3
THE SUGAR IMPACT PLATE
I’m all about giving you the tools you need to succeed. Getting you off high Sugar Impact (SI) foods is too important—in fact, it’s no exaggeration to say it’s a matter of life and death. So you bring the commitment, I’ll bring the strategies, and together we’re going to crush your sugar addiction, get rid of the extra pounds you’ve been lugging around, and get you back in the game, feeling great.
One of the most powerful tools is the Sugar Impact Plate. It’s set up to improve satiety, reduce hunger between meals, create steady sustained energy and focus, and help you burn fat for fuel. It’s your first step in transitioning from a sugar burner to a fat burner. I’ll get into each part of the plate in detail later so you’ll understand its purpose.
When you eat according to the Sugar Impact Plate, with balanced meals of clean, lean protein, healthy fats, colorful non-starchy veggies, and some slow carbs, you’re not going to be chased by cravings all day, and you’ll eat less overall. Plus, what you do eat will be food that heals and honors your body, and burns fat fast.
The Sugar Impact Plate
UNDERSTANDING THE SUGAR IMPACT PLATE
I’ve talked a lot about how this book will help you transition from higher-SI foods to lower-SI foods. But food quality matters, too. And it’s worth understanding how all of the major food players work together to support you and get you to the finish line faster.
Each macronutrient—protein, fat, or carbohydrate—creates its own hormonal response, depending on the quality, timing, and amount you eat. Carbs are a source of energy, and they trigger the release of insulin to help absorb glucose from your blood and move it into your cells, where it’s stored as glycogen or fat. Proteins are the building blocks of lean muscle tissue, and they support satiety by slowing down stomach emptying, which keeps ghrelin, the hunger hormone, suppressed. Fat releases chemicals in the small intestine that tell your brain you are full.
But we don’t typically eat foods in isolation, so what really matters is what happens when those macronutrients are combined. That’s why the Sugar Impact Plate is so important. You may remember that refined sugar by itself is a bad thing (especially liquid sugars like juice and soda), but you should avoid processed foods with added sugar and fat together at all costs—it’s a fat-storing, metabolically toxic combo.
Meanwhile, your body’s reaction is further impacted by your own personal chemistry lab. If you’re diabetic or insulin-resistant, eating certain foods can change you chemically for the worse in a hurry. The good news is that the Sugar Impact Diet will heal your metabolism quickly—all by eating from the Sugar Impact Plate and living by the Sugar Impact Clock, a guide for meal timing to keep your blood sugar nice and even (more about the Sugar Impact Clock later in this chapter). Your body is amazing, and it will heal fast with the right input!
PROTEIN: THE BUILDING BLOCK YOUR BODY NEEDS
One of the fastest ways to calm your sugar cravings is by eating protein. It’s fairly common knowledge that protein is great for filling you up and keeping you satisfied, but did you know that it can actually decrease your cravings, too? It puts the brakes on our neuronal reward system, the brain chemicals that make us feel good and motivate us to get more food, even when we’re not hungry. When we’re low in protein, cravings take over and crack the whip in search of a quick fix.
Protein is made up of amino acids, the building blocks your body needs to make muscle, hormones, and neurotransmitters, and that help you have great hair, skin, and nails and healthy bones. They’re in every tissue in your body. Your body is able to create some amino acids on its own, but there are key amino acids in protein—called essential amino acids—that can only come from food, which is why protein is so important to your health and such a key part of the Sugar Impact Diet.
Many times when a sugar craving hits, your body is really crying out for protein. When you’re low in protein, your system knows it needs energy, and you crave foods that will give you fuel fast. But a refined high-carb treat is only going to raise your blood sugar and trigger an insulin response, which shuts off fat-burning. If you reach for protein instead, it will actually help curb cravings for sweets by giving your body the kind of sustained energy it really needs. By eating protein, you can outsmart your sweet tooth!
Protein only minimally impacts blood sugar and doesn’t create a big insulin spike. That’s because when you eat protein, your pancreas responds by releasing the hormones glucagon and insulin, which help stabilize blood sugar. Insulin’s job is to lower your blood sugar by driving glucose into your cells. Once it’s done its job, glucagon makes sure your blood sugar doesn’t get too low (and you don’t get too cranky) so it raises your blood sugar by driving glycogen, or stored sugar, out of your cells. That’s what you want!
GETTING ENOUGH PROTEIN
Even if you’re eating enough protein, you may not be assimilating it well. You can interfere with its absorption if you’re a speed eater, if you drink too much fluid with your meals, if you don’t chew enough, or if you’ve got low stomach acid. Low stomach acid is a real concern if you’re over 30 or under stress or—worse yet—both. And if you’re taking acid blockers, you’re lowering the stomach acid needed to break down your protein.
So clearly, your goal is to be sure you’re eating enough protein and digesting it well. I’ll get into specific portions for women, men, athletes, and vegans and vegetarians in Chapter 8, but in general, every meal should include 1 serving of clean, lean protein (4–6 ounces of fish, chicken, turkey, or grass-fed beef for women, 6–8 ounces for men). Vegans and vegetarians—hang on, I’ll be back to you in a moment.
In general, the average woman should get 75–80 grams of protein a day, and most men should get 100–120 grams a day. This is based on average size—160 pounds for a woman and 200 pounds for a man. Your protein requirement isn’t static, though. Your weight and body composition will influence the amount of protein you need. It will increase if you’re under stress, if you’re healing, and if you’re doing some heavy resistance training (I’m talking to you, CrossFitters!).
The best protein sources are animal protein, and not just any animal protein. Choose organic, free-range, cage-free, grass-fed, and no-hormones-added sources whenever possible. When you choose fish, avoid farm-raised fish and fish at risk for medium or high levels of the toxic heavy metal mercury, like orange roughy and swordfish (see here for a helpful list).
YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT
One of the things you’ll notice about this program is that it’s going to encourage you to eat more whole foods, the way nature intended. But sadly, not all of the meat, fish and poultry you eat today—foods you might consider to be healthy, natural foods—are as healthy for you as you think they are. You not only are what you eat, but you are what you eat, ate.
I’ll use grass-fed beef as an example. Cows are biologically designed to eat grass and forage. That’s it. So when you buy and eat meat from a cow that’s only ever been fed what it’s naturally meant to eat, you benefit from the purity of the food in that chain. When you don’t ensure your cow was grass-fed, it’s more than likely that you’re getting your meat from an animal that was fed corn, a foreign food source for them. In fact, they’re fed corn specifically to fatten them up. Big leap coming here—what do you think that corn in their diet is doing to you?
And corn-fed cows aren’t just fed any corn, they’re munching on genetically modified corn that has been altered to withstand pests and pesticides. So there goes any diligence you’ve had about keeping genetically modified organisms (GMOs) out of your diet. They’re also being pumped full of antibiotics to protect them from the damage their overly acidic diet is doing to their gut and to keep them from succumbing to disease in the filthy close quarters they’re forced to endure. Plus they’re often given growth hormones so they produce more meat and get to the dinner table faster. Make no mistake about it—their stress becomes your stress. And this is true for all factory animals. When they’re stressed, their stress hormones increase and end up in the meat you eat.
Grass-fed cows get better food and have a higher quality of life, which equates to less stress for them and you. They also have higher omega-3 fatty acids, higher levels of B12, other B vitamins, and trace minerals like magnesium and calcium. Just by letting a cow be happy and allowing it to eat what it wants to eat, you’ll get all that goodness in you. So always choose meat from an animal that was fed its native diet—it’s best for you, too. And supporting farmers who treat their animals humanely is simply the right thing to do.
IF YOU’RE VEGAN OR VEGETARIAN
I’ve included vegetarian/vegan protein powder on my list of protein sources, but unless you’re a vegetarian or vegan for spiritual reasons, I personally don’t advocate getting all your protein from plant-based sources. When you do, you have to eat either a lot of carbohydrates or a lot of fat to get the protein you need. If you can’t be swayed, be extra diligent about including protein powder, legumes (especially lentils), quinoa, nuts, or seeds at each meal. Also, please be sure to take a B12 supplement (B12 is only available to us naturally in animal-based food) and an algae-based omega-3 DHA/EPA supplement as well.
FAT: YOU NEED TO EAT FAT TO BURN FAT
Fat doesn’t make you fat; sugar makes you fat. So connect those dots—a high-sugar diet is actually a high-fat diet. I’m not asking you to tattoo that somewhere, but you should know it as if you had. There are many reasons to start calling fat your friend. For one, it helps curb your cravings for sugar and fast carbs.
Here’s another big reason—fat doesn’t raise your insulin levels at all. As you just learned, protein can raise insulin a little, and fast carbs can raise it a whole lot more. But insulin doesn’t acknowledge fat, and that’s just the way you want it. When your body digests fat, it breaks it down into monoglycerides and free fatty acids, which are absorbed by your small intestine and then connected to form triglycerides. Just as oil and water don’t mix, triglycerides slide through your bloodstream without being absorbed. They connect to other fat, protein, and cholesterol molecules to form lipoproteins or water-soluble molecules that act as shuttles moving these triglycerides around. Once the lipoproteins arrive where they’re meant to be, they break down in one of three ways:
- they become stored as fatty acids in your liver
- they become a source of energy for muscles
- they get stored as fat.
HOW TO GET RESULT #2
The quick answer is to eat the right kind of fats! Healthy fats like avocado and olive oil reduce your appetite and stabilize your blood sugar by slowing the release of sugar into your bloodstream. Because you don’t trigger a surge of insulin, your blood sugar doesn’t drop too low. That means you’re not starving and tortured by more cravings almost as soon as you’ve eaten, like you are when you eat sugar. When fat moves through your small intestine, it triggers satiety signals that tell your brain you’re full.
Our bodies thrive on good fats; they’ve been an essential component to our diet—and brain health—for millions of years. When you’re on a diet rich in healthy fats, you’ll lose more weight, lower your triglycerides, raise your large fluffy HDL cholesterol, and reduce inflammation, which means you’re lowering your risk for chronic disease.
But watch out for fats that take aim at your health and waistline, like damaged fats and trans fats. I think of trans fat as the artificial sweeteners of the fat world. They’re manufactured by pumping hydrogen ions into polyunsaturated fats to make them shelf stable (getting suspicious yet?). These modified fats actually increase your small dense LDL particles, or bad cholesterol, and reduce your large dense HDL particles, or good cholesterol—the exact opposite effect you get from good fats. They’ve been linked to heart disease, as have the processed foods you find them in: cookies, crackers, cakes, donuts, chips, microwave popcorn, and so on.… basically anything you have to get by shoving your fingers in a box or bag.
If it’s made to last on a shelf, chances are good that it has trans fats in it. So read your labels, and when you see the words “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil,” which is code for trans fat, run away, far away!
The other kind of fats to watch out for are damaged fats. These are fats that have been altered by heat, light, or air and have become rancid—think of the “bulk buy” vegetable oils in your local grocery store. I call them “damaged” because that’s how they’ll leave you. Instead, choose organic, cold-pressed oils in dark bottles and store them in a cool place.
HOW MUCH FAT DO YOU NEED?
Ideally, you should have 2–3 servings of healthy fats at every meal. Men and athletic women can go up to 4. This is where the Sugar Impact Plate will come in really handy, because it will lay it out for you. You’ll meet the mark with things like 1 tablespoon olive oil, ¼ avocado, 4 ounces cold-water fish, 5–10 nuts, 1 tablespoon nut butter, or 10 olives. If you’re having grass-fed beef or fish, you’ll want to count the fat in that as a serving, too, so you’re not doubling up.
WHEN FAT MAKES YOU FAT
I can see that you’re flipping back a few pages to the sentence that read, Fat doesn’t make you fat, sugar makes you fat. Well, that’s true. Unless… you serve it up with some sugar.
Remember, fat in and of itself doesn’t trigger an insulin response. But when it’s combined with high-SI foods, insulin skyrockets in response to the sugar or fast carbs. Insulin triggers fat-storing enzymes and decreases fat-burning enzymes—a knockout punch for anyone trying to lose weight. And if you’re under chronic stress, ka-boom. Other chemical reactions come into play that ensure you’ve mixed the perfect fat-storing cocktail.
For those already dealing with high blood sugar or insulin resistance, fat will slow the speed of blood sugar entering the bloodstream by slowing down stomach emptying, and that’s important for all of us—especially if you’re diabetic. But if you eat sugar and fat together all the time, the combined sugar and fat load in your diet will eventually come home to roost, and lead to lots of extra pounds.
THE BASICS ON SUGAR, STARCH, AND FIBER
First, know this: sugar, starches, and fiber are all carbohydrates. Of the three, only fiber isn’t a source of sugar for your body. We don’t have the digestive enzymes to break fiber down into sugar, so fiber scrubs its way slowly through our digestive system and provides huge benefits of its own, including keeping your blood sugar stable and helping you feel full longer. More on this in a bit.
Now for the other two: sugars and starches. All sugars are carbs, but not all carbs start as sugars. Both end up as sugar, though—they get converted into glucose, which every cell in your body uses as fuel. And that process starts as soon as food hits your tongue. Digestive enzymes in your saliva, like amylase, begin to break down any sugar or starch that isn’t already glucose or fructose.
FAST CARBS
You may have heard sugars being called simple or complex. But that’s not the way I look at sugar, because, frankly, it misses the point. It’s not important to be concerned about the molecular makeup of carbs (though I’ll share a little of that with you). It’s really about SI—how high they raise your glucose and insulin or how fast they hit the liver and start making fat. That’s what determines whether you’re lean, sharp, and full of energy, or exhausted, overweight, and foggy. So I want you to look at carbs as fast or slow, depending on how they affect you. That said, here’s a little of the biochemistry.
Fast carbs are made of one or two sugar molecules, called monosaccharides (like glucose and fructose) and disaccharides (like sucrose, which is table sugar). Notice the -ose ending—it tells you something’s a sugar. Another example is lactose, the sugar found in milk. When eaten, the monosaccharides are absorbed right into your small intestine without having to be broken down further. Disaccharides are snapped apart quickly before they’re absorbed. So mono- and disaccharides are fast carbs.
When you eat refined sugar or fast carbs, whether it’s in a soda or maple syrup, you get a quick shot of energy from the injection of glucose. Your insulin wire is tripped, and it mobilizes to get that blood sugar stored. Ideally, it’s packing the blood sugar away in your muscles and liver to use as fuel for your next workout, but when you run out of storage there, there’s only one option left—it gets stored as fat. Usually around your belly.
STARCHES
Starches, on the other hand, are slow carbs and are digested very differently than their fast counterparts. They’re plant-based, so they occur naturally in unprocessed whole foods, and they’re made up of long chains of sugar. The starch is broken down into maltose in your mouth, and then into glucose in your intestines.
Slow carbs take longer to digest because your body has to work harder to break down all the links in the chain to get the glucose it needs. After that, the glucose is metabolized the same way it is in refined sugar digestion; it’s used as energy or stored as glycogen or fat as a reserve fuel source. But because the process of getting to glucose takes longer, your blood sugar rises more slowly, so the insulin cavalry responds lower and slower too (a good thing).
But here’s something to file away: starches aren’t all the same. If starches have been processed, as is the case with some flours and cereals, they can behave more like fast carbs and have a more immediate impact on blood sugar and insulin response. That’s also true of white rice and white potatoes; they’re made up of long chains of glucose that are more easily broken down by our digestive system, so they raise blood sugar faster than the starches I consider slow carbs. So instead of refined and high-SI carbs, choose less processed grains, lower-SI roots, vegetables, and legumes like black beans, quinoa, artichokes, spinach, lentils, and wild rice, and cruciferous veggies like broccoli and cauliflower. More on these in a bit.
FIBER CHANGES EVERYTHING
Fiber is a carb, and it’s the only carb our body doesn’t turn into sugar. It’s the part of plant-based foods that our bodies can’t digest, and it doesn’t provide us with any nutrition or calories. It’s simply roughage. High-fiber, water-rich foods slow down stomach emptying and take longer to move through our digestive tract, so they make us feel full on fewer calories than foods with very little fiber, like refined grains.
Fiber does some other good deeds, too, like helping fat move smoothly through our digestive system without loitering, so less of it is absorbed. Fiber also keeps blood sugar on an even keel, which helps feed a steady supply of energy to your brain. And fiber feeds the healthy bacteria in your gut, which supports a strong immune system and beats back the bad kinds of bacteria.
When sugar is served up in a healthy fiber wrap, as with the pulp in an orange, that fiber is designed to slow down our absorption of sugar and have us burn some energy in the bargain as our metabolism works to get at the sugar it wants. Whole foods are also rich with protective antioxidants, such as vitamin C, which combat free radicals to stave off the effects of accelerated aging. I’ll take that!
Things change dramatically when whole food is “unwrapped” from its fiber packaging; the amount of sugar we get from that food soars (as does the speed at which it spikes our insulin), and there is often added sugar in processed foods, to boot. So it’s safe to say that the 15 grams of sugar in a processed protein bar has a completely different effect on your blood sugar levels than natural, whole foods with the same amount. Seemingly healthy foods like dried fruit or fruit juices also count as processed food. Why? Even if you get a little fiber in them, you’re not getting enough nutrients and antioxidants to offset the impact of concentrated sugar on your insulin.
Fiber is a fierce secret weapon for balancing your blood sugar and helping you break free from the vise grip of sugar. My goal is for you to eat 50 grams of fiber a day. That might sound high, mostly because if you’re like most people, you’re probably currently only getting 5 to 14 grams a day. Be patient and increase your fiber intake slowly, and drink plenty of water while you do—it may take you 1 to 2 weeks to get there. If you ramp up too fast, you could find yourself dealing with gas, bloating, diarrhea, or constipation.
LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE: SLOW, LOW CARBS
I want you to eat more slow, low carbs and non-starchy veggies. Eating a small amount of slow, low carbs and non-starchy veggies every day gives you sharper focus, better bowel movements, and higher energy, while revving your metabolism. That should keep you in a good mood!
The more non-starchy veggies you eat, the better, considering all the phytonutrients, fiber, and bulk they’ll get into your diet. Shoot for 5 to 10 or more servings a day. At a minimum, I want you to get 2 or more servings at every meal (using ½ cup cooked or 1 cup raw as a serving size). Also aim to get 1–2 servings of high-fiber starchy carbs per meal or snack (using ½ cup cooked as a serving). Larger or more athletic men can have 3 servings per meal.
Here’s one simple way to bump your fiber intake—eat more whole foods and fewer processed foods. The Sugar Impact Diet is all about getting as close to nature as possible, minimizing the amount of fructose you consume, and reducing your glycemic load. Nuts and seeds, legumes, wild rice, quinoa, berries (except in Cycle 2), and non-starchy vegetables are all awesome sources of fiber. Here’s another idea—toss a fiber blend, chia seeds, or freshly ground flaxseed meal into your breakfast shake. Those two tips alone, if you do them consistently, should get you to 50 grams of fiber a day pretty easily.
I always encourage you to buy organic whenever possible. Even so, it’s not necessary that all your fruits and vegetables be organic, so if you’re on a budget or just need help making choices, check out this website: www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php. It’s the Environmental Working Group’s complete list of both the “Dirty Dozen Plus” (a list of the most pesticide-laden fruits and veggies) and the “Clean Fifteen” (just the opposite). And always wash your fruits and veggies before you eat them. Even organic fruit can be coated with dirt and germs, or carry pesticide “drift” from nearby farms.
Non-starchy vegetables should take up the most space on your Sugar Impact Plate, and considering the major role they play in your fast fat loss, don’t be shy about piling them high. Mix it up at each meal with creative and colorful choices—look how many you have to choose from!
Non-Starchy Vegetables
Here are your best choices:
Artichokes
Arugula
Asparagus
Bamboo shoots
Bean sprouts
Beet greens
Bell peppers (red, yellow, green)
Bok choy
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cassava
Cauliflower
Celery
Chicory
Chives
Collard greens
Coriander
Cucumber
Dandelion greens
Eggplant
Endive
Escarole
Fennel
Garlic
Green beans
Jalapeno peppers
Jicama
Kale
Kohlrabi
Leeks
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Mustard greens
Okra
Onions
Parsley
Radicchio
Radishes
Shallots
Snow peas
Spaghetti squash
Spinach
Sugar snap peas
Summer squash
Swiss chard
Turnip greens
Water chestnuts
Watercress
Zucchini
Slow, Low Carbs
Adzuki beans
Berries (blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, elderberries, gooseberries, loganberries, raspberries, strawberries, acai)
Black beans
Chickpeas (garbanzo)
Cowpeas
Cranberries
French beans
Grapefruit
Great Northern beans
Groats
Guava
Kabocha squash
Kidney beans
Leeks
Lentils
Lima beans
Mung beans
Navy beans
Nectarines
Oatmeal (steel-cut or rolled)
Okra
Oranges
Passion fruit
Peaches
Persimmon
Pinto beans
Pumpkin
Quinoa
Split peas
Squash (acorn,
butternut, winter)
Star fruit
Tomatoes
Turnip
White beans
Wild rice
One important note as you increase your fiber, though—you have to also increase the amount of water you drink. It’s critical in order to keep everything moving smoothly through your digestive pipes.
MEAL TIMING: EATING BY THE SUGAR IMPACT CLOCK
If you’re dragging yourself through the day, caffeinating and snacking every 2 hours to pull yourself through stretches of plummeting energy, you’re compensating for blood sugar spikes and crashes brought on by your high-SI diet. No doubt your fatigue is crippling you, and your insulin levels, your immune system, and your metabolism are all taking a beating, too.
So one of the very important shifts you’ll be making on the Sugar Impact Diet is to change from eating every 2 hours to eating every 4–6 hours. (I’ll give you details on how to make this happen in Chapter 8.) You’ll move from those high-SI foods to medium- and low-SI foods, so you’re eating blood sugar–balancing foods that are high in fiber along with protein and good fats. You’ll be amazed at the difference this is going to make for you! When you stabilize your blood sugar, you’ll stay full longer, so stretching out the time between meals is a breeze.
As you make this move, you’re going to drink plenty of water between meals. It will help stave off hunger pangs, and—surprise—you may find that when you think you need to eat, you could just be thirsty. I have some tips on that coming up.
THE SKINNY ON SNACKING
Snacking is pretty polarizing in fitness and nutrition camps, and as someone who wants to lose weight, facing completely opposing opinions can be pretty frustrating when you just want the answer with no fuss, no muss. Advocates argue snacks or “mini-meals” throughout the day can curb appetite, stabilize blood sugar, and help you eat less during meals.
However, based on my research and experience helping people who struggle with weight loss, especially people who just can’t seem to shake those last few stubborn pounds, I’m in the anti-snacking camp. There’s just no getting around the fact that it sabotages fat loss and fast metabolism. All it does is give you permission to eat more than you need. Every time you eat, you raise your insulin levels. So snacking keeps insulin levels elevated and the fat-burning doors locked. Taking a food break between meals encourages your body to reach into those fat stores to burn what you’ve already got.
Sweet and salty snacks also increase cravings, so that snack pack has the dark power to make you reach for seconds, even if you just had one. Snacking becomes a mindless, many-times-a-day habit, and the repercussions land on your waistline. Junk food manufacturers love this vicious circle: you’re snacking throughout the day and never really satisfied, but still reaching for more.
A study published in the American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative, and Comparative Physiology found evidence suggesting that young women who snack at nighttime prevent fat breakdown and increase their obesity risks. Another study published in the journal Obesity showed that mice fed a high-fat diet before sleep gained about 48% body weight compared to mice that ate the same amount at other times of the day (they only gained 20%, but I should point out, they still gained!).
That makes sense, right? Those calories have to go somewhere, and unless you’re doing sprints in your sleep, chances are they’ll land around your middle.
If you’re an after-dinner snacker, you’re missing out on the significant fat-burning benefits of fasting. It’s not about starvation or deprivation, but when you simply cut out after-dinner snacks, your body goes into fat-burning mode for about 12–14 hours until the next morning’s breakfast. That’s going to help transform you into a fat burner!
In Case of Emergency
I want you to carry emergency foods to prevent you from going off the rails in a moment of weakness, or when bad choices are the only ones you’ve got. If your blood sugar crashes or you’re in airport hell, one of these little goodies will save the day.
They’re fast, easy, tasty options to grab and go (you may recognize a few from the smart snack list). They make being armed and ready so simple.
Aseptic-packed wild salmon
Celery with almond butter
Hard-boiled eggs (if not intolerant)
Hummus with veggies
Kale chips
Low-roasted or dehydrated nuts and seeds
Nitrate-free, no-sugar-added jerky
Raw veggies with black bean dip
Shaker carry cup with protein powder (just add water!)
Virgin Diet bar or other approved bars (see Resources at http://sugarimpact.com/resources)
Finally, add high-quality supplements—a multivitamin and mineral complex, essential fatty acids, and a high-potency antioxidant blend—and you’ll be armed against sugar wherever you go, all day long.
JOIN THE SMART SNACKING CLUB
It’s safe to say I made the case against snacking, right? But it’s a challenge, no lie. Those sugary treats—and their well-funded marketers—are a formidable opponent. So rather than deprive yourself, just pivot. Reward yourself with something other than food. Take a spa time-out if you can afford it, enjoy a hot bath, or walk through the park to reduce your stress and bring yourself back to feeling good.
Still, I get it: sometimes there’s no way around it—you have to have a snack. And I can help you make a better choice than microwave popcorn. Check out the tasty options in Chapter 8. They’ll support you as you condition yourself to shift to 4–6 hours between meals.
TOO MUCH HEALTHY FOOD IS UNHEALTHY
You can actually get too much of a good thing. Too much food is always going to be too much food, whether it’s healthy or not. You only need so much to keep your engine running, and any extra will be packed away in the storage closet of your hips or your belly. So, less is more, even when it’s low SI.
When you’re eating balanced meals of clean, lean protein, healthy fats, non-starchy veggies, and some slow carbs, you only need three meals a day, and possibly a snack if you’re going to have to wait more than 4 to 6 hours between meals. That’s enough to keep you humming between feedings and burning fat. More meals just means more chances to overeat.
Here’s how the timing of those three meals breaks out:
- Eat a substantial breakfast within 1 hour of waking up. No skipping! Skippers spike their blood sugar and tend to be fatter and less healthy than people who regularly eat breakfast.
- Eat every 4 to 6 hours, and have a snack if you need it.
- Close the kitchen and stop eating 3 hours before bed (no, you cannot just go to bed later!). Ideally, I’d like you to have at least a 12-hour span between dinner and breakfast to allow insulin to return to fasting levels so your body can use stored fat for fuel.
EAT BY THE PLATE
I designed the Sugar Impact Plate to make sure you’re getting all the nutrition you need and engaging your fat-burning machinery at every meal. When you eat according to the Plate, you’ll have a full and happy tummy for longer stretches, so you can eat three balanced meals every 4 to 6 hours without feeling deprived of a thing.
The Sugar Impact Plate
In addition to 1 serving of clean, lean protein and 2–3 servings of healthy fats, each meal should include 2 or more servings of non-starchy vegetables—and the more the better; my goal for you is 5–10 servings per day (yes, 10!)—and up to 2 servings of high-fiber starchy carbs like beans or quinoa. As you now know, getting enough fiber is critical to fast fat loss. As you move from high-SI foods to low-SI foods, your fiber is going to trend the other way, from low to high.
When your diet is full of lean protein, plenty of non-starchy veggies, fiber-filled slow carbs like lentils and beans, and good fats like avocado or olive oil, you’ll lose weight fast, have to-die-for energy, and your blood sugar levels will be nice and stable. That’s a pretty good return on just changing what you eat!
PREPARE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE
You’re almost there. Soon you’ll have all the tools you need in your arsenal to lower your SI and lose fat fast—in a healthy way. In the following chapters, I’ll walk you through the seven most common high SI foods, and I’ll outline the simple swaps you can make to bring your SI down. When you do, you’ll drop the weight, boost your energy, and feel better than ever—in just 2 weeks!