Rick's Diet Tips

In this section, I'd like to mention a whole bunch of little tips and tricks that I've picked up that will help you with your diet. They're not big enough to make into their own sections, but they need mentioning. Heck, it's usually the little tips that really work!

Eat Frequently! Remember the analogy of the wood in the fire? Well you need to stoke your fire often to keep it burning. Keep your metabolism running all day long by eating every 3 to 4 hours. My personal tip: I eat on hours evenly divisible by 3. That means breakfast at 9am (if I'm up that early), lunch at noon, a snack at 3pm, dinner at 6pm, a snack at 9pm, and if I'm still up another snack at midnight. Now, I personally work late (I usually get most of my "real work" done between the hours of 10pm and 2am) but if you need to eat at different hours, that's fine... Just take the total number of calories you're going to eat throughout the day and divvy them up into 3-hour intervals. Keep that fire stoked! If you can't take a break at work to eat every 3 hours, bring a protein bar with you.

Observe the "Wait Five Minutes" Rule. Before going for that second helping of mashed potatos, you should observe the "wait 5 minutes" rule. After you're all done eating (yes, everything else on your plate including that broccoli) sit and wait five minutes. If you're still hungry (really hungry) after five minutes, go ahead and have another small portion. Why does this work? Your stomach releases a hormone to tell your brain that it's full. The problem is that this hormone travels in your bloodstream and can take anywhere from 3 to 7 minutes to actually reach your brain. Give your brain enough time to realize that your stomach has enough food before you grab that bowl of taters a second time.

Eat for what you're going to do, not what you've done. Here's the situation: you've just finished an hour-long workout, and you're really hungry. So, you sit down and have a huge meal: steak, potatoes, the works. Now, you sit in front of the TV and pass out. What happens? You don't have a need for calories now, so your body gets to work storing it all as fat. Here's how to fix it... anticipating that you will be working out for an hour, have a good meal. Now, wait 30 minutes (to give your stomach time to begin digesting your food) and then get your workout in. You want to fuel your workouts with good meals... don't eat like a pig afterwards. After your workout, have a small snack. Eat for what you're going to do after your meal.

Drink Water Instead of Snacking. Itching to snack late at night? Have a big glass of water first then wait five minutes. Why does this work? Well, first you might be mistaking hunger for thirst. Most people don't drink enough water. Your body may be dehydrated and is telling you get water! Foolishly, you think you're hungry. Try water first - especially if you're not scheduled for a meal at this time. Wait a little while. If you're still hungry, try celery or another veggie snack first. Dehydration will slow your metabolism, and you won't burn fat as efficiently as you would if you were properly hydrated.

Never Skip a Meal! People are amazed at the frequency with which I eat meals. Just the other day I took a friend out for lunch around noon. We came back to my office and talked for a few hours... at around 3pm I pulled out some yogurt and celery. He was like, "didn't we just eat lunch?" To which I replied, "yes, but it's time to stoke my fire again!" Of course, he had the double-bacon-cheeseburger and fries and I had the grilled chicken salad. So while he just finished consuming 1000 calories and a ton of fat, I just consumed 350 calories and was ready for another small meal. That's the key to weight loss! Frequent, smaller meals!

Brush Your Teeth. Not only is it good for dental hygene, but brushing your teeth will keep you from eating. If you have that just brushed fresh feeling in your mouth, you're less likely to want to sour it with more food. Brush not only your teeth, but your gums, tongue, and the roof of your mouth.

Drink Lots of Water. I mentioned water a moment ago, but it needs repeating. Drink lots of water. I know that most nutritionists say eight, 8-ounce glasses of water a day is recommended, but I drink twice that. Not only does it fill your tummy and keep you feeling full throughout the day, but water is essential for life! You need water to maintain blood volume and flush toxins from your organs. Without enough water, your body will not want to function - you won't feel like exercising or staying active. Even mild dehydration can make you tired. Your heart has to work harder to pump blood when you don't have enough water in your system. Keep a water bottle on hand at all times. Now, I'm not saying you have to go out and buy expensive bottled water. Tap water (in most cities) is just fine. If not, an inexpensive water filter is good enough in most circumstances. If you can budget it, there are a lot of great no-calorie, flavored water products available to give you some variety. I belong to one of the "warehouse" clubs and we buy a few cases of flavored bottled water a week.

Don't Underestimate the Calories in Drinks. A lot of people don't realize how many calories are in drinks. People usually realize that soft drinks like Coke, Pepsi, and Sprite contain a good number of calories, but did you know that fruit juice (just like fruit) also has a good amount of calories in it too? A cup of orange juice, for example, has 100 calories in it... and most people drink more than a cup. Like I said before, stick with water. You can indulge and have a diet soda once a day. Yes, they have no calories in them, but diet sodas have all kinds of nasty chemicals and caffeine in them - so you don't want to be drinking them all day long.

Coffee OK, But Watch the Extras. There are only 4 calories in the average cup of Joe. It's what people put into their coffee that's bad. Cream, sugar, half-and-half, and even "fat free" creamers can still pack in the calories. My morning cup of coffee (which I absolutely have to have) contains a teaspoon of non-dairy, fat-free creamer and one teaspoon of Splenda (sugar substitute) and that still counts as 50 calories. It's the creamer. I have yet to find a creamer with fewer calories... and most have a lot more! My wife is addicted to Tim Hortons' Cafe Mochas. The problem: a 10 oz (small) Cafe Mocha has 150 calories in it. Ouch! This coffeehouse near us (a shout-out to the Higher Grounds Coffee House on Sheridan Drive in Amherst) makes an excellent Cappucino with sugar-free flavored syrups (my favorite is hazelnut) and soy milk. I figure a large has only about 50 calories. Again, if you have to have your coffee, just be smart about what you put into it.

Coffee in the Morning Only. If you're going to drink coffee, and there's no reason not to, limit yourself to coffee in the morning only. Why? It's mostly the caffeine. Caffeine will obviously keep you up. If you drink coffee at night, you won't be able to get to sleep on time. Lack of sleep means you won't feel energized and ready to go in the morning, which means you won't get a good workout in the following day. Bottom line - keep the java to the mornings, and only 1 cup a day, please. OK, 2 cups MAX! Also, you should drink your coffee before your workout. I've read in several health magazines that caffeine helps your body metabolize fat while working out. Again, don't go overboard, but realize that coffee is fine for you in moderation.

No alcohol. At least during your two-week boot camp. Alcohol has a lot of calories in it. Even a "low carb" beer still has about 100 calories in it. If you want to lose weight, you have to step back from the bar. Sorry. Now, once you're on track and your diet is progressing, and you're seeing some weight loss, and you're sticking to your daily calorie goals, feel free to budget in some wine, or an occasional beer. But strictly for calorie purposes - lay off the booze. Hey, I know how hard it is. Remember, I play softball 3 to 5 nights a week. It's not easy going back to the bar after the game, watching everyone else enjoy their drinks while I sit there with my virgin iced tea (unsweeted with a lemon, of course). But if you really want to lose the weight, it's what you have to do... at least until you're where you want to be!

Dressings and Extras on the Side, Please. Whenever you go out to eat, make sure you get your salads with dressings on the side. That oily house Italian they're putting on could have 100 calories per tablespoon. (See if they have any fat-free dressings with only 20 or 30). Also, get your baked potato with the butter on the side - so you can control how much you put on. A baked potato isn't that bad for you (about 200 calories of carbs) but if you add on a pat of butter and a tablespoon of sour cream... BAM... it's now a 500 calorie cholesterol bullet. (Avoid both and use olive oil instead). You're paying the bill... your waiter will gladly do what you ask. Just remember, get it on the side.

Restaurants Overfeed You. Most restaurants will give you way more food than you need. Try to size up your dinner before you start eating it... perhaps even get a "doggy bag" before you start eating and put some of it aside if you don't have the will power. Most restaurants will serve you 10oz of chicken, or a 12oz steak. You don't need to eat that much in one meal. Take it home for later.

Write down what you're going to eat in your journal before you start eating it so you don't have to try to remember it all.

Avoid the all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants! Forget it when you used to unleash me in the Chinese buffet. Come with me for lunch on Tuesday and look for me to leave the restaurant sometime before closing on Friday. You just don't feel like you're getting your money's worth unless you stuff yourself. Keep out!

Keep your fork on your own plate. I know it's tempting to want to try everyone else's food, but try to avoid it if possible. Yeah, I know that everyone else's food always looks better than yours... but those calories add up.

Write down your goal! It's important to know what you want out of your diet and exercise routine. Right now, take a moment to write down a realistic goal for yourself. Do you want to lose 20 pounds by summer so you look good in your bathing suit? Do you want to be able to run a mile without stopping? Do you want to just feel better every day? Write down your goal - and make sure it's attainable. My goal over the summer of 2004 was to get down to 200 pounds (from 260) by January 1st. I missed my target date by a week (it took me until Jan 8th). I could have made it, but I decided to enjoy the feasts and snacks that the holidays always bring. I didn't go overboard, but I let myself enjoy some mashed potatos, stuffing, and a little chocolate on New Years eve. The bottom line here is: set a goal. You might not be able to meet your goal, but at least you have something to shoot for.

Put your "Fat Picture" by your desk. Remember I said earlier that you should take a "before" picture of yourself? Well, put that picture everywhere... on your desk, on your refrigerator, in your wallet, etc. Any time you feel the need to snack or go overboard at lunch, just take a look at that picture, and ask yourself if it's worth it.

Get rid of the junk food. Here's a little story for you... over the summer of 2004, my wife broke her arm and was couch-bound for most of two weeks. During that time, yours truly got to do all of the grocery shopping. I tossed out most of the junk food in the house and brought home all healthy foods. Guess what... everyone from my wife to the kids started losing weight naturally over the next few weeks because there just wasn't anything fatty in the house to snack on. If you've got Twinkies and potato chips in your cupboards, toss them! If you want to keep some snacks around for when you have company over, stash them far away from sight - like deep in your basement or out in the garage... or better yet, serve your guests a veggie tray with fat-free dip!

Can't give up the juice? Juices contain a lot of calories. If you love orange juice or apple juice and don't want to give it up, try making your own concoction. Mix 50% of your juice with 50% sparkling (fizzy) water. Give it a try. It might take some getting used to, but after a while, it will seem like normal. After a week, reduce the ratio of juice to water further. Eventually, you'll enjoy just the water with a splash of juice in it.

Light olive oil does not contain fewer calories. I'm a big fan of olive oil. Yes, it has a good amount of calories, but it's one of the healthiest fats you can eat, next to flax oil. Don't be fooled by "light" olive oil. "Light" just means it's a lighter-colored oil. It still has all the calories of regular olive oil - about 100 calories per tablespoon. Extra-virgin olive oil is the best, and has the best flavor. It's also the most expensive. Use this for your salads or pasta. Virgin is the next best grade. Regular olive oil (not labelled virgin) is the least expensive - and you can use this for cooking.

Better yet, stick to canola oil for cooking. Canola oil is usually less expensive than olive oil. It has about the same amount of calories, but it doesn't have a flavor like olive oil does - so your food will taste more like your food. Plus, canola oil has a higher "smoke point" than olive oil does. It won't create lots of smoke in your kitchen. Olive oil tends to break down chemically with heat quicker than canola does.

Switch from peanut butter to almond butter. While a little more expensive, almonds are much better for you than peanuts. They have a higher concentration of beneficial Omega fatty acids. Almonds are also shown to be better at fighting heart disease and cancer. If you must stick with peanut butter, buy a "natural" kind... you know, the kind with the oil that floats to the top... instead of the highly processed kind.

Can't give up your chocolate? I know. I'm a chocoholic myself. Try switching from milk chocolate to dark chocolate - but you have to buy the good stuff. Milk chocolate contains fat from the milk. Milk chocolate can raise your cholesterol (dark chocolate does not). Cheap chocolates replace cocoa butter with bad fat like palm oil or even the evil partially hydrogenated oils which we know are very bad for you. So, buy dark chocolate made from cocoa butter and no artificial fillers - which means you have to spend the extra money on the good stuff... but it's worth it. Also, you might want to consider buying sugar-free chocolates. I know they don't taste the same, but they have far fewer calories.

Need to chew on something? Chew sugar-free gum. A lot of people have an "oral fixation." They have to chew on something while they watch TV, work, use the computer, etc. Get some sugar-free gum and chew on that instead of having a snack. Here's the ironic part... chewing on the gum can actually burn off a few calories! Ha ha.

Not all wheat breads are created equal. Make sure your bread says "whole wheat" on it, not just "wheat." If it only says, "wheat" it may still be refined. Just because it's darker in color, that doesn't make it "whole wheat" bread. Whole wheat bread contains the whole wheat grain. That's what you want.

Eat More Beans! Americans eat far too much beef and not enough beans. Beans are low in fat, high in protein, and high in fiber. Beans are almost nature's perfect food. Substitute the meat in one meal a week (for starters) with beans.

Eat More Fish! I recommend eating fish two to three times weekly. Most fish contain high amounts of Omega 3 fatty acids (good for you). The fish that have the most Omega 3: salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring, and tuna. Don't fry the fish though! Frying destroys the Omega 3s and adds lots of saturated fat. Bake or grill your fish.

Use Stealth Vegetables. You can sneak vegetables into your hamburgers by replacing some of the meat with shredded carrots, onions, and green peppers.

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