There are a few ways I've "hacked" my diet. None of these are really groundbreaking or new, but they really do make a huge difference in my energy and motivation throughout the day.
1. Eat several small mini-meals all day instead of 3 big ones. Aim for 6-8 per day. This keeps your metabolism and energy level much more even throughout the day. If you eat your last one before 8pm you may notice losing a few pounds in your sleep as well.
2. Yerba Mate. Magical stuff. Much more sustained and focused energy for a longer period of time than coffee. Once it wears off you don't crash like coffee either.
3. Replace..............With
-- Red meat.............Fish (and white meat if fish is too expensive)
-- White bread........Whole grain bread. A popular switch...make it.
-- Soda....................Tea? Or at least 100% fruit juice.
-- Peanut butter.......Natural peanut butter. Skippy natural is as good as normal.
-- Sugar...................Nothing. You don't need it.
4. Start reading labels. Remember: Not all calories are created equal. Look for how many of the total carbs of an item are from sugar. Look how many total calories are from fat.
Look for these 4-letter words...
-- Hydrogenated oil
-- Artificial _____
-- >4 syllables and you can't pronounce it (Yeah, someone's going to disagree. I'm just saying it's a rule of thumb)
Those are just a few I use daily. I hope some other people add to this list.
White bread -- get rid of the grains altogether. And, no, whole wheat bread isn't better for you:
So if we compare white bread to table sugar sucrose, white bread raised
blood sugar more. If we compare a whole wheat bread to white bread,
whole wheat bread raises blood sugar higher than white bread. And so
much higher than table sugar, and by the way, much higher than many
standard candy bars. So a Snickers bar is far better for you from a blood
sugar standpoint than two slices of whole wheat bread. So the reason for
that is the unique structure of carbohydrate in wheat. -- Dr. William Davis
Soda -- drink Tea, or water. Eat fruit. Fruit Juice isn't any better.
Peanut butter -- Replace it with actual nuts or nut butter if you must.
Well, like I said, those worked for me. Actually, the change in frequency and size of my meals probably affected me the most. It may not work for you, but it certainly does for me. It's not really 6-8 meals for me anymore; it's more like "eat when I'm hungry and stop before I'm 100% full" kind of deal and it works out to 5-7 small meals.
You don't have to drop red meat altogether, but I have for the most part (not to say I don't still enjoy a good burger from time to time). Red meat increases the risk of heart disease and doesn't provide the same nutritional value as fish.
As for the whole grain, I think you are only getting a piece of the difference between whole grain and bleached. Whole, unprocessed grains do raise your blood sugar higher than processed grains, which is actually a good thing if it doesn't quickly cause a blood sugar spike. That's what bleached/processed flour does. It causes a quick spike in blood sugar, so in that respect processed flour is more like a candy bar. Whole grains also provide more fiber, complex carbs, and nutrients that processed grains have had removed. In this article Dr. Weil went into some depth about whole grains and their glycemic index: http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA400088.
And the fruit juices, well yeah it's just a temporary substitute. Now I only drink tea and water, but I used to have much more of a sweet tooth that I would please with fruit juice. Have you ever seen the experiment where someone puts a nail in a cup of soda and another in a cup of fruit juice? The nail is eaten away surprisingly quickly in the soda.
Most of my dietary changes started after reading "8 Weeks to Optimum Health" which I would highly recommend to anyone wanting to truly improve their health.
Careful with the switch to a whole grain bread - many of them are just as crappy and/or loaded with sugar and corn syrup. You generally need to look in the natural foods section to find a good wheat/whole grain bread. Look at the ingredients on the ones you find with the other white breads - the second or third ingredient will be corn syrup.
Instead of natural peanut butter, use almond butter. Why? almonds have more calcium, are a great source of monounsaturated fats, vitamin E, magnesium, potassium, zinc, iron and fiber (info from link below).
Unfortunately, there's only one brand available in my city, and that's Guayaki, so I wouldn't know any other brand to recommend. All Yerba Mate kind of tastes burnt, though. You may want to try steeping it for less time than is recommended if it's too bitter.
My favorite way to drink it is sweetened with some sugar and then 5 or 6 drops of lemon juice added. It completely changes the flavor. Several of my non-tea-drinking friends love it when I prepare it like this.
Comments
There are a few ways I've "hacked" my diet. None of these are really groundbreaking or new, but they really do make a huge difference in my energy and motivation throughout the day.
1. Eat several small mini-meals all day instead of 3 big ones. Aim for 6-8 per day. This keeps your metabolism and energy level much more even throughout the day. If you eat your last one before 8pm you may notice losing a few pounds in your sleep as well.
2. Yerba Mate. Magical stuff. Much more sustained and focused energy for a longer period of time than coffee. Once it wears off you don't crash like coffee either.
3. Replace..............With
-- Red meat.............Fish (and white meat if fish is too expensive)
-- White bread........Whole grain bread. A popular switch...make it.
-- Soda....................Tea? Or at least 100% fruit juice.
-- Peanut butter.......Natural peanut butter. Skippy natural is as good as normal.
-- Sugar...................Nothing. You don't need it.
4. Start reading labels. Remember: Not all calories are created equal. Look for how many of the total carbs of an item are from sugar. Look how many total calories are from fat.
Look for these 4-letter words... -- Hydrogenated oil -- Artificial _____ -- >4 syllables and you can't pronounce it (Yeah, someone's going to disagree. I'm just saying it's a rule of thumb)
Those are just a few I use daily. I hope some other people add to this list.
1. If your metabolism and energy level is crashing throughout the day, change your diet, not the frequency. Look up intermittent fasting, and learn that this 6-8 meals per day is a myth: http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debun...
3.
Why drop red meat? Eat more fish sure.
White bread -- get rid of the grains altogether. And, no, whole wheat bread isn't better for you:
So if we compare white bread to table sugar sucrose, white bread raised blood sugar more. If we compare a whole wheat bread to white bread, whole wheat bread raises blood sugar higher than white bread. And so much higher than table sugar, and by the way, much higher than many standard candy bars. So a Snickers bar is far better for you from a blood sugar standpoint than two slices of whole wheat bread. So the reason for that is the unique structure of carbohydrate in wheat. -- Dr. William Davis
Soda -- drink Tea, or water. Eat fruit. Fruit Juice isn't any better.
Peanut butter -- Replace it with actual nuts or nut butter if you must.
Sugar... Hey, we agree on something.
Well, like I said, those worked for me. Actually, the change in frequency and size of my meals probably affected me the most. It may not work for you, but it certainly does for me. It's not really 6-8 meals for me anymore; it's more like "eat when I'm hungry and stop before I'm 100% full" kind of deal and it works out to 5-7 small meals.
You don't have to drop red meat altogether, but I have for the most part (not to say I don't still enjoy a good burger from time to time). Red meat increases the risk of heart disease and doesn't provide the same nutritional value as fish.
As for the whole grain, I think you are only getting a piece of the difference between whole grain and bleached. Whole, unprocessed grains do raise your blood sugar higher than processed grains, which is actually a good thing if it doesn't quickly cause a blood sugar spike. That's what bleached/processed flour does. It causes a quick spike in blood sugar, so in that respect processed flour is more like a candy bar. Whole grains also provide more fiber, complex carbs, and nutrients that processed grains have had removed. In this article Dr. Weil went into some depth about whole grains and their glycemic index: http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA400088.
And the fruit juices, well yeah it's just a temporary substitute. Now I only drink tea and water, but I used to have much more of a sweet tooth that I would please with fruit juice. Have you ever seen the experiment where someone puts a nail in a cup of soda and another in a cup of fruit juice? The nail is eaten away surprisingly quickly in the soda.
Most of my dietary changes started after reading "8 Weeks to Optimum Health" which I would highly recommend to anyone wanting to truly improve their health.
Careful with the switch to a whole grain bread - many of them are just as crappy and/or loaded with sugar and corn syrup. You generally need to look in the natural foods section to find a good wheat/whole grain bread. Look at the ingredients on the ones you find with the other white breads - the second or third ingredient will be corn syrup.
Instead of natural peanut butter, use almond butter. Why? almonds have more calcium, are a great source of monounsaturated fats, vitamin E, magnesium, potassium, zinc, iron and fiber (info from link below).
Other great tips here: https://www.defrancostraining.com/ask-joe-test/45-nutritions...
I've found that cashew butter is harder to find, but it tastes better and it's almost always cheaper.
Recently I've found some shops carrying sunflower seed butter. Tastes great and sunflower oil is one of the healthiest fats you can eat.
Peanuts are also not a nut, they are legume, which can have effects on your hormonal system similar to way soybeans can.
Ah that's neat. I'll have to try almond butter.
Do you have any brand of yerba mate that you recommend? The stuff I have tastes like an ashtray.
Unfortunately, there's only one brand available in my city, and that's Guayaki, so I wouldn't know any other brand to recommend. All Yerba Mate kind of tastes burnt, though. You may want to try steeping it for less time than is recommended if it's too bitter.
My favorite way to drink it is sweetened with some sugar and then 5 or 6 drops of lemon juice added. It completely changes the flavor. Several of my non-tea-drinking friends love it when I prepare it like this.
It all tastes pretty bad at first, but Adagio has some interesting blends that might make it easy to ease into mate.
http://www.adagio.com/herbal/mate_sampler.html