Diet Basics

Drink Water!

At least 8 glasses per day, Sodas do not count! Stay away from even the diet drinks! I’d suggest that fruit drinks, lemonade, and such are no longer part of your permanent diet. Drink water instead.
(Note: I really think this is key!)
Drink one glass of water before each meal, and a half a glass afterwards.
Drink one glass of water before you eat a snack (If you feel hungry between meals the odds are that you are really thirsty, so water first and then snack later --- if you still feel hungry.)
If your tap water does not have a good flavor -- get a filter,
NO caffeine! One dose of Caffeine stimulates Insulin production for over 18 hours! The reason this diet works is that it lowers blood serum Insulin levels, which also helps with a whole bunch of other health threats, like high blood pressure high cholesterol levels, and diabetes type II.
NO aspartame! Or as close to none as is practical, it increases your appetite so you eat more, makes you crave sweets, and increases insulin production. Caffeine and Aspartame together pack a hard one-two punch, that takes you out of the game for good!

Count your Effective Carbohydrates!

An effective carbohydrate (Carbs) is the amount of Carbohydrates less the fiber, in grams.
(I.E. 5 grams of Carbohydrates and 3 grams of Fiber in a food, equals 2 grams of Effective Carbohydrates.)
35 Grams per day, for 30 Days, then 55 grams per day until you reach your goal.
After you have reached your goal, add Carbohydrates into your diet at a rate of about 5 Grams per day each week until you stabilize. (I.E. 60 grams the first week, 65 the second, 70 the third…) You will probably stabilize at around 100% to 130% of the amount of protein you should consume for your lean body mass. (Remember to shoot for percent body fat, not weight as your goal. Go on how you look and feel!)
That means NO Sweets, NO Soft Drinks, NO Doughnuts, etc. until you stabilize, and then watch it. You can splurge occasionally, but you may need to go back on the basic 35 Carbs diet for a few days after a splurge.

Count your Protein!

Get your minimum amount every day for your lean body mass -- around .6 (6/10) ~ .8 (8/10) grams per pound of lean body mass (for example at 6’ 2” and big boned I get 100 grams a day, my wife is at about 60~70 grams minimum) Find your body fat using a scale such as the Tanita^® Body Fat Monitor/Scale
As an alternative most wellness clinics, or your personal Doctor can test you. (I have a limited number of fat calipers on hand, send me $10.00 to cover postage and such and I’ll send you one, if you want to check it by hand.)

Fat is OK! Choose the right types of fat, and keep it low to moderate.

Don’t make a big deal out of the fats, you don’t have to count them, but don’t go wild either.
Choose the ones that contain Omega 3 Fatty Acids: Butter! (yes!), Nuts (watch the cashews), Olives, Avocados, Olive Oil.
EPA/DHA comes from cold-water fish oil, it is proven in clinical studies to reduce heart attacks --- take a supplement if you don’t have three servings of fish a week. Plus it counter acts the negative arachidonic fatty acid found in red meat and egg yolk.
Consider supplementing Evening Primrose oil for GLA and Linoleic Acid to shorten or stop plateaus of weight loss, and to compliment the EPA (Also it is very good for women, and their special needs.)
Meats that contain fats like Bacon and Sausage and such are O.K., but keep an eye on your fats. Don’t consume them indiscriminately. (Note: Trim as much fat as possible from red meats.) Calories are calories so make your fat calories count on good fats like Olives and Nuts and such.

Vegetables are great!

Most Vegetables are unlimited, but watch the Carbs!
Corn, beans and potatoes have a lot of Carbs so hold off on those until after the first 30 days.
ONE slice of bread contains over 1/3 of your whole days Carbs. Take it easy on things with flour!
Fruits are good in moderation, some --- like strawberries and melons have very few Carbs, but a lot of flavor.

Supplement your micro-nutritional needs! (Especially during the first 30 days!)

If you take a vitamin and do not feel more energy, change supplements. The only vitamin that I have ever felt a boost with is Nutrilite’s Double X multi-supplement, and I have tried them all, --- well all that I have heard of ….
You can adjust your vitamin supplementation according to how you feel after the first 30 days, but it is very wise to continue supplementation until after you reach your goal, and are stabilized and on the maintenance diet. Even then I would consider a good high quality supplement considering the high stress environment that we live in. Most of us just can’t consume enough veggies to give us the micronutrients that we need for our stressful lifestyles. A good diet, get enough sleep and lower your stress level and you won’t need the supplementation, or not as much anyway.
Use a top quality Vitamin . Vitamins like One a Day and such do nothing for you; if you are not going to supplement, increase your Vegetables by double! (But keep an eye on those Carbs.) Consider Calcium / Magnesium and Vitamin C at a minimum. Many herbs and such can help with bone density loss and other problems.
Keep an eye on your Potassium levels as the diuretic effect of the diet can lower your potassium levels too far. Morton Un-Salt (Potassium Chloride) is a good choice to help keep the potassium levels up. Or if you use a Water Softener use Potassium Chloride to recharge the water softer.

Deserts!

Fruits like Melons, some berries and such, but keep an eye on the carbs and have desert well before bedtime. Carbohydrates affect the release of Human Growth Hormone (which is helping to correct the Fat / Lean body mass problem) by suppressing its release an hour after you go to bed.
Cut a Chocolate Mint or the Fudge Protein bar up into chocolate kisses for a desert
Aspartame, if misused, can have extremely negative side affects, especially when combined with caffeine; it is best to stay with natural sweeteners like fructose and such. Even sugar is better --- in moderation.

Snacks!

If you are hungry, EAT! --- hunger causes binges. Drink water first, as most likely you are thirsty rather than hungry, (80% of Americans are sub-clinically dehydrated, and just 2% dehydration can affect your thinking.) If after a drink you are still hungry --- eat a snack, chew on some Jerky, eat some string cheese, piece on a chocolate mint or fudge protein bar) --- low Carb / high Protein stuff.

Sleep! 8 Hours worth.

Preparation for the diet should include getting eight hours of good sleep every night for one week before you start. The first week will leave many people tired and exhausted as the body switches from Carbohydrate burning to Fat burning mode. Plus good sleep habits increase the natural release of Human Growth Hormone (HGH), which builds the lean body mass essential to creating a lasting change of body composition. HGH is released after the first hour after going to sleep and during the 4^th stage of sleep (that last hour of REM sleep). Too many Carbohydrates in the blood stream will suppress the first release, and insufficient sleep will prevent the second release from happening. Dr. James B. Maas, author of Power Sleep, states that "Between the seventh and eighth hour is when we get almost an hour of REM [rapid eye movement] sleep, the time when the mind repairs itself, grows new connections and puts it all together. REM sleep occurs about every 90 minutes, and the periods of REM sleep get longer as the night progresses. If you're a six-hour sleeper, you're missing that last, important opportunity to repair and to prepare for the coming day."
HGH is also released one hour after exercising --- so NO carbs after exercise. Eat a Protein bar instead of carbs before/after exercise. (Also good for a quick meal on the run, or to give a chocoholic a fix.)
HGH release stimulators are now available, but they are expensive (around $70 a month at vitamincart.com) and their safety has not been adequately proven. However, early clinical studies indicate that it is more effective than HGH shots, which created huge gains in lean body mass and a general shift in metabolism towards a more youthful period in your life.

Exercise!

Lift weights; try to build your lean muscle, rather than just aerobic exercise. If your body fat percentage is not corrected your weight will remain unstable. This is a MUST! If you are just starting an exercise program consider crawling on all fours to start with. Crawl 15 seconds a day and increase it by 5 seconds a day --- when you can crawl without raising your heart rate, until you can crawl for say 5~10 minutes --- without raising your heart rate. Then start your weight lifting and aerobics program. If your nervous system is not in shape to begin with it will take a lot more exercise to get in shape, so get the nervous system in shape by crawling first. If you have to stop and think about how to crawl, or your heart rate elevates when crawling contact me, I now have a system than can help you re-coordinate that right / left brain activity in just a few hours.

Fiber

Shoot for at least 25 grams of fiber per day.
Remember Carbohydrates are counted as Carbohydrates minus Fiber. I.E. 3 grams of Carbohydrates and 2 Grams of Fiber means that you only count 1 gram of Effective Carbohydrates (Carbs).

If you have questions or want to know where I find some of this stuff, write me -- mike@newson.com