Food Cures (5 page)

1. Take your current weight (in pounds), and multiply by ten. That’s the number of calories your body needs just to keep breathing and digesting and doing all that other maintenance work. This is called your
   basal metabolic rate
   (BMR).
   

155 pounds × 10 = 1,550 calories (BMR)


2. Determine your
   activity level:
   

• Average activity level: 0.30 (Average activity is: desk job, little to no regular exercise)
  
• More active than most: 0.40 (More active is: engages in light, planned exercise or sports 1 to 3 times per week)
  
• Very active: 0.50 (Very active is: engages in moderate, planned exercise or sports 3 to 5 times per week)
  
• Extremely active: 0.60 (Extremely active is: engages in vigorous, planned exercise or sports 5 to 7 times per week)
  

For our example, let’s say the activity level is average:

activity level = 0.30

3. Multiply your BMR by your activity level. This is your
activity factor
. (I’ll talk more about this concept later!)

1,550 (BMR) × 0.30 (activity level) = 465 (activity factor)

4. Add your BMR and your activity factor to get your
maintenance calories
. You need about this many calories to make it through an average day. If you eat this exact number of calories, you will neither gain nor lose weight—you will maintain your current weight.
Important note:
When you lose weight, you’ll have to recalculate your numbers.

1,550 (BMR) + 465 (activity factor) = 2,015 (maintenance calories)

So, for our 155-pound woman to maintain her weight, she should eat 2,015 calories a day. But, of course, you don’t want to stay the same weight, do you? If you want to lose weight, you have to eat fewer calories than your maintenance calories. The greater the difference between your maintenance calories and the number of calories you eat daily, the faster you will lose weight. In our example, the maintenance calories are 2,015. Eating 1,800 calories per day will result in weight loss:

2,015 (maintenance calories)–1,800 (actual calories) = 215 weight-loss calories

In order to lose a pound of fat, you need to accrue 3,500 weight-loss calories. In our example, the 215 weight-loss calories “spent” per day adds up to 78,475 weight-loss calories per year, which yields a projected weight loss of about 22 pounds in a year.

Reducing calories further to only 1,600 calories per day will result in faster weight loss:

2,015 (maintenance calories)–1,600 (actual calories) = 415 weight-loss calories

These 415 weight-loss calories per day add up to 151,475 weight-loss calories per year, which yields a projected weight loss of about 43 pounds in a year. The greater the difference between your maintenance calories and your actual calories, the faster you will lose weight.
Important note:
Do not go lower than 1,000 actual calories per day. There is no advantage to ultra-low calorie dieting—your metabolism will slow, you’ll be more likely to binge due to starvation, and you may develop some vitamin and mineral deficiencies from not eating healthfully.

Remember, you plug more than just the calories you eat into the equation—there’s also your activity level. If you increase your maintenance calories by upping your activity level you’ll also speed up weight loss. For example, if our hypothetical woman increases her activity to the 0.40 level, she will raise her maintenance calories to 2,170:

1,550 (BMR) × 0.40 (activity level) = 620 (activity factor)

1,550 (BMR) + 620 (activity factor) = 2,170 (maintenance calories)

Eating 1,800 calories per day will result in weight loss:

2,170 (maintenance calories)–1,800 (actual calories) = 370 weight-loss calories

These 370 weight-loss calories per day add up to 135,050 weight loss calories per year, which yields a projected weight loss of about 39 pounds in a year.

But eating only 1,600 calories per day will result in faster weight loss:

2,170 (maintenance calories)–1,600 (actual calories) = 570 weight-loss calories

These 570 weight-loss calories per day add up to 208,050 weight-loss calories per year, which yields a projected weight loss of about 59 pounds in a year.

Notice that even at the same calorie levels, weight loss is faster when you bump up the exercise and give your metabolism a boost. In the example, if our 155-pound woman ate 1,800 calories per day, she could lose 22 pounds in a year with an average activity level, but 39 pounds in a year by increasing her activity level just one notch above average.

BOOSTING METABOLISM

Clients—and just about everyone I meet who learns I’m a nutritionist—ask me this question all the time: How can I boost my metabolism?

Metabolism is simply the total of all body processes that burn calories—your basal metabolic rate plus your activity factor. When it comes to improving your metabolism, there’s good news and bad news.

First the bad news: Most of what controls your metabolism isn’t under your control. Some people are genetically blessed with a high-burning metabolism. They didn’t ask for it, they were born with it. (So don’t hate them for it, unless, of course, they rub it in!) On average, men have a metabolism that is 10 to 15 percent higher than women’s, mainly because of their larger size and greater muscle mass. Whether you’re a man or a woman, your metabolism naturally decreases with age. Scientists have estimated that metabolism slows about 5 percent per decade, beginning at age 40, as we lose muscle mass and increase body fat. Hypothyroidism (under-active thyroid) lowers metabolism and causes weight gain. Fortunately in this case, if a blood test confirms there’s a problem, your doctor will prescribe medication that can boost it back up to baseline.

Now the good news: Your metabolism doesn’t have to remain stagnant or take a nosedive. You can burn more calories, lose more weight, just by changing the way you think about eating and moving.

FOOD FIXES FOR METABOLISM

Remember—our basal metabolic rate includes the energy we need for body processes, including digestion. About 10 percent of our calories are used to process the food we eat. As the calories are burned, our bodies generate heat. This phenomenon, known as the
thermic effect of food
, is influenced by how much, how often, and what we eat. In addition, food can directly affect metabolism by altering the way the body functions (which changes the amount of energy it needs). Here are my best recommendations for maximizing metabolism:

• Eat at least 1,000 calories per day.
  Although it is generally true that eating a low-calorie diet will help you take off weight, if you eat too few calories, your metabolism will get slower and slower as it tries to conserve energy. As your metabolism crashes, the weight you take off will most likely creep back on over time. Plus, you’ll be more likely to binge on junk food if you reduce your calories by too much.
  
• Eat every four to five hours.
  A regular meal schedule helps keep your body working to digest and absorb foods. Between breakfast and bed, aim to eat a meal or snack every four to five hours. And try to eat breakfast within 90 minutes of rising. People who regularly eat a healthy breakfast are more likely to control their weight. If you wait to eat until you’re really ravenous, you’re more likely to overeat later in the day. Also breakfast helps fire up your metabolism after a full night on a slow simmer.
  
• Eat protein with every meal.
  All foods contribute to the thermic effect, which means that all foods—carbohydrates, fats, and proteins—help to give metabolism a gentle nudge higher when we eat them. But protein has the greatest thermic effect of all. In addition, protein can increase metabolism by helping to maintain and build muscle mass. (For more information about good sources of protein, see Chapter 3.)
  

EXERCISE FIXES FOR METABOLISM

A big percentage of your maintenance calories—the amount you burn in the course of a day—comes from your activity level. If you go from having average activity levels to being extremely active, you can double the amount of calories burned (that’s activity factor calories, not BMR calories). This is why
any
activity—every extra step you take—can help boost your metabolism. Part of my recommendation is to move as much as possible: climb the stairs instead of taking the escalator, park at the opposite end of the mall and walk to your favorite store, garden instead of watching TV…anything, as long as it is extra movement.

In addition, I strongly encourage everyone to exercise regularly. The optimal weight-loss exercise program consists of both aerobic exercise and strength training. Regular exercise can increase your activity factor and your metabolism. As you get older and your metabolism slows, you can rebalance your energy needs by increasing the duration or intensity of your workouts.

• Aerobic exercise.
  Aerobic exercises use energy and increase many different metabolic processes (such as your heart rate), all of which burn calories. All aerobic activities—including running, brisk walking, swimming, skating, skiing, and cycling—increase metabolism
  while
  you’re exercising, and also keep your metabolism burning higher for hours afterward. I recommend doing some form of aerobic activity four or five days per week, for at least 30 minutes per day.
  
• Strength training.
  Exercises that work your muscles without necessarily raising heart rate are considered strength training. These include lifting weights, working with resistance bands, yoga, Pilates, circuit training, and calisthenics (including push-ups, chin-ups, and abdominal crunches). These activities directly increase your BMR by building muscle, so you will burn more calories every minute of every day. I recommend doing some form of strength training two or three days per week. Plan a strength training regimen that’s realistic for both your schedule and personality. For some people that may mean 15 minutes of calisthenics in the privacy of your bedroom, and for others it may involve a more elaborate weight-training regimen at the gym.
  

HOW FOOD AFFECTS
WEIGHT AND WEIGHT LOSS

I’m willing to bet you know exactly which foods are healthy choices, and which are guilty pleasures. At every meal and with every snack, you have an opportunity to decide which direction to go—you can make the energizing, slimming choice, or
fall back
on one of the choices that brought you to this chapter in the first place. Whenever you choose comforting, familiar junk food instead of healthy meals, that’s a fall-back choice. Whenever you eat the wrong foods to reduce stress, that’s a fall-back choice. If you ever sneak food, or find yourself thinking
I know it’s bad but what the heck
, you’re making a fall-back choice.

Don’t you deserve more than the fall-back? Of course you do! Remember this important advice: The taste of food remains in your mouth for a very short time, but the calorie consequences remain LONG after. Before you go with a fall-back choice, consider how defeated you’ll feel 30 minutes after finishing that fall-back food. Then consider how fabulous you’ll feel 30 minutes after finishing a healthful nutrient-rich food. Don’t make the wrong choice for short-term satisfaction. Instead, make the right choice for long-term results! You deserve better health. You deserve to lose inches from your waist and thighs. And you deserve foods that can help you lose weight and lower your risk of disease.

LEAN PROTEIN

As I already mentioned, eating protein can help raise metabolism because it has a high thermic effect, and because it can help maintain and increase your lean muscle mass. Protein also keeps you feeling satisfied longer, so you are less likely to snack on high-calorie fall-back foods between meals. In addition, when eaten as part of a well-rounded nutrition plan (which includes vegetables, high-quality carbohydrates, and healthy fats), protein helps to keep blood sugars at a nice, even level. That means that you’ll generally be in a better mood, better able to handle stress, and less likely to reach for comfort foods to get through the day.

The key is to add
some
protein, but not to go overboard. Most Americans already eat far too much protein, and usually the wrong kind. The wrong kind contains large amounts of saturated or trans fats. I’m talking about hamburgers, hot dogs, salami, bologna, spareribs, full-fat dairy products (including whole and 2% milk, and full-fat cheese), fried foods, and poultry skin. The right kind, the kind you should choose instead, is
lean
protein, such as skinless chicken and turkey, low-fat or fat-free dairy products, and legumes. The meal plans in this chapter and throughout the book contain a healthy mix of proteins and other nutrients.