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™.

Chapter 6: Avoiding The Tower

Now that you have the tools for your success and how to keep yourself motivated, it is now time to learn a very important lesson: DON'T PUNISH YOURSELF or as I like to call it, “Avoiding The Tower.”

In London there is an ancient prison known as The Tower. If you were sent there it was because you were being punished, held for interrogation or about to lose your head for treason; pick your favorite. If you wanted to avoid The Tower it was best to avoid doing wrong against his or her majesty, depending on your ruler. For this diet we will of course not go to such extremes, but in a nutshell it is the penalty box, or the things you do to punish yourself for not doing what was right.

Your body is your kingdom and you are its sovereign ruler and the law. You have set up certain guidelines and rules to keep your crown and kingdom in order. This blog (and someday a book) has given you tools for success and is now possibly governing your ways of eating, exercising, thinking and living.

Regardless of your progress or regression you are doing this diet or any diet for yourself, and you are under the strictest orders not to punish yourself for not exercising enough, consuming the right amount of calories, consuming too much bad and too little good, whatever, etc.

People often times stray. It is in our human nature to do so. We can't help it. When regulating one's own weaknesses we often compensate with self-punishment. In the realm of dieting, dieters will punish themselves with the following:

• Harsh words or thoughts about themselves
• Starvation, bellemia,  or over-eating
• Over use of diet pills and meal replacement supplements
• Excessive workouts that harm the body
• Etc.

You can easily see that these are harmful to your well-being and your health, no matter what. Whatever diet path you choose, do not punish yourself in anyway.  When you punish yourself and lock yourself in The Tower, you are only hurting yourself. The best course of action is to take a step back, realize what you did that wasn't beneficial to you diet success and stop doing it. Get back on the throne of your kingdom and start again.

Your diet is only as challenging as you make it to be. I am reminded of The Four Agreements by Ruis Megaul. “Be true with your words. Never Assume. Don't take anything personally. Always do your best.”

There are four agreements we should make with ourselves in every phase of life, and dieting is always a phase. My favorite agreement is “always do your best,” because even when you fail and fall off the path to your success, you can always get back on and do your best the next day -- if you did your best then there is no need to punish yourself. Avoid The Tower, period.

Chapter 5: Nobody Expects a Spanish Inquisition

       Knowing what to eat, how to think and when to exercise are great ways for keeping you on the path to your success. However, knowing what you’re up against and that there is going to be opposition is a very critical tool to have indeed.

I find that the moment you start to diet or care for your health, everyone has an opinion or a piece of advice to offer you to help you. Though their help is good and often sound, nobody wants to be bombarded by unsolicited advice.

I am here to tell you, it is going to happen, whether you want it to or not. People who have been successful with their diets, people who follow the hype on TV, or the latest diet trend/ fact are going to tell you about it. They are going to offer you their tips for success.

Personally I would say, “IGNORE IT ALL! It's all a bunch of hogwash!” However, that's not a great tone to take with someone trying to give you advice. After all, you never know when it might be good advice and good for you.

Nevertheless, keep this in mind: it is your diet, not theirs. Take their advice and keep it in your mental notes. Thank them for their help and support and that you will look into it. If you don't want their advice you can simply tell them, “Thank you, I appreciate your advice and I will take it in consideration, but for now I am going to stick with my plan.” If they continue, you can simply nod and smile. After all they are only trying to help.

In addition to this, you will be up against yourself. There will be days that you don't want to diet, you don't want to workout, you don't want to do anything but lay on the couch and pet a cat. You may get depressed that perhaps your weight loss isn't as progressive as you like. When this happens it is a good idea to measure yourself, because even if the weight isn't coming off, maybe your body is just reshaping itself. Like your weight, keep track of how many inches you've lost. It might just be the rewarding news you need to push you forward.

“But what if I haven't lost any weight, and my measurements are the same?” Well, that's life. However, don't let it get you down. When this happens it is a good idea to re-evaluate your plan, and what you are eating. Ask yourself these questions:

• Have I been doing everything I can to consume the right amount of calories every day?
• Did I consume enough fiber, every day?
• Did I consume enough protein, every day?
• Did I consume enough potassium, every day to balance out my sodium?
• Did I keep my sodium low, every day?
• Did I keep my fats low, every day?
• Did I keep my carbohydrates low, every day?
• Did I keep my sugars low, every day?
• Did I drink enough water?
• Did I do enough exercise?
• Did I vary my exercise levels?
• Have I pooped regularly every day? (see Chapter 3)

If you answered “No” to any of these questions, then those are the areas you need to focus on and look into. If you answered “Yes” to every single question above I want you to ask yourself this:

What is my level of Will Power?

If your Will Power is in the lower levels, it is time to find out why. In the end it might be more in your head then it is in your body. When you are not losing the weight or inches you want to, and you are doing everything to make it happen, you can hit a brick wall of depression. It is at this time that you need to do some research about what you are eating and what you are doing to get you back on the path to success. It is a good time to look at your goal and remind yourself that it is what you are working towards. Whenever I got down in the dumps to my lack of success, I reminded myself of the dress size I wanted to be. I then looked at where I was on my path to that dress size and attempted to analyze what it would take to reach my goal. In the end it meant that I had to do some harder work and some deeper motivation to not give up and stay the course. My best motivation tool of all was and is music.

Nothing can inspire or motivate you more like music. If you have access to music and can make your own play-list or mixed CD, do it. Find songs that will help boost your spirits into taking charge of your health. I found songs like Journey's “Don't Stop Believing,” and the musical Wicked's “Defy Gravity,” are great motivating songs. Now they may not be your musical tastes, but I know that there are hundreds, possibly even millions of songs out there about positive motivation. I recommend opening a Spotify account or Pandora to find new music that will help you get into the beat

When you create your own playlist remember that these are songs should inspire you to move forward and to stay the course. When you’re done, pick one song to be your anthem. This will be your own personal reverie!

Excellent! Now it is time to motivate you a little more with a little reward. There is nothing better then a dangling carrot or the light at the end of the tunnel to help push you to your next level of success. Think of it as a Mini Goal or even a personal oath you are going to take with yourself. Every time you feel as though  you are up against all odds with your success and are not going anywhere in your diet plan, I want you to give yourself a reward to work towards with two weeks to earn it. This reward can be anything (try to avoid fast foods though, because they can put you right back into the negative the following day). Treats can be as easy as material items like new cloths or even a single yummy desert. A simple desert can be just what the doctor ordered.

Enlarge, print out, fill in and place it where you will look at it everyday.

Now that you have made this oath, renew it and update it every time you feel as though you can't go on. Another thing you can do to help motivate your spirits, is taking a full length photo of yourself, and comparing it to a photo of you at the beginning of your diet. A picture can say a thousand words and help you to physically see the progress you have made. This should help you make it to your goal with leaps and bounds, and before you know it, you're a size smaller and emotionally richer for it.

This photo was my progress from 235 lbs to 190, back in 2009-2010. This is 4 months of progress.