Getting lean and staying lean is probably more difficult than convincing Jerry Falwell to watch “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”. Shrinking your fat cells is a tough proposition; and certainly, the platitude that exercise and eating are the two keys to losing fat still holds true. This article will focus on the eating component of your fitness program.

Before you heed my advice, it’s important you at least exercise three to four times per week, combining heavy resistance training with some intense cardio work. If you have been getting little to no exercise in, you should work on that before you tackle the more difficult task of eating well.

The Secret to Clean Eating

You’re thinking, here we go again. Another diet, another way to lose weight only to regain it. Even the rich and famous can’t seem to lose weight and keep it off. What is it about eating well that’s so difficult even for those who can afford personal chefs and trainers?

Most diets involve deprivation and suffering. You can’t eat this; you can only eat this. If you eat this, you’re bad, bad, bad. It’s just not fun. And besides, you know damn well you can’t eat unlimited fat and protein with little to no carbs and keep that up for the rest of your life—even if it does help you lose fat. But the beauty of this plan is the diet itself lasts only three days!

Thus, the notion of eating clean three days in a row and then having a cheat day on the fourth day is really the more amenable proposition. Or put this way: one week out of every month, you get to eat like a Viking who just pillaged his favorite village.

Think of it like this: Can you be disciplined 75 percent of the time? Seems easy enough, right? Well, that’s all this “diet” really is. You eat clean most of the time. And then on your cheat days, you can eat like an overweight, chip-eatin’, and remote-controllin’ Monday Night Football fanatic.

How do you get started on this plan? It’s simple. Below is a list of foods to choose from. Eat these foods most of the time. Contrary to popular opinion, the leanest people actually tend to eat the same foods day in and day out. You’ll notice that in general, we’ve limited the amount of unprocessed/high-glycemic carbohydrates and saturated fats. But remember, you can pig out on these on your cheat day. To make it easy, here are a few simple rules for following this plan:

Top 10 Tips:

1. Take a multivitamin daily and 1,200 milligrams of calcium daily (if you don’t consume dairy products, then take a pill).

2. Drink fluids throughout the day; if your body is well hydrated, you’ll burn fat easier.

3. Try to consume a protein-containing food at each meal; it’ll help you control your appetite and provide the amino acids needed for muscle recovery. At least 1 gram of protein daily per pound of body weight is needed.

4. Eat five to six small meals daily—roughly a meal every three hours. Remember, even snacks are considered meals.

5. If you don’t have time to cook a real meal, consume a nutrition bar or shake.

6. If it’s in a box, don’t eat it or if it doesn’t occur naturally, don’t eat it. (Unless, of course, it’s your cheat day).

7. Eat fish once a week. Your heart will love you for it.

8. Eat breakfast!

9. Control your environment. For instance, if you don’t buy Oreo cookies then you won’t be tempted to raid your pantry looking for them.

10. Eat copious amounts of fruits and veggies.

Choose these foods three out of every four days!

Protein Carbohydrate Fat

Fish (salmon, tuna, etc. Sashimi or raw fish is great!)

Eggs (mostly egg whites; but 3-4 whole eggs/week is fine)

Skinless chicken breast

Tuna

Milk protein (Whey protein, casein protein; seen mainly in protein powders and ready-to-drink protein shakes)

Skim milk

Lean cuts of beef Vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, etc.)

Dry beans

Whole oatmeal

Brown rice

Yams, sweet potatoes

High fiber/Low-GI fruits (cherries, peaches, pears, apples, etc.)

Whole-grain breads Fat from cold water fish

Olives and olive oil

Peanuts, peanut butter, peanut oil

Nuts in general

Flax oil

DHA/EPA supplements

CLA

Why does this diet work?

For one thing, adherence is better because you’re allowed to cheat 25 percent of the time. And secondly, you can modify the diet to fit your needs. There’s an old saying, and it goes something like this: If you don’t change what you do, then don’t expect your body to change. For instance, if you’re still not seeing striations on your rectus abdominus muscle, then you need to modify your diet.

Let’s say you’ve been doing the 3-day on, 1-day off diet cycle. Your fitness is better but you’re still not happy with how you look even though you’ve lost 2 inches around your waist. This might call for more stringent measures; perhaps you should graduate to a 4-day on, 1-day off diet or a 6-day on, 1-day off diet. It should be as clear as spring water that the results you achieve are directly proportional to the discipline you self-impose.

In addition to the psychological aspects of this diet (i.e. the discipline involved), there’s a science to the food choices presented in the table above.

Protein intake boosts metabolism

When you consume food, any food, your body has to expend energy digesting and absorbing the food. Meaning, your body’s metabolic rate increases after you eat. This is called the thermic effect of food. So eating 1,000 calories of Jell-o or butter is not treated (energetically) the same as eating 1,000 calories of whey protein.

For instance, scientists from Arizona State found that metabolic rate was 2 ½ times higher on a high-protein diet than on a high-carbohydrate diet. That could have significant effects over the long haul.

In another study, scientists found that the high-protein meal produced a 183 percent greater thermic effect than a high-carbohydrate meal and 169 percent greater thermic effect than the high-fat meal. There was no difference in thermic effect of carbohydrates versus fat. In terms of calories, the high-protein meal had a thermic effect 40 calories greater than fat or carbohydrate. Over a one-year period, this could translate into a 4.2 pounds of fat loss!

Remember, a very small daily change can mean a profound change over months and years.

Choose healthy fats

Contrary to popular opinion, you need dietary fat and the right ones are good for you. The monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated (PUFA) fats are much better for you than trans and saturated fats. If a food label says “partially hydrogenated” on it, then you have trans fats. And an easy way to distinguish saturated fats is that they are solid at room temperature (e.g., butter has a lot of saturated fat).

Perhaps the best fat is from fish (EPA and DHA or their long names are eicosapentanoic acid and docosahexanoic acid). Fish consumption decreases cardiovascular disease risk as well as improve insulin sensitivity.

Stay low in carbs

Low as in low-glycemic carbohydrates. As a general rule, you should consume foods that are unprocessed because these also tend to be low glycemic. Stay away from the white bread. Eat whole-grain unprocessed bread. Brown rice is better than white rice. If it’s in a package (i.e. cookies, candies, cakes, muffins, etc), consume these on your cheat days only. Remember, eat small frequent meals. If your caloric needs are 2,000 calories per day, divide that into at least five meals of 400 calories each.

The cheat day or cheat meal

This will be your favorite day. Greasy French fries, tortilla chips drenched in cheese, popcorn swimming in butter, pizza—you name it, go ahead and eat it. And don’t feel guilty either. Remember, this is part of your “diet” too.

If you’re a perfectionist, you might find it hard to have a cheat meal. But it really does help you, especially your psyche. Alternatively, you can do a 4-day on, 1-day off diet (where you cheat on the fifth day). Or if you really want to be disciplined, do a 6-day on, 1-day off diet (where you cheat on the seventh day only).

Two safe supplements to think about…

Caffeine, the wonderful stimulant found in coffee, tea and sodas is one of the most widely researched ergogenic aids. Caffeine works through its ability to stimulate the central nervous system (the brain) and perhaps more importantly, it helps mobilize fat so that you burn more fat during exercise.

Interestingly, a tried-and-true method of losing body fat involves drinking black coffee (no sugar) or taking a caffeine tablet in the morning (100-300mg caffeine) and then doing aerobic exercise. If you’re sensitive to caffeine, stick to low doses or just one cup of black coffee.

Did you know that calcium may be a “fat loss” mineral? Research has shown that high-calcium diets increase fat breakdown. Conversely, low-calcium diets hurt your ability to lose fat. Dairy products like skim milk will work best, but calcium supplements are also effective. In addition to the obvious choices like dairy products or taking supplemental calcium pills, vegetables such as broccoli (1 cup = 70 mg) and spinach (1 cup = 245 mg) are excellent sources. The bottom line is that you need calcium for proper fat metabolism.

Summary

A diet doesn’t have to involve endless suffering and hunger pangs. Eliminate your cravings by having a built-in cheat day. Let’s face it, if you can’t eat clean most of the time, then you better prepare yourself for a life of adipose hypertrophy and premature laziness. As with anything worth pursuing, some work and discipline is involved.

Laziness is sort of the default human condition. But this condition results in a populace that is overweight and filled with myriad diseases. Getting in shape and staying in shape is clearly a marathon—not a sprint.

Here’s a sample “3-day-on” meal plan (you know what to do on the fourth day!)

Day One

Meal 1

Power oatmeal: Mix ½ cup old-fashioned oatmeal, 1 cup skim milk and ½ tablespoon all-natural peanut butter. Microwave for 2 ½ minutes. Mix in one scoop vanilla protein powder, season with cinnamon to taste and enjoy!

Meal 2

Nutrition bar

Meal 3

Tuna, egg and watercress sandwich

Meal 4

Nutrition shake with frozen fruit mixed in

Meal 5

One grilled chicken breast seasoned with seasoning salt. Serve with one small baked sweet potato and ½ cup steamed broccoli

Meal 6

1 glass soy milk with 1 scoop chocolate protein powder

Day two

Meal 1

Nutrition shake blended with a couple sliced, frozen peaches and a few frozen strawberries

Meal 2

½ a whole-wheat bagel spread with ½ tablespoon all-natural peanut butter & 1 apple

Meal 3

Turkey burrito: Take one serving cooked, ground turkey, mix with ½ tablespoon salsa. Place in whole-wheat burrito and top with 1 tablespoon low-fat cottage cheese, a sprinkle of fat-free shredded cheese, more salsa, diced tomatoes and lettuce

Meal 4

Nutrition shake

Meal 5

Grill one salmon filet; season with lemon slices and lemon pepper. Serve with half a sweet potato and steamed broccoli.

Meal 6

One cup low-fat cottage cheese sprinkled with blueberries and a dash of cinnamon

Day three

Meal 1

Scramble three egg whites, one whole egg and sliced veggies such as tomato, green pepper, red pepper, chives or mushrooms. Top with salsa and avocado.

Meal 2

Nutrition bar

Peach

Meal 3

Grilled chicken salad: Slice one grilled chicken breast, place on top of a bed of spinach leaves, top with diced tomatoes, red peppers and any other vegetable of your choice. Drizzle with a little olive oil vinaigrette.

Meal 4

1 cup low-fat cottage cheese

Apple, sliced and sprinkled with cinnamon

Meal 5

Oriental tuna cakes

Meal 6

One chocolate nutrition shake blended with ½ tablespoon all-natural peanut butter

References:

Crovetti R et al. “The influence of thermic effect of food on satiety.” Eur J Clin Nutr 1998 52:482-8.

Johnston CS et al. “Postprandial thermogenesis is increased 100 percent on a high-protein, low-fat diet versus a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet in healthy young women.” J Am Coll Nutr 2002 21:55-61.

Lemaitre RN et al. “n-3 Polyunsaturated fatty acids, fatal ischemic heart disease, and nonfatal myocardial infarction in older adults: the Cardiovascular Health Study.” Am J Clin Nutr 2003 77:279-80.

Robinson SM et al. “Protein turnover and thermogenesis in response to high-protein and high-carbohydrate feeding in men.” Am J Clin Nutr 1990 52:72-80.

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