What You Eat Is as Important as How Much You Eat

Longevity studies have shown the importance of not only eating the right
number of calories to support your metabolism but eating low-glycemic
nutrient-dense calories to prolong the length, health, and quality of your
life. For some this might indeed mean having to cut back on calories. But
for most this won’t be the case.
Our ancestors evolved by eating a diet of complex carbohydrates (highfiber
grains that took a long time to digest), lean protein, and fresh fruits
and vegetables. In our current culture of processed foods, low-nutrition
junk foods, and supersized meals, a person can go for weeks without eating
a single piece of fresh produce. Because of large-scale, single-crop agribusiness,
which picks most produce before it has even ripened so that it
can be shipped to supermarkets hundreds or even thousands of miles away,
we end up eating almost no fresh, ripe fruits and vegetables. In addition,
our food is grown in soil so depleted in minerals that we get little nutritional
value from it.It does not help that we live in a culture that fears fats and carbohydrates.
Most of the popular diet plans restrict one of these food groups.

Fear of Carbohydrates

People avoid carbohydrates because they think they are fattening. Some of
the most popular, longstanding programs on the market such as the Atkins
diet are based on the premise that you must severely restrict carbohydrates
to lose weight. This is not true. Because you need a basic amount of carbohydrates
just to keep brain function and other metabolic processes efficient,
low-carbohydrate diets can make you feel exhausted and irritable.
No one can stay on a diet for long that leaves them depleted of energy and
unable to concentrate.
A very low-carbohydrate diet (or fasting) can induce ketosis. This
condition occurs when the body is unable to completely burn fat for
energy. Ketones are by-products of the incompletely burned fat. If there is
no glucose (carbohydrates) available, then the body (including the brain)
at least 50 grams of carbohydrates daily to avoid ketosis.
In the Fat-Burning Metabolic Fitness Nutritional Plan presented in
this book, I ask readers to eat a diet that includes 40 percent low-glycemic
carbohydrates. Choosing the correct kind of carbohydrates is an important
part of losing weight, maintaining weight, and staying healthy. Sugary and
overprocessed foods such as candy, cake, and soft drinks are simple carbohydrates.
Bran muffins, brown rice, and whole-grain breads are complex
carbohydrates. Also, each fruit, vegetable, and grain has a different rate of
digestion based on the glycemic index. Carbohydrates that digest slowly
and release their energy into the bloodstream gradually result in less stored
fat than those that digest quickly, releasing their energy in amounts greater
than the body can use.

Fear of Fats

Many people are afraid of eating fats because they associate them with
instant weight gain. When my nutritionist, Molly Kimball, evaluates clients
for my health and performance enhancement program (PEP), she
often finds that people who are trying to lose weight frequently avoid fats.
They believe that everything they eat must be low-fat or fat-free. This
makes for a boring and tasteless diet. Their typical breakfast might be dry
toast or a bagel or cereal with low-fat milk. Lunch might be a sandwich
with very little meat and no mayonnaise or cheese. Dinner might be pasta,
brown rice, or a potato and with a little protein. Eating all of these carbohydrates
by themselves without a sufficient amount of lean meat (30 percent
of the total diet) and acceptable fats (30 percent of the total diet) can
trigger an insulin release, causing blood sugar to dip.
No one can avoid fats and stay healthy. Because fat is an energy source,
your body needs a certain amount to function efficiently. Most fats are commonly
found in animal foods or can be synthesized in your body from carbohydrates.
However, your body cannot make these essential fatty acids, which
are omega-6 and omega-3. A deficiency of essential fatty acids will produce
symptoms such as dry and scaly skin, dermatitis, and hair loss.
Clients are often shocked to find out how the pounds begin to drop when
they begin eating the right amount of fats. Again, the type of fats that you
eat—mono- and polyunsaturated fats versus saturated fats—is the most
important factor in weight loss, weight maintenance, and good health.
Studies have shown that a healthy nutritional program consists of 40
percent low-glycemic carbohydrates, 30 percent lean protein, and 30 percent
acceptable fats.