Easing Into a Diet Program, By: Hugo Rivera

This week I want to address those of you that need help easing into a diet program. First I would like to start by clarifying what the word diet means. Even if you don’t think you that you are on a diet, guess what?!; you are. Whether you eat candy all day everyday or oatmeal that is your diet. Usually people associate diet with days of starvation and pain. However that is not the correct definition of a diet. The word diet refers to the food choices that we make on a daily basis. In this article we are going to teach you a program that you will be able to use for the rest of your life to stay in top shape. No starvation here folks. And I don’t expect you to change your eating habits from one night to the next either. As a matter of fact, this is the reason why I feel that 99% of dieters out there fail. My goal is to have you succeed just as I did when I had weight problems and therefore, we don’t want you to become another statistic. While it is possible for some people to be able to make drastic changes in a small amount of time, I realize that most people do better by doing small incremental changes that eventually take them to the desired goals. That is the way that I am going to teach you to change your "diet"; small incremental steps that will lead us to a perfect one.

Baby steps, giant results

We will make incremental changes to your diet every two weeks. Remember that this is how long it takes to create a new habit as well as this is how long it takes the body to get used to something. Every 14 days we are going to set a new goal. Each goal will build upon the success of the previous one. It is imperative that you use your determination in order to ensure the success of the program. By achieving each goal every two weeks you will end up with the diet that will yield the consistent fat loss/muscle toning results that you are looking for.

(Weeks 1-2) Cut the fat.

For the first two weeks we just want you to start looking at the labels of the things that you eat and try to start cutting out as many fats as possible. This is the way that you go about doing this:

a) If you fry things, we want you to start steaming and broiling.

b) If you use salad dressing with a high fat content. start substituting them for low fat or non-fat choices.

c) Substitute high fat meats for lower fat choices. For instance if you consume corned beef, substitute it for skinless chicken or turkey. If you consume chicken with the skin, start taking its skin off. Also, buy lean red meats as opposed to the high fat kind.

As far as taste, your taste buds will get used to your new low fat eating habits in the two-week period.

(Weeks 3-4) Eliminate refined sugars.

These weeks we want you to go ahead and eliminate the refined sugars from your diet. Where are the refined sugars?; you may ask. They are everywhere. Therefore, in order to accomplish this goal we need to do the following:

a) Eliminate regular sodas as they contain a large amount of sugar in them. Instead, drink diet sodas (However, be warned with the fact that they contain Aspartame and some research indicates that high consumption of Aspartame may cause cancer in the long run).

b) Eliminate the use of table sugars.

c) Eliminate the consumption of any type of sweets.

(Weeks 5-6) Make water the main beverage in your diet.

For these weeks, we just want you to start drinking much more water than you have previously consumed before. We have already explained the reasons for consuming water in the nutrition section of my site so we will not go into the reasons why. Therefore, in order to accomplish this goal we need to do the following:

a) Substitute all types of drinks (including diet sodas and fruit juices, even if they claim to be natural) for water. Therefore, every time you get thirsty, drink water.

b) Drink at least an 8-ounce glass with every meal.

c) Drink 16 ounces of water during the workout.

(Weeks 7-8) Caloric intake control and multiple feedings.

The following weeks will be the most challenging, but if the determination is there and you have gotten this far, then you will be able to do it. It is now when you will start to see the most unbelievable results. In order to accomplish these goals, we need to do the following:

a) Determine your lean body mass by either using a caliper or using the formulas in the following link: http://www.davedraper.com/bodyfat-calculation.html.

b) Lean Body Mass x 12=Base Caloric Intake

c) Divide the amount of calories that you need by five (if you are a male) or by four (if you are a female). This will give you how many calories you can consume per meal.

d) Start writing down everything that you eat and the caloric content of each food item in order to ensure that you don’t go over the allotted caloric intake that you need to consume per meal.

(Weeks 9-10) Macronutrient Management.

These weeks we will get closer than we have ever gotten before to the ideal diet. The good news is that after these two weeks, dieting will not get more complicated and you will also continue to see unbelievable results.

In order to accomplish these goals, we need to do the following:

a) Determine the grams of Carbs that you need in one meal:

Since we want 45% of the calories from Carbs, then we need to multiply the base caloric intake by .45 and divide the results by 4 (Since there are 4 calories per each gram of carbs). Then divide by either 5 or 4 meals to get the amount per meals.

Grams of carbs=(Base caloric intake x .45)/4

Then Grams of carbs/5=grams of carbs per meal for guys

Grams of carbs/4=grams of carbs per meal for girls

b) Determine the grams of Protein that you need in one meal:

Since we want 35% of the calories from Protein, then we need to multiply the base caloric intake by .35 and divide the results by 4 (Since there are 4 calories per each gram of protein). Then divide by either 5 or 4 meals to get the amount per meals.

Grams of protein=(Base caloric intake x .45)/4

Then Grams of Protein/5=grams of protein per meal for guys

Grams of Protein/4=grams of protein per meal for girls

c) Determine the maximum grams of Fat that you can have in one meal:

Since we want to have 20% or less of the calories coming from Fats, then we need to multiply the base caloric intake by .20 and divide the results by 9 (Since there are 9 calories per each gram of fat). Then divide by either 5 or 4 meals to get the amount per meals.

Grams of fat=(Base caloric intake x .45)/4

Then Grams of Fat/5=grams of Fat per meal for guys

Grams of Fat/4=grams of Fat per meal for girls

d) Start writing down everything that you eat, the caloric content of each food item, and the macronutrient values in order to ensure that you don’t go over the allotted caloric intake and macronutrient intake that you need to consume per meal.

e) If you have trouble choosing what to eat, refer to the nutrition section of my web site.

After week 10 you now have a perfect diet that will take you to the goals that you want. Next week, I will talk about a strategy that you can use to double the efficiency of your diet (which as a result would double your benefits from it). I will also talk about troubleshooting the base caloric intake.