We’re moving right along to part 4 of my interview with abs expert, Scott Colby.  If you’ve been following along with us, then you’ve most likely noticed a heavy emphasis on nutrition.  But the reason for this is simple; no matter how hard you workout, you will never be able to out-train a bad diet.

With that being said, if you incorporate small, daily dietary changes into your lifestyle, such as what I suggested in part 3, you will notice significant results.

So, let’s not waste a minute more and jump into today’s question regarding low-cal diets…

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Scott Colby: Let’s move on to Donna out in Sacramento says, “I want to lose at least 40 pounds.  I’m currently allowing myself 1,355 calories per day based on the Harris Benedict equation.  My starting weight was 195 pounds, and I’ve lost about 5 pounds, although those 5 pounds seem to fluctuate from day to day.  I think I need a new scale.  I’m thinking of cutting my calories back even more.

“Is it safe for a woman at my age – 58 – to go as low as 1,000 calories per day? And will I have to stay at that low calorie level or lower the rest of my life to maintain? I’m also doing cardio in the form of StairClimber and weight training in the form of BowFlex and free weights three to five days a week.”  She wants to know if she needs to go on a really low calorie diet.

Craig Ballantyne: Well, I think what we’ve covered so far in so many of the questions is really gonna help her out.

I think the BEST APPROACH for her would be to write down everything that she’s eating.  Figure out how many calories she really is consuming, just to make sure that she’s not consuming more than she thinks.  And then to go through all those diet improvements, quality improvements. Can we eat fruits or vegetables instead of anything from a bag or a box?  When can we do that?  When can we make those substitutions?

And if we can improve the quality of the diet a lot, then spend a couple days on that – see if we aren’t getting more results.

Then take a look at the calories again and see if we really need to go as low as 1,355 calories per day.  I certainly think that’s pretty LOW, and I am certainly NOT going to tell her to go down to 1,000.

But I think that improving the quality of the diet will NATURALLY DECREASE THE CALORIE INTAKE, but at the same time NOT DECREASE THE ENERGY of the person who’s consuming that diet.

You just feel better when you’re eating those types of foods, and that’s where I would start.  So I think if she used that equation that we mentioned with the ideal body weight, it would probably give her a relatively high calorie intake compared to what she’s consuming now, so it would really confuse her to do that.

Because you probably get 16-1,700 calories on that equation, and she’s down to 1,355 right now, so it’s a really big discrepancy.  And people, I will admit that you’re gonna see that discrepancy.  It’s gonna be up to you to use your best judgment, and your best judgment is gonna be based on well, really what are you doing right now and what results are you getting?

And that’s why I said use that simple three-step system:

1. Figure out what you’re eating now.
2. Improve the quality of the diet.
3. And recalculate what you’re eating and the results that you’re getting.

So that’s what I would do, and generally it sounds like her workouts are on track.

With my system, with my beliefs, similar to yours as well, three total body workouts, maybe four – I prefer four slightly shorter workouts than three slightly longer workouts, so I do 4 30-minute workouts per week rather than 3 45-minute workouts per week. I just like to split it up like that, but there’s certainly NO REASON to be training hard five, six, seven days a week.

Staying active on the off-days, as mentioned in our previous question – I mean you always have to be doing something.  It just doesn’t have to be hard, intense exercise.  You wanna recover on those days, but you NEED TO STAY ACTIVE and stay mobile, and that sounds like she’s getting a pretty good workout plan.

Again, we’d have to see a lot more details to double-check on that, but I think hopefully we’ve helped solve her nutrition problem there.

Scott Colby: Awesome.  And Craig, that FORMULA that you gave earlier, is that the same for men and women?

Craig Ballantyne: It is, actually, yeah.

And the weird thing is some people took a look at it and were not very happy by it; they thought it was way too much.  And then we had both men and women, and both men and women also said, “Hey, this works out perfectly for me,” and so we got very mixed feedback on that.  And I’m gonna email you the link right now and you can share with everybody.  It’s on my blog, and I’ve included a men’s and women’s example.

Now that you have the formula for calorie consumption, find out the formula that is spurring people to take action and get results in part 5 of the interview.

Low-carb diets – do they work and should you follow one if you love carbs?  Read on as I tackle this question and more in part 2 of my interview with abs expert, Scott Colby.

Did you miss part 1? Find out what advice I gave Scott when it comes to eliminating fat from the body.

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Scott Colby: Let’s get to our next question.  It’s from Menar from Jordan – I hope I pronounced it right.  It says, “Hello, how are you?  Hope you had a merry Christmas.  I LOVE carbs, and this is my problem.  Is being on a low-carb diet the SOLUTION for me? Thanks a lot.”

Craig Ballantyne: Absolutely not.

I mean that’s just not gonna work, if you like carbohydrates and you think you’re gonna go on a low-carbohydrate diet.  I mean really what you should do is try and eat ten servings of fruits and vegetables per day.  That’s gonna fill you up.  That’s also gonna give you some of that sweetness from the fruits.  So I would say probably five fruits, five vegetables, so it’s a total of ten servings.  I mean everybody that’s listening to this call should be getting ten servings of fruits and vegetables per day.

And large apples can be two servings, so don’t be overwhelmed by when I say ten servings, because it’s really not as much as most people think.  But we need to be getting more, and then really you just need to look for foods.  Read the ingredient list.

There’s even HIGH PROTEIN PASTAS.

I’ve been consuming a lot of those.  Beans, legumes, lentils, that type of stuff.  Other carbohydrate sources.  But I really don’t think that personality-wise you are suited for a low-carbohydrate diet if you like carbohydrates.  And I think maybe the truth is you like eating sugar and stuff, and that has to be eliminated from every diet down to that 10 percent category if you wanna lose body fat.

So get the sweetness from fruits, and that’s fine.  But added sugar, you should not have any processed foods.  So I think that’s really important to understand is that what are you really saying when you say you like carbohydrates?  Is it that you like sugar, or that you like bread?  Bread is fine in some cases.  I mean I wouldn’t eat a whole loaf of bread in a day, but if you wanna have a sandwich with almond butter that’s certainly okay.

CALORIES IN, CALORIES OUT – I know that’s another one of the questions we’re gonna talk about in a bit – is still a fairly large component of weight loss, no matter what people are saying, and trying to minimize the calories in, calories out.

It still is a very important component – mostly the calories in.  So high fiber bread with almond butter, that’s gonna fill you up a lot more than the bowl of breakfast cereal that we talked about and a cup of milk.  And you’re probably gonna have more calories in that cereal and milk, but not have that long-term suppression of appetite.  You’re gonna be hungry by mid-morning.

But high fiber bread plus almond butter plus one piece of fruit, you’re gonna get through the morning a lot BETTER than with the breakfast cereal, and probably on fewer calories.

So overall I think go back to what we said in the first answer, is to use a FOOD JOURNAL.Write down everything that you’re eating for at least seven days.  Use FitDay.  Continue to use a food journal if possible.

Men’s Health magazine back in their February 2009 issue talked about a study that showed that people who use a food log lost 3 ½ pounds more than people that didn’t use a food log over a 12-week period.  So that’s IMPORTANT.

Drinking lots of fluids, lots of water – water, green tea, no-calorie fluids – to minimize any hunger that’s really just thirst.  Some people say, “You’re not really hungry, you’re thirsty; have an extra couple of cups of water.”

Having soups, vegetable-based soups before your meals, that’s also research-shown to reduce calorie intake.  So vegetable soup, that’s gonna help contribute to your ten servings per day.  But if you have a vegetable soup before you have your lunch and before you have your dinner, you’re gonna cut your calories.

As I mentioned, there’s a lot of high protein like what people would traditionally call carbohydrate foods.  There’s pastas that I’ve been using recently – there’s spelt pasta and there’s another one called kamut pasta – K-A-M-U-T.  And the kamut one actually is really good for people that have gluten insensitivity, because it does contain gluten, but for some reason a certain kind that doesn’t cause problems in people who are insensitive.

And it’s 15 grams of protein per serving, and so people are always worried about on a non-meat or non-animal-product diet how they’re gonna get protein.  I know we’re gonna talk about that as well.  But if you have that, you’re gonna have 15 grams in a single serving, plus you’re gonna get some other type of protein in that meal, I’m sure, whether you’re going to have cheese in it or whether you’re going to have meat in it as well.  Clearly you’re gonna get plenty of protein from that, but also you’re gonna get protein from your legumes that you may have with it.  Or you may have vegetable soup with legumes – that type of stuff, so plenty of options there.

I’m just going through as many of the nutrition things so we cover them kind of in this question.

Another thing I want people to do is they SCHEDULE that reward meal once per week, but then if they really want advanced results they stick to that 90 percent.

We remove all the sugar and trans fats from our diet, and you talked about a couple of those foods, which are gonna be the processed packaged foods.  The ones that have a lot of ingredients are gonna probably have more sugar and trans fats in them, so remove that.

And then another thing I want people to do is take three or four minutes and just write down every nutrition obstacle that’s in the way of their week.And then in addition to every one of those obstacles, write down two solutions.

So for example, every Wednesday you might have a long meeting, all afternoon from 1:00 till 5:00, and then you immediately have to go and take your child to a sporting activity or some type of after-school activity.  And so you really don’t have any chance to eat from 1:00 until 8:00.  Or you might just go to a vending machine or something.  So that’s an obstacle.

Now the SOLUTIONS of course are to make sure that you PLAN AHEAD and you have an apple and almonds for while you’re commuting between work and the activity.

So you’re planning ahead – that’s just one solution.  You may have another solution.  You may say, “Okay, I’m gonna take all these vegetables and some hummus, and that’s gonna be my other solution.  So if I don’t have the ingredients for one of those solutions I’m gonna have the ingredients for the other.”  And just come up with every single obstacle in your way and two solutions – problems are solved.

And make sure you plan shopping.  Prepare preferably one day on the weekend where you have lots of time and you can go to the grocery store.  Make a list.  Get it.

Prepare as much as you can, chopping stuff up, etc., cooking stuff in advance, and that will help you get through those tough times.

So again, a long answer to a question – went off on a tangent there a bit.  But I want to cover a lot of this stuff as soon as possible, so that everyone heard it and can apply it to their questions, which we’re gonna answer in a couple minutes as well.

Scott Colby: Awesome – good stuff, Craig.  One suggestion I gave on my blog a few weeks ago – actually kind of a light-hearted suggestion, but it would actually work – is to keep an ingredient journal for like a day or two.

So instead of just writing down your foods, write down all the ingredients you eat.  So if you eat the nice, whole, natural foods that Craig is suggesting, your food list and your ingredient list is gonna be the same.  Apple, eggs, nuts, things like that.  But if you’re eating all these boxed foods, your arm’s gonna fall off trying to write down those ingredients, but it’s a REAL GOOD EYE-OPENER.

If you do write down an ingredient that you’re eating, it’s an eye-opener to see everything that you’re putting in your body.  And hopefully if you just see it down in writing, that’ll make you change some of your habits as well.  Very cool.

People have a tendency to think they are eating well, but is your nutrition as good as you think?

Brad Pilon might not ever admit this to you, but he once won a bodybuilding contest. That’s right, he was all oiled up, fake tanned, and wearing a tiny speedo.

Fortunately I was NOT there to be a witness to that.

But…it does prove that he knows a thing or two about helping you transform your body.

So here are 5 truths about weight loss from Brad Pilon to help you lose fat without sacrificing your life to the gym or some crazy diet.

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From Brad…

Since most likely you have already heard the basic guidelines for  competing in a transformation contest (set a goal date, get a support group, create an action plan) I’d like to share some lesser-known tips that are equally important.

1. Prepare to be uncomfortable – At least for the first while.

I’m constantly asked to explain what I mean when I say “Eat Less”.

If I  had to expand this statement I would say, “Eat less than you are comfortable eating”.

If you are carrying extra weight, then chances are you are currently eating more than you need to.

But when you first start out on your transformation, it is learning process, and you and your body will need to learn to be comfortable eating less.

This happens quicker for some people than others, but it will eventually happen. The key is to use a diet plan that allows you to eat less, while limiting the ‘uncomfortableness’ of the actual dieting process. If done properly, eating less will quickly become the new ‘eating normal’ for you.

2. This is probably an obvious one, but it’s also one that most people seem to always forget – Compare yourself to yourself.

Look, everyone’s bodies are shaped differently. My opinion is that drug use by both men and women is far more widespread than most of us think and the use of expert lighting, touchup makeup and Photoshop makes almost EVERY picture you see a completely unrealistic illustration of a human body.

The ONLY person you should be comparing yourself to is yourself.

Strive to be a better you, but don’t try to be someone else, because  it’s not going to happen.

3. Be patient.

From my experience most transformations go something like this:

FIRST three weeks - most of the dramatic weight loss happens.

LAST three weeks – this is where most of the visible changes happen.

The period in between?

This is where most people get frustrated and anxious. So plan ahead.

Remind yourself that “Yes, there will be large weight loss at the beginning, but after that it’s ’slow and steady’ that wins the race, and it will all be worthwhile during the final weeks when every day brings noticeable changes to the way you look.”

4. Don’t justify over-eating with exercise.

You have to make sure you don’t eat more food just because you’re doing more exercise. Also be aware of how active you are throughout the rest of your day when you add the extra exercise.

5. Remember your weight will fluctuate.

I’m 172-ish pounds fasted, and 177-ish pounds fed. My weight goes up and down 2-3 pounds every day.

Try your best to always weigh in after an overnight fast and remember to look for the trend not the exact number each day. Don’t worry if you are up a couple of pounds one day…

Stay the course and focus on the weekly trend.
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Thanks Brad.

Again, it is no coincidence that over 7 of the top TT Transformation Contest entries have used Brad’s Eat-Stop-Eat program.

It’s simple and it works.

I give his program my strongest recommendation and suggest you get
started with his program today.

Click here to visit Brad’s website to get Eat-Stop-Eat today

And to be honest, I was very skeptical of his program at first, but member after member on the TT Forum kept on raving about how simple and effective the program was…and about how practical it was for busy people who didn’t have time to eat 6 times per day.

So if you’re sick and tired of trying to keep to that impossible and impractical schedule, try his Eat-Stop-Eat program instead.

I guarantee you’ll get the results you want when combined with the TT workouts.

To your success,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Creator, Turbulence Training Transformation Contest

It’s no secret that diet plays a huge role in fat loss, and in part 3 of my interview with transformation expert John Alvino, John discussed at length the importance of adding a cheat meal into your diet.

Today, we’ll continue with more diet and nutrition tips.  First, John shares with us some little, yet surprisingly effective, nutritional changes beginners can follow to burn fat quickly.  And if you need a little inspiration to get going on your fat loss program, then you’ll definitely want to read the 180 one of John’s clients experienced simply using his recommendations.

So, let’s get into it….

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Craig Ballantyne:  Okay so let’s go back to beginners.  What are the most effective nutritional changes they can make immediately?

John Alvino: Okay I find that the most important thing for beginners is for them to establish a base line diet.  So I don’t give a raw beginner an extreme pre contest diet.  It’s not necessary.  I’m assuming that a beginner hasn’t done any real weight training or any structured dieting in the past.

Initially a balanced diet is the best place to start.  I would recommend approximately 50% carbohydrates, 30% protein, 20% fat.   I generally start most people with these ratios and then from there I will see how their body is responding.  After several weeks of this I start to see how this person responds to carbohydrates in their diet, and if necessary we will adjust accordingly.

It’s important for beginners to learn good eating habits.  Like meal frequency for example.  Because no matter what plan you’re on you’re going to be eating every two and a half to three and a half hours if you’re looking to get in shape.  This has been proven time and time again to be the best way to eat.

So meal frequency gets established.  Caloric intact gets established.  And just general good habits of eating, drinking water, structuring meals, and food quality.

So basically for beginners I don’t do anything remotely advanced or difficult.  It’s more about laying down a solid foundation.

Craig Ballantyne:  Awesome.  Can you tell us a great beginner’s success story?  Maybe someone that came in a little bit more overweight than the story you told us about before and then what were the keys for the success for this beginner?

John Alvino: Okay, I have one client who just recently lost 92 pounds; I think she will make a great example.

She was such a beginner.  She was scared to even come into the gym.  She felt intimidated, she felt like she didn’t belong.  She felt like people were looking at her and judging her.  So we had to overcome a million psychological hurdles before we could even really start.  She was determined, which I can respect and appreciate.  When my clients are determined, that gets me inspired, and even more determined to help them.

So she came in weighing 250 pounds.  Just walking on the treadmill was able to get her heart rate up big time and get her exhausted, and almost light headed.  I knew we had to start with baby steps with her.

After looking at her diet I knew we were not going to do anything extreme.  I just had her go from eating processed junk foods to natural whole foods.

When she came in, I was not sure she was being honest about what she was eating.  I really suspected she was eating a little more than she even put on paper.  But her claim was that she was eating 2,400 calories a day.  That was a little exaggerated downward in my opinion.  I didn’t want to cut her calories too much, so I just had her go to 2,100 calories, and started her doing light treadmill work and light dumbbell work.

One problem with someone at that weight is that they’re too weak to move their body weight.  So a lot of great exercises that we would normally prescribe that require you have to move your body weight were not possible at this time.

So I started her on a plan where she was doing MACHINE WORK where she could move light plate weight, and also some light dumbbell exercises.  It was a plan that I normally would not prescribe, but it was what she needed.

So she was doing exercises like presses and leg extensions and all kind of upper body machine work until she had a little base of strength so she could start doing some more effective exercises where she could start moving her body weight around.

Now, here’s the amazing part.  Just from making the changes from junk food to health food and just moving around the gym, nothing too intense at this point, she started losing weight at a clip of about five pounds a week. The first week she even lost more.  I noticed that for the first 30 pounds it really melted off without us doing anything other than giving her a better lifestyle.  From that point we had to make some transition.  I started changing her routine. She was able to start doing exercises like a step-up.  She was able to start moving her body weight around, which helped a lot.

Her cardio work went from ten minutes to twenty.  She was no longer panting from taking a leisurely stroll in the park.  We were able to start increasing the intensity there.  At that point she was totally HOOKED and she FELT GREAT.  All of the negative thoughts about the gym were completely erased.  Everyone was supporting her.  She would come in and she would have dozens of friends that were all really pulling for her, so the gym became like a second home for her which was great.  She felt good being there, she even spent extra time there.  She would come on off days to do a little extra cardio.

So at that point we made a little bit more transition.  I didn’t drop the calories too much, but I just manipulated her carbohydrate intake a little bit where I just cut the carbs out of her last meal of the day, which accounted for 120 calorie reduction.  I just made little adjustments like that.

Obviously if you’re that overweight, you probably have an insulin metabolism issue and your insulin sensitivity gets a little bit worse at night, so we cut carbs out of that meal and at this point she was losing about three pounds a week.  It was just flying off her body; it was great.  Believe it or not, she was able to build muscle during this phase, even though her training was low intensity.  She really stuck with the plan, which of course made all the difference.

She was down 92 pounds when I got an upsetting phone call.  Her husband got transferred out to the Orient and she had to leave.  She does stay in touch with me and says it’s a little bit harder to eat well out there and she is still doing her plan and she has continued to lose weight and she has done really great.

All of her fears that she had at the gym, they were overcome.  Her insecurities have vanished.  Her dieting structure is completely changed now.  Now it’s like habit forming to eat well.  She’s at the point now where she can even have that once a week cheat meal.

She feels so much better about herself, and this is probably the greatest satisfaction that I got out of helping her.  She used to be a stress eater, so she would eat when she felt depressed, when she felt the low self-esteem issues kicking up.  It was kind of like a form of self punishment, but now that she was getting in shape she felt so much better about herself.  She would say, “I don’t know why I use to do that”.  Training became THERAPEUTIC for her.

She was a real inspiring story because of where she came from and where she was going.

Craig Ballantyne:  That’s an incredible story.

Two things I would like to talk about there and one of them is very complex.  To lose that weight that quickly, I would think there are some complex hormonal changes going on in the body.  Is there a way you can simplify an explanation for us about what you think was going on there and then why?

I believe beginners can really lose way more than a pound per week when they make that transition from junk food to good food and from no exercise to good exercise.  I mean, that is where, without a doubt, people can gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously and do so with incredible success.  So what’s going on?

John Alvino: That’s a very good point and what you said is very true.

Let’s just digress for a second, and point out that advanced trainees have already built up their metabolism.  So to make any strides, we have to employ pretty advanced techniques because your body likes to maintain a state of status quo.

Beginners don’t have a lot of muscle initially.  They typically have sluggish metabolisms. I suspect a lot of times in overweight people there is usually an intake of an abundance of calories in addition to being predisposed to gaining fat.

There are, as you mentioned, hormonal issues as well.  The one that is probably most predominate is INSULIN METABOLISM issues.  Let me briefly explain what insulin is and how it can negatively effect your body composition and health.  Insulin is a storage hormone made in the pancreas.  It is an important hormone and is vital to good health.  The PROBLEM is when insulin levels get high and stay high.  Insulin is released into the blood based on your blood sugar levels.  It then takes the blood sugar and shuttles it into your cells.  Blood sugar can be shuttled into muscle cells, which is certainly desirable.  But there is a potential problem here.

If your body makes too much insulin, the receptors on your muscles become resistant to insulin.  Once this happens, the body starts to release more and more insulin in an attempt to open up those receptors.  Think of the receptors as doors and insulin as a key to open them.  Now you have high blood sugar and high insulin levels at the same time.  Your body wants to maintain stable levels of blood sugar.  So if the receptors on the muscles are resistant, the blood sugar will get shuttled into the fat cell instead of the muscle cell.  This is when you start gaining a lot of unwanted body fat. Luckily there are ways to combat this.

Here are three easy rules to remember:

1. Cut down on saturated fat intake.
2. When you do eat saturated fats, don’t eat them with a lot of carbohydrates.  Cut down on sugar intake.
3. Eat plenty of fiber.

So hormonally speaking, a bad diet is going to set up the receptors to become resistant to insulin.

When we go on a good diet, however, we tend to have somewhat stable blood sugar, which is a direct result of a diet.  Let’s say that you’re eating healthy carbohydrates with vegetables and with a protein source.  And let’s say that your meals are balanced, your blood sugar is not going to get so high, and that your insulin is not going to have to panic and get too high either.  Whatever blood sugar you have is going to get shuttled into your muscle, rather than your fat cells.

So hormones do play a significant role in fat loss, and they can be CONTROLLED to a large degree through diet.

Last week on the TT Facebook page a friend cried out for help to overcome her sugar binges…so I came up with 5 tips, but more importantly, we had over 33 amazing TT readers give their secrets on saying “Goodbye to Sugar Cravings”.

I know that you’ll get a lot of fat burning ideas from these secrets…

First, let’s start with my simple suggestions:

1) Choose fruit in place of sweets and processed foods.

2) Keep the sweets out of the house.

This is really the #1 diet secret – if its not in your house, you simply can’t eat it. Do your best to keep the junk out. Also, do NOT live in a Gingerbread house.

3) Put in routines…

…to replace sweets binging (i.e. go for a walk instead, chew sugar-free gum, brush your teeth, etc.).

4) Change your mindset…

…so that you are no longer… “the kind the person that binges on sweets”. Read the book, “Psycho-Cybernetics” for more details on making a permanent change in your mindset and behaviors.

5) Get out of “fat gaining” situations as quickly as possible.

Don’t put yourself in situations where temptation will be too great for your willpower. Cut your losses. Don’t feel bad about trashing junk food (it is “junk” after all).

If you really, truly want to lose fat, you won’t let others make you feel guilty for your decisions. Surround yourself with positive people. Get rid of the toxic ones in your life.

Whew, that last one was pretty heavy…so let’s see what the TT readers suggested as well…

Noel J. said to just take it, “One day/ one meal at a time”.

(I think that’s a great idea, and don’t get too worried if you make a mistake…don’t beat yourself up and just get right back on track.)

Jonny S. said, “Also make the effort to find healthy dessert recipes..protein pancakes, flapjacks etc.. Just takes a little effort and preparation!!”

Christine H. said, “No diet drinks: they trigger sugar cravings.”

Linda U. made a suggestion I’d never heard before, “L-Glutamine is wonderful for cravings – open up a 500 mg cap – hold under tongue. – From Julia Ross – The Diet Cure.”

Rannoch D. said, “The quickest route to losing carb craving for me was to introduce a weekly 24 hour fast. Cravings…GONE!”

Check out www.EatStopEat.com for more info on fasting. It’s a Turbulence Training-approved partner-program for fat loss.

Matt L. said, “one thing that works well for people I work with is to add prunes (or dried plums as they call them in the market) to their diet. They have that sweet taste but are low GI and high fiber.”

Stephen T. said, “5 days straight on a low GI eating plan. Sugar just doesn’t feel right after that.”

Another great Turbulence Training-approved partner nutrition program is from Isabel De Los Rios – The Diet Solution Program. Isabel shows you how to eat whole, natural food for fat loss.

Natasha P. said, “learn moderation in your sweet choices. If you are going to have something make a conscious decision and pick carefully and take the time to appreciate it fully.”

Tony K. said, “I have a book on macrobiotics and it says that the more animal meat you eat, the more you crave sweets. I thought that was bull when I read it, but I went without animal protein for a couple of days and it was true (for me, anyway). I guess they could give it a shot.”

Rachiel C. said, “Deal with the emotional issues that are causing you to crave sugar. Almost everything we do has an emotional cause or root.”

Ryan McK. said, “One trick that works is brush your teeth or chew gum after you eat, there have been studies that say the reason we want dessert after we eat is to get rid of the flavor in our mouths. And the harder choice is just avoiding situations and habits that trigger bad eating.”

(I think that is great advice from Ryan – I know it works for me.)

Luis B. said, “Mindset is everything and simple strategies work. My wife’s grandma used to have a sticker in the fridge that said:”nothing tastes as good as thin feels”.

Theresa L. said, “I read the packages and try to make myself aware of the sugars in what I eat. I bought a food scale and have begun writing EVERYTHING down that I put in my mouth. I have also enlisted a workout friend who is doing the same thing and we are accountable to one another now!! I try to not let myself get ravenous. I keep almonds in my purse for a snack if needed. I also use stevia in the raw for my coffee or tea. I think avoiding sugar begets the constant craving for it!”

Tabitha B. said, “The good news for your friend is that after he/she kicks the sugar habit the cravings will be greatly reduced. Trust me, I know about this! I do not crave sugar the way I used to.”

(Look at how awesome Tabitha looks! =>)

Annamaria R. said, “When you feel you cannot hold it back any more tell yourself that you will eat it, only with some delay, a bit later, the a bit later, then tomorrow. Try to keep putting off eating sweets for longer and longer periods. They are not enemy, only you don’t need them ”

Sheila D. said, “Try adding or sprinkling cinnamon on to your food. It gradually releases glucose to the bloodstream.”

Mehul P. said, “Meditation has helped me start to undo some of the patterns I have embedded into my mind and body over the span of my life. It’s taught me that it’s OK to enjoy the cookie, but not to crave it. It’s the craving that leads to imbalance.”

Rae McG. said, “It’s kind of like making any kind of change…when you’re reaching for that chocolate in the candy bowl, you have to tell yourself, “If I don’t change this habit right here, right now, then I’m never going to change.” All of the above suggestions are great, but ultimately you have to look within yourself as to “why” you’re doing it, and it’s time to make a change by not doing it anymore. Ask yourself (Do I REALLY need this? What will this do for me? What will I gain from this?)”

(Great advice Rae, that’s how you make LIFE-long changes. Same with Holly’s tip here…)

Holly B. said, “I encourage gum chewing, brushing teeth and encourage moderation instead of deprivation – one cheat day per week. This keeps my clients from the small “cheats” that would ordinarily happen throughout their program. It’s all done in one day and then they can get back to business without feeling like they’ve totally blew their program. It really works!”

Carolyn J. said, “Eating a nice, juicy apple (usually!) works for me. Also sugar-free gum, or just letting myself get distracted – and away from the temptation. Brushing my teeth at night after my last meal really does the trick to stop wanting to nosh!”

Ryan N. said, “Green tea with stevia or a small touch of agave nectar (low glycemic index sweetener). I’ve been drinking a ton of green tea (get decaf for for subsequent cups) to curb carb cravings.”

Tara S. said, “When I gave up dairy and gluten my desire for sweets declined dramatically. Additionally the amount of it I could eat declined.”

Debbie R. said, “Take vitamin B, vitamin C, chromium and zinc. You can also take amino L-glutamine to help curb sugar cravings too! You also have to learn how to trick your taste buds. If you increase the amount of oil in your diet just slightly and also decrease white carbs ( flour,potatoes) you will lose your cravings for sweets within 10 to 12 days. Vinegar will also decrease your sweet tooth as well. Sprinkle a bit of apple cider vinegar on your salads, and you will tend to eat less sugar. One of the best appetite suppressants is mint which is why chewing gum or brushing your teeth works so well!”

Dori W. said, “I have a horrible sweet tooth and this works for me when I am jonesing for sugar. Sounds strange but I pop a menthol cough drop. Something about the menthol cuts my cravings long enough to get myself out of the state of mind that tells me I should jump in a vat of chocolate.”

And finally, Andrea W. - our friend who asked for help in the first place – said, “Everyone, thank you all for the comments and thank you Craig for getting this going for me! I will definitely take and think on at least some of these! I think also not drinking a lot of water some days really contributes!”

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Craig again…

I hope that gives you a lot of tips on cutting out excess sugar from your diet over the holidays, so that you continue to burn fat and get lean.

I also want you to “Be loud and proud of the healthy changes you are making in your life”.

There are many more folks secretly wishing someone will take charge and be a healthy role model for them. It might not happen overnight, but if you continue to lead by healthy example – without preaching or being condescending – you can build an entourage of social support and people who want to be healthy like you.

Stay strong,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training for Fat Loss

PS – The top 3 fat loss, sugar-busting nutrition programs that…

…I have partnered with and recommend are:

1) Brad Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat program

2) Kardena Pauza’s Easy Veggie Meal Plans

3) Isabel De Los Rios’ Diet Solution Program

I promise each of these will help you – you just need to find the one that best suits your personality and lifestyle.

If you have any questions for these experts, please let me know and I’ll ask them! Thank you!