needs will simply produce more urine, not better performance.

3) Not all fats are the enemy.
Jose Antonio, PhD, author of Diets Drive Me Nuts (Book Partners Inc., 1999), points out that drastically lowering your fat intake isn't good for your body. Eating a diet of less than about 10% calories from fat daily may harm your sports performance and prevent your body from absorbing necessary fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E and K. Still, saturated fats and trans fatty acids--most commonly found in animal products and processed foods--are unhealthful in excess and should be minimized. Instead, try to get the majority of fat in your diet from mono- or polyunsaturated forms, including olive, canola and fish oils.

4) Don't deprive yourself.
Don't be afraid to splurge on a serving of your favorite food, something you really crave, every 10 days or so. In the grand scheme of things, those extra 400 calories won't hurt as long as you control the portion size and get right back on your healthful eating plan. This kind of "controlled cheating" should give you the relief and motivation to forge ahead without completely blowing your diet.

Eat to Lose
Our straightforward approach to sustainable weight loss controls your total daily calories by fixing your daily protein intake at approximately 1 gram per pound of bodyweight and daily carbohydrate intake at approximately 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight. That may sound like a lot, but the end result is a mild caloric reduction while expending calories in physical activity to promote a steady decrease in bodyfat.

For example, if you weigh 140 pounds, you'd consume 140 grams of protein each day with 210 grams of carbohydrate. To keep a tight check on excess calories, you'll keep your dietary fat low, but not less than 10% (no less than 155 calories, or 17 grams) of your total daily calories. That means your primary source of dietary fat will come from what's naturally found in your lean chicken breast, turkey breast, lean cuts of red meat and complex-carb foods. No fried foods, heavy sauces, creams, certain oils or butter allowed!

Meticulously adding up your total daily carbohydrate and protein counts can be time-consuming, but Monica recommends it if you're really serious about losing 12-15 pounds for good. "Read labels and use a carbohydrate and protein counter to keep track of how many [of each] you're getting each day," she suggests. "Within a couple of weeks, you'll have a good idea of what 35 grams of carbs from potatoes look like or how many egg whites add up to 23 grams of protein. Plus, you'll see a huge difference in your body." Food logs tend to keep you honest, and having one to look back on makes it easier to tinker with your diet a bit if adjustments are necessary.

As most physique athletes do, our meal plan has you eating six smaller meals a day, each roughly the same in protein, carb and fat content, to deliver these nutrients most efficiently, stimulate your metabolism and--last but certainly not least--burn extra calories. Nancy Betts, PhD, RD, professor of nutritional science and dietetics at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, explains that eating a meal raises your body temperature, called dietary-induced thermogenesis, allowing you to lose extra calories to heat without having to do extra work. "The number of calories burned via the thermic effect of food depends on what's in the food. Whereas 20%-25% of protein's calories are lost to its thermic effect, only a very small percentage of fat calories are lost to heat. The thermic effect of carbohydrate is somewhere in the middle at about 10%-15% of calories."

In our example of a 140-pound woman who eats 210 grams of carbohydrates along with 140 grams of protein, dividing carbs and protein evenly into six meals yields 35 grams of carbohydrate and 23.3 grams of protein at each meal.

Although our eating plan doesn't reflect this, Monica and Kelly suggest eating more of your carbs earlier in the day to help reduce bodyfat. "I eat complex carbs [oats, brown rice, potatoes, yams, bread, pasta] in the earlier part of the day and phase in my vegetables later at night," Kelly notes. "Complex carbs are denser in calories than vegetables, and I feel my body needs that energy kick-start earlier in the day when I'm more active."

Monica agrees: "I like crunchy vegetables at night. You can't even begin to compare the caloric value of 3 cups of pasta to 3 cups of a vegetable mixture such as green beans, cucumbers and chopped green peppers."

Don't Forget Exercise!
What would a diet plan be without some kind of physical activity required? A fad or hoax, perhaps. Extremely difficult, for sure. Our plan includes cardiovascular training to facilitate greater fat loss, starting at an easy pace and gradually building up to 45-50 minutes per session before you increase the intensity. When you're ready, make the exercise harder and raise your heart rate to increase the total number of calories burned. Setting the treadmill on an incline, pedaling the bike faster and stair-stepping against greater resistance are all examples of how you can increase the intensity of your workouts.

Monica likes to mix things up with interval aerobics. "If you get in a rut or your weight loss is slowing, try bike sprints, where you pedal as hard as you can for one minute followed by two minutes of an easier intensity. It's a great workout that keeps your heart rate high and burns more calories than simply pedaling like a robot."

Whatever you do, don't think that doing more cardio faster will be better; excessive aerobics can be as detrimental as reducing your calories too severely. Besides being unsustainable for long periods, "Too much [aerobics] too soon with too few carbs and calories can send your body into a starvation mode, where it fights to hold onto its fat stores and lean muscle mass," says Monica. "If you aren't currently doing any aerobic work, start with three times a week for 20-30 minutes. By the end of the second week, make one of those a 45-minute session. By the third week, you should be able to complete three 45-50-minute sessions." Build up to 4-6 cardiovascular sessions a week if you like, just remember that three weekly cardio workouts is the minimum to achieve any kind of benefit.

For optimal results, you'll need to train with weights, too. Resistance training signals the body to hold onto muscle mass, and the more muscle you keep, the higher your metabolic rate. In a study published in the Journal of American College Nutritionist, West Virginia University (Morgantown) researchers found that when high-volume resistance-training programs were added to low-calorie diets, lean bodyweight was preserved. A control group that added just cardiovascular activities to their programs lost a significant amount of lean bodyweight. Losing muscle isn't what we're after.

The Scale Story
If you decide to use the scale to measure your weight loss, you may find the pounds shedding quickly only to slow down as time progresses. Don't be discouraged. You may need to reassess your training program by increasing your workouts 10-15 minutes, lifting more weight or shaking up your routine with a new activity at a higher intensity.

If you immediately begin losing more than 1 pound a week, don't increase your aerobic work to more than three sessions a week - you'll do just fine by sticking to the initial plan and even adding another 30-50 grams of carbohydrates to your daily meal plan.

Sample Weight-Loss Meal Plan (for 140-pound woman)
Day 1

Meal 1
5 egg whites, scrambled
1 slice fat-free cheese
1/2 cup oats (dry measure), cooked
3/4 cup strawberries
Totals: 299 Calories, 29g Protein, 39g Carbohydrates, 3g Fat

Meal 2
Stir-fry:
3 oz. skinless chicken breast, cubed
3/4 cup brown rice, cooked
1/4 cup shredded cabbage*
2 tsp. low-sodium soy sauce
Totals: 287 Cal, 29g Pro, 36g Carb, 3g Fat

Meal 3
3 oz. top round steak, grilled
small whole-grain roll
small apple
Totals: 350 Cal, 30g Pro, 35g Carb, 10g Fat

Meal 4
3.5 oz. swordfish, grilled
11/2 cups shredded potatoes, cooked
Totals: 317 Cal, 28g Pro, 40g Carb, 5g Fat

Meal 5
4 oz. flounder, grilled
1/2 cup rice, cooked
3 Tbsp. salsa
3/4 cup asparagus tips,* steamed
Totals: 310 Cal, 34g Pro, 39g Carb, 2g Fat

Meal 6
Cold salad:
3 oz. low-fat deli roast beef
1/2 cup cold cooked pasta
1 cup shredded lettuce*
1/4 cup chopped celery*
1/2 cup diced tomato
3 tsp. low-cal dressing
Totals: 296 Cal, 22g Pro, 34g Carb, 8g Fat

DAILY TOTALS: 1,859 Cal, 172g Pro, 223g Carb, 31g Fat

Day 2

Meal 1
3/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese
2 slices whole-grain bread
2 tsp. low-sugar fruit spread
Totals: 280 Cal, 26g Pro, 35g Carb, 4g Fat

Meal 2
1.3 oz. prepared cream of rice cereal
4 Tbsp. whey protein powder
1/2 cup low-fat milk
Totals: 249 Cal, 23g Pro, 37g Carb, 1g Fat

Meal 3
3 oz. chicken breast, broiled
3/4 cup prepared couscous
Totals: 242 Cal, 29g Pro, 27g Carb, 2g Fat

Meal 4
4 oz. ground turkey, browned
5 oz. baked potato
1 Tbsp. fat-free sour cream
Totals: 305 Cal, 25g Pro, 40g Carb, 5g Fat

Meal 5
Large salad:
1 hard-boiled egg
2 hard-boiled egg whites
2 slices fat-free cheese
1/4 small cucumber,* chopped
1/4 small onion,* chopped
1/2 cup diced tomato
1 cup fresh spinach*
1 small pita, toasted
Totals: 281 Cal, 26g Pro, 33g Carb, 5g Fat

Meal 6 Stir-fry:
3.5 oz. shrimp
1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 cup brown rice, cooked
1/2 cup broccoli florets*
1/4 cup sliced mushroom*
1/4 cup cauliflower florets*
2 tsp. fat-free low-sugar salad dressing
Totals: 313 Cal, 25g Pro, 42g Carb, 5g Fat

DAILY TOTALS: 1,670 Cal, 154g Pro, 214g Carb, 22g Fat

Day 3

Meal 1
5 egg whites, scrambled w/
1 whole egg
1 rice cake
10 oz. orange juice
Totals: 293 Cal, 24g Pro, 38g Carb, 5g Fat

Meal 2
8 oz. can low-fat vegetable soup
2.5 oz. shredded cooked chicken breast
7 saltine crackers
Totals: 277 Cal, 23g Pro, 35g Carb, 5g Fat

Meal 3
1 9-inch flour tortilla
3 oz. shredded cooked chicken breast
1/4 cup chopped green pepper*
1/2 grapefruit
Totals: 269 Cal, 22g Pro, 34g Carb, 5g Fat

Meal 4
3 oz. water-packed tuna, drained
1 Tbsp. fat-free mayonnaise
1 cup shredded lettuce*
2 Tbsp. chopped onion
2 slices whole-grain bread
Totals: 288 Cal, 28g Pro, 35g Carb, 4g Fat

Meal 5
3 oz. ground turkey, browned
1 cup broccoli florets*
2 tsp. low-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
4 oz. baked yam
Totals: 292 Cal, 24g Pro, 40g Carb, 4g Fat

Meal 6
4 oz. deli sliced turkey
1 cup fresh spinach*
1/4 cup chopped radish*
1/4 cup water chestnuts*
2 Tbsp. imitation bacon bits
1/2 cup broccoli florets*
3 tsp. low-cal salad dressing
2 rice cakes
Totals: 345 Cal, 28g Pro, 38g Carb, 9g Fat

DAILY TOTALS: 1,764 Cal, 149g Pro, 220g Carb, 32g Fat

*Denotes source of fibrous carbohydrates.