If you have accidentally found Part Two without having read Part One of "The Diet that Really Works," please go back and read that first. As I pointed out in Part One most diets are available at a cost, this eating plan is free and really will work, so bookmark this page, practice the simple plan and when it does work for you, send the address to all your friends. In this section I will talk about what to eat and when. There are a few simple principles behind this part of the eating plan. As pointed out in Part One you will eat little and often. You will increase protein, fiber and calcium consumption, while decreasing sugars, fats and carbohydrates. Notice that I say decrease, not cut out. Some sugars, fat and carbs are essential to a healthy diet, but we will focus on the "good" ones, cutting out the "bad."
On the subject of a high protein, low carb diet, many of you will have probably experienced the illness, headaches, nausea and general un-wellness associated with a certain "Doctors" fad diet, that swept the world not that long ago. He too proscribed high protein intake and minimum of carbs. I am not, repeat not, telling you to live like a savage off nothing but meat. In fact for most of us our meat consumption is already too high. Most meat is laced with "bad" types of fat and is high on the calorie count. The best meat you can eat is turkey, lean and high in protein. Replacing red meat with white can, on its own, produce quite remarkable results. The reason that high protein diets are good is that your body takes more time and uses more energy breaking down such foods than with sugars and carbs. A side effect of this is that high protein foods will keep you feeling fuller for longer and keep blood sugars more stable, avoiding a crash that requires you eat more or sooner or sweeter than intended. Protein is also a great muscle building food, as we have seen muscle mass equals greater calories burned, even while resting. A high protein diet means so much more than just eating more meat. Dairy is a great source of protein and also contains high calcium, which I will address below. Protein supplements are widely available these days in the form of powders, bars and even cereal. I highly recommend bringing these into your diet to help with increasing overall protein intake. However be careful of hidden sugars in such products. (See Part Three- What Not To Eat.)
Dairy and calcium will also be of utmost importance. It has been shown that high calcium intake inhibits your body's ability to produce new fat cells. You can bullet-proof yourself against fat by increasing calcium intake! How amazing is that? Simultaneously you will increase your overall protein intake by increasing dairy foods. On the subject of dairy, though, comes my first warning about hidden sugars and fats. Beware yogurts that claim to be low fat or "diet" products, these almost universally contain high sugars which your body will turn into fat anyway. The best type of yogurt is plain, natural, unsweetened and low fat. These can be told apart from the others by looking at the ingredients, they should contain yogurt and nothing else. Plain yogurt may sound unappealing but can quickly be turned into a delicious, dessert-like treat by adding fresh fruit or berries. Again yogurts that already have fruit in them tend to be high in refined sugars. By adding natural fresh fruit to a plain yogurt you ensure that the whole meal is healthy, low fat, low sugar, high protein and high calcium. Milk is obviously another great dairy product, but try cutting down from full cream to skimmed and then from skimmed to fat free. Most people dislike this idea for reasons of taste, but you will get used to the lower fat milk quickly and enjoy it just as much as full cream. Cheese is a staple in my diet, but most cheese comes at a high fat price. Either cut down on your consumption or try cottage cheese. Cottage cheese gives all the benefits with none of the compromises, but, again, people dislike it for reasons of taste. A good way to liven up cottage cheese is by adding something to it. Fruit, particularly pineapple, can take the blandness out of the dish. I like to mix in Marmite or Vegemite to give the cottage cheese a beefy taste. Experiment with it you will find cottage cheese highly versatile and easy to incorporate into many enjoyable meals.
The great carbs conspiracy. To carb or not to carb? Honestly, it's a stupid question. Carbs are essential to a healthy diet. We need carbs. The problem is that most of us overeat them, eat the wrong kinds and at the wrong times. We all need our daily bread, but highly refined white flour contains virtually no nutrients and hardly any fiber, this applies to pasta, pie, anything bready made from white flour. These foods while containing no useful nutrition, are easily turned to sugar, causing a spike in blood sugars that forces the body to store them as fat and makes us feel hungrier again sooner. Eating a whole grain alternative gives both useful nutrients and higher fiber, that combats the blood sugar spike, so we get some dietary worth from our bread, not just a few more inches on the waist. As well as dry, bready carbs we also get carbs from fruit, vegetables, beans and salads. These are obviously of utmost importance to our health, if we tried to cut out carbs by reducing these our health would suffer immeasurably, as some of you may have experienced first hand on the diet of the infamous "Doctor."
Conversely, these foods should feature as much in your diet as possible. Besides the awesome nutrition and health giving properties we are all aware of (or should be) fruit and veg helps your digestion which again assists in shedding unhealthy weight. Beans in particular are high in fiber and protein, you should try to increase your consumption of these as much as possible. Another warning about processed beans though, watch out for high sugar in sauces and hidden or manufactured sugars on the ingredients list. (More on this in Part Three - What Not to Eat.) Overall increases in fibre and wholegrains will improve your digestion, increase metabolic rate and sabilise blood sugars. These benefits can only be achieved by eating carbs. But, here comes the warning, eat less of them, most people eat far too much, especially dry carbs, and try to eat them earlier in the day when they will be used for energy, not stored as fat.
