Lean and Hard

The key to weight loss is not as simple as eating less. If it were that simple, no one would ever be overweight.

Yes, it's true that IF you eat fewer calories than you are burning, you WILL lose weight. The problem is with the IF. It's not easy, and virtually impossible for many people to eat fewer calories that they're burning. It was for me. I knew I was ruining my life by becoming morbidly obese, but even the threat of death couldn't help me to eat less. Quite simply, I was as addicted to fast carbs as someone else might be to alcohol or cocaine.

The problem was I didn't know it.

The good news was, it wasn't that hard to break my addiction.

All I had to do was replace fast carbs with slow carbs. A complete substitution.

What are fast carbs? While there is no absolute line between fast and slow, some are clearly fast and some are clearly slow. Fast carbs are simple carbs, carbs that break down into sugar very rapidly when eaten. Things like white potatoes, refined flour products like bread and pasta, sugary drinks like soda or even orange juice, cakes and pies, candy, ice cream, white rice, are all fast carbs. And almost all low calorie recipes still include them. Just try looking for a so-called lo-cal frozen meal at the supermarket that doesn't have these ingredients. It's not possible.

So you have to simply stop eating those things. No more donuts or bagels. No more pizza. No more linguini. No more white bread sandwiches.

But lets talk about what you can replace these things with.

All kinds of beans, vegetables, whole grain breads like Ezekiel bread, corn flour products like tacos or tortillas, yucca and yams, sweet potatoes and fruits, other whole grains like quinoa and flax. There's a pretty long list and thousands of great recipes.

What are some typical meals for me? (Keep in mind that I'm only eating 1200 to 1500 calories a day in order to get my weight to an ideal level, while at the same time getting exercise 6 days a week in order to build muscle, so the amount you eat may need to be different.)

Breakfast is usually a scoop of cooked beans and half a cup of liquid eggs. I make a big crock pot of beans and mushrooms, cooked in chicken broth and with my favorite seasonings, and just get a scoop of them in a frying pan with some cooking spray (I like to add some jerk seasoning too because I am Jamaican after all), then I add the liquid eggs and stir. Delicious.

My mid-morning snack is usually a cup of soup, which I cook on weekends and take to work in a Tupperware container. I like to cook boneless/skinless chicken thighs, which I pull apart when they've been boiling long enough to be tender, then add vegetables like squash, carrots, etc., and some split peas or lentils that I've pre-soaked. Sometimes I'll include chicken broth, chopped spinach, onions, celery and the like. It makes a very healthy, thick, delicious soup that keeps me going till the afternoon.

My mid-afternoon meal is typically a piece of chicken with a slice of Ezekiel bread, or sometimes a salad.

Dinner might be 3 tacos, made with seasoned ground beef in whole grain corn taco shells, diced tomatoes, a bit of shredded cheese and some chopped jalapenos. For dessert I might have a few apple slices.

Of course these are only a few ideas. You can find thousands more online, but you only have to avoid the fast carbs listed above and replace them with slow ones.

I hope this helps!

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