Happy Friday and welcome back to The Diet Oracle! In our second installment of A Plan for Success, we’re looking at the all-too-common case of Chuck–a hardworking family man who’s decided it’s time to lose the gut and get back in shape.

As you may recall, Chuck would like to lose 30 pounds. Though he didn’t have a particular timeframe in mind, this will be important to nail down before we really dig into the details of meal planning. Let’s say he agrees that 2 pounds per week would be doable, giving us a rough timeframe of 15 weeks, or about 4 months.

Crunching the Numbers

So let’s do a little math, shall we? If Chuck want to lose the gut, he’s going to have to create a calorie deficit and lose some weight. Given that 2 pounds of body weight contain about 7000 calories of energy, Chuck would need to create a calorie deficit of about 1000 calories per day in order to reach his goal (7000 calories/7 days in a week). He can do this by reducing his current food intake and boosting his daily activity.

Now, looking at his typical eating habits, I cannot even begin to estimate his usual intake–it’s all over the board! Some days he misses multiple meals, other days he’s eating out at restaurants. And how about those weekends? There’s a good chance he’s putting down over 3000 calories in snacks alone! For Chuck, there’s no such thing as a ‘usual’ intake, that’s for sure.

Chuck’s Battle Plan

Chuck is determined to lose the gut and get back in shape! To help him reach his goals, Chuck needs a series of realistic action steps that will improve the way he eats all while cutting down his calories. Let’s look at the strategies that will do just that!

Regular meals are a MUST!

• Start each day with breakfast, even if it is very small at first. Ideally, Chuck should include a mix of food groups that would provide a nice balance of carbohydrate, protein, and fat. This could be as simple as a slice of whole grain toast with peanut butter and serving of cottage cheese with fruit.
• Lunch needs to happen everyday, it doesn’t matter how busy he is. To ensure there’s always something on hand, Chuck should make 3 lunches on Sunday night to bring to work each week. If there’s an office fridge, he could bring healthy leftovers, sandwiches, or even balanced frozen meals. Otherwise, keeping a supply of hearty canned soups, nutritious protein bars, trail mix, or other nonperishable items in his desk drawer would guarantee he always has something to eat.
• If business lunches are part of the job, Chuck must learn how to make better choices when eating out. If Chuck is used to eating a giant plate of pasta alfredo with steak, switching to a half-plate of pasta marinara topped with grilled chicken and a side salad would easily save him 800 calories. Or, if he’s a burger man (and I suspect he is), simply downsizing that double deluxe with bacon to a classic cheeseburger and leaving behind half the fries would skinny his lunch by 900 calories. As you can see, it doesn’t have to be all salads all the time!

Reining in those portion sizes

It’s time to get those serving sizes under control at dinner time. Thankfully, if Chuck can successfully get going on 2-3 of the above strategies, he won’t be so ravenously hungry come 6pm. This aside, here are a few more tricks to help him curtail those portions.

• About 30 minutes before dinner, have an apple, handful of raw veggies, or cup of vegetable soup. By filling up on nutritious, lower-calorie options, he’ll eat less overall at the table.
• Switch to a smaller dinner plate. Smaller plate=smaller portions!
• Steaks should not be the size of your foot! Ideally, a portion should be about the size your palm. If this seems too skimpy, at least start by whittling it down to the size of your hand.
• Have an extra scoop of veggies…and one LESS scoop of the starchy side. Once again, look for ways to fill up on lower calorie options!
• Be careful with high-fat condiments and toppings like butter, salad dressings, mayo, dipping oils, and the like. Just 1 tablespoon of one of these can add 75 to 110 calories, so be careful and use sparingly!
• Sweet tooth after dinner? Instead of filling up a bowl with several scoops of ice cream, buy a box of ice cream bars, fudgsicles, or ice cream sandwiches. Not only will one of these satisfy that craving, but they’re already portion-controlled for you! This one simple swap can easily save Chuck 700 calories.

And now…THE WEEKEND

Looking back at Chuck’s diet history, it’s obvious that the weekend needs a lot of work. Though snacks can be a fun part of family get-togethers and watching the big game, overdoing it can truly undo all the good choices that were made throughout the week, at least as far as caloric intake goes. To keep it simple, here is where I would start.

• Put together a fruit and veggie tray with low-fat dip for a healthy snack that’s sweet and savory with great crunch!
• Be sure to include some lean, sliced meats! These are a satisfying fan favorite that will bring some nutritious protein to the snack line.
• Use a dessert plate to limit portions at the buffet table and stick to one pass, two at the most.
• Want to lose the gut? Time to cut back on the brewskis! One easy trick is to match every beer with a calorie-free beverage, such as water or fruit-infused seltzer. Shoot for no more than 2 beers per day.

Final Thoughts

Though this may seem like a lot to work on, changing the way you eat doesn’t have to happen overnight. By focusing on maybe 2-3 strategies per week, Chuck will slowly begin to reshape his eating habits and his midsection. Small changes really do deliver big results in time and everyday is a chance to get one step closer to your goal!

Next time, we’ll take all of these guiding principles and create a customized meal plan that’s perfect for Chuck. By taking out all the guesswork, Chuck will know exactly how to put all of these strategies to work in order to lose the gut and get the results he’s looking for.

As always, thanks for reading and I hope some of these strategies will help you as you chase down your goals!

P.S. If you like this series, check out’s Jane’s Plan for Success here, here, and here.

The post Chuck’s Plan to Lose the Gut appeared first on The Diet Oracle.

In Chapter 3 of The Complete Guide To Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting, Dr. Jason Fung deals with what he perceives to be the many myths surrounding fasting. He believes that if a person looks at both the anecdotal and scientific evidence he has to offer, that the case against fasting falls to pieces. Let’s take a look at the six myths he addresses.

“Myth #1: Fasting Puts You in ‘Starvation Mode'”

If you’re unfamiliar with the term ‘starvation mode,’ it’s the idea that if the body is put on a tight caloric restriction for a long enough period of time, it will adapt by suppressing metabolic rate. In other words, if you’re not getting enough to eat for days on end, your body will lower its energy needs to compensate. There may be no other self-preservation mechanism the dieter fears more. Just think, cutting calories and passing on dessert…for nothing.

Naturally, one would assume that if cutting back a bit makes for a sluggish metabolism, fasting must surely cause it to bottom out! Dr. Fung argues to the contrary. Though studies do show that cutting calories can indeed negatively impact metabolism, Fung states that such a reduction in a person’s basal metabolic rate does not occur with fasting. How could this be so? He explains that when a person fasts, stored fat provides for all of a person’s energy needs and the body therefore never perceives the deprivation.

“Myth #2: Fasting Makes You Burn Muscle”

Given that the body in a fasting state needs to get nutrients and energy from somewhere, one might assume that muscle loss would be an obvious consequence of fasting. Dr. Fung says this does not actually happen.

Fung begins by arguing that the body is meant to survive periods of fasting and does not turn to muscle as an energy source until body fat drops below 4%. If the body did not fight to preserve muscle, humans would not survive famines and hard times. He mentions one study that backs up his claim; in a study that observed alternate-day fasting for 70 days, body weight decreased by 6%, but fat mass decreased by 11.4% and lean mass (comprised of muscle and bone) did not change at all. This study was conducted with 16 participants in both controlled and non-controlled settings.

He points out that if you are truly worried about muscle loss, exercise should be your top priority as this is the key to building muscle. He says diet and exercise are two separate issues and shouldn’t be confused. A person shouldn’t be concerned that a lack of food (i.e. fasting) would negatively impact muscle mass. Lack of exercise, he stresses, is the real issue.

“Myth #3: Fasting Causes Low Blood Sugar”

To address this concern, Fung begins and ends by reiterating the body’s own protocols for dealing with low blood sugars (first using up stored sugar and then later making new glucose via gluconeogenesis). He mentions no studies or hard data in this section that would demonstrate that fasting does not cause low blood sugars.

“Myth #4: Fasting Results in Overeating”

Fung’s response to this myth is rather short. He notes that while studies do, in fact, show an increase in caloric intake the day after a fast, he emphasizes that this increase is ultimately a moot point given that a person still consumes fewer calories overall than if they had not fasted. He also mentions that, in his own experience working with patients, appetite tends to decrease the longer a person fasts.

(Strangely enough, as I was looking through his citations for this chapter, I noticed one of the studies he references actually contradicts him on this point. In this particular study, 16 men and women were enlisted in an alternate-day fasting protocol over 22 days and the participants lost an average of 2.5% of their body weight and 4% of their fat mass. In addition to these findings, however, the researchers note that at the onset of fasting and for the duration of the study, appetite was shown to increase and remained elevated for every subsequent day of fasting. Hunger did NOT decrease on fasting days over time.)

“Myth #5: Fasting Deprives the Body of Nutrients”

Fung’s response to this “myth” is two-fold. When it comes to vitamin and mineral deficiencies caused by fasting, he says the simple solution is to take a multi-vitamin. Problem solved.

As for macronutrient deficiencies (carbs, protein, and fat), he says the body doesn’t really require any carbohydrate from the diet to begin with. As for protein and fat needs, the body gets thrifty. To deal with the lack of essential amino and fatty acids during a fast, the body both reduces its losses and recycles what it can. However, because we do ultimately need these nutrients from food, he suggests a low-carb diet to increase the percentage of proteins and fats consumed.

As an aside, Dr. Fung reiterates that due to the increased nutrient needs of children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding women, these individuals should not engage in fasting.

“Myth #6: ‘It’s Just Crazy'”

Dr. Fung says this is the last resort response by those who can’t really think of any good reasons not to fast. Whether you think obesity is the result of consuming too many calories, carbohydrates, or fats, fasting is the effective answer in each of these cases. Furthermore, he argues that not only will fasting combat the obesity epidemic, but it also improves health and can be done by (almost) anyone.

While Dr. Jason Fung presents compelling reasons to try a fasting regimen, how do his claims measure up to reality? What is it like to follow an intermittent fasting plan? To answer these questions, I have selected one of the schedules provided in The Complete Guide to Fasting and will follow the plan for an entire week, giving you day-by-day feedback and sharing with you tips to help you succeed, should you decide fasting is something you’d like to try. It’s going to be an eye-opening experience, so stay tuned!

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