Eat half, twice as often!

Eat half, twice as often!

I've found that all you need to do to lose weight and maintain your new weight is to eat half as much as you normally would, but twice as often.

While you may have heard of a similar concept (small, frequent meals) before, adjusting proportions at each meal may be new to most people.

Notice that I say “every time you eat” instead of “meal.” I think the word “meal” gets too associated with a whole lot of food! So from now on, the food on your plate will be referred to as “time to eat.”

Instead of eating 3 meals a day, make it 6 times a day. Instead of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I say “first breakfast, second breakfast, first lunch, second lunch, etc.”

Back to proportions! Okay, so we've all learned from the Standard American Health Courses and the Food Pyramid that "meals" should basically be 1/3 starch, 1/3 vegetable/fruit, and 1/3 protein. The problem I see is that BOTH starch (bread, pasta, potatoes, rice) and vegetables/fruit contain carbohydrates (and very little protein/fat).

With so much carbs in every "meal", three times a day, it is only a matter of time before a person's insulin stops working and the floodgates open to health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, weight gain, etc.

I recommend moving the percentages to 50:50. That's 50% protein-based foods (meat, poultry, fish, beans, nuts, eggs) that also contain healthy fats, and 50% carbohydrate-based foods (vegetables/fruits and gluten-free grains).

Note that I completely eliminated dairy and gluten, which I consider to be the single biggest contributors to health problems.

So “eat half” means eating half protein-based foods and half carbohydrate-based foods.

It also means “eat half at each sitting.” Instead of eating everything on one big plate, draw a line down the middle and eat half. (Or use a smaller plate!) Save the other half for 3-4 hours later, when your body needs another fill of nutrients and calories.

Why 3-4 hours later? If you don't eat for more than 3-4 hours, your body goes into stress mode, also known as starvation. While we may wish our bodies would burn off the excess around our middle or perhaps a little away from the back, that's just impossible, I'm sad to say. Our bodies ONLY know how to use muscle for fuel.

So, for goodness sake, go easy on your muscles and eat every 3-4 hours. It may seem like a babysitting job at first, but hey, if you can't feed yourself, who will?

I suggest setting an alarm on your phone every 3 hours throughout the day. At first you may have no idea what to eat, but soon you'll understand the game and make sure you have something with you so you can go into the next 3-hour interval nourished, energized and clear and balanced-led.

That's correct! Eating every 3-4 hours will keep your blood sugar and mood balanced.

This means you'll be more productive while eating and feeling great!

Eat half (half protein, half carbs) and eat half as much, twice as often!

Think of it this way, you don't eat more or less. You just distribute it differently throughout the day, in a way that works for your body.