By Curtis Price

Lean and Green

The subject of weight and weight loss always seems to come up during my interaction with customers and just in random conversations. I am not sure if it’s because people know that I own a specialty health food store, but I seem to always have discussions with various individuals about how they can lose weight. Over the years I have found that if you try to give too much information, you may end up confusing them more than helping them. That is why as a society, we have so many “Diet” books hitting the bookstands every year and still seem to be leading the world in obesity and diabetes. There is such an overload of information out there that it’s hard to really get a clear understanding of what exactly you should be doing. Just the other day I was talking with a customer who was asking me if I had heard of a new diet called “The Bead Diet”.

 In a nutshell, the diet is more along the lines of a Fast and you eat only between certain times and certain foods and the weight just drops off. This is exactly what I am talking about! I mean if anyone was to do a true Fast, they would surely drop excess weight. I mean, your Fasting! During our conversation, we both wondered, “what happens after the fast”? Well, you go right back to eating the same foods that you were eating which in turn caused the weight gain in the first place and guess what, yep those pounds come right! It may even come back with an even greater rate of return, and unfortunately, this isn’t about your portfolio. You see, once again we are after that ever elusive “Quick Fix” and that isn’t the path that you want to be on. So with that said, my advice to living a truly healthy lifestyle without driving yourself absolutely bonkers is to focus on two words LEAN and GREEN! I know that that doesn’t sound complex and trust me there is no Fasting or mixing up some crazy concoction that you have to drink at exactly 2:38pm or else it won’t work. No, that is not the case. 

What makes LEAN and GREEN even more appealing is that the entire family can do it! Now you may be asking yourself “how can these two words have an impact on my dieting frustrations”?  To answer that question, first, it has to do with Fiber.  Second, it has do with Protein. They are absolutely critical in how you will lose weight, combat diabetes and start to live an overall healthy lifestyle.

LEAN- Lean basically refers to meat or any other meat substitute. It is very critical that we get proper protein into our diets regardless if you’re a vegetarian or not. Protein contains Amino Acids which are truly the building blocks of health. Not only are they important to your overall health, Protein keeps you full! Now, I have to say here that this doesn’t mean you should go out and consume an entire cow or a plate full of meat! Not only is that glutinous, but too much protein causes other parts of your body to work extra hard in order to digest all the protein.  That isn’t a good thing. The main thing to understand is that lean meats are all going to play the same role regardless if it’s a chicken breast or lamb chop. Protein is protein! Now, as I have pointed out in previous articles, try to eat as much Organic or Free Range protein as you can. They don’t contain all the steroids and hormones, and it isn’t purposely fattened up with corn so that it can be slaughtered at a faster rate.

GREEN- Green basically refers to veggies and between you and I, I doubt that there will be any doctor or nutritionist that won’t tell you to eat your veggies! Vegetables are essential to your health because they provide Fiber along with Enzymes. Fiber is key because it bulks up inside you once it’s consumed making you full.  The Enzymes are absolutely critical because they help your body digest and break down the protein! Proper digestion is a key component to your health and is something that we sometimes ignore. Another thing to keep in mind with vegetables is that the darker the leaf, the more nutritionally dense the veggie. With that in mind, take spinach versus a potato or, broccoli versus rice. Not only are you eating healthier foods, vegetables won’t leave with that “bloated gotta loosen up the pants” feeling!

So here is my suggestion for your next lunch or dinner, have your plate consist of two vegetables, for example, lightly steamed broccoli and string beans and a proper portion of protein. Accompany that with a nice garden salad and not only do you have a refreshing and filling meal but your eating an extremely nutritious meal that will absolutely not add to your waistline. As the weather starts to get warmer outside and summer is in clear sight, have fun with it and get creative! This doesn’t have to be a depriving and horrific experience. This same LEAN and GREEN concept can apply to eating out as well, I mean you’re paying for the meal so you better believe that I am very quick to tell the server to hold the mashed potatoes and bring grilled veggies in its place. Restaurants nowadays are very understanding and eager to meet the demands of people’s particular diets and have no problem making changes. Again, you’re paying for it so they should be willing to bend over backwards to ensure that you are happy.  After incorporating this eating behavior for awhile, not only will you be happy, but you will be heading down the right path toward living a truly healthy lifestyle!

Curtis Price
www.whoathatslow.com

Watch Me Discuss “Lean and Green” Live
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07AWu98V-Pc