Chapter One

Easing into establishing good habits FOR LIFE

            When it comes to good nutrition and using it to support your exercise program, I could literally overwhelm you with information that you would literally give up and never want to think about your health again.  That is not my goal here.  I want you to make these changes for life.  When ever a change in habits is needed, it is my opinion that continued application of these habits needs to be gradually introduced.  I have used this methodical approach with many of my clients, and as I have become a better coach, this approach works the best.  So without further ado, here is step one of the plan.

            At this point you are only required to make three changes to your eating habits.  Make just three simple changes, the first step to feeding your body the right way now and forever. 

1.)                 Eliminate all the un-needed junk from you diet.

2.)                 Eat small frequent meals through out the day.

3.)                 Eat protein and carbohydrates with each meal.

Eliminate un-needed Junk immediately!

            When I say this I literally mean it.  Go into your kitchen, open the fridge and throw away all the following items.  They are literally junk for your body and not only do you not need them, they are probably slowly but surely killing you.  I MEAN IT!!  Right now go in there and throw this stuff away.

            Mayonaise

            Butter

            Ranch or other salad dressings

            Cheese

            Sugar filled sodas.

            AWESOME! You have taken the first step to a healthier you.  Now before I explain why we did this there is still one more thing I require.  We have eliminated all the junk from you refridgerator, but I am willing to bet that there is still more junk in the house.  So now turn your attention to the cupboards.  Right now, dont even think, JUST DO IT, throw the following items down the toilet and flush them.

            Potato Chips

            Cookies (fat free or not)

            Crackers

            Snack packs with cheese and other garbage.

            EXCELLENT! Now you have made the second step to a healthier you.  If you did not actually do this, then return this book and get your money back.  If you do not intend to apply what I am teaching you, this book is useless.  Dont waist your money, might as well save it for gastric bypass surgery.

            So the question arises I am sure, Brad, why did I just throw away $35 worth of groceries, very simply the bottom line of sensible eating and good nutrition, calories.

            Understanding calories is the very basis for which good nutrition starts.  So the first thing to understand is what is a calorie?  In the dictionary a calorie is defined as,     .  However, the true definition of a calorie is not what is important.  What is important is what our body does with calories.  A calorie is a measure of energy.  Each food that we consume has a measure of energy associated with it.  This amount of calories, or energy, is what is needed to completely eliminate the food and turn it all into energy.  So it goes without saying that some foods require more energy to eliminate them then others.  In any case we need energy, or fuel, to run our activities, walking, breathing, exercising etc, and food is our fuel.  However, the question now is what happens to any food, or fuel, that is not completely eliminated?  What happens when all the food is not converted into energy?  I like to use analogies a lot so here is my first.  What happens to any energy source that is un-used.  What happened inside of the engine of your car when there is un-used gasoline?  It smokes..the unused fuel is converted to waste, not energy.  Remember this fuel analogy because I use it a lot.  So guess what happens to un-used fuel in the body, you guessed it, FAT.  When we are not active enough to convert all the fuel, or food, to energy, the un-used fuel is converted to fat and stored on your gut, thighs, and buttocks.  When there is more calories, or energy, in a food or foods than there is needed activity to convert it to energy, the remainder is turned into useless, ugly FAT.

            So getting back to why I just had you throw away all those groceries, if you truly did what I just asked, you probably just eliminated about 500 calories a day in your diet.  Without even thinking, no planning, no fancy diets.  BAM! Un-used fuel right in the garbage instead of on your gut, hips and thighs.  Simply doing this simple, cheap and very effective task will probably lose you 4 to 5 pounds of fat in the next month.  SO GO AND THROW THAT JUNK AWAY!

            One of the absolute keys to eating nutritiously is finding ways to make healthy nutritious food taste fantastic so you will love to eat it.  I have found this to be absolutely mandatory in keeping good habits in the long term.  So to help here are a few ideas on replacing some of this junk with healthy alternatives to keep you nutritious food tasty. 

            Junk                                                             Alternative

Butter Loaded with calories, all fat.                   Butter Spray No calories, use in abundance.

Mayonaise Loaded with calories, all fat Honey, or Spicy Mustard Little to no calories

Sugar Certain to add calories to anything.         Non-calorie sweetener Use to sweeten anything.

Cheese Majority of calories from fat                  Fat free Cheese lower in calories.

Potato Chips Loaded with fatty calories Dried Fruit No calories and adds to your fiber.

Sugary sodas All sugar, non-needed calories     Diet sodas, clear beverages No calories.