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Transition
diet
How
to shift to new eating patterns
By Steve
Edwards
The 6-Week Transition Diet was one of the first things I ever wrote for
Beachbody and it's remained fairly popular ever since. But that was a long time ago, when our readership was just a fraction of what it is today, and chances are that most of you have yet to see it. So here we go again, though this version will be vastly improved from round one. In fact, it has grown to be 8 weeks long, allowing a more leisurely transition into healthy eating.
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In its conception, we only had one
diet plan available. Nowadays, we've got quite a few, as you know if you happen to own many of our products. But it's always nice to have options as no one eating plan works for every individual. Diets that are conceptual can be easier to follow because you're only given a short list of "no-nos," leaving your available diet to anything else you can find. Of course, that isn't the attitude you want to have for success. Any diet, no matter how easy it seems, will take some willpower on your part if you want to see results. But what's more important is that with this type of plan, your long-range goal should be to eat well, period. If you can accomplish this, results will become a natural extension of your lifestyle, instead of something you need to pursue.
As your healthy eating behavior becomes a habit, you will find the other intangibles (such as
weight loss, energy gained, etc.) falling into place. For many people, the easiest way to accomplish this is a gradual transition from food choices that hinder human performance to choices that help you perform better. By making this transition gradually, you'll find it isn't all that difficult.
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 Week 1
No junk. Eliminate junk food from your diet. That's it, just junk. Other than this you may eat whatever and whenever you like. Now how hard can that be? Guess this depends on what I mean by "junk." But all I'm concerned with this week is the obvious stuff like potato chips, candy, ice cream,
cake, etc. You may be stricter if you'd like, but for week one don't be too hard on yourself. For many of you, this step alone will reap huge benefits.
Cheat Days: 2
Since no one is perfect, you get two days to cheat. That's right, two days where you may eat anything you want! A trick on these days (and, yes, this means there will be more) is to listen to your body. At first, it will probably tell you it wants whatever you've been denying it. However, over time it will start to crave nutrients that you're deficient in. Learn to read its subtleties. If you're craving ice cream, you may be short on essential fatty acids. If you crave a hamburger, your diet may lack protein. This way you can make better food substitutions. It's a way of getting in tune with yourself that will benefit you for your entire lifetime.
Weekly focus: Water. Not swimming in it, though that's good too, but staying hydrated with it. You should drink at least 6 to 8 glasses of flat water per day. Diet sodas and such are no substitute as they contain ingredients that alter your body chemistry, even though they may not contain calories. Drinking a glass of water when you feel the oncoming of hunger pangs will not only keep you hydrated, but will stave off your hunger to some degree.
As for other drinks, sodas fall into the junk category. And alcohol should be kept to a minimum. We tend to forget that alcohol has calories. A lot of them: 7 calories per gram. It also can slow your
metabolism since it is metabolized like sugar and causes an insulin spike. Mixers can be even worse—not only can they add calories, but they can greatly influence the way the alcohol reacts with your body. When you do drink, red wine is the alcohol of choice,
(Which
wine should I buy?) with beer or white wine running second.
Week 2
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Each week carries over, so the "no junk" rule from week one will apply until the end, as will each subsequent week's rule. Remember that this is a learning and conditioning process. It's like you're in a school and the subject is your own body.
Get your timing down. Eat four to six small meals a day and no eating for 3 hours before you go to sleep. If you make yourself space in your eating schedule, the size will control itself because you won't get ravenously hungry. Following these rules will keep your blood sugar levels more static and your
energy level will stay consistent. Try to keep each snack or meal balanced. Keep a 30% protein, 40% carbohydrates, and 30% fat scale in mind, though you don't need to worry too much about it. Just realize that you need a bit from each group. Eat based on what you will be doing for the next few hours (if you're working out, eat a little more; sitting at a desk, eat a little less). The 3-hour-before-bed rule is important, especially for fats and carbohydrates. By allowing time for all the carbs you eat to get into your bloodstream; your body will sleep in fat-burning mode, rather than in calorie-storing mode. This is important because undigested carbs in your stomach at night are stored in adipose tissue (fat). |
Cheat Days: 2
Weekly focus: Carbs are not the enemy. Your body needs them, just like it needs proteins and fats. The trick is to choose the right
carbs. As a society, we eat too much refined sugar. Complex carbs, like whole grain breads, whole grain rice, sweet
potatoes, and legumes are outstanding foods. Even fruits, which have simple carbohydrates that are wrapped in fiber, are very good for you and hard to
over-consume. While you don't want a diet based on nothing but carbs, making the right carb choices will maximize your body's potential. Try and avoid white rice and flours. Read labels and try and avoid products that use the word "enriched" on the label, as this means they've been stripped down and
over-processed.
Week 3
Eat colorful,
non-dense foods. These are foods that take up a lot of space without a lot of calories. Veggies are the most extreme examples. You can
eat a salad bowl overflowing with lettuce and veggies and you'll most likely not exceed 100 calories. By eating low-density foods, like
veggies and
fruits, you will keep your portions under control naturally because they have very few calories for their size. Conversely, high-density foods, like chocolate and butter, are loaded with cals even in the smallest amounts. So beware of salad dressings and other things you add to salads and veggies. Only add enough for flavor; don't fill up on them. When it comes to live foods, the richer the colors the fresher the products tend to be. Try and eat a variety of colors in your diet. This rather simple and somewhat random act will help ensure that you're covering the basics, nutrient-wise.
Cheat Days: 1
Weekly focus: Protein at every meal. This becomes even more important as you eat more low-density food because protein tends to be high-density. Many veggies have a lot of protein, but the amount you must consume starts to become prohibitive. Try and get some
protein: meat, dairy products, or legumes—each time you eat. This is especially
true when you're working out hard as you need to repair broken down muscle tissue. Frequency is even more vital for women, who are able to digest less protein at one time than men. It's almost impossible to get all of your necessary protein at one or two meals, so try and get 10 to 20 grams of protein each time you eat. Reading labels is the best way to learn how to estimate your protein intake.
Week 4
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Cook at home. One of the best ways to control your eating is to prepare all of your meals yourself. Eliminate all fast food and most other restaurant food. You may allow certain places where you can be sure of the ingredients (they'll advertise this). But avoid all fast-foods chains, even "healthy" ones. Restaurants need their food to taste good, so often times they use compromised ingredients even when they list low numbers on fats and/or calories. Fast food contains many hidden evils besides just calories. For example, check the sodium levels next time you see one of those nutrition charts. Most fast foods use ridiculously high amounts of salt. Avoiding fast food alone will often bring your body closer to homeostasis. This can be hard for many of us because we now have to plan our meals and prepare ahead of time but try and treat it like
school: you don't learn new vocations without a little retraining.
Cheat Days: 1
Weekly focus: Fat is essential. Remember that fat is a vital part of your diet, not just something that makes you fat. What is not vital is a lot of saturated or trans fats. Trans fats are those that are artificial and, hopefully, they've been eliminated from your diet by this point since they're mainly found in junk. Saturated fats are found in dairy products and meats, and you don't need too much. For cooking, try and use olive oil when possible. Also, the addition of either
flaxseed or hemp oil can have a pronounced effect on your life. These oils are loaded with essentially fatty acids, omegas 3 and 6. Be careful about that amount of fat. It is dense and has 9 calories per gram, opposed to 4 for both carbs and protein. A tablespoon goes a long way!
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Week 5
Reduce starchy carbohydrates. Starches include rice, breads, potatoes, corn, beans, and other legumes. While these are in no way bad foods, they tend to be
over-consumed; so what you want to do this week is cut way down on them, if not out all the way. Then add them back in when your body feels as though it needs energy, which it will at some point if you are exercising (and why wouldn't you be?). But don't add an entire plate of pasta; instead, add a serving. Starches are great energy food, but if overeaten they can actually make you sluggish!
Cheat Days: 1
Weekly focus: Sugar is best after a workout.
Your body doesn't really need processed sugar. But if you really enjoy it and can't avoid letting some sneak into your daily diet, having it during a one-hour period after you exercise is the best time to indulge. During this window, your blood sugar is low since you've used it up to finish your workout (provided you pushed yourself). So sugar during this time will actually help you recover faster because it speeds into your system and initiates the recovery process. Adding a little protein, but not too much, will enhance this even further. The perfect ratio is 1 part protein to 4 parts carbs. You should avoid fats during this time period as it slows
absorption: a good thing otherwise, just not during and immediately after working out.
Week 6
If people make it, don't eat it. This is likely to be the hardest week of your diet. You want to eat only whole foods and
eliminate all processed foods for the week. This includes breads, most salad dressings, almost all cereal, luncheon meats, cheese, dried fruits, anything with preservatives, and alcoholic beverages. What you can eat are whole foods such as fruit,
raw or steamed vegetables, meat (sans any type of sauce), natural grain rice, poached eggs, etc. Since your eating habits have been slowly changing it shouldn't be all that shocking, but keeping in mind that you only have to eat this way for 7 days will make it easier.
Cheat Days: 1
The 'cheat day' mentality is not a bad one. Rewards such as decadent desserts, a night of overindulgence, or drinking with friends, are good for you as long as you keep them in perspective. These are rewards for a life well lived and you should be able to feel good about doing them. Plus, there is some method to this madness as well in that you still tend to crave nutrients you lack. So if you are
cutting the calories down in order to lose weight, allowing a cheat day will give your body a chance to take in what it needs to avoid being malnourished.
Weekly focus: Nuts make great snacks. A handful of raw almonds or cashews are a quick and easy snack that goes a long way. Don't be put off by the high fat count of nuts. It doesn't take many to fill you up and they're loaded with essential fat and many nutrients.
Week 7
Be yourself. No rules—just try and eat healthy.
It might seem a bit much telling you to trust yourself, but you can handle it! Plus, it's an important step in your transformation. Consider the way you've been eating over the last 6 weeks, but don't worry about what you should and shouldn't do. Just eat. The point is to take a mental break. Relax and allow yourself to eat in a way that feels normal. You may be surprised to find yourself craving something healthy instead of a candy bar or a pint of Ben & Jerry's. You will be better at listening to your body because it will tell you what it needs to eat, as opposed to what you're used to eating. Your body should feel somewhat transformed. Does it?
'Reward for a life well lived' Days: 1
Weekly focus: If you are so hungry at night you can't sleep, try a protein shake before bed. You want nothing but protein powder and water. No carbs or superfluous calories. But protein at night, especially whey, will help the body repair damaged tissue and enhance the natural growth-hormone spike that you get while you sleep.
Week 8
Eat a perfect diet. Now it's time for a real challenge—are you ready? The perfect diet is strictly individual as there is no one diet that suits everybody. So who better to choose the perfect diet for you than you? Our bodies are all different and the key to your own perfect diet is learning about how your body reacts to different foods under different circumstances. You journey over the last 7 weeks should have brought you to a new understanding of how food affects your body, both for good and for bad. Now it's up to you to put it to the test. See how well you can eat for a week. In fact, see how well you can eat for the rest of your life. Live and enjoy.
Reward Days: 1, of course!
Weekly Focus: Don't bonk. Bonking is a state where your body runs out of stored blood sugar for energy. If you feel like your workouts are going backwards instead of forwards, this is a likely culprit. Use your energy level as you gauge. As soon as it starts to drop, start adding carbs back into your diet until you feel energized all day long. Then you'll be at a point you want to stay. Also, remember that as you body puts on more muscle, you will need to eat more. Muscle weighs much more than fat and as you gain muscle and lose fat you will shrink at the same weight. You will also require more calories in order to maintain your muscle. So when working out hard, don't be afraid to eat more carbs than you do otherwise.
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