Diet Without the Cost

By Sean Anderson

I have lost thirty-five pounds in a little over a month. It wasn't easy, but I changed my eating habits. I am a young male who at a recent health screening was told that I was abnormally unhealthy for my age. I was 6'3" and weighed 245 lbs. I didn't think that was that bad, I wanted to lose some weight but most friends told me I shouldn't worry. Then came the dread day of the health screening. I was told I had really high cholesterol, and I was prompted to change my lifestyle.

I began by reading Harvey Diamond's book Fit For Life (new it cost less than $10), which I got from some of my super fit friends. Well I also decided, after some research on the Internet, that cholesterol comes from animals and decided I wouldn't eat them anymore. I basically, became a vegetarian with the exception of fish. I have already successfully lowered my cholesterol and I am 20 pounds away from achieving my goal of 185 pounds. Well I have been successful, so you should ask yourself, "Well what did he do?"

I am going to answer that for free. I basically, followed the Fit for Life principles. The way in which we eat foods is very important. Foods should be eaten raw as often as possible and they should be combined with other non-conflicting foods.

The idea behind eating food raw is that any man induced change is considered processing. This alters they make up of food, and it becomes less usable to the body. The body in turn spends time coping with things that shouldn't be in you and begins to store fat to handle the extra work load. For instance, once vegetables are cooked above 120 degrees enzymes become misshapen and the body can no longer combine with them. Enzymes are like puzzle pieces so if they are not the right fit they can't be used. This doesn't mean don't eat bread and other foods you might enjoy like pizza just limit your consumption of these types of foods.  My Aunt follows the diet during the week and does what she wants during the weekend.  Oddly she finds that she splurges less and less on the weekend.

Another, little tidbit related to eating raw can come through reasoning. The world is over 70% water, your body is made up of over 70% water so wouldn't it go to reason that your meals should consist of high water content foods like fruits and vegetables. For instance, if you decide to eat a 6 ounce steak wouldn't it be wise to eat that with a large salad.

The next major principle is food combining. This principle is a result of they way your body digests food, the amount of time it takes to digest food, and the natural daily cycle of the body.

The digestion of food is important because this gives us a guide of what foods don't belong in the stomach at the same time. This one is really easy don't mix starches (aka carbohydrates) with proteins. Simply, because starches need alkaline in order for digestion and proteins are digested when the stomach emits acid. If the two are mixed they neutralize each other and it delays the digestion process. Basically, causing the body to be inefficient and inefficiency results in fat storage. Plant products become starches when they are cooked. So, don't eat a hamburger patty in the same sitting as a hamburger bun.

Things get a little bit more complicated here. I will start with the time breakdown of all meals. Fruit is in the stomach thirty minutes, vegetables an hour, starches three hours, proteins four hours and improperly combined meals are in your stomach eight hours. The problem is that when certain foods are in your stomach too long they spoil and create a toxic environment for your body, which results in fat.

To keep this simple don't eat fruit within the time frame that foods are still in your stomach. Fruit is the most likely to spoil and create problems. So don't eat fruit for an hour after vegetables or eight hours if you've combined a meal improperly. Eat fruit by itself. Vegetables and neutral foods that are naturally starches and proteins (examples are beans and soy) can be eaten with either are starch or protein meal.

This principle is not entirely set in stone tomatoes and avocados are two fruits that can be eaten with starches and vegetables. Bananas should be eaten separately from all other fruits, but failure to do so isn't that damaging. It is one of the key principles.

Now we turn to the natural cycle of the body. The body rotates three digestion functions that adjust to your sleeping habits. They are digestion, absorption and expulsion. For a normal person digestion begins at about noon, then absorption after eight at night and expulsion after you wake up to noon. If your not awake during the expulsion process have fun cleaning your sheets. This means in the morning you should only eat fruit, and at night you should end up eating your heavy meals containing starch or protein. For lunch have a salad.

You'll notice that you'll be hungry if you eat according to this pattern. Simply, keep fruit and vegetables around and do a lot of snacking.

In addition, to these principles I avoid high fructose corn syrup, mono sodium glutamate and vinegar (Fit For Life idea) at all costs. I also, drink as much water as possible. I probably, average close to 100 ounces of water a day. Harvey Diamond suggests distilled water, but I am personally not incredibly picky.

I suggest buying the book, using will power and adopting a mentor. At the time I watched Ultimate Fighter and chose Mac Danzig a Vegan as inspiration. He ended up beating a cattle or dairy farmer to take first place in the show. I might be a Vegan one day, I have serious concern for what would happen to animals without an economic use. If you can't succeed doing this give up and be happy with who you are. I do guarantee the result and increase in energy will make you a happier person, but don't let a weight problem make you depressed. Always focus on happiness.


Do a search for Fit For Life to buy the book now.