Tag: calories

How to Enjoy Holiday Treats and NOT Feel Guilty, or Gain Weight

Editor's Note:

I know I've neglected to post blogs for the last month, but I've been really busy!

I just finished an awesome 290 page book that includes over 125 superfood, fat burning, delicious recipes with full color mouth-watering luscious photos.

You are going to love this book! So please look for here any day!! I can't wait to let you get your hands on this book.

Meanwhile, here is a way to enjoy all those great yummy holiday treats and not feel guilty about eating them. Happy Holidays! 

Feeling deprived this Christmas, trying to avoid all those sweet, yummy holiday treats?

Or have you said, "the heck with it, I'm going to enjoy the holidays and deal with it later!" Only to find that come the new year, you have about 8-10 unwanted pounds that have crept on your body, while you were busy eating and drinking and enjoying yourself.

Well guess what? There is a way to enjoy some of those special treats of the season, not feel deprived, and still burn fat.

Really?

You can actually incorporate 'cheat days' into your diet plan and not get totally off track.

In fact, cheat days may help you lose weight. Cheat days can actually reset your body's metabolism, and actually kick start your body's fat burning ability. And you get to eat some of those ‘taboo’ foods without totally derailing your healthy diet.

There are actually real physiological and hormonal benefits to cheating.

And of course, you can take a break from the somewhat strict confines of your diet and eat what you may be missing without feeling guilty.

How does this work, you ask?

Well it has a lot to do with a recently discovered hormone called, Leptin.

Leptin, is synthesized mostly in your fat cells, along with some coming from your muscles and brain. The amount of leptin you make is controlled by both the quantity and the size of your fat cells. When you eat, and your brain signals that you are full, your leptin levels rise. That tells your body it is ok to go into full gear and rev up the metabolism.

Everything is fine and dandy, right?

Until you are trying to lose weight and cut back on your eating, especially if you cut out carbs…

When leptin levels start to fall, as they do when you’re on a diet and losing fat, they send a signal to your brain to eat more. And unfortunately leptin levels can fall by about 50-60% in just 6-8 days of dieting.

When those leptin levels are low, your primitive brain thinks there must be a famine, and your metabolism slows down. This is where many dieters stall. Weight loss slows, and appetite and cravings go up.

Soon, you may be devouring everything in sight, especially carbs and sugar and anything else, to satisfy this monster.

So how do you fight this?

Enter ‘Cheat Days’.

The goal here, is to periodically increase your leptin levels and avoid those intense cravings, and the slowed-to-a-crawl metabolism.

What do you eat on cheat days? Well, basically those things you’ve been craving, but have previously been off-limits.

Ok, but that means it’s ok to eat a FEW cookies, not the whole plate of beautifully decorated and iced Santa Claus cookies. Savor that baguette or croissant, but don’t eat a dozen. Allow yourself that doughnut you’ve been longing for, but try to avoid eating 10 of them.

The best foods that work for a cheat day are actually carbs, and some suggest that simple carbs (as in doughnuts, bread, pasta, cookies, etc.) are actually the ones that raise leptin levels the best.

In theory a cheat day will:

Increase your thyroid hormone output. The thyroid is the hormone that governs your metabolism. Which in turn, increases your 24 hr calorie output-by about 10% or more. All of this means, then you start burning fat better again.

The big thing about cheat days is that they are a DAY. Not a week, not a month.

A DAY.

And the best way to get the most out of a cheat day is to eat a very low carbohydrate diet the day following your cheat day. Some recommend fasting, but I think this is a bit extreme.

So here we are at the Holiday season, and wow, yes it seems like there is a party every weekend. So choose your party, line up your cheat day and enjoy those hors d’oveures and those frosted Santa cookies, along with a slice of pecan pie.

And keep burning that fat.
 
Enjoy the holidays and stay healthy and lean!

 

Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled "The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation" that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.   

                        Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.    

          Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.


3 Critical Things You MUST know in Order to Lose Weight and Keep it Off.

If you are working on burning body fat and increasing your energy, there are three key things to keep in mind.flat belly fit girl

These things are so important and so many people are trying like crazy and cannot figure out why dieting does not work. Until you ‘get’ this, weight loss and fat burning will be hit or miss.
Many people have been brainwashed into believe that “calories are calories” all the while trying unsuccessfully to lose weight. Not that simple really….

The first of these principles is to eat food your body recognizes.

By that I mean, eat REAL food. Our bodies have evolved in a relatively short time and the foods we are putting in them are often unrecognizable. Packaged, refined processed foods with chemicals and preservatives in them are foreign substances to the body. Yes, foreign substances.

What happens when you eat something that is processed and unnatural is that the body doesn’t recognize or is confused by something artificial. Unable to metabolize it into usable nutrients, it breaks it down as well as it can, causing a blood sugar response, the resulting insulin surge and viola!

All the calories you have just ingested get stored as fat.

The easy solution? Eat REAL food that your body recognizes. Eat unrefined, natural foods with one ingredient. And for excitement, combine a couple of one ingredient foods for snacks. Like fruit and nuts. Cheese and nuts. Eggs and veggies. Avocado and turkey slices. Get it?

Principle number two: Losing weight is less about calories and is ALL about controlling your blood sugar and insulin response.

Blood sugar spikes cause insulin to be released in the body. Insulin causes the body to immediately start storing everything consumed as fat. That includes anything with any kind of sugar–fructose, glucose, sucrose, etc. That also includes grain products such as corn, wheat, soy, oats and more. And that INCLUDES whole grain products.

Starchy products like potatoes and gluten free foods also stimulate insulin as well.

And, while it sounds healthy, fruit juice is actually just a natural form of sugar water. This is a refined product that basically contains fructose–a sugar–and water. This stuff hits your system fast and your blood sugar spikes quickly. Insulin follows, your body stores calories ingested as fat, blood sugar drops, and you are hungry again. Not good.

Fruit on the other hand, while it too, is full of fructose and too much of a good thing can be fattening, has lots of fiber in it, so the sugar in fruit is absorbed more slowly. Better.

Best–eat fruit with nuts, nut butter, cheese, or other form of protein and/or healthy fat to help it get absorbed more slowly into the body. Result is more stable blood sugar and no fat storing.
So the main trick here is pretty simple: control your blood sugar by avoiding the starchy and the sweet and you stay in the ‘fat burning’ zone.

Principle number three: The nutritional value of your food makes all the difference.

In other words, if you had to choose between something with little nutrition and few calories or a superfood packed with nutrition, antioxidants, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals, but high calorie–which would you choose?

The correct answer and the best fat burning, healthy answer is the higher calorie, nutrient dense food. If it’s real, your body recognizes it and packed with tons of nutrition–go for it. Your body will metabolize this food, use it to build health and energy in your body, and rev up your energy and fat burning as a result.

Controlling your blood sugar has significant health benefits other than JUST fat burning too:

-Controlling blood sugar and insulin response actually is extremely healthy for the heart and blood vessels, dropping your risk of heart attacks and stroke immensely.
-Controlling blood sugar and keeping it at an lower even level will drastically reduce your risk of cancer and will prevent any cancer (whether it has been detected or not) from growing.
-Controlling blood sugar is very effective as an anti-aging tool and will keep you looking younger and prevent wrinkles and sagging skin as well.
-Controlling blood sugar also keeps your energy high with no peaks and valleys. You stay alert and vibrant.
-Controlling blood sugar also keeps triglycerides low and helps prevent deposits in the blood vessels.

I will go into these important principles in depth in upcoming articles, and you can read more about these KEY principles in The Fat Burning Kitchen. Check it out.

And start burning fat to get healthy and lean!