—Anselm, 36
We are also giving you a list of F.L.A.B.B. foods. Also known as “Fat-loading and Belly-bloating foods.” Hee. Avoiding these foods—a lot of the foods we’ve all been eating habitually for years—takes extra thought at mealtime. Five mealtimes a day. And most of us really don’t want to spend any more time thinking about food than we already do. Except…
We say we don’t want to have to think about food that much and then we obsess about our bodies. We obsess and we obsess powerlessly. I swear to you, that by having all the information—by truly understanding how my metabolism works and what is in the foods I choose, I end up thinking about it all much less. Because when I wake up in the morning and I put on my jeans and they don’t fit and I suck in my gut and button them anyway, I think about my body all day long. (Because jeans that are too tight hurt. I can’t breathe right and I get those horrible crease lines in my belly skin.) But when my jeans fit, I forget about my waistline and my mind is free to solve the problems of the world (or at least the problems of whatever script I’m working on). And the way you get your jeans to fit? Two choices: Buy bigger jeans (which I did for years until I was just south of clinically obese) or think for a few minutes at mealtime. That is seriously the trade-off. An all-day obsession vs. a few minutes each time you eat.
Between half-listening to me talking to my teammate about carbohydrates and calories and “What a nice carbohydrate grapes are,” and half in his world of turbocharged-autobot-robotrons, my five-year-old son announced, “Grapes are a great turbohydrate, Mom.”
—Jesse, 36
Okay, enough preamble. Here’s what and how you’re gonna be eating for the next four weeks, plain and simple.
Your Meal Plan
Five meals a day, spaced out by anywhere from two to four hours. (Go more than four hours and you lose points!)
Each meal will consist of one lean protein, one healthy carb (like whole grains and fruits), one healthy fat, and as many green veggies as you want. But you must have at least two portions of veggies a day. (See the F.Y.T. food list in this chapter.)
The key to losing and not gaining weight when you’re adding two extra meals a day is portion control. We have a HUGE (pun intended) problem with portion control in this country. We have supersized ourselves into a nationwide diabetic coma. Thank God Game On! is here to wake us all up!
Determining Your Portion Size
Make a fist. Look at it. That’s about how much carbs you should eat at each meal.
Now lay your hand flat and look at your palm (without your fingers and thumb). That’s about how much protein you’re gonna eat at each meal.
Now look at the size of your thumb. That’s about how much healthy fat you’ll add to each meal. (If you’re eating oils, you’ll eat only the amount of your thumb from the knuckle up! And keep in mind that butter and margarine are not healthy fats. See the food lists for your choices!)
If you are accustomed to eating the way most Americans have become accustomed to eating, these portions are going to feel very small to you in the beginning. But keep in mind—you get them five times a day. And—and this is a big and—you can eat as many green vegetables with each meal as you want! Eat a whole head of lettuce. Steam up four bags of spinach. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten tired of chewing and have still had veggies in my bowl. You will not go hungry, I promise.
Okay, ready? Here’s the F.L.A.B.B. foods list. Remember—you get to indulge in these foods on your day off, your meal off, and your 100 calories a day of whatever. But it’s important that you understand (as I was forced to, kicking and screaming) that you are indulging in them. They must become the exception to our dietary rules if we want a shot at long-term health and weight loss.
F.L.A.B.B. (Fat-loading and Belly-bloating) Foods
All fried foods
High-fat/processed meats
Anything made with refined sugar (which includes sugar, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, and sucrose)
Anything made with white flour
Butter
Margarine
Whole-fat cheese
Cream
Dried fruit/fruit juice **
Some common foods that fall into these categories:
Baked goods
All sugary breakfast cereals
Most breakfast bars
Cakes
Candy
Chocolate
Condiments (ketchup, BBQ sauce, etc.)
Cookies
Donuts
Ice cream
Pastries
Pies
Granola**
Potato chips
French fries
Fruit “drinks”
Sugar-sweetened beverages
All sodas (Coke, Pepsi, etc.)*
All diet sodas*
Bacon
Fast-food sandwiches and burgers
Hot dogs
Jerky
Salami
Sausage
Bologna
Chicken nuggets, strips, fingers
Fish sticks
Mayonnaise
As a general rule, the more processed and packaged and preserved it is, the worse it is for you. And the further away from actual food it is, the worse it is for you. We have not outlawed all artificial sweeteners, though we were veeeery tempted to. Instead, we are opting to give you all the information we can, and let you make the choice for yourself.
* * *
A word from Dr. David Katz
I know there are factions out there who think artificial sweeteners are out-and-out poisons; I’ve heard from them each time I’ve addressed the topic publicly, such as on Good Morning America. My view is that the evidence for this is far from conclusive. However, I advise against artificial sweeteners because they are intensely sweet: 300 to 1,300 times as sweet as sugar! And we talk about a “sweet tooth,” rather than a “sugar tooth,” for good reason: It is sweet we crave. The more we get, the more we need—with pretty convincing evidence that sweet food is addictive, or nearly so. The result is that while artificial sweeteners take sugar and calories out of a food or drink, they don’t reliably take them out of your diet! Your sweet tooth, grown into a sweet fang, will cause you to prefer sweeter foods and drinks in general, and those calories will sneak back in through side doors. There isn’t consistent evidence that diet sodas or other artificially sweetened foods help with weight control. Animal research suggests they may actually do harm, which is also my impression based on years of experience with my patients. My advice to limit sugar is to look out for it in places it doesn’t belong—such as pasta sauces, salad dressings, and even chips. Cut out superfluous sugar, and file a sweet tooth down to size.
—David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP Director, Prevention Research Center Yale University School of Medicine
* * *
F.Y.T. (Flatten Your Tummy) Foods
Are you screaming at me now? Are you all, NO SUGAR??? NO WHITE FLOUR?????? And you don’t even want me to eat “diet” anything? SO WHAT THE HELL CAN I EAT, YOU CRAZY BITCH??? Sheesh…chilll…Here’s a massive list of things you can eat! F.Y.T. foods are pronounced as “Fit,” and they will keep you that way.
The F.Y.T. Foods (Flatten Your Tummy Foods)
* * *
Carbs!
Amaranth
Barley
Beans:
Adzuki
Black
Black-eyed
Broad
Butter
Fava
Garbanzo (Chick Peas)
Kidney
Lentils
Lima
Mung
Navy
Pinto
Soy
White
Bran (Whole Grain)
Bread (Whole Grain)
Buckwheat (Whole Grain)
Bulgar (Whole Grain)
Corn
Crackers (Whole Grain)
Leek
Milk
Milk-Soy
<
br /> Millet (Whole Grain)
Oatmeal (Whole Grain)
Palm Hearts
Parsnips
Pasta (Whole Grain)
Peas
Potato (Baked)
Potato (Sweet)
Pumpkin
Quinoa (Whole Grain)
Rice (Brown)
Rice (Wild)
Rye (Whole Grain)
Taro
Tortilla (Whole Grain)
Yams
Yoghurt (Fat-Free)
CARBOHYDRATES: Eat a fist sized portion from the carbs or fruits list with every meal.
Proteins!
Dairy
(Low Fat or Fat Free)
Cheese:
American
Cheddar
Cottage
Cream Cheese
Feta
Mozzarella
Quark
Ricotta
Swiss
Egg Whites
Greek Yogurt
Fish
Anchovie
Catfish
Cod
Flounder
Hake
Halibut
Mackerel
Mahi Mahi
Perch
Salmon
Sardine
Snapper
Sole
Swordfish
Tilapia
Trout
Tuna
Meat (Lean Only)
Beef, Ground
Buffalo
Chicken Breast
Duck
Kangaroo
Lamb
Pork Tenderloin
Steak-Eye of Round
Steak-Flank
Steak-Top Round
Steak-Top Sirloin
Turkey Bacon
Turkey Breast
Turkey, Ground
Venison
Wild Game Meat
Seafood
Crab
Lobster
Mussels
Octopus
Oysters
Scallops
Shrimp
Squid
Vegetarian (Low Fat) Seitan
Soy Foods
Tempeh
Tofu
Veggie Burgers
PROTEIN: Eat a palm sized portion with every meal.
Fats!
Avocado
Egg Yolk (one)
Olives
Nut Butters:
Almond Butter
Cashew Butter
Peanut Butter
Sesame Butter
Sunflower Butter
Nuts (Dried/Raw):
Acorns
Almonds
Beechnuts
Brazilnuts
Butternuts
Cashews
Hazelnuts
Hickorynuts
Macadamias
Peanuts
Pecans
Pine Nuts
Pistachio Nuts
Walnuts
Seeds (Dried):
Flax
Pumpkin/Squash
Safflower
Sesame
Sunflower
Oils:
Fish Oils
Flaxseed Oil
Nut Oils
Oil Spray (Pam)
Olive Oils
Udo’s Oil
Vegetable Oils
FATS: Eat a thumb-sized portion with every meal.
* * *
The F.Y.T. Foods (Flatten Your Tummy Foods)
* * *
Veggies!
Alfalfa*
Artichoke
Asparagus*
Bamboo Shoot
Beans (Green)*
Beetroot
Broccoli*
Brussel Sprouts*
Cabbage*
Carrot
Cauliflower
Celery*
Chard (Swiss)*
Chinese Cabbage
Collards*
Cress
Cucumber*
Eggplant
Endive*
Fennel*
Gourd
Kale*
Lettuce*
Mushroom
Okra*
Onion
Peas (Snow)
Peppers
Pumpkin
Radish
Seaweed (Kelp)*
Spinach*
Squash (Summer)
Squash (Winter)
Tomatillo
Turnip
Watercress*
Zucchini*
VEGETABLES: Add at least two fist-sized portions to at least two meals each day. You may eat unlimited greens (asterisked) with all of your meals.
Fruits!
Apple
Apricot
Banana
Blackberry
Blueberry
Boysenberry
Cherimoya
Cherry
Clementine
Cranberry
Currant
Date
Durian
Fig
Gooseberry
Grape
Grapefruit
Guava
Huckleberry
Jack Fruit
Kiwi fruit
Kumquat
Lemon
Lime
Loquat
Lychee
Mandarin
Mango
Melon
Mulberry
Nectarine
Orange
Papaya
Passion Fruit
Peach
Pear
Persimmon
Pineapple
Plantain
Plum
Pomegranate Quince
Rambutan Raspberry
Rhubarb
Starfruit
Strawberry
Tamarillo
Tangerine
Tomato
Watermelon
FRUITS: Eat a fist size portion from the carbs or fruits list with every meal.
Sweeteners!
Agave Nectar
Honey
Pure Maple Syrup
SWEETENERS: Use sweeteners very sparingly!
* * *
Use sweeteners very sparingly! Sweeteners are carbs and must be treated as such. If you are sweetening a meal, you must eat less of the carb to account for the amount of sweetener. Occasionally using a small drizzle is okay, but it’s better to train your tastebuds to appreciate the natural sweetness in foods. The way you train your tastebuds is to cut out all sweeteners for a week or two. To understand just how caloric sweeteners can be, check out this ratio:
1 tablespoon of honey or agave nectar = about 2/3 of a medium-size potato.
1 tablespoon of maple syrup = just over ½ of a medium-size potato.
Sugar is a F.L.A.B.B. food because, as opposed to maple syrup, agave nectar, or honey, it has been stripped of all nutritional value. Artificial sweeteners are strongly discouraged as they are made of chemicals—and we proudly discourage the indiscriminate ingesting of chemicals. ’Cause, like, ew, y’know?
You are simply going to choose from the protein list, choose from the carbs or fruits list, and choose from the fats list—five times a day. To those meals, you can add as many veggies as you want—but only veggies from the veggies list! Potatoes may officially be a vegetable, but they’re way too high calorie to eat in unlimited quantities.
It’s simple, right? But here’s the thing: The key to all of it is being aware of what’s in the foods you’re eating—and what I mean by that is, you must know how they were prepared! You would be amazed at how much diet-defeating crap can be hidden in what appears to be a healthy food. Like, if you go to a restaurant and order the sautéed spinach—the spinach itself has negligible calories. But the oil it’s sautéed in? Adds hundreds and hundreds of calories to your dish. ORDER IT STEAMED. (And squeeze a little lemon juice on it to enhance the flavor.)
* * *
High-Protein Vegan Foods
If you are a vegan, use thes
e foods as your protein portion. Even though many of these are more carb than protein, they are all much higher in protein than your average carb. Please do NOT use nuts as your protein! They are far too high calorie to eat a palm-size portion. Eat nuts in small quantities (thumb-size) as your healthy fats.
Tempeh
Seitan
Soybeans
Lentils
Black beans
Kidney beans
Veggie burger
Chickpeas
Pinto beans
Black-eyed peas
Tofu
Lima beans
Quinoa
* * *
Diet Defeaters
Here for your horror (er…I mean, edification) is a list of really common sources of hidden calories.
Soups
Broth soups are great (unless you see a bunch of oil floating in them), but if it looks creamy—run away!
Coffee drinks
Black coffee is virtually calorie-free, but some coffee drinks can have as much as 1,000 calories in 16 ounces.
Salad dressing
One tablespoon can have 50 to 80 calories and most of us are in the habit of using way more than one tablespoon. Also, many dressings have added sugar. Read the labels and use sparingly.
Granola
Believe it or not, granola is often a fried food! The oats and nuts and dried fruits are sautéed in heavy oils—that’s what makes them so rich. But a quarter-cup of granola often has several hundred calories—and we usually eat way more than a quarter-cup. Look for granolas that are BAKED and have no added sugars or preservatives.
Fruit juice
Juice is high-calorie and the calories are empty of a lot of the nutrients provided by the whole fruit. Instead of a glass of O.J., you are way better served by eating an orange with your breakfast.
Nuts
Nuts are excellent in many ways—but we tend to eat them by the handfuls. About 5 to 10 nuts is the most you want to eat with any meal. And even then, eat only raw or dry-roasted nuts to avoid added oils and sugar.
Peanut butter
Just like nuts, all-natural (no sugar added) peanut butter can be a healthy and delicious treat—but it’s a fat not a protein! A thumb-size portion is all your waistline can afford!
The Game On! Diet Page 8
