Three Rules to Live By

The Flat Belly Diet book gives "Three Rules to Live By" that I think everyone can benefit from. They are:

1. Stick to 400 calories per meal
   
2. Never go more than 4 hours without eating
   
3. Eat a MUFA at every meal
   

1. Stick to 400 calories per meal. Once again, I'm NOT an advocate for counting calories, but this is around the portion size of meal you should be eating. (I'm about eating the right types of foods and not worrying so much about calories) but portion size is still huge. We'd all be wise to have consistently smaller portions throughout the day with our meals, and this rule emphasizes that. I don't think that means counting your calories every single time you have a meal, but you should figure out about how much is TOO much and what a good portion for your body is. This might be a good way to start.

2. Never go more than 4 hours without eating. HUGE FAN of this rule! This is SO TRUE! There is more than just common sense to this rule. The obvious reason is that if you go more than 4 hours without eating you'll be so starving for your next meal that you'll overeat. But what some people don't realize is that when you skip meals, your metabolism actually SLOWS DOWN and you'll only end up burning the amount of calories that your body thinks it needs. So when you start eating more (because you always do) your body will only burn the amount of calories it thinks it needs to burn, which is less than what you're eating.  So if you're skipping meals, your body won't be burning as much, but instead STORING that food you eat as fat. It's your body's way of keeping itself alive called - starvation mode. If you eat (healthy choices) every 3-4 hours, then your body will be constantly burning that food instead, because it knows it will eat again soon and wants to burn off the food or energy you just put into your body. Our bodies are very smart, we just need to learn how to work with them :)

3. Eat a MUFA at every meal. When I first read this I said a MUFA what? It stands for "monounsaturated fatty acid". These are the good fats (you know, the opposite of bad fats such as trans fats...) in foods like almonds, peanut butter, olive oil, avocados, and hummus. Here are some benefits the book gives to why these fats are so important:

• Protect your heart
• Ward off Type 2 Diabetes
• Cut Metabolic Syndrome Risk (low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, or high insulin)
  
• Reduce Inflammation
  
• Lower your risk of Breast Cancer
• Keep your Brain Healthy
• Extend your life
  

The book gives greater detail for each of these obviously, but I just wanted you to see the benefits. The last one you might be most interested in:

• Target Belly Fat: "A 2007 study...found that a MUFA rich diet prevented central body fat distribution, compared with a high carbohydrate and high-saturated diet of the same calorie level."

There were other studies done as well that showed those with a higher MUFA intake opposed to other unhealthy fats had a smaller waistline and lower fat mass than those on a different diet.

I know our society is so afraid of fat and everything is fat-free. But just remember, Fat doesn't make you Fat. Bad fats do, yes, you're right. But GOOD fats are GOOD for you. So maybe you don't have to do what the book says and eat it at every meal, but don't shy away from the good fats and try to incorporate them into your diet, keeping portion sizes in mind.

So these are just some things to think about that might set you in the right direction to being aware of what kinds of foods and how much food you're putting into your body.