Rule #1: Can you take a wild guess what the first rule topic is? . . . WATER! No surprise here. The rule he gives is that you should drink a full glass of water before all your meals every day. I don't know about you, but in my house, a full glass is about 16 oz if you use a tall one. That is a good start. Bob recommends at least 5 glasses a day. Now depending on which glass you use, that could be 5 - 16 oz glasses or 10 - 8 oz. Not sure if he really meant 5 - 8 oz glasses, but my guess is they are the 16 oz glasses. He also advises that you start your waking moment with a glass of water too. From the various things that I have read, a nice, cold glass of water gets that metabolism burning. Your body needs to warm that water up in your system, and how does it do that? It creates heat. So know this that the best way you could possible drink water is icy cold when it comes to weight loss.
Rule #2: I have said this to a number of people before when it comes to teaching them about weight loss and what they can do better for their bodies. I am sure that I probably heard it said on "The Biggest Loser" a number of times. Don't drink your calories! Part of the obesity epidemic that we have in our nation is the fact that we drink things like juice, soda, monster drinks, Starbucks . . . . the list goes on and on. While juice may not be nearly as bad as what some of the other drinks contain, because you have taken away much of the nutrients that you take in from the actual fruit, most of what it contains is the sugar. It is better for you to eat the fruit then to drink the sugar juice. Less chance of your blood sugar spiking. If you are the type to drink non-calorie drinks. Think to yourself, is this really the kind of liquid that I want to put in my body? Diet sodas are still carbonated, they still contain things that do not benefit your body in anyway. Why spend the money on something that is not going to benefit you? I agree, you shouldn't deprive yourself of everything, but there is a difference between having it at a party and having it on your grocery list every week. Save your sodas for times when you want to treat yourself. If you'd like a little fruit juice, try mixing one serving of fruit in your water for the day. That way you are not over doing the calories and you have a little something sweet in your water. For all those caffeine drinkers out there, it is not your friend. My experience has been that caffeine will wake me up only make me feel more dreary and fatigued once the effects wear off. I have weaned myself off of caffeine, and you know what? I feel better and more awake then I did when I was drinking it nearly every day. If you must have your coffee, just be aware of what you put in it. Black is best, but lower fat milks can be added. I do have some green tea or chai from time to time, but I try not to overdue it. They have many benefits to them, but they can also cause you to dehydrate. For every cup of tea or coffee, you should be drinking an additional cup of water is what I have heard.
Rule #3 Here is one that I find to be very helpful. Eat protein at Every Meal. This includes snacks. In case you are not aware, meat and dairy are not the only sources of protein. There are several grains, nuts, and beans that contain a high percentage of protein. Whether you eat 3 times a day, 5 times, or 7 times, about 25-30% of what you eat should be protein. For a snack, you might choose to have a granola bar with nuts, apple or celery with peanut butter or a cheese stick. Those would be my choices. Whatever you eat, make sure you are ingesting some protein at every meal. The reason for this is that it suppresses that feeling of needing to eat. Fish is Bob's fave! I did not grow up eating fish all that much. But over the years I've learned to like it a little more. Studies have shown that adding fish to your diet increases weight loss. Fish contain fatty acids which essentially help our bodies just to run smoothly. All the plaque that may be in your arteries? Fatty acids help to get rid of that. If you are thinking of going vegetarian, take into consideration that while you may feel much better to start, eventually, it will effect your energy. You don't have to go overboard on meats and cheeses, but you don't want to effect your health in another way as well. I remember not too long ago a picture that was posted of two people. One is a vegetarian, the other is a meat-eater. The vegetarian looked old an wrinkly while the other looked youthful and vibrant. You can be healthy and eat your meat. Especially now that the meat industry is looking for better ways to treat our animals and process them less.
More to come later . . . .
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