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Beating Back the New Year's Bulge: Cheating Away those Holiday Pounds!
It's January 2, the day of reckoning. You glance at afull-length mirror as you dress in the morning, and you don'tlike what you see. Before Thanksgiving, you were on your way tobecoming a thinner, healthier you. Now, every canapé, slice ofcheesecake, and glass of wine you indulged in over the holidaysseems to be laughing at you from its new-found perch in yourbelly, butt, and thighs. Of course, you tell yourself you'reimagining things. You couldn't have gained all that much weight.Just to prove it, you tentatively, almost timidly, climb ontothe bathroom scale, and allow yourself to peek down with onesquinty eye. Don't scream and do NOT allow yourself to plunge intodepression. That number is a minor setback on the road to havinga slender, healthier body. You can get back on track and barelymiss a step on your way to your weight loss goal. You can alsolearn a new way of eating, using principles from the Cheater'sDiet, that will allow you to enjoy the holidays next year totheir fullest without gaining a single extra pound around yourmiddle. First, you're going to shock your metabolism back into actionwith a month of the "Four F's" plan. It won't be easy, butyou'll love the results. After that, you'll ease your way intothe regular Cheater's Diet plan, which allows you to eat allkinds of food that you thought, as a dieter, you would never beallowed to eat again. The "Four F's" are:* Fish * Fluids * Fiber * Frequent mealsFish- is an excellent source of protein and healthful Omega-3fats, both of which will help you to feel sated and cut yourappetite. Try to eat fish at least three times a week. Coldwater varieties like salmon, tuna, sardines, and herring,contain the highest amounts of Omega-3's. Fluids- are extremely important for weight loss. Not only doesdrinking water, tea, coffee, diet sodas, or even soup help tocleanse your body of toxins, but it also keeps the kidneysfunctioning properly. When the kidneys are out of whack, theliver takes over for them, which means it can't continue doingone of its other majo...
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...r jobs--turning your fat into fuel. Drinkat least 2 quarts (8 cups) of fluids a day, and if you'reoverweight, drink even more. Fiber- helps move food through your system more quickly, makesyou feel full, and keeps your digestive tract healthy. For thepurposes of the Four F's, fruit is the best source. Apples,pears, plums, strawberries, and prunes are all good sources. Inaddition to the servings described below, have at least oneadditional fruit serving at every main meal. Frequent meals- means eating three main meals a day with snacksin between. Never go more than two hours between mealsBreakfast, lunch, and dinner should always consist of oneserving of protein (eggs, fish, white poultry meat, or lean porkloin) and one of a complex carb, like a vegetable, legume, orwhole grain. A serving size is about one quarter of dinnerplate. Snacks can consist of a serving of fruits, vegetables,nonfat dairy products, nuts, legumes or any other no sugar/lowfat food. So to recap--lots of meals, lots of fiber, lots of fish, lots offluids. Don't worry about the rate at which you're losing. An average oftwo pounds a week is very respectable, and three pounds shouldbe your maximum. Any more than that and you'll be burning muscleinstead of fat. Speaking of muscle..Eating is only half the picture. If you want to maintain theweight you lose, you need to perform some kind of physicalactivity. That doesn't necessarily mean formal exercise. Justget up and move every chance you get. Studies show that doingvigorous, day-to-day activities is far more important formaintaining a healthful weight than is a membership to the localhealth club. Here are some that really burn the fat: * Washing and waxing a car * Washing windows or floors * Playingvolleyball * Playing touch football * Gardening * Walking *Basketball (shooting baskets) * Dancing fast (social) * Pushinga lawnmower * Raking leaves Past the first hurdleAfter you've gone four weeks sticking strictly with the FourF's, you can begin to relax a little. How? Cheat on theweekends. Now...
... I know that the word "cheat" generally makesdieters a little nervous. It represents failure to many of them.But it doesn't have to. In fact, cheating can be your greatesttool in reaching success. Here's how. After being subjected to a strict regimen like theFour F's throughout the first month, your body begins tooutsmart you and slightly slows down the rate at which it burnsfat. If you suddenly give it more work to do by feeding it morecalories, it speeds up again. Then, after two days, you go backto your strict regimen. The body is still going with all fires blazing. It will takeawhile for it to realize the trick you've pulled. So becauseyou've eaten more for a couple of days, you're now burning fateven faster! Doing this every weekend keeps the body in a stateof playing perpetual catch-up. So cheat! From Saturday morningto Sunday evening, eat anything you like, with the exception offoods you're likely to binge on. You can have chocolate,hamburgers, whole grain bread, ice cream, cinnamon buns, wine,beer, strawberry shortcake--you name it. Or you can just have awhole lot more of the healthful foods you've been eating sincethe New Year. Cheating has one other advantage that's hugely important inmaintaining a healthful weight--it keeps you from getting bored.The average person stays on a diet for about two months beforegiving up and going back to his or her old ways. Why? The tediumof restrictive diets. The Cheater's Diet restricts you fromnothing. It simply puts you on a schedule, just like going towork five days a week and taking off for two. Cheating for lifeBy the end of the second month, you will probably have reachedthe end of your patience with eating six meals a day. So don't.Go back to three meals a day, and allow yourself four servingsper meal--one or two of protein, two of fruits or vegetables,and one of whole grains or legumes. You can still have snacksevery two hours if you like. By summertime, you're going to look amazing. And when theholidays come next year, just stick with the Cheater's Diet!
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