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Get
Real:
A
Personal Guide to Real-Life Weight Management
Theory:
Real-life weight management is a
dynamic interaction of three constantly evolving elements: real-life
self-empowerment, real-life exercise, and real-life eating.
This weight loss program works on the 80/20 principle: do what you
know you’re supposed to do 80% of the time.
Get Real is not a low calorie diet plan. It’s a lifestyle plan to help
you become healthier. It’s focus is on accepting yourself for who you
are, getting more active, and eating sensibly.
Both the quantity of food and the quality of food matter.
The 80/20 plan simply means that you’re not going to approach your
eating plan from the extremes: always/never, good/bad.
Unless you’re allergic to it, there is no one food you should
never eat.
Carbohydrates:
Most experts recommend that we get between 60-65% of our daily calories
from carbs, most the complex kind (grains, vegetables, legumes (beans and
peas), fruits and milk). Two
potential problems:
- The
body converts all the carbs we eat into glucose. Since you can use
only a certain amount of glucose at a time, if the blood sugar level
is too high, insulin starts a process whereby some of the glucose is
changed to fat.
- The
rapid rise in blood sugar likely causes too much insulin to be
released, resulting in a couple of hours later in a temporarily low
blood sugar level. The brain
senses this, leading to a potential craving for more sugar
Fats:
About 20-25% of our calories should be from fat.
Most of the fat you consume should be unsaturated. Choose skim or
1% milk, low-fat cheeses and yogurt, and olive, sesame, safflower, and
canola oil
Protein:
About 10-15% of daily calories is the general recommendation.
Plant foods are incomplete proteins.
Including some animal food in your diet is an easy way to ensure
that you’re getting complete proteins, as well as other vitals nutrients
like vitamin B12.
To meet
women’s nutritional needs
- Eat
at least 1,200 calories a day
- Include
3 glasses of skim milk, or 3 servings of nonfat yogurt (for calcium)
- Drink
some orange juice with the meal which has some animal food (vitamin C
helps iron absorption, and has a good amount of folic acid)
- Eat
more lentils and spinach (both excellent sources of folic acid)
Water:
Drink at least eight glasses of water day, in addition to the fruit and
veggie juice you may consume in moderation. But space the drinking out
because it allows more of the water to go from the bloodstream into the
cells, where it’s needed
A
Sensible Diet is one which, at least 80% of
the time, provides 6-11 servings from the bread, cereal, rice and pasta;
3-5 servings from the vegetable group; 2-4 servings from the fruit group;
2-3 servings from the milk, yogurt and cheese group; and not very much
from the fats and sweets group. (based on the Food Guide Pyramid)
Sample
Menu
- Breakfast:
1 toast (jelly), 1 banana, 1 cup cereal, 1 cup 1% milk, coffee
- Lunch:
turkey breast sandwich, 1 carrot, 1 cup 1% milk
- Dinner:
4 veggie salad, 1 cup pasta, 1 cup 1% milk, 1 cup frozen yogurt, water
- Snack:
grapes
Daniel Kosich, Ph.D. 1995.
San Diego
: IDEA, Inc.
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