Chapter 8: Change Your Stars

I often hear or read up on fad diets that say “loose 10 lbs easily in a month FAST!” I look into gimmicks and plans designed to help your metabolism work better. I watch the commercials for franchised diet programs and I just cringe because I know their products are full of the things you shouldn’t be eating. Plans that cost you EXTRA money than your normal cost of living are likely a waste of that extra money.

Most diets fail because they don’t work with everybody’s metabolism, the portions are not right for everybody's body and people are not eating foods they like. That doesn’t have to be the case. You can change your stars.

Change your stars and live a better life than I have.

— John Thatcher to his son
from the movie 2001 "A Knight's Tale"

If you've never seen the movie, that's fine. The story is about a impoverished thatcher's son named William, who one day sees a parade of knights passing through his childhood town. As he watches in awe at them he says to his father confidently "Someday, I'll be a knight." A man looks up and says to William laughing, "A thatcher's son?  A knight?  You might as well try to change the stars!" William looks to his father and asks  "Can it be done, father?  Can a man change the stars?" to which his father replies, "Yes, William. If he believes enough, a man can do anything." Shortly after William  becomes a knight's squire. Years pass to the time when William is a young adult and the Knight dies just before he is about to compete and William takes his place to prove he can be a Knight too! After becoming a champion among other Knights, William returns home to his father, now blind and tells him that he had in fact 'changed his stars.'

If it isn't apparent my metaphor is simple, this: you don't have to be fat and unhealthy forever with diets that fail -- you too can change your stars! It’s not going to happen over night, and it will take some time. But if you believe you can do it and make the effort to change your stars, then you can.

Challenges will be there, but if you have the Will Power to change your stars, you can overcome them.  Know that my diet might not work for you – I know it will not work for everyone, but it worked for me. If my diet program doesn’t work for you and you did all the math and ate well to your body type, try something else or talk to your doctor (and I mean a real MD, not these phony doctors pitching HCG through Med-Spas).  Don’t have insurance and want to review other diet plans easily then join http://www.fatsecret.com: it’s free and there are 100’s of diets to look into. Find something that works for you and you can stick with. Try to avoid fad-diets and crash diets. Remember “keep it healthy!”

However if you decide to diet the Diet Royale™ way, there are challenges like cookies in the break room at work you will want to turn a blind eye too. A challenge you might face could be that you cook for more than just yourself. Whatever the challenges you face, you can work though them with Will Power, eating healthy and remember that you are a King or Queen of your diet kingdom, and to keep calm and carry on and you can change your stars!

Just The Facts Ma'am

An interesting personal challenge has emerged for me on this “second term.” When I first designed this diet I was single and I lived alone. Now, on this second term of  Diet Royale™ I am thankfully to be no longer single and with someone I love. I cook and plan our meals. My “other half” or King, has a “faster” metabolism than I and needs to eat more than me at meals to compensate. At first it was a challenge, but then when I looked at the situation and figured out how to make it “work” for us, it no longer became a problem.

I make our meals the exactly same, except I remember to dish out my portions healthier for my body. Notice I didn’t say “smaller.” Remember to stick to the facts for single serving sizes listed at the top of every Nutrition Facts listed on your foods (if your food doesn’t come with Nutrition Facts, check http://www.fatsecret.com).

Stick to the Facts: If a bottle of vegetable juice says 8 oz. is a serving, then that is your serving. If you are hungry and all you have is 16 oz. of vegetable juice with you then go ahead and have all 16 oz. of that bottle, but know you are having two servings not one. Basically don’t have two servings of something and count it as one in your daily foods. Remember just because you’re not counting it, doesn’t mean your body is too. If you ate it, then it counts.

Don’t Let Calories Rule Your Realm

Speaking of counting. Don’t let calories stop you from enjoying your food, just keep them in mind to prevent you from over eating. If you don’t want to count calories, then count sodium. You might find that by keeping your sodium levels low, (1500-2300 mg of sodium) you may no longer need to count calories, and the challenge then becomes “how can I get enough calories.” Do not short-change yourself on calories. Eating too few calories can turn your body’s metabolism over to “starvation mode.” It will tax your liver and you will stop losing weight. Reduce your calories if you are eating too many.

What about Carbohydrates (carbs)? Do I count those?

You can, but I personally wouldn’t make it your daily mission. From my perspective it is better to count the amount of sodium over. Reduce or eliminate refined sugars. Sugars that come from fruit and vegetables are different from sugars that come from junk food. Low starch foods are best. If you are going to have a potato, choose a sweet potato instead. Know that there are good carbs out there and that you need carbs to function and they can help you burn fat.

Good Carbs for fat burning:

• Sprouted grain breads made from rice or spelt
• Fruits and vegetables
• Rice such as millet and quinoa
•  Sweet potatoes

Fats are good for you too, so long as they are “Good Fats.” There are good fats that will help you burn the unhealthy fat in your body. Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are considered to be Good Fats, whereas saturated fats and trans fats are considered “Bad Fats,” because they increase your risk of elevated cholesterol and disease. You want to avoid the Bad Fats.

Good fats include:

• nuts (almonds, peanuts, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, cashews)
• coconut oil
• olive oil
• Sesame oil
• avocados
• olives
• flaxseed

Say “Au Revoir” to Processed Foods and go Au Naturale with Diet Royale™

You want to eat foods that have one ingredient or simple ingredients in them like steak, eggs, fruit, vegetables, olive oil, coconut oil, rice, butter, sweet potatoes, etc.  The less your body has to “break down” removing harmful hydrogenated oils, artificial sugars, flavors, high fructose corn syrup and processed soy products, the better it is for you. Avoid these things and you can change your stars without too much effort:

• sugar (as much as possible)
• orange juice and juices made of mostly water
• processed foods
• whole wheat breads, pastas and crackers
• hydrogenated oils, canola oil, vegetable oil, margarine and artificial or substitute butter
• artificial sweeteners,
• high fructose corn syrup
• processed soy products

Embrace every challenge for what it is. A challenge is like a story: it has a beginning, middle and end. Often times it is the beginning that has us giving up so easily. The middle is actually the fun part (well for me it is). It is the opportunity to learn something new. For example:

• Challenge Beginning: I was drinking plenty of water to go along with my fiber, but I was still gassy. What was causing my excess gas?
• Challenge Middle: I reviewed what I was eating and what was different about it in compared to previous days. I noticed I had drastically increased my protein from 30 g to 100 g over night. I researched “protein and gas,” and found that the drastic increase of protein was causing excess gas. But how do I fix that?
• Challenge End: To reduce gas from protein, I should gradually increase my protein intake until my body has time to adjust to the new levels – and know that protein powders, shakes, meal bars and any processed protein form will likely cause excess gas. Beans have protein and fiber: enjoy them, but be warned you will toot!

If I had stopped at the beginning or never bothered to ask the question, “what was causing my excess gas,” and looked into it, it could have hurt my progress. Your body WILL send you messages to tell you something is wrong, different or not entirely right. Listen to your body. If your body is hungry, please, please, please feed it, but feed it with healthy things. That candy bar may satisfy your craving, but it’s not healthy for you … and you know that.

You can change your stars, if you choose to and do what’s best for your body. Don’t let me or any other diet tell you what to do with your body. You decide what is right. You decide what you want to eat, but know what you are eating. Ignorance may be bliss, knowing is half the challenge and ignorance won’t make you skinnier – just dimmer. Diet smarter, Diet Royale™.