Why I Don't Use the Word Diet

I started bodybuilding in September 1984. At that time, I barely weighed 90 lbs. I learned to change my diet so I could put on muscle weight and be leaner. A bodybuilder’s diet is not a realistic diet though. It is too restrictive at contest time and allows for an overabundance of protein in the off season too. The extreme dieting for a competition is not healthy in the long run. Many former bodybuilders who don’t eat a clean diet all year round eventually become fat former bodybuilders. I see it all the time. For that reason, I often caution men and women who decide to compete in bodybuilding and fitness events about the dangers of extreme dieting required for the sport. I recommend that they compete to experience the wonderful sport fitness has become but warn them that there is a life after competition. The extreme dieting can cause a person to binge eat afterwards and develop new fat cells. Over time their ability to store fat increases. This is not a good thing.

Dieting is a word I don’t use and don’t believe in. However, the media still touts dieting as the only way to lose weight. (Informercials are notorious for this type of hype). A diet is made up of food groups that are good or bad for you. Most are fads that are extremely popular then fade away. The Atkins Diet though, has been around for a long time. Its appeal is quick weight loss. However, the weight is mostly from water and muscle. The excess protein and fat recommended by the Atkins diet can cause a heart attack and other dangerous health problems. Other fads are the detox diets. This is a form of liquid diet that uses raw food and advocates the cleansing of toxins from the body. It is so restrictive and can cause renal failure. It is dangerous. Nature detoxes us daily with a wonderful natural substance called fiber found naturally in fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grain products.

The eating style, not diet, that I can recommend is the South Beach Diet. Dr. Agatston, its founder, is a famous cardiologist in South Florida. He writes a health column for Prevention Magazine. He recounted in an interview that his diet book was an accident. He said that his heart patients wanted some kind of eating plan so he started giving them recipes and guidelines. He then started putting these in book form and it became a hit. Millions of copies are sold yearly. His guidelines and advice are sound. I recommend his recipes and philosophy about weight loss even though I don’t want anyone to diet. Please go to http://www.southbeachdiet.com/sbd/publicsite/about-dr-agatston.aspx for more information.

Weight watchers is another eating style that I recommend. http://www.weightwatchers.com/plan/apr/index.aspx.They advocate making healthy choices, staying fuller longer,cutting back on calories and group support. I’ve watched their success over the years and find their philosophies are very close to the same ones I teach in The Mona Roberts Exercise Camp on Guam. My camps are taught in groups that meet and have 30 minute lectures on lifestyle changes and nutrition followed by a walk or walk/jog and an abdominal and lower back strengthening routine. We start weight training in the third week. Students are required to submit daily diaries of their eating and exercise habits. This allows for accountability and for me to monitor their progress and give advice in a timely manner. I also have my students over to my home for a low-fat cooking class where I show them how to modify the most common dishes. This interactive time is crucial to one’s success in the long run.

To start a weight loss or weight management program you should keep a daily journal of your eating and try to eat 4-5 smaller meals a day. Write down your thoughts and feelings in the journal as well. This will help you get rid of some of the stress that may come with lifestyle changes. Writing in a journal is a way of letting go, of expressing oneself without being judged. At the end of each week, read through the journal looking for red flags like fried food, skipped meals, too much alcohol or soda and/or not eating throughout the day. It may be overwhelming but it’s a start. You won’t be perfect at this but you will improve slowly. Just having more energy or being in a good mood are signs that you’re eating better. When you skip meals you become lethargic and grumpy. Hang in there, it can be done. Remember, you have the rest of your life to fine tune this routine right? Good luck. Feel free to email me if you should have any questions.

Which is Worse, Fat, Sodium or Sugar?

While attending a lecture at a Black church in Poughkeepsie New York, given by a renowned medical doctor from Stanford University, a participant raised his hand and asked “Which is worse, fat, sugar or sodium”? The Doctor quickly answered “sodium”. This was a surprise to everyone as this lecture was about diabetes and its prevention. This perked everyone’s interest and sparked debate. Sodium, not sugar?

Fat, sugar and sodium are all bad for you in excess or if the wrong or poor type is ingested. Transfat and saturated fat are bad for you. Refined sugar in any form is also bad for the body. But when you’re talking about diabetes, it seems that we all tend to dismiss just how much excess sodium in the diet can exacerbate or even cause diabetes.

Sodium is a necessary mineral. If you don’t get enough, your heart can stop beating. Too much and you become bloated and steal water from your cells. Your heart then has to pump harder because that sodium is traveling through your circulatory system. But how does this contribute to diabetes?

When teaching the Mona Roberts Fitness and Wellness exercise camps, I always start my lecture on sodium by saying “The saltier the food the hungrier it makes you”. Salty food stimulates the appetite. Pacific Islanders love finadene, a sauce made with soy sauce vinegar or lemon, onions and boonie peppers. Some Chamorros (natives of Guam) even add more salt to finadene. My mother taught me to do that. Finadene is put on everything, from eggs, rice, any meat, chicken pork and more. No household on Guam is without its staple, soy sauce. Chinese add oyster sauce to their dishes. Filipinos add Patis, a fish sauce to their dishes. These sauces make most Asian dishes high in sodium. Fast food too is extremely high in sodium. Mexican dishes, and Italian dishes are salty as well. You may not notice the saltiness when dining out because you’ve become accustomed to the taste.

The ingestion of high sodium food on a daily basis causes what I call SPF (sodium poofy face), the roundness of the face and neck resulting from a daily diet extremely high in sodium and low in water. Thirst is nature’s way of signaling the need to drink water to flush the excess sodium out of your system. However, whenever someone is out at a bar or restaurant and gets thirsty during a high sodium meal, most everyone orders a mixed drink, soda or juice. Rarely does anyone order water. Your thirst will never be satisfied by anything but plain water because only water can remove the excess sodium from the circulatory system. This is a cycle that causes one to drink more calorie laden drinks, and to eat more. Thus, the individual gains more water weight AND weight from the excess fat, carbohydrates and protein they’ve ingested.

So the relation between diabetes and high sodium is now easy to understand. A diet high in salt results in excess weight gain. The excess fat gain spews hormones in the abdomen that wreck havoc on the system. Every time you eat any kind of sugar good or bad your body has to release insulin to take the sugar to the cells to be used for energy. If the person is inactive then the food is stored as fat. The more fat you wear, the more stress you put on your heart and pancreas.

The best advice I can give everyone is to cut down on sodium. Read labels on packaged and canned goods. Numbers higher that 450 mg. per serving is high sodium. Stay away from fast food and chain restaurants. If you do choose to eat at a chain restaurant, ask for sauces on the side. Tell the waiter to ask the chef not to over salt or over season. Order water with your meal to help you stay hydrated.

Avoid pickles as they’re extremely high in sodium. Drink mainly water throughout the day. And go for daily walks. The sweat helps get rid of excess sodium through your pores. But remember to take bottled water and hydrate before, during and after exercise. When you’re thirsty, it’s too late. You should never be thirsty. You should never ever be thirsty. Once you’re thirsty, it’s too late… you are dehydrated. So drink up! Water that is.