10 Really Good Diet Hacks

For today’s post, we’re keeping it simple. Here are…

10 Really Good Diet Hacks

1. Eat a Big Breakfast

Your grandma was right.

Studies have shown that eating a big breakfast helps reduce hunger and promotes weight loss.

2. Macronutrient Timing

Eat low fat/ high protein/moderate carb meals in the morning – fruit smoothies with protein powder, oatmeal with cinnamon, raisins & protein powder, grilled chicken fruit salad

Eat low carb/high protein/moderate fat meals in the evening – soups, salads, stir frys, etc…lots of veggies (the crunchy kind) but no grains

Lunch can go either way.

Part of the theory behind macronutrient timing is that carbs are used for energy. As your day winds down, your need for carbs is reduced. And if you’re not burning carbs for energy, the will turn to fat.

So, if your afternoon is going to require lots of energy, opt for a carb/pro meal. If your afternoon is kind of lazy, then go with the pro/fat meal.

3. Eat Protein at Every Meal

I’m not saying to eat a huge 24oz. Porterhouse steak. More like half a chicken breast or a couple of eggs or some tofu or a scoop of protein powder.

4. Fiber at Every Meal

Oatmeal, vegetables, fruit, ground flax seeds in your smoothie….

5. Stop Drinking Your Calories

This morning, I am in Starbucks behind two women who are complaining that they can’t lose weight even though they are 1. working out 3 times a week and 2. never cheating on their diets.

And then they both ordered Grande mocha-frappucino type drinks

My head almost exploded.

BTW, they had just walked across the street from their health club.

6. Stop Eating Bread

Just stop it. Seriously

7. Drink More Water & Tea

Your body needs fluid. Odds are, you don’t get enough.

8. Supplement with Omega 3 Fish Oils Every Night

Every month, there is new research highlighting the health benefits of Omega 3s. At the present time, the best & most affordable source of Omega 3s are fish oils. Vegetarians should look at Krill Oil..

9. Get Smart about Peri-Workout Nutrition

At the very least, you need to sip on a sugar-sweetened beverage during your workout – Gatorade, diluted orange juice, etc…

10. Always Carry Healthy Snacks

Our society thrives on junk food.

If you want to eat healthy in order to lose weight, live longer, etc, you need to be prepared. Like ……a good little boy scout, you need to spend a little time every night preparing your healthy lunch & snacks.

About healthhabits

Doug Robb is a personal trainer, a fitness blogger and author, a competitive athlete, and a student of nutrition and exercise science. Since 2008, Doug has expanded his impact by bringing his real-world experience online via his health & fitness blog, Health Habits. Read more posts by Doug at Hive Health Media.

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GwendolynBridgetOptimism 5 pts

Why should I take fish oil specifically at night? Would you be able to do an article on when the best time to take supplements is? I am never sure! :(

Thanks - I love your stuff!

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nduhamel 5 pts

Good list except krill oil is not vegetarian. Flax oil or a specialized vegan Omega 3 supplement are good vegetarian options.

Pea Protein Powder 5 pts

Stop eating bread is a great one! I have also tried using plant based protein powders to great effect. Getting that protein in on a daily basis helps stop those cravings which is a definite killer!

troy.pesola 5 pts

What do you think of Intermittent Fasting? After reading the research from Brad Pilon and Martin Berkhan I jumped on the bandwagon - even though I love breakfast foods more than anything else.

http://cubedwellerfitness.com/2011/06/quit-eating-breakfast-intermittent-fasting/

I know you are right with #6 "stop eating bread", but ... I just can't stop. I like it too much.

hivehealthmedia 5 pts moderator

Troy, Intermittent Fasting actually has a fair amount of scientific support. On the other hand, if you love breakfast food / bread, you might find it pretty difficult to incorporate in your diet. I tried intermittent fasting--regularly for 2 weeks, and I did seem to get quick results, but it takes a ton of dedication to stick to it on a sustained basis. Martin's protocol's also probably work best if you have flexible work hours. -Jarret (not Doug) troy.pesola

My latest conversation: Exercise Caution When Buying Noisy Toys

hivehealthmedia Jarret,

Thanks for the response.

My solution was simply to eat breakfast foods for my first meal ... lunch. ;)

qwerty

But what if I like eating porridge oats for breakfast...
I see the logic but the point I was trying to make was/is that its not so straightforward, there are no "catch all" rules, every rule has its "BUT!"'s and you have just illustrated them beautifully in your contradictory article.
And I don't see why you'd need any extra sugar drinks if your trying to lose weight. Every lost calorie counts as far as I feel and consuming more via a liquid form I can drink fast and which leave me feeling just as hungry by the time I get home for dinner as I would had I had nothing or a simple satsuma makes no sense to me at all. But then I'm trying to lose weight, not everyone doing the same 2 hour workout is also trying to lose weight and some may need the extra sugar drinks. I just don't advocate this for weight loss myself.
P.S: Do you have any science on the storage of energy with/without the cardiovascular work out rate? I would be interested to read real life scientific studies on this.

healthhabits

Hi qwerty
I agree with your position on rules.
When it comes to nutrition, health, obesity, etc... this is how I see it:
There are highly nutritious foods & foods devoid of nutrition
There are foods that you love to eat & foods that you avoid like the plague
There are foods that lead to obesity & foods that don't
There are also ways of combining foods into meals that are healthy & not healthy - taste great & taste like prison food.
How you choose to eat is decided by a whole host of factors. If we ignore everything else except health & nutrition, you would probably choose all healthy food. But, as you noted about porridge for breakfast, nutrition isn't the only deciding factor.
Based on my research, a big bowl of oatmeal isn't the best breakfast you could choose - inflammatory response to grains, relative lack of protein, the sugar most people dump all over it, etc.
But, it is also far from the worst breakfast you could eat and the pleasure you derive from eating it has to count towards improving mental health and generally being happy with your life.
However (and I know that I am rambling) - if you were trying to lose weight and came to me for advice, I would probably recommend dumping the oatmeal or at least cutting back on the portion size and adding in some protein
Re the drinks - if you are doing one of my workouts, you are setting up a hormonal situation in your body where sugar calories will go to your muscles for repair & growth and NOT be directed towards fat cells
Start here for more info on the subject

So on one hand you say "drink a sugar drink between workouts" re the peri workout, then you go say "stop drinking your calories"...confusing.
You say "eat a big breakfast" but then say to "stop eating bread" and "stop eating junk food", so what, eat a huge bowl of cereal and ignore the generally assumed fry-up (with toast) which most people assume is a big breakfast? but then I would consider breakfast cereal a processed and thus junk food item, what else would you eat? 100g of porridge? yesterdays pasta bake? bowl of soup...?
And if your not supposed to be drinking your calories, smoothies are out, as much as I agree with this, a vast percentage of the population rely on smoothies for one of their 5 a day.
These rules make sense but not in the same list, you need to decide what school of thought your going with before you create such a list or it just makes you look ignorant and uncompetant.

@qwerty
Let's see if I can help you understand the logic:
1. sugar calories consumed as part of a peri-workout nutrition program is more likely to be stored in muscle cells than fat cells. Sugar calories consumed during the lower activity periods of your day are more likely to be stored in your fat cells. That's the difference - sugar for times of high physical activity & no sugar for times of low physical activity
2. Breakfast doesn't mean grains. For example, my breakfast this morning was scrambled eggs with spinach, onion & garlic

Thomas Johnson

#2 macronutrient timing sound like a good theory. Might try that one.

George Super Boot Camps

As others have done, I find I have to disagree a little.
- what about home made, home ground partially digested bread?
- don't drink your calories? Are you not drinking your calories with fruit smoothies?
- fibre with every meal? Agreed, how about replacing it with 'eat veg at every meal'? (something that Dr John Berardi recommended that I quite like)
Keep up the good work.
George

Alex

Talk about information that is useful! I will print this and hang it up next to my desk.
Alex

Sharona

Love this list!
My coworkers think I'm crazy for keeping a stash of fiber bars in my desk in addition to a bag of ground flax seed in the office kitchen to add to soups or smoothies I occasionally make in said kitchen as an afternoon snack. Three out of five of them have been doing Jenny Craig/Weight Watchers/etc for months with little to no results. Seriously, who's the crazy one?

Too bad they don't model their behaviors after you

Nancy

I'm also going to need more abt peri-workout nutrition. Neither agreeing nor disagreeing, just need info.
Also, I take my omega 3s in the morning to help with vitamin D absorption. Any benefit to switching to night?

Yum Yucky

I need a do-over on #6. It's not like me normally, but it was Christmas Party Bread. I had to overdose.
do-over starts now.

Liam | EverythingZing

This list is right up my street! "6. Stop Eating Bread ……Just stop it. Seriously" When are people going to get how much damage bread does to our waistlines? Glad to see you've got it healthhabits.

MakingFitHappen 5 pts

Funny, I'm sitting pretty at 10% body fat, yet I eat bread, wheat, rice. Bread isn't the problem. Too much bread is the problem, just like too much everything else is the problem...

sangita

Great post! Great for fitness "babes in the woods" like myself! I am forwarding this to my friends. Loved the story about the Starbucks women! Also r u against all kinds of bread - I mean the multigrian, whole wheat etc? looking forward to the post on peri nutrition.

I LOVE bread.
But, I don't like love handles

Robinsgothealth

I am really interested in what you have to say about the Peri-workout Nutrition tomorrow. I will not disagree till I hear the whole story on why you suggest this.
Thanks for sharing
Yours in Health, Robin

Steve Parker, M.D.

I depend on my glycogen stores for energy during my workouts. Plain water for hydration, usually.
Looking forward to your explanation why that's sub-optimal.
-Steve

Josh

I'm gonna go ahead and disagree about the peri-workout nutrition recommendation...

how come?

Brit

"6. Stop Eating Bread"
This is the one that I don't think I'll ever be able to follow.

Diet Hacks to Lose Weight says:

December 19, 2011 at 12:27 am

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10 Really Good Diet Hacks