How Not to Diet
“The primary reason diseases tend to run in families may be that diets tend to run in families.” Dr. Michael Greger
Today 71% of American adults are overweight and 40% of men and women appear to have so much body fat that they can be classified as obese, and there is no end in sight.
The food industry exploits are innate biological vulnerabilities by stripping down crops into almost pure calories – straight sugar, oil (pure fat), and while flour (mostly refined starch). Obesity is designed as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, while being overweight means you have a BMI of 25-29.9. A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered “ideal weight.” To access a BMI calculator click here.
The groundbreaking science of healthy, permanent weight loss by Dr. Greger in How Not to Diet is a great resource to help us understand why weight management affects so many Americans. Below, you will find a few of his 21 Tweaks (strategies) that are broadly applicable, relatively safe and evidence based. You can download Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen app to build a healthy lifestyle. To learn more about the app click here.
Consider your lifestyle and where you would like to improve:
At each meal:
- Preload with water (a few cups before each meal)
- Preload with negative calorie foods (vegetables)
- Incorporate vinegar (2 tsp with each meal)
- Enjoy undistracted meals (mindful eating)
- Follow the 20-minute rule (eat slow)
Every day:
- Consider the following seasonings throughout the day: Black Cumin (1/4 tsp), Garlic Powder (1/4 tsp), Ground Ginger (1 tsp), Cayenne Pepper (1/2 tsp), Nutritional Yeast (2 tsp), Cumin 1(2 tsp with lunch and dinner)
- Drink unsweetened green tea (1-3 cups)
- Stay hydrated (drink plenty of water)
- De-flour your diet (remove processed flours)
- Front-load your calories (eat more early in the day and less later)
- Time-restrict your eating (eat within a 12-hour period each day)
- Optimize exercise (aim for 60-90 minutes of daily physical activity/exercise)
- Weigh yourself frequently (1-2 times per day)
Every night:
- Fast after 7:00pm (Try not to eat after dinner)
- Get sufficient sleep (7-9 hours nightly)
Consider where you are, where you want to go and how you plan to get there. Specifically, how is your current body composition? What changes would you like to achieve? What steps can you take to reach and maintain a healthy body composition?
To get How Not to Diet and add years to your life and life to your years click here