Carb Curfew: Cut the Carbs after 5pm and Lose Fat Fast!

Carb Curfew: Cut the Carbs after 5pm and Lose Fat Fast! Joanna Hall Joanna Hall, the popular diet and fitness presenter for ITV’s This Morning show, reveals her simple 5 step fat loss plan. The golden rule is ‘no carbs after 5pm’ – and with Joanna Hall’s help the rest is easy!Joanna Hall introduces her simple ‘Carb Curfew’ plan- no carbs after 5pm- to help you lose weight.Joanna’s weight-loss plan consists of just 5 simple steps, making this fitness regime easy to remember, understand and follow.Includes 40 new Carb Curfew recipes to make the plan easy to stick to.The book includes tips, case studies and useful snack ideas, making it simple to incorporate this new way of eating into everyday life.This book is ideal for people who find the pure protein diets hard to stick to, offering a useful compromise that is more healthy and easier to fit into your life. CARB CURFEW™ CUT THE CARBS AFTER 5PM AND LOSE FAT FAST! JOANNA HALL Contents Cover (#uf68a0ad0-b6d0-5f01-9189-2265178fad87) Title Page (#u609dd758-99b5-51d4-8ced-50e7cda8e463) Chapter 1: Lose Weight – And Still Have a Life! (#ulink_84958459-72fb-5d1a-b56f-68d9cce0791f) Chapter 2: Making Your Diet Work For You (#ulink_50b380c2-42c6-5416-a699-e9bd7162f7e5) Chapter 3: The Carb Curfew (#ulink_379a9e07-bf24-5b0a-8812-7132aace4864) Chapter 4: Why More Water Means Less Fat (#litres_trial_promo) Chapter 5: Fats – The Good and the Bad (#litres_trial_promo) Chapter 6: Be Consistent – You Only Have to Be Good 80 Per Cent of the Time (#litres_trial_promo) Chapter 7: Some Suggestions For Eating Out (#litres_trial_promo) Chapter 8: Carb Curfew Recipes (#litres_trial_promo) Chapter 9: 14-Day Carb Control Diet (#litres_trial_promo) Index (#litres_trial_promo) About the Author (#litres_trial_promo) Copyright (#litres_trial_promo) About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo) chapter one Lose Weight – And Still Have a Life! (#ulink_91d6e5b8-12e3-50af-8d71-dd9007b92b2c) Most people know to lose weight we have to eat less, but somehow something always seems to get in the way – LIFE! Ask yourself the following questions: Do you experience frustration at seeing your weight go up and down on the scales? Are you a seasoned dieter who tries every diet available and yet you still don’t seem able to shift those extra pounds? Do your diet attempts leave you a diet hermit rather than living life to the full? Do you want a diet and fitness plan that fits in with your lifestyle – while still achieving your weight and fat-loss goals? If you have answered yes to any of the above questions then Carb Curfew is for you. The Carb Curfew diet plan shows you the strategies you need to take to lose weight and body fat – and keep it off for good. Losing weight and body fat is a subject that provokes an array of discussions and fad slimming products and diets. Unfortunately, while some people may claim spectacular results with tablets, potions and ‘miracle’ foods, the real truth is that long-term weight management requires a little effort and know-how to be able to make it work for you not just for today, but for the future too. The key to successful weight and body fat loss is simple – it is about good nutrition and how you move your body. The challenge comes when we try to fit a healthy diet into our busy lives – maybe you’re running around after your kids all day, or working long hours, or simply leading a jam-packed social life and it feels as though you don’t even have time to think about eating well – let alone do it! This is where Carb Curfew steps in. Carb Curfew is adaptable enough to fit in with your life – just the way it is. It allows you to set your own realistic goals, so you don’t have to make any radical changes to your lifestyle while you achieve your weight and fat-loss goals. How Does Carb Curfew Work? Carb Curfew contains a number of strategies to help you achieve your weight and body fat goals. These nutritional strategies have been tried and tested by my weight-management clients over the last ten years – they have worked for them and they will work for you. The strategies are: Use the Carb Curfew By not eating certain carbohydrates after five p.m. you will lose weight and boost your energy levels. It is a strategy that allows you to cut your overall calorie intake and get the right balance of nutrients at the right time of the day. By eating starch with more protein at lunchtime instead of in your evening meal, you will beat your mid-afternoon sugar cravings (the dieter’s downfall!) and fuel yourself with energy and brainpower for the rest of the day. Drink More Water If you drink less than eight glasses of water a day you may well be chronically dehydrated – this means you will lack energy and your brain will misinterpret this tiredness as a need to eat more food. So by drinking a minimum of two litres of water a day you will fuel yourself with energy, curb your hunger and enhance your nutrient absorption. Stick to the action points in chapter four and you’ll be well on the way to a super-hydrated and less hungry body! Decrease Your Fat Intake This is not about cutting all fat from your diet – some fat is essential for our health – instead it is about reducing your overall fat intake whilst at the same time increasing the good sources of fat in your diet. By eating 40 grams of the right fats a day you will soon see your own body fat decrease. Be Consistent The good news is the best way to lose weight is not to deprive yourself of everything you love, but instead to stick to the 80–20 rule. This means rather than being good 100 per cent of the time, if you can stick to the Carb Curfew diet plan for just 80 per cent of the time you will succeed. Being consistent means you can actually eat a little more and you will still lose weight and body fat and you are not setting yourself up for guilt and ‘failure’. You will also find plenty of recipes in Carb Curfew to help you put the Carb Curfew into practice, as well as lots of suggestions for breakfasts and lunches, and a 14-day eating plan. Everything in this book has been tested by real people with real pressures and their own stories and tips will help you be in control against unwanted excess weight and body fat. The Key to Long-Term Success Have you ever beaten yourself up for breaking your new diet that promises to shrink you into your favourite jeans within seven days? Or felt you’d blown your long-term healthy eating plan just because you indulged in a naughty dessert? If you can relate to either of these scenarios then Carb Curfew is definitely for you. It shows you that the key to long-term successful weight management is not to deprive yourself of everything you love or to beat yourself up when you fail – it is about developing and appreciating a balanced and consistent approach to eating, where you only have to be ‘good’ 80 per cent of the time and you will succeed. In short, Carb Curfew is about helping you develop strategies that allow you to enjoy the things you want to enjoy, whilst you realize your weight and body fat goals. By following the simple strategies in Carb Curfew, you will have the confidence and know-how to say goodbye to excess weight and body fat – for good. chapter two Making Your Diet Work For You (#ulink_5bd919e3-380a-5ba6-b1c6-483ce5b76fc7) There is no doubt that temptation is thrown at us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. Supermarkets re-circulate the smells of their bakery ovens back into the store, ready-prepared foods are becoming more and more convenient and fast food ever more accessible with tempting fare brought right to our front door. The world we live in today is perpetually stimulating our minds, eyes and taste buds to eat more than we need – to the point where we are almost living in a food-toxic environment. At the same time our society enables us to become less and less active. We are under pressure to achieve more things in one day but the irony is with the wonders of modern technology this results in us expending less physical energy – little wonder then that obesity is rising so dramatically. Everybody knows that a healthy diet makes sense – not just for today but also for our future health and well-being. But somehow our good intentions never seem to have much staying power. Perhaps it is the thought of a life without a curry or the thought of an existence of carrot sticks and lettuce leaves, but the whole process can seem very unappealing. It’s enough to make you reach for the pizza home delivery number and the TV remote control! But living a healthy life does not mean you have to live a life without chocolate or alcohol. Carb Curfew is about losing weight whilst living the life you wish to live. It is about making small changes matter. It is about knowing how to make dietary choices that work for you. In short, it is about applying a bit of know-how so that you can have your cake and eat it. Getting Your Diet Right The first thing we need to look at are the basics of our diet. It is very important to get the fundamentals of our diet right, with the right nutrients in the right balance at the right time. A good diet includes food from each of the four nutrient food groups. These food groups are: Carbohydrates Proteins Fats Water Carbohydrates Carbohydrates form the backbone of our diet. Fruit, vegetables, simple sugars such as biscuits and cakes, and starches such as potatoes, rice, pasta and bread are all carbohydrates. Carbohydrate-rich foods supply the body with its primary source of fuel – glucose. Glucose is a type of sugar which the body can easily use and transport – when we talk about blood sugars we are actually talking about our blood glucose levels. Glucose can be stored in the muscles as glycogen and is the main source of fuel for our working muscles, the nervous system and brain. We will be talking more about carbohydrates and starch in chapter three. Proteins Proteins are essential for tissue repair, maintenance and growth. They are crucial for our health as they make up part of every cell in the body. A regular supply of protein is required in the diet to aid the continual tissue regeneration that occurs in the body. Proteins are made up of smaller units called amino acids. Not all proteins contain all the essential amino acids required by our bodies – this is why if we are vegetarian we need to ensure that we have a variety of protein sources to ensure our bodies are getting a complete range of the necessary proteins. Protein can be divided into two groups: dairy products, which include cheese, yoghurt and eggs; and non-dairy sources, which include meat, fish, pulses and beans. The important role that protein plays in repairing the body means that it is much harder for the body to store excess protein as body fat in the cells. Dietary Fats Dietary fats come from a variety of sources. There are various ways of defining fats but one of the simplest is to consider fats as visible and invisible. Visible fats are, as the name suggests, foods that we can see are made of fat. Cheese, butter, oils and creams are examples of visible fats. Invisible fats are foods with a predominant fat content although we may not be aware of it: examples include coconut, avocado and egg yolks. Fats are divided into three groups: saturated, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated. Saturated fats (including unhealthy trans fats) are non-essential fats because they do not play a healthy role in the body and they are associated with an increased risk of heart disease, whereas monounsaturated fats and the omega-3 and omega-6 sources of polyunsaturated fats are essential fats because they have a positive health role to play in the body. Regardless of whether they are essential or non-essential fats they all provide a rich source of energy. See chapter five for more details about dietary fats. Water Water is the most overlooked component of our diet – it forms about 60 per cent of our total weight and is involved in every single chemical reaction in the body. If we don’t get enough water we are not providing the right environment for our bodies to perform effectively. It is very important to drink at least eight glasses of water a day – it really does impact how you feel and how your body works. See chapter four for more details. … and Alcohol While alcohol is not strictly a food group in its own right it does deserve a special mention as it is such a pleasurable part of our daily lives. It is vital however that we understand the role it plays in the body and how it constrains long-term fat loss and weight management. Alcohol does supply us with a source of energy but it is not a nutrient as it is not necessary for life and it is harmful to health when consumed in excess. See page 78 for more about this. Getting the Balance Right For your diet to be balanced you need to eat a variety of foods from each food group – the various Carb Curfew diet strategies will go into this in more detail. Carbohydrates should form the backbone of your diet, specifically fruit and vegetables and starchy whole grains. However, don’t fall into the trap of eating too many whole-grain starches in the belief that because they are low in fat you can eat more. This is the most common mistake I see with my clients – they may be low in fat but they still contain calories. Proteins should be consumed in a smaller volume and fats should make up the smallest part of your diet. Most foods contain a variety of protein, fat and carbohydrate, although the combination can vary greatly from one food to another. Hence we tend to define a food by its main food group. If you consume excess calories from any of these food groups – not just fat – you will gain weight and body fat. Whilst some of the nutrients have specific jobs to do, once these jobs have been done any excess calories will simply be stored as fat within our fat cells. Each of these food groups will provide an energy or calorie value to the body. Carbohydrate and protein provide 4 calories per gram, fat provides 9 calories per gram and alcohol provides 7 calories per gram. So we don’t have to be an Einstein to realize that we need to look at the composition of the foods we eat as well as the total number of calories we are consuming if we want to control weight and body fat levels. Unfortunately, there are no miracle foods to ensure weight loss. It is the whole picture of what we eat that is important for our health, weight and body fat. Carb Curfew will show you that with a little knowledge you can eat whatever you want and still realize your weight and body fat goals. The Basic Nutrients CARBOHYDRATES FRUIT Typical examples: apples, oranges, pears, grapes, plums Calories per gram: 4 (fruit and vegetables have a high water content so the calories per weight is kept low) Function in the body: provides essential minerals and vitamins When/how much do we need?: minimum 5 portions fruit and vegetables a day (see page 48 for more about this). Spread fruit and vegetable intake throughout day to avoid gastro discomfort BE AWARE: most people fall short of quota VEGETABLES Typical examples: carrots, kale, onions Calories per gram: 4 (vegetables, like fruit, have a high water content so the calories per weight is kept low) Function in the body: provides essential minerals and vitamins When/how much do we need?: minimum 5 portions fruit and vegetables; spread intake throughout the day BE AWARE: most people fall way short of quota, finding it easier to grab a piece of fruit than hitting the vegetable quota STARCHES Typical examples: bread, pasta, rice, potatoes Calories per gram: 4 Function in the body: good source of fuel for the body to use during the day When/how much do we need?: 3–4 servings a day. Keep to breakfast and lunch to match energy demands and energy delivery. Avoid in evening meal BE AWARE: most people mistakenly eat too much when trying to lose weight. Comfort eating of these starchy carbohydrates increases overall calorie intake leading to weight and body fat gain PROCESSED SUGARS Typical examples: honey, syrup, jams Calories per gram: 4 Function in body: provides instant energy into the bloodstream causing the blood sugars to rise and then sharply fall When/how much do we need?: keep to an absolute minimum. Obtain sugars from natural fruit sources BE AWARE: the 4–6 p.m. time zone – the quick sugar-fix craving increases intake of these simple sugars PROTEIN Dairy Products Typical examples: milk, cheese, eggs, yoghurt Calories per gram: 4 Function in body: repairs vital cells in the body, source of calcium When/how much do we need?: try to have a serving of protein at each meal BE AWARE: don’t eat too much. Be wary of high fat content Meat, Fish, Pulses Typical examples: chicken, salmon, cod, beans, nuts Calories per gram: 4 Function in body: repairs vital cells in the body When/how much do we need?: try to have a serving at each meal BE AWARE: eating protein at lunchtime with an equal amount of starch will boost afternoon concentration powers and leave you feeling more satisfied FATS ESSENTIAL FATS Typical examples: polyunsaturated fat found in vegetable oils and fish oils (in cold water oily fish); monounsaturated fats found in olive oil, rapeseed oil etc. Calories per gram: 9 Function in body: helps decrease blood cholesterol levels and prevent heart disease When/how much do we need?: this should form the majority of your fat sources BE AWARE: keep visible fats to a minimum and eat 3 servings of oily fish a week NON-ESSENTIAL FATS Typical examples: saturated fats such as cheese, cream, lard; trans fats found in margarine, processed foods etc. Calories per gram: 9 Function in body: potentially increases furring of blood vessels When/how much do we need?: keep to a minimum BE AWARE: found in a lot of processed foods, especially snacks WATER Typical examples: tap, mineral water (either still or sparkling) Calories per gram: 0 Function in body: vital for all metabolic responses in the body When/how much do we need?: minimum of 2 litres a day BE AWARE: this is one of the most important health investments you can make – it is best to spread your intake throughout the day ALCOHOL Typical examples: all wine, liquor, beer Calories per gram: 7 Function in body: 1–2 units of alcohol per day is thought to have protective effect on the heart When/how much do we need?: spread consumption of 10 units throughout week BE AWARE: if you do overindulge, try to stay up for half an hour before going to bed – it is easier for the liver to work when sitting upright compared to lying down The Low-Down on Body Fat So why do we have body fat and how can cutting the carbs help us get rid of it? Whether we like it or not we all have fat in our bodies. Each one of us is born with about 23 billion fat cells and each of these fat cells has the ability to get bigger and bigger, as well as smaller and smaller. A certain amount of fat is important for our bodies as it gives us shape, warmth and insulation – the problem comes when we start to store too much fat in the body from overeating and under activity. It is inevitable as we get older we are going to lay down more body fat as our body’s metabolism changes. To combat this we need to establish a nutritional strategy to minimize body fat gain and improve our overall health. Fat cells do not disappear but the actual amount of fat in the cells can decrease and increase dependent upon how well we eat and how much exercise we take. How Can We Decrease the Size of our Fat Cells? Unfortunately, if we are consuming more calories than we are expending our fat cells will get bigger and bigger. Although fat cells do not generally divide and increase in numbers, if we eat excessively and gain a significant amount of weight (40–50 pounds) then our fat cells will get bigger and divide and it is likely that the body fat gained at this time will pose more of a problem to shift. While this may seem depressing it helps explain why sometimes we look at friends and they appear to have dropped the weight effortlessly, while our own efforts seem to require a lot more persistence. Appreciating this will allow you to approach your diet plan with a realistic picture of what you can achieve long-term. The most effective way to decrease the size of your fat cells is to reduce your weekly intake of calories. Obviously this can be achieved through diet alone, but it is far more effective—and easier—to use a combination of sensible nutrition and physical activity. For fat cells to get smaller we need to create a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories per week. At first sight this figure can appear alarming, however the trick to effective body fat loss is to ensure that the calorie deficit is achieved slowly and consistently. Spreading the 3,500 over seven days means you are aiming for a decrease of 500 calories each day from your normal daily calorie range. If you split these 500 calories between the nutritional strategies in Carb Curfew and physical activities, the figure becomes a lot more manageable. Incorporating exercise into your routine (whether this involves walking instead of taking the car or fitting in regular sessions at the gym) will go a long way towards helping you achieve your goal. Ways to Save 500 Calories a Day Everyday physical activity: Walk to the post office rather than drive, take the stairs at work, walk up the escalators. Saves you 100 calories. Exercise: Power walk for one mile. Saves you 100 calories. Nutrition: Operate Carb Curfew in evening meal. Replace a portion of pasta with two portions of extra vegetables. Saves you 200 calories. Replace mid-afternoon snack of 2 slices of bread and jam with an apple. Saves you 100 calories. Why Do We Gain Weight Faster As We Get Older? As we get older we actually start to lay down more body fat. This is due to several factors: 1. Metabolic rate After the age of 30 if we are inactive we actually start to lose muscle mass at a rate of 1/3–? pound every two years. So if you weighed 10 stone at the age of 20 and you still weigh 10 stone at the age of 50, yet you have gone up two clothes sizes and you do not exercise – quite simply, you have lost muscle mass and gained body fat. As the body fat takes up more space, your clothes become tighter and your clothes size goes up. Muscle is metabolically active, which means that it burns calories. So if we start to lose muscle mass we actually require less calories to do our everyday tasks. Long-term this means we can potentially be consuming the same number of calories at the age of 20 as at the age of 50 but when we are 50 these calories are not burnt off and we are more prone to laying down body fat. This puts our health at risk and we become frustrated with our shape. 2. Hormones As women start to approach the menopause we enter a stage known as peri menopause – at this time there is a change in our hormones, which may actually encourage our bodies to lay down more body fat. 3. Stress Yes, stress does make us fat! When we are experiencing long periods of chronic stress such as overwork, or emotional stresses such as a loss of a partner or moving home, there is a change in our metabolism that encourages increased secretion of the hormone Cortisol. If this is left unchecked for long periods of time it encourages body fat to be laid down around our midriffs. Research has shown that storing body fat here actually puts us at a greater risk of heart disease. Whilst this all may seem a little depressing, the best possible course of action you can take is also the most accessible and cheapest – get active! Increasing your level of physical activity has both a positive and immediate impact on your health and ability to control your weight. Why Do Some People Lose Body Fat Faster Than Others? Not everyone will lose weight and body fat at the same rate. We are all different, and there are several factors that can affect our rate of weight and body fat loss. These include: 1. Your existing metabolic rate 2. Your dieting history 3. Your exercise history 4. Your existing eating patterns 5. Your existing activity patterns 1. Your Existing Metabolic Rate As we have just discussed, our muscle mass starts to decrease as we get older and our metabolic rate tends to slow down, which means we burn fewer calories. Imagine you are 20 years old and you are sitting in a chair, and now imagine you are 50 years old sitting in a chair. Even though you are doing exactly the same everyday activity, if you have not kept up your muscle mass between the ages of 20 and 50 you will be burning less calories sitting still at the age of 50 than sitting still at the age of 20. 2. Your Dieting History If you are a seasoned dieter and you religiously try every diet on the market and have experienced weight gain/weight loss again and again – long-term it will be harder to lose weight effectively. You may already have experienced this. For example, every January you may have a favourite deprivation diet that gives you great results – well, it did the first couple of times you did it and now you are experiencing frustration as the scales are not giving you the results you want. This is because as the body is continually put through phases of excess and deficit there comes a time when our metabolism may stop working effectively and instead of losing weight we can actually increase the amount of body fat we have. To counteract this you need to stabilize you calorie and fat intake now. Chapter six will show you how to be consistent with your nutrient intake. 3. Your Exercise History To lose weight and body fat you need to exercise regularly. If you were active when you were younger you will be at an advantage as muscles have a memory—this means that even if you are not exercising now the muscles will be able to respond more effectively and quickly to exercise once you do start. But even if you were not active when you were younger, it is never too late to start. Becoming active now and staying active will help you realize your fat loss goals as well as have an immediate protective effect on your health. 4. Your Existing Eating Patterns Quite simply, the more erratic our eating patterns the harder it is to lose weight, and the longer you have had erratic eating patterns the more frustration you are likely to experience trying to lose weight. The body actually balances itself out over seven to eight days; however, in those seven to eight days if you have overeaten one day and then starved yourself the next in an attempt to make up for the excesses, the body will rebel and you will not lose weight and body fat. To lose body fat, and for us to actually see a difference in the shape of our bodies, we need to eat a healthy and balanced diet and be consistent about it. Start now – apply the Carb Curfew, cut your intake of fat and be consistent. 5. Your Existing Activity Patterns If you are reading this and are frustrated because you already exercise – or consider yourself to have a pretty active daily routine – and are still not losing weight, this may be a result of the following: You do not have enough variety in your exercise programme and your body has become complacent at always doing the same thing. The activities that are part of your daily routine are not putting your body under enough physiological strain to increase your fitness. If you are reading this thinking it’s about time I became more active – then what are you waiting for? Where Do We Store Our Body Fat? Have you ever wondered why some of us seem to store all our body fat on our hips and thighs and some of us tend to have long lean arms and legs but store more of our body fat around our midriffs? This distribution of fat is associated directly to two main hormones in the body. These hormones, lipoprotein lipase LPL and hormone sensitive lipase HSL, directly affect whether we store fat or encourage it to be distributed in the blood and then burnt off LPL tends to encourage fat storage and HSL tends to encourage fat to be burnt off The amount of LPL and HSL we have tends to vary between men and women, individuals and areas of the body. Men tend to have more LPL in the belly and less HSL in the lower hip area. This creates the more pronounced apple shape we see in overweight men, with more body fat distributed around the belly. Women tend to have more LPL in the hips and back of the arms and less HSL in the upper body. This classically creates more of our traditional pear shape. When women lose weight we generally still have more LPL in the hips so still have a pear shape. So the challenge for us is to try and create more HSL and one of the best ways to do this is with exercise. Weight-bearing aerobic exercise such as brisk walking, jogging and aerobics is the best form of exercise to choose. Swimming, even though it is an aerobic activity, has shown to be less effective for weight loss as it is non-weight bearing so it is not so effective in burning off calories. In addition, swimming increases LPL, which has the effect of decreasing our core temperature, which in turn can stimulate us to eat more. Carb Curfew will help you reduce your weight and body fat and boost your confidence to put you in control long-term. It is important to understand however that due to your own individual makeup your body will have an optimum shape it naturally wants to be. Why Is Measuring Body Fat Important? When we stand on weighing scales we are actually measuring our total body weight, which is made up of muscle tissue (also known as muscle mass or fat-free mass) and fat tissue (also known as fat mass). Muscle is denser than body fat, so if you took a pound of muscle and you took a pound of fat, the pound of fat would take up a lot more space. It is the amount of fat that we have in our bodies that actually affects our body shape and health. The reading we receive from traditional bathroom scales tells us what the total amount of our body weight is – body fat and muscle (and other tissue such as bone) – but it does not tell us how much fat we actually have. It is this excess body fat that is associated with heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and certain types of cancer. By measuring our body fat not only are we monitoring how much of our weight is actually fat but it also gives us an indicator of our health status. Monitoring our percentage body fat actually allows us to impact our health by ensuring we lose body fat as opposed to muscle mass. Studies have shown that with very low calorie diets, the body will actually lose muscle mass and keep hold of body fat. This means that with some ‘diets’ you may actually increase the amount of body fat you have! How Can I Measure How Much Body Fat I Have? Body fat can be measured in a number of ways. One method is with skin-fold calipers. The skin folds are generally taken at four sites around the body. A more convenient and accurate method to measure in your own home however is with body fat monitors. Constructed as a set of bathroom weighing scales, by entering your height and sex and standing on the scales, a safe technique known as bioelectrical impedance analysis will determine your percentage body fat. Replacing bathroom scales with body fat monitors will give a true idea of what is happening inside you – this way you get to see a complete picture of your total body weight, muscle mass and fat mass. Body fat monitors are now available from a wide range of outlets. How Much Body Fat Should We Have? We all need to have body fat. Too little and we run the risk of decreased fertility and the onset of amenorrhea, a condition where the female periods stop. Too much body fat is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and some cancers. So what exactly are the healthy ranges? The figures shown below are broadly accepted as the ideal percentages for body fat. What Fat-Loss Target Should We Aim For? Changing body fat does take time but the benefits you see will be long-term. A two to four per cent decrease in body fat over a ten-week period is a sensible and realistic target. Although this may not sound a lot, in real terms this will represent a two to four per cent decrease in the amount of fat your body is actually carrying with you day in and day out. Recording Your Progress It is good to keep a record of how much body fat you are losing each week so you can see how much progress you are making. Here is what you do: Weigh yourself and establish your percentage body fat (either with a body fat monitor or with skin-fold calipers), or if this is not possible then record your weight and tape measurements only. Using a tape measure, establish your waist measurement (measure around narrowest part of midriff), your belly button measurement (measure around midriff over belly button) and hip measurement. Record these measurements at the same time each week. Factors Determining Your Success Your Willpower The strength of your willpower is an important factor in how successful you will be at realizing your weight and body fat goals. Generally an individual’s willpower is at its weakest towards the end of the day – perhaps we feel tired or our blood sugars are low. This means that we tend to have less control of our actions at this time and are more likely to overeat or eat all the inappropriate foods. If you are constantly tired and struggling with your weight, you may well be building up extra calories at the end of the day that do not get burnt off. Here are a few questions for you to think about: Invariably what happens is there is a mismatch between when we need to receive energy from our food and when we are expending energy through our everyday activities. Generally we expend most energy between 7 a.m. in the morning and 6 p.m. in the evening. However, we actually receive the vast majority of our energy from food after 6 p.m. when we are less active. While some studies suggest that it makes no difference whether your calories from food are consumed during the day or all at night, what these studies fail to take into account is our personal willpower. At the end of the day when we are tired, especially when we have not eaten much during the day, willpower will be low and we will be much more likely to overeat. This means long-term there is a situation where at the end of each day there is actually a build up of excess calories which we are not burning off prior to going to bed – and these calories are being laid down in the fat cells as additional body fat. Carb Curfew will show you how to make the right food choices at the right time of the day, so you receive energy when you need it and you don’t end up with a build up of excess calories before you go to bed. Your Attitude to Food What we were introduced to as a child defines our relationship with food in later life. If you ate a lot of sugar and sweet things as you were growing up and your diet did not include a variety of tastes, it is likely you now crave calorie-dense sweet foods rather than savoury foods. Maybe your mother used to say to you, ‘You must finish everything on your plate’, and now you always finish everything on your plate thinking it is rude to leave even a morsel. Or alternatively you had a mother who was always on a diet and never ate the same food as the rest of the family. Our mums are great but we need to be aware of how their attitude to food influences our attitude to food later in life. These attitudes have had a long time to become ingrained and they will take a long time to diminish. Carb Curfew will help you re-evaluate your relationship with food, showing you how to draw up a sensible eating plan that will help you realize your weight and body fat goals, as well as providing a positive message for your children. Your Motivation What is your motivation to lose weight? Is it to squeeze into that little black dress for a certain event or is it about looking better for a significant A.N. Other? Whatever your motivation you need to identify it and shift it from an external motivation such as an important event to an internal one such as wanting to feel more in control of your eating habits, have more energy and feel better about yourself All of which translates into a strategy that you can incorporate and build on to achieve your long-term weight and body fat goals. Think about this: what we weigh in seven years will not be determined by what we do for the next seven minutes, seven hours or the next seven days but how well we eat for the next seven years. Following an action plan that you can keep to will be crucial – Carb Curfew will show you how to do this. Seeing results is a huge motivation and with a little effort that motivation can be your driving force. Your Friends Early on in your efforts you need to establish who are going to be saboteurs and supporters of your aims. Within your circle of friends and family there will be individuals who will encourage you and help you with your efforts. It is also likely there will be individuals who either intentionally or unintentionally try to hinder you – this may be because your effort and seeing you look and feel better makes them feel less comfortable or they are just genuinely unaware of their intentions. Identifying who are your diet friends and foes will help you apply the Carb Curfew strategies more effectively and successfully. Personalizing the Diet As you work through the book you will be able build up your own personal plan, using the nutritional strategies to help you realize your goals. It is important to understand that there is no one diet that works for everyone; instead Carb Curfew contains strategies that can accommodate many different lifestyles. As you read through think about the best method of fitting the strategies into your life, for instance which lunches are most appropriate if you work in an office, how you can reach your water intake goal while running after the kids all day, or how you can use the Carb Curfew concept to continue enjoying your busy social life. A Final Word So, remember, Carb Curfew is about losing weight whilst still living the life you wish to live. Yes, it does require a little bit of effort but you don’t have to make any big sacrifices or radical changes to your lifestyle to get the results you want – all you need to do is apply the four strategies outlined on pages 3–4 and you will achieve your weight and fat-loss goals not just for now, but for the future too. Take Action Write a list of the main obstacles to you achieving your fat-loss goals – try to be as specific as possible, for example, mid-morning coffee break with work colleagues or tea time with the kids when you are starving yourself Make a commitment today to make one small change in your daily activities that you will keep up for the next six weeks. For example, say no to coffee in your mid-morning break and have a cup of herbal tea instead. Remember, every small change you make will take you one step further towards achieving your fat-loss goals. chapter three The Carb Curfew (#ulink_45df940c-54e7-567c-947e-453bf2244f0e) We all know we have to steer clear of a diet that contains too much fat and we feel proud of ourselves if we have said no to chocolate or ice-cream. So why are we still struggling with our weight and body fat? These days one of the most common reasons for our weight-loss frustrations is that we have come to rely on low-fat starches and we are lulled into a false sense of low-fat security, thinking we can eat more of these foods. A high consumption of starch however can provide more calories than we need. If we are unable to burn off these calories they become stored as fat, all of which leads to the scales and belt notches not moving in the direction we want. So the first part of the Carb Curfew strategy is to operate a Carb Curfew. In this chapter you’ll learn all about the role of starch and its impact on the body and how to: Use the Carb Curfew – no starches after 5 p.m. Adapt your meals to make sure you get the right range of nutrients and don’t eat too much starch. Make good food choices when you are faced with a situation where there is starch on the menu and you are not allowed to eat it. Carb Curfew Essentials The two keys to making carbohydrates work for you are: 1. Operate the Carb Curfew to decrease total calorie intake. 2. Consume five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. What is the Carb Curfew? As we discussed in chapter two starch, processed sugars and fruit and vegetables are all carbohydrates. The starch foods are potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and cereals, all of which provide a good source of fuel for the body to use during the day. The Carb Curfew means you can eat starch at breakfast, lunch and in your mid-afternoon snack but you are not allowed to eat it after 5 p.m. The evening meal now comprises of protein, fruit and vegetables, low-fat dairy products and essential fats. It is a strategy that allows you to get the right balance of calories and nutrients at the right time in the day. At first this may seem a little difficult to apply but you will soon feel the huge benefits in your energy levels and you’ll certainly appreciate the change in your body shape as you become less bloated. The Carb Curfew however is not just about saying no to starches after 5 p.m. – it is about getting the right balance of your overall intake of starches and nutrients throughout the day. For example you may be consuming too many calories from starch foods which are contributing to your body fat, so once you reduce the amount of starch you eat you will lose weight and body fat. Also, you will be more in control of your energy levels as you will be eating the right amount of starch at the right time for optimum energy. We will talk more about this later in the chapter. Are You a Carb Comfort-Eater? Answer the following questions to find out if you are prone to overeating on comfort starches such as bread, pasta, rice and potatoes. Do you tend to snack on bread and comfort carbohydrates such as cakes and chocolate? Do you munch bread with each meal? Do you feel lethargic in the afternoons? Do you eat most of your calories at the end of your day? Do you crave carbohydrates? Do you experience swings in your energy and mood? Do you find it difficult to stop eating comfort starches like biscuits, bread and pasta? If you answered yes to most of these questions you are sensitive to comfort carbohydrates, specifically the comfort foods that are starch-based. You probably have a tendency to eat more of these foods than is appropriate and this causes you to feel lethargic and out of control. As well as operating the Carb Curfew, you need to use the starch-free zone (see page 61) when faced with an excess starch situation. If your answers were mainly negative, you are less prone to overindulging on carbohydrates. If you experience problems with your weight it may be due to excess calories consumed through carbohydrates or an imbalance in your nutrient intake. Introduce the Carb Curfew as a tool to control calorie intake. Watch Those Calories! I developed the Carb Curfew concept as a nutritional diet tool when I realized a number of my weight management clients were experiencing initial weight and body fat loss but then they were reaching a plateau with their weight loss and their efforts seemed to go no further. This seemed to be a recurring theme, not just with my clients but also with other people’s initial weight-loss success stories. My clients were all very efficient at decreasing the overall fat in their diets, but because their focus was on fat their attention slipped from their carbohydrate intake – specifically bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and cereal were all being over-consumed and often in the evening as opposed to during the day when our body may burn these nutrients more effectively. A typical daily food intake looked something like this: Breakfast: cereal with skimmed milk and banana Lunch: large jacket potato with sweetcorn, one banana Snack: chunk of bread with fruit jam Dinner: pasta with homemade tomato sauce, brown bread roll Now at first glance this seems to be a pretty healthy diet and to a certain extent it is, however what it lacks is essential fats, a minimum of five portions of fruit and vegetables, protein and suitable portion sizes. The classic mistake is that too many calories were being consumed. So while fat intake was decreased and in fact very low, the consumption of calories through starches was increasing. Total calorie intake does count. So while we may be very good at reducing the amount of fat in our diet, if the total number of calories consumed is higher than the amount of calories being burnt off through exercise and activity, then weight gain can actually occur regardless that the source of calories were ‘fat-free’. Have a look at the table below to see the calorie content of some typical starch foods – this will help you to see how excess calories from starch might be contributing to your body fat. Calorie Content of Starch Foods What Are the Benefits of Using the Carb Curfew? As I explained at the beginning of the chapter, you can eat starch in moderation at breakfast, lunch and in your mid-afternoon snack but you cannot eat it in your evening meal. By operating the Carb Curfew you will: Help decrease your overall calorie intake. Help decrease your overall starch intake. Excess starch stimulates the production of serotonin in the brain, which can make us feel more sluggish. This in turn directly stimulates us to reach for the instant high of a sugar fix such as chocolate, sugary sweet cakes, biscuits and processed snacks. Beat your sugar cravings. Eating the right amounts of protein and starch at lunchtime will fuel you with energy and brainpower all afternoon. Serotonin and Dopamine Too great a dependence on starchy carbohydrates, whilst vital for storing energy in our muscles, can make us feel lethargic due to the production of the brain neurotransmitter serotonin. This is why we often experience a slump of energy immediately after our lunch – we have consumed too many starches at lunchtime. Conversely, proteins consumed in the right amount increases the release of the hormone-like substance dopamine, which makes us feel more alert, increases our ability to concentrate and helps to regulate our mood. Why Does the Carb Curfew Work? The Carb Curfew works because: 1. By eating your starch at breakfast and lunch, it means you consume more energy-providing nutrients during the day. This will give you more physical and mental energy to meet the daily demands and pleasures of life. 2. It allows you to have a lighter meal in the evening based on protein and fruit and vegetables. This helps you achieve a healthier balance of nutrients, as without the presence of bread, pasta, rice, grains and potatoes you will really need to fill up on fruit and vegetables. 3. Eating less in the evening will make you hungry for a lovely healthy breakfast – this will fuel you with energy right through the day. The Low-Down on Carbohydrates Should We Eat Carbohydrates? Yes, carbohydrates form the backbone of our diet. Fruit and vegetables should be eaten at each meal; starches can be eaten at breakfast and lunch but not in your evening meal, and processed sugars should be kept to an absolute minimum. It is important to remember that the different types of carbohydrates are treated by the body in different ways. The trick to successful weight and body fat loss is to make sure you are eating the right carbohydrates at the right time of the day, so your body receives the right type of carbohydrate when it needs it. This will help you achieve and maintain your weight and body fat goals, you will have more energy during the day, and most importantly, you will minimize your hunger pangs. To help you understand how the Carb Curfew works, the following summary shows you when to eat what carbohydrate foods for optimum energy and weight loss. Carbohydrates Starches Food examples: all breads, pasta, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cereal, oats, bulgur wheat, millet When to eat: breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack – you are not allowed to consume in mid-morning snack or after 5 p.m. Fruit Food examples: apples, nectarines, melons, raspberries When to eat: all meals and snacks, especially in evening meal Vegetables Food examples: peppers, broccoli, carrots, mushrooms When to eat: all meals and snacks, especially in evening meal Processed sugars Food examples: sweets, chocolates, cakes, biscuits When to eat: minimal consumption What is the Glycaemic Index? Traditionally carbohydrate foods, which provide the main fuel base for our bodies, are classified as simple or complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates such as sugars, some fruits, cakes and biscuits provide a quick increase in blood glucose levels whilst complex carbohydrates such as brown rice, porridge oats and wholegrains raise blood glucose at a slower rate and keep blood glucose levels more stable for longer. The rate at which our blood sugars change with eating different types of carbohydrates is called the glycaemic index (GI). The concept of GI carbohydrates is fairly new and is particularly recommended for individuals who may be sensitive to swings in energy. The text below illustrates the GI of some common carbohydrate foods. Pure sugar receives a value of 100, and other sugary foods and starches are compared to that. Later in the chapter, to help you optimize your energy levels, we’ll look at when it is best to eat which GI carbohydrates. Glycaemic Index Carbohydrates Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес». Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию (https://www.litres.ru/joanna-hall/carb-curfew-cut-the-carbs-after-5pm-and-lose-fat-fast/?lfrom=688855901) на ЛитРес. Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.