Maintaining a Healthy Weight Without Dieting
Maintaining a healthy weight is everyone’s goal—but it doesn’t mean being on a diet forever! It means making healthy choices. If you would like to maintain your ideal weight, boost your immune system, and possibly improve your overall health, consider a step-wise approach. In this guide, you will learn how to incorporate changes over a period of time to adjust gradually. Here’s how to “clean up” your body in 12 months.
Step 1: Avoid Refined and Processed Foods (Months 1-3)
Refined foods have been correlated with obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, PMS, hormonal imbalances, cravings, hypoglycemia, hypertension, depression, and mood swings—so we want to get rid of them first!
Refined foods are essentially, anything white—white flour; rice; sugar; high fructose corn syrup; and starchy foods such as cornstarch, arrowroot, tapioca flour, and potato starch. Substitute these foods with their unrefined counterparts. Look for the words “whole grain.” To start, mix half of the refined with half unrefined—such as half white and half brown rice—and gradually increase the amount of unrefined.
Substitute less refined sweeteners in recipes. For example, substitute granulated white sugar with organic cane sugar or Sucanut. Substitute processed syrups with agave nectar, maple or rice syrup, or honey.
Processed foods are typically found on the interior rows of the grocery stores and include pre-packaged cookies, frozen foods, soups, snack foods, chips, and cereals. These foods often contain refined flours, preservatives, artificial flavorings and colorings, and a host of chemicals. Rather, choose whole foods such as brown rice, corn, potatoes, beans, vegetables, lean organic meats, fish, fruits, and nuts.
Step 2: Eliminate Dairy Products (Months 4-6)
If the refined/processed/“white” food elimination went well, next try eliminating dairy products. Dairy products contain lactose (a sugar) and casein (a protein). The lactose in dairy products causes some people to have respiratory problems such as asthma, a runny nose, constantly clearing the throat, and frequent colds, as well as digestive problems such as gas, bloating, diarrhea, and constipation. The casein protein in milk products isn’t broken down by the intestines in some people and causes them to form antibodies in their blood. This can lead to digestive problems, migraines, arthritis, respiratory problems, and itchy skin.
There are plenty of great-tasting dairy substitutes. Explore your local health food store and you might be surprised at what you find for milk alternatives—non-dairy milks, cheeses, cream cheese, whipped toppings, creamers, sorbets, ice creams, and sour creams are available. Some “non-dairy” items contain casein or caseinate. Most non-dairy items can be substituted one-for-one in recipes. Non-dairy cheese sauces can be made using nutritional yeast and tangy vinegars as shown in this Macaroni and Cheese recipe.
Step 3: Go Gluten-Free (Months 7-9)
Now that you are likely experiencing the marvels of a semi-clean, thinner body, the next step is to eliminate gluten from your diet. Before going gluten-free, consider getting medical tests to determine if you are sensitive to gluten. This is so that if you are ever in a situation where someone else is responsible for preparing your food, you will have a pre-established medical record that you need to avoid gluten.
Grains that contain gluten are: Barley, Rye, Oats, Wheat, and Spelt (BROWS). There are many other names for these grains such as bulgar, kamut, semolina, faro, einkorn, triticale, farina, fu, fe, durum, glutamate, glutamic acid, malt, etc., so reading labels is mandatory. Use only oats labeled “gluten-free.” Most natural food stores will give you a list of gluten free foods they sell.
In the beginning, eat brown rice, potatoes, and corn. You may not feel any different until you have completely eliminated gluten from your diet for at least three months. You may go through withdrawal, or have intense cravings. To manage this, make what you crave with the alternative ingredients.
You may notice when reading the lists of ingredients on pre-packaged gluten-free foods, that they contain tapioca starch, arrowroot, cornstarch, sweet rice flour, potato starch, and sugar. These foods are highly refined, and those were eliminated in Step 1! Whole gluten-free grain and flour choices include: sorghum flour, corn, brown rice and brown rice flour, teff, nut meals, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, and Montina. Bean flours include garbanzo, navy bean, pinto bean, fava bean, and gafava. Gluten-free baked goods often contain starches and gums to compensate for the missing gluten.
Step 4: Eliminate Sugar (Months 10-12)
If you really want to stay thin without dieting, eliminate sugar from your diet. This is the secret to maintaining your ideal weight effortlessly. Sugar (sucrose, lactose, glucose, dextrose, honey, high fructose corn syrup, sorbitol, fructose, maltose, beet sugar, glycogen, malt syrup, malt barley, maltodextrin, mannitol, mono-saccharides, poly-saccharides, sorghum, galactose, cane sugar, date sugar, di-saccharide, brown sugar, maltitol, turbinado sugar) is in virtually every processed food.
Aside from obesity and adult onset diabetes caused from eating sugar, people who have a history of taking steroids, hormones, or antibiotics likely have an overgrowth of yeast (Candida Albicans) somewhere in their body, which flourishes on sugar. Candida overgrowths may be causing chronic constipation, yeast infections, headaches, depression, gas, indigestion, muscle aches, acid reflux, acne, joint pain, allergies, food cravings, obesity, diarrhea, and high triglycerides.
For a kick-start, eliminate all types of sugar—natural or refined—including honey, agave, organic cane sugar, dried fruits, alcoholic beverages, juice, and sweet fruits. Fungi (mushrooms), foods made from molds (cheeses), and bakers yeast should also be avoided. While cleansing, eat beans, gluten-free grains, nuts, vegetables, berries, and green apples. If you are a meat-eater, unprocessed meats may also be eaten during this phase. In time, you can add other fruits and occasional treats.
You may actually feel worse during this phase, but don’t worry, this is normal. Your body is purging the yeast, which can result in temporary symptoms including a low fever, headaches, achy joints, diarrhea and/or constipation, lung cleansing, and mucus and/or runny nose. Just realize this is the body’s way to cleanse and you will likely emerge in a week or two with a healthy, functioning body.
Our bodies are predisposed to crave sweet foods. So, to satisfy your deprived sweet tooth, use stevia or xylotol sweeteners. Stevia is a sweetener from the leaf of a stevia plant. Use it to sweeten drinks, or as a sweetener in puddings, on cereal, or on cooked grains. Xylotol is a crystallized sugar substitute and can be used in recipes calling for sugar. Chewing gum sweetened with xylotol can also satisfy a craving for something sweet. In time, intense sugar cravings diminish.
Having a healthy body is something to celebrate! You can achieve anything in life if you have your health, and these steps, done over time, will ensure your success. You’ll find improvement in your stamina, demeanor, general outlook, and moods. Chronic complaints will dissipate. You’ll maintain your ideal body weight without dieting. Here’s to your health!
by Jean Duane, Alternative Cook, LLC
