High Energy Fitness

For several years, I have been writing about my need to lose weight. For the past four years, I have been experimenting with various solutions for myself. I don’t believe in “diets” and have known that the heart of my program needed to be fruits and vegetables. Having given up drinking (1976) and smoking (1988), I know how to overcome addictions. But food is different. I can’t just quit food.

But I have designed a food program that is allowing me to lose weight. I used a modified fast to begin losing weight. The fast lasted for five days until I started to show weight loss. I was losing weight slowly. Then I added the gym to the mix in a week or so. When I go the gym without the weight loss, I eat more because “I’m working out”. So I thought I’d reverse the process.

What did I do also to begin losing weight? (1) I began saying two things upon awakening: “I can. I will”. (2) I needed to shrink my stomach so that I could feel hunger physically. Some people can do this in 3 days—it took me 5 days before I felt my first tinge of hunger. What a great feeling! For the 5 days, I ate sparingly being careful to choose from all the food groups. Every day, I told myself that I could do anything for a few days.

Notice that I never told myself to lose weight. I told myself to learn how to eat less. To help with the cravings—which go away after your stomach is shrunk—I kept cut up celery hearts and carrots. I ate as much as I wanted of the celery and carrots. Warm soups and/or drinks help appease an out-of-control appetite.

Basic Diet for High Energy

kberman — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:03:50 +0000

1) Your daily food plan is built around your favorite vegetable. Try several and remember to make it as delicious as possible. You may have several vegetables that you love. If so, rotate them daily. Eat this if possible between 11 AM-4 PM. This vegetable has to be a large enough serving to totally satisfy you. I count 300 calories for my sweet potato because I cover it in margarine and dark brown sugar.

2) Determine the food problem that gets you into trouble. Most of our overeating comes because we don’t discipline ourselves about the calories we are eating. Learn to read or research the calories in everything you eat. This chart will teach you how to read labels.

3) Also decide what type of eater you are. What one thing do you not want to live without? For me, it is having food to chew. Apples are always in my refrigerator for a sweet chew—at 100 calories each I sometimes have several over a day.

4) When you are feeling emotional, you need to drink as much water or other liquids as you can to delay the eating. If you aren’t hungry anymore which is what will happen, give yourself permission to eat the food later when you are hungry.

5) I created a Greek salad that is low in calories for my non-sweet chewing. I cut up the ingredients and keep them separated until I eat some salad. Without the dressing, the ingredients will last several days. I write more about this salad in my food plan.

6) I dislike the word “diet” because it sounds like deprivation to me. Food is one of God’s greatest gifts and is meant to be enjoyed. Food is the basic reward for many people. So begin noticing when you are eating emotionally and drink more water before the food

7) I am 65 years old but I had bought into that “you have to have breakfast” so this was a revolutionary idea to eat when hungry. I live with a slim person who generally doesn’t eat until his evening meal. I have nagged him for years about not eating all day and he has always assured me that he wasn’t hungry.

Since my overeating occurs at night, the later I start eating means I am eating less than I would be if I ate at any time I wasn’t hungry. Another of the 7 rules from The 7 Secrets of Slim People is to think of your fist to learn portion control. The fist is the size of your natural stomach.

9) Begin learning portion control. If you check out any of the more popular diets with food included, you will see that the main reason you lose weight on these programs is because you are eating much smaller portions. The Changemaker Weight Loss Plan does the same with one major difference. You will choose the foods you love and will learn how to eat them in moderation.

Make a list of all the foods that you love and enjoy. After you have the list finished, make a food list that you can include in your weight loss plan. The foods that you know you may not be able to use restraint with put on your foods for the future list.

About the High Energy Diet

kberman — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:01:04 +0000

“The concept of energy and the flow of that energy in the human body is the core of the current explosion in healing. The healing principle is to “balance” the energy in the body by using relaxation to counter the body’s reaction to stress.” The Berkeley Holistic Health Center

The High Energy Diet integrates all the tools for living a healthy, balanced life. Many times busy people will see or read something that they would love to integrate into their lives. They also lack the time to plan and execute a total health plan.

The High Energy Diet includes food/diet choices, exercise choices, and emotional/mental techniques for stress reduction. All the pre-tests, measurements, references for each of the three categories (diet, exercise, and emotional/mental tools) are given.

We have spent 30 years researching, enjoying, and implementing self-help, exercise, diet, nutrition, spiritual, emotional, mental, psychology and addiction books. Our central focus is on holistic healing—mind, body and soul. So the High Energy Diet includes the books we have found to have become our “textbooks”.

These books are incorporated in our Changemaker Library. Our goal is that each person using the High Energy Diet can create and continually change her/his health plan. Health takes effort to maintain. Each of us knows what we need to attain our highest level of health.

The real secret to weight loss is portion control. That is the main reason diet companies sell the food with the diet. The portions are regulated and controlled. For portion control, learn to use measuring cups and spoons to correctly choose the right portion. Some suggested portions are included in an article in South Florida Sun-Sentinel January 21, 2008 article.

The newspaper lists the following comparisons.(1) 3 ounces of meat/fish (about the size of a deck of cards), (2) 2 tablespoons of peanut butter (the size of a golf ball), (3) 1-1 1/2 ounces of cheese (the size of three dominoes, (4) 1 piece of whole fruit (the size of a tennis ball), (5) 1 cup of milk (one serving fills a regular coffee cup), (6) 1/2 cup of cooked pasta ( one serving fills a cupcake liner), and (7) 1/2 cup of cooked vegetables (about the size of a yo-yo).

Using the USDA Pyramid Plan

kberman — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:56:27 +0000

Using the new pyramid plan from the United States Department of Agriculture, the total calories needed for a 67 year old female( me in 2007) with less than 30 minutes of exercise daily is:

Grains–5 ounces (make half the grains whole)
Vegetables– 2 cups (dark green, orange, starchy, and other vegetables included with 2 ½ cups of dry beans and peas)
Fruits–1.5 cups (variety of fruit—go easy on fruit juices)
Milk– 3 cups (use low-fat or fat-free when you choose milk, yogurt or cheese)
Meat and Beans– 5 ounces (go lean with protein—vary protein routine—include fish, beans, peas, nuts and seeds)

Half of the grains should be whole grains. The site recommends 3 whole grains daily. The food program is based on a 1600 calorie diet. By using the My Pyramid Plan and changing the exercise to 30-60 minutes daily, the calorie count goes up to 1800 calories. For an exercise program of more that 60 minutes, the calorie count goes up to 2000. In other words, to lose weight, don’t increase your calorie intake while adding more exercise to your routine.

It has been estimated that in order to lose 1 pound of fat a 500 calorie daily change needs to happen. The easier way to implement this is to eat 250 calories less and exercise 250 calories more. From the exercise and calories burned chart which uses the approximate calories burned per hour by a 150 pound woman, the calories per hour are:

Walking, 3 miles per hour–280 calories
Dancing, ballroom–260 calories
Tennis–350+ calories
Aerobics–450 calories
Jogging–500 calories
Swimming, active–500 calories
Cycling, studio–650 calories
Running–700 calories

Track Your Weight Loss Progress

kberman — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:55:58 +0000

Track your progress with these tools:

This is a place to track your stats on anything! http://trackstat.us/

The Key to Fitness Success: Measuring and Tracking Your Results

http://www.lockonfitness.com/

The Universal Fitness Tester provides a graph showing the test results over a period of time. See how your results have changed as a result of training or as a result of a weight loss program.

http://www.aerobictest.com/TrackProgress.htm

Want an easy way to track your progress? Fitness Log was developed to help enthusiasts like you keep track of your exercise activity whether you’re running, biking, swimming or any combination of these.

http://www.rpoint.com/pp/flog.aspx

Setting a healthy goal means nothing if you can’t stay motivated to reach it. And losing the weight is only half the battle — keeping it off is a big challenge as well.

http://www.weightbydate.com/pro_overview.htm

For a quick progress check of your weight, body fat, resting heart rate, and circumference measurements.

http://exercise.about.com/library/12_Week_Plan/blprogresschart.htm

My High Energy Foods List

kberman — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:52:02 +0000

I have learned which foods I like that are 100-200 calories a serving. I measure by calories only to keep myself honest about the quantity I am eating. I use cup measures for all dry food I eat. I found the vegetable I love to be the “star” or main staple of my food program. For me, it is a sweet potato microwaved with oleo and 2 tsp. of brown sugar (30 calories for the sugar). I get average—not huge—potatoes and count each one for 300 calories.

For my protein staple, I found Tuna Creations in the flavor fresh pouch on the grocery shelves. I eat the whole package as it is and especially love “Sweet and Spicy” and Zesty Lemon Pepper”. I count each pouch at 300 calories. I also use Dannon Light and fit yogurt (90 calories for a whole cup). Sometimes I use hard-boiled eggs (80 calories). I use all types of beans but only eat ½-1 cup as they are high in calories.

I love apples. My favorites are Fuji (from Japan), Pink Lady (cross between Golden Delicious and Lady William), Cripps Pink (from Australia), and Cameo (from Washington). I’ll eat Gala (from New Zealand) or Golden Delicious (from West Virginia—my home state) if nothing else is available. The best apples come from the state of Washington. Each apple I count as 100-150 calories.

Progresso soups are great for fillers or snacks as well as the first course. The new Progresso soup line includes 25 types of soup with a serving size of ½ the can at 100 calories. I eat the whole can and count it at 200 calories. One slice of toasted 12 grain Pepperidge Farm bread with cherry jam I count as 150 calories. I love rice and beans so once a week I make a package of Goya Rice and Beans and eat some each day. I cook at home every night. Neither my husband or I care to go out to eat. He is thin and likes a full meal in the evening so I cook for him with a small side plate for me—300 calories worth.

My Current High Energy Salad

kberman — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:51:32 +0000

I have always used salads as one part of my High Energy Diet food choices. In the beginning, I used a Greek salad as my staple. I have changed my salad choice as I have been adding more Asian flavors to my food plan. The Asian five flavors include sweet, sour, spicy, salty, and bitter. At the end of the post, I’ve included some Asian recipes with information about the growth of American adaptation of Asian flavors.

Steve Petusevsky writes “Vegetarian Today” in the Sun-Sentinel, my local newspaper. In the July 17, 2008 issue, he writes about his Asian Peanut Lo Mein, a salad for which he keeps the ingredients ready but unmixed until time to eat it. The salad is here.

For my current High Energy Diet salad, I keep mandarin oranges, grape tomatoes with carrot matchsticks, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), and two different types of greens from Fresh Express. I have each ingredient in separate clear containers so that I can mix a salad up when I feel hungry. Sometimes I add other things such as red onions or drained water chestnuts. For my dressing I use Newman’s Own Light Raspberry and Walnut. I love Newman dressings and I appreciate the millions that have gone to charity through the sale of these dressings.

Links for Asian information and recipes:

Asian flavors finding flavor with American taste buds

Asian flavor barbeque chicken recipe

Asian online recipes includes:

Steamy kitchen: modern Asian–fast, fresh, and simple enough for tonight’s supper

Mediterrasian–showcases the Mediterranean diet and the Asian diet

Temple of Thai has Thai recipes for curry, chicken/poultry, fish/shrimp, appetizers, rice, salads, desserts, beef, noodles, soup, vegetarian, and pork.

Lily’s Wai Sek Hong has great recipes. If you like her site, vote for her at FoodBuzz.

My Basic Foods I Used For First Loss

kberman — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:48:20 +0000

My food program revolves around my choice of vegetable—the sweet potato. As I’ve mentioned, I eat this when I am physically hungry. For me, this generally doesn’t begin until 11 AM-4 PM. I put margarine and dark brown sugar on it and microwave it. I count this as 300 calories.

The brown sugar is 15 calories per teaspoon so I am generous with it because it is so delicious. When evaluating calories, you will be doing yourself a big favor if you increase the calories rather than decreasing them on your vegetable. This has to be the most satisfying food you eat all day. If you’ve chosen well, it will hold you until supper.

My chewing need in met by my apples and my Greek Salad. For this salad I use seedless cucumbers from Canada, small grape tomatoes, red peppers, crumbled low fat feta cheese, and red onion. I sometimes add Greek peperoncini. I count this as 100 calories for a small bowl and have it several times a day. The salad dressing I make is ¼ cup of balsamic vinegar, ½ tsp. of lemon juice, ½ salt, 1 glove garlic minced very fine, ½ tsp. Dijon mustard, and ½ tsp. of dried oregano. This recipe is recipe 118629 from fooddownunder.com.

My husband and I are unusual about eating out—we rarely do—so I cook a main meal at least once a day and sometimes twice. I eat my portion on a small dish. I allow 200-400 calories for this. Sometimes I eat my own food. I don’t want to ever feel deprived (except for those days I deliberately have a modified fast).

A hot beverage or soup will help you over a desire for something and the ones I use have few calories. The hot beverages I use to satisfy by emotional hunger are:

Café Bustelo Cappuccino Sugar Free 1 envelope 45 calories

Nestlé’s Hot Chocolate Sugar Free 1 envelope 60 calories

I add Splenda for extra sweetness which is 0 calories

Progresso Soups—many of them are 100 or less calories per serving. Some of the flavors available are:

• Beef & Mushroom
• Beef Vegetable
• Carb Monitor Chicken Vegetable
• Chicken & Wild Rice
• Chicken Noodle
• Chicken Noodle 99% Fat Free
• Chicken Rice with Vegetables
• Escarole in Chicken Broth
• French Onion
• Garden Vegetable
• Hearty Chicken & Rotini
• Hearty Penne in Chicken Broth
• Homestyle Chicken with Vegetables & Pearl Pasta
• Roasted Chicken Garden Herb
• Roasted Chicken Italian

• Roasted Chicken Rotini
• Roasted Chicken with Wild Rice 99% Fat Free

• Roasted Garlic Chicken with Vegetables & Penne
• Turkey Noodle
• Vegetable
• Vegetable Italian
• Vegetarian Vegetable with Barley

You can buy Progresso soups by the case at Amazon.

For my sweet potato and Greek Salad, I use the following:

Land ‘o Lakes Fresh Buttery Taste spread 80 calories per tablespoon

Dark brown sugar 15 calories per teaspoon

Sweet potato—I like the large ones—which is 150-200 calories. I count it as 300 once I’ve added the brown sugar and margarine

Maple Grove Farm Fat Free Greek Dressing

2 tablespoons 15 calories

(Any Maple Grove Fat Free Dressing is good.)

Feta cheese ¼ cup 70 or 90 calories

Red Peppers (without stem and seeds) 20 calories

Small grape tomatoes 1 pound=100 calories

Seedless cucumbers 8 ounces+32 calories

For easy protein, StarKist has tuna in a flavor fresh pouch. I like herb and garlic, zesty lemon and the spicy mix.

My Treat List:

Smuckers Cherry Jam 50 calories per tablespoon

Sun chips (especially Garden Salsa) 15 chips 140 calories

Pepperidge Farm bread 12 or 15-grain bread 150 calories per slice

White bread with thick crust from bakers-I eat the two ends because I love the crust and count this as 200 calories.

Fudge bars—110 calories

Walden Farms has several great no carbs and sugar free products. I especially love the chocolate syrup. I put a little in a bowl and cut up my apple and dip it into the syrup for a 100 calorie treat.

Major Food Groups Foods

kberman — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:46:42 +0000

Protein–Animal versus vegetable protein; sources of complementary proteins (grains-legumes-nuts/seeds), and combinations to create complete proteins: http://www.bodyforlife2.com/incompletprotein.htm

Proteins are made up of a set of building blocks called amino acids. Some amino acids must be obtained from the food we eat. We cannot make them ourselves so we call these essential amino acids – they are an essential part of our diet. Other amino acids, the non-essential ones can be made in our bodies so we don’t need them in the food we eat.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/asguru/biology/02biologicalmolecules/01proteins/index.shtml

Vegetable proteins-Here’s a quick guide to what you should eat and a round-up of vegetarian proteins:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/vegetarian_and_vegan/vegetarianproteins.shtml