7

THE EATING PLAN

WELCOME BACK CARBOHYDRATES

I entered graduate school at Florida State University in Tallahassee in 1968 with all my strength-training beliefs about the fattening properties of carbohydrates and muscle-building effects of protein foods. Dr. Harold E. Schendel, my major nutrition professor at Florida State University from 1968 to 1973, was instrumental in switching my views and practices related to the importance of carbohydrates.

Schendel convinced me to experiment with my own body. A year of detailed study and critical analyses revealed that massive protein intakes did not work to my advantage in trying to build muscle and lose fat. In fact, I did not get the results I was after until I significantly lowered my protein intake and drastically increased my grams of carbohydrate each day.

I had been a reasonably successful competitive bodybuilder for ten years, so it was a difficult lesson for me to learn. But I did learn, and expand. In 1972, after two years of carbohydrate-rich eating, I finally won the bodybuilding title—Collegiate Mr. America—that I had chased for four years.

To Africa and Back

As I think back on my nutritional experiences at Florida State University, I remember vividly a story Schendel told me. In 1956, just having finished his PhD in nutritional biochemistry at the University of Illinois, he was hired by the University of Cape Town’s medical school in South Africa. There he joined a team of doctors who were rushed into a drought-stricken area where a famine had been progressing for several years. Once organized, their initial objective was to assemble the starving children, who were suffering from kwashiorkor, and feed them a special high-protein diet.

After days of feeding—sometimes force-feeding—these bloated-bellied, tiny-limbed children, Schendel realized many of the children were getting worse and dying. “Why don’t we try something different?” he asked. “Why don’t we try a mush made with simple sugar, water, and butter?”

The new supplies were flown in and the mush was distributed. It worked. Force-feeding was no longer necessary. “The children loved the taste of the sugar, water, and butter,” Schendel recalled. “The children lived…and began to stand and move around.” After a week or so, Schendel and his team added small amounts of proteins, vitamins, and minerals to the mixture.

“I learned something of great value,” Schendel remembered. “Starving bodies need calories in the form of simple sugars, simple carbohydrates. But many of my team, including me, had forgotten that. Thank God my nutritional studies on the importance of carbohydrates at Illinois were not in the distant past. Thank God for carbohydrates. Thank God for sugar.”

I had been greatly influenced by reading muscle magazines and their cleverly designed collections of editorials, articles, and advertisements that promoted protein supplements and high-protein eating. Schendel reminded me repeatedly of the importance of carbohydrates in overall well-being.

During his four years in Africa, Schendel had saved many lives. In a way, he had also “saved” my life, because he and his eye-opening experiences had given me the motivation, ammunition, and energy to fight the bamboozle related to high-protein eating in both muscle building and fat loss.

Carbohydrate-rich eating is still doing that for me.

Hydrated Carbons and Protein Sparing

Another meaningful concept that I learned from Schendel related to the fact that humans have no way to capture solar energy. Plants, however, can and do, by using sunlight to combine carbon dioxide and water. The product of this combination is a hydrated carbon.

Look carefully at that term: hydrated carbon. Now turn it around: car-bo-hy-drate. Hydrated carbons and carbohydrates are one and the same. That’s why carbohydrates in abundance are necessary to keep your body saturated with water. That’s one reason carbohydrates saved the lives of many starving children in Africa: With carbohydrates in their systems, they could more easily hold on to what little water they could get.

Carbohydrates are also the body’s preferred source of energy. And Schendel was always quick to point out to me—a bodybuilder—that carbohydrates were “protein sparing,” meaning that adequate carbohydrates allow a moderate amount of dietary proteins to go a long way.

Said another way, the body can use proteins for energy, but it’s a long process. It prefers to use carbohydrates for fast, sustainable energy.

What Schendel proved to me, and what is generally misunderstood by many fitness-minded individuals, was the following:

Carbohydrates should be emphasized, not neglected. The best sources of carbohydrates are vegetables, fruits, beans, and whole grains.

Don’t be afraid to consume moderate amounts of sugar and refined-flour products.

Schendel believed that almost any food could be meaningful and healthy, with a little sugar thrown in for taste appeal.

A Look at the Basics

From my work with Dr. Schendel, the guidelines endorsed by the American Heart Association, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association), my experiences with old-school nutrition, and my studies with thousands of fitness-minded people, I developed the following nutritional guidelines for losing fat:

Calories per Day

In spite of what some popular authors would have you believe, the laws of thermodynamics are constant. All things in nature—including human metabolism—are governed by thermodynamics.

One gram of carbohydrate and 1 gram of protein each contain 4 calories, while 1 gram of fat contains 9 calories. All calories from carbohydrates, proteins, and fats count toward the surplus, or deficit, of fat metabolism. Once it is consumed, there is no way to weaken, discount, or bypass a food’s calories. To lose fat, you must consume fewer calories than you burn each day.

Your calories per day should not be too low, or your body may pull nutrients from your muscles and vital organs, which is not desirable. The majority of people I’ve worked with achieve optimum fat-loss results by adhering to daily calorie levels that range from 1,800 to 1,400 for men, depending on body size, and 1,500 to 1,200 for women.

During my six-week Killing Fat program, I like to decrease daily calories by 100 with each two-week period. Such a gradual reduction makes your body more efficient at the fat-burning process. My recommended calories per day for the six-week program are as follows:

Men: 1,600 (weeks 1 and 2), 1,500 (weeks 3 and 4), and 1,400 (weeks 5 and 6)

Women: 1,400 (weeks 1 and 2), 1,300 (weeks 3 and 4), and 1,200 (weeks 5 and 6)

Meal Size

Fat loss is aided by eating small meals. There’s a thin line between a small meal and a medium meal. I draw that line at 400 calories for women and 500 calories for men.

A large meal, or a meal of 1,000 calories or more (typical in the United States), triggers excessive insulin production. Insulin is your body’s most powerful pro-fat hormone. Small meals of 400 calories or fewer bring on small insulin responses. Thus, it is to your advantage to consume downsized meals.

Meal Frequency

The goal is six small, evenly spaced meals a day. “Evenly spaced” means no longer than three hours should elapse between each eating episode: breakfast, lunch, and dinner; and snacks at midmorning, midafternoon, and night. In this book, a snack consisting of 100 to 200 calories counts as one of your six meals. Meals over 200 calories are reserved for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The size of your six meals, the time between them, and the total number of calories you consume each day have all been calculated and assembled for your convenience in chapter 11.

DR. KEN SPALDING:
CARBOHYDRATES AND CONSISTENCY

From 2011 through 2018, I strength-trained Dr. Ken Spalding 264 times. When I met Ken, he was soft-spoken and told me up front that he didn’t like heavy leg work. But at the same time, he wanted me to push him hard on his leg exercises, which I have done. Interestingly, Ken has only had one not-up-to-par workout in seven years—which is quite an achievement.

Ken’s work ethic is also strong in his medical career. Several of his colleagues have noted to me that Dr. Spalding is the number one anesthesiologist at Florida Hospital in Orlando, especially in pediatrics.

I’ve noticed many times how vigilant Ken is in his meal planning and eating. Let him take you inside his experience with the Killing Fat program:

I was first introduced to the writings of Dr. Ellington Darden in 1988, when I was a college student in Baltimore. At the time, I was working as an instructor at a Nautilus Fitness Center, and The Nautilus Book was required reading.

After medical school at the University of Maryland, I did my pediatrics and anesthesiology residencies at the University of Florida College of Medicine. During residency, I was a member of Gainesville Health & Fitness, where Dr. Darden was doing research. One of his books, Living Longer Stronger, became the blueprint for how I have approached strength training and eating.

In 2011, I heard that Dr. Darden lived a few miles from my home in Orlando, Florida. I visited him and joined his Intensive Coaching program, in which I have continued to train for seven years.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CARBOHYDRATES

I’ve had a longtime interest in nutrition and have followed the diet industry closely. I was intrigued by the popular low-carbohydrate plans. I tried many of them and, in fact, lost weight. Like many people, however, I just couldn’t stick with this diet long term.

What must be kept in mind is that all diets, whether low-carbohydrate or not, have one thing in common: They are all calorie-restricted. As Dr. Darden has pointed out in this and earlier chapters, the laws of thermodynamics are always in effect.

To lose fat, fewer calories must be consumed than are expended. It’s true that some individuals following a low-carbohydrate diet tend to lose weight more quickly than those on a calorie-restricted diet. This can be explained by a greater initial loss of body fluids, and the tendency of people on low-carbohydrate diets to eat less.

The belief that there is some metabolic advantage for fat loss on a low-carbohydrate diet remains unproven. What is known is that the initial weight loss advantage of a low-carbohydrate diet wanes as time progresses. Low-carbohydrate diets are not sustainable in the long term. An eating plan containing 50 to 60 percent of calories from carbohydrates can be used to achieve a person’s desired weight and be modified by adding or subtracting calories as needed.

CONSISTENCY A MUST

What is the key to remaining lean and fit into my fifties? I can sum it up in one word: CONSISTENCY.

Day after day, week after week, month after month—you must be steady, dependable, and unfailing in your actions and practices.

With Dr. Darden’s books, I’ve found an overall fitness plan that works, and I believe I can follow it for life. Most important, I believe the plan can be adapted for almost anyone. Here are my guidelines:

Remember: Consistency is the key to getting the fat off and the key to keeping it off.

JANE KNUTH, age 40, height 5′9″

AFTER 6 WEEKS

19.25 pounds of fat loss

2.875 inches off waist, 4.25 inches off thighs

3 pounds of muscle gain