Just Eat This: A Diet for Weight Loss

Just Eat This: A Diet for Weight Loss
Steve Edwards
The initial stages of a weight loss program are the most difficult. Since I eat fairly healthy most of the time, my first step is to enact a few rules that still allow me to eat but that point my eating in the direction I want it to be going. As long as you're exercising, you don't need to vastly reduce your calories unless you're on some type of time-induced crash program. Slow and steady is generally more doable, more fun, and healthier.

For all of my diet programs I follow the same general guidelines, so make sure to read Just Eat This to learn about them.

Steve's diet for weight loss in the initial stages

In my world, it's always easier to add exercise than to take food away, so when I need to shed some weight I begin each day with a 30-minute to three-hour cardio workout. It's usually biking or running but can be something like yoga. The point is to enhance fat mobilization—your body's ability to burn stored fat. I always do this workout on an empty stomach, but for anything over an hour and a half, I'll begin consuming a sports drink that is mainly carbs along with some protein (4:1 ratio) after 30 minutes of exercise. I make sure to drink water all day long. I drink a glass when I wake up and keep going. Most people are chronically dehydrated.

My supplement regimen varies depending on the type of training I'm doing. The harder I train, the more supplements I take. The only constants are vitamins, like ActiVit®, and an omega supplement, usually fish oil. Beyond that, it varies from nothing when I'm in a maintenance cycle to packs of stuff every few hours when I'm doing ultra stuff.

I also don't eat the same things every day. This is just an example of the types of foods and the timing.

Morning: Post-workout snack—this is approximately 4 parts carbs to 1 part protein with a little fat. I tend to try making this more natural, like a protein shake, but P90X® Peak Recovery Formula would also work well. However, if I'm not working out too hard and don't need maximum glycogen replenishment, I'll opt for a more traditional breakfast that follows an approximate 4:1 ratio. This is generally a bowl of whole grain cereal with a piece of fruit. It will absorb slower than the recovery drink, but if my glycogen stores aren't completely drained, that's okay.

A little while later: Coffee, black.

Morning snack: Nothing, but I usually advise eating a snack in this slot, like a piece of fruit or a protein shake. More on this later.

Lunch: Whole-bean and rice burrito with loads of salsa made from all-natural ingredients. I use a lot of salsa, probably 4 ounces for a 12 to 16-ounce burrito.

Note: Lunch might be late. I go for long periods in the morning without eating. As a writer, I work on momentum and don't like to be interrupted when I'm in the zone. My body works well for long periods without food, a tactic that certainly doesn't work for many people.

Afternoon snack: I do my hard training in the afternoon when I can. If it's long training, then I'll eat during it (a bar of some kind). If it's short, I'll just eat afterward. That meal is another post-exercise drink. I tend to use Recovery Formula after the harder workout because it has sugar and works faster.

An hour or two later, dinner: Some type of lean meat, fish, or high-protein veggie thing (like a burrito), with some veggies and a salad. When I'm trying to lose weight and training, I give myself what I call "all-you-can-eat veggies." No dressing, just veggies. But I can use balsamic vinaigrette on my salad and dip the veggies in whole-grain mustard.

Dessert: A beer or glass of red wine. I'm not much of a dessert person but I will eat it on occasion. While trying to lose weight, I'd rather have a drink, which helps me relax, which isn't always easy when you are undereating and training hard.

Late night snack: Herbal tea.

Questions you might be asking yourself

Is this enough calories? I didn't give amounts of food, but that varies based on feeling. Especially when training, my body tells me when it's hungry. I'll feed it, but when losing weight I try never feeling full. I try following a "leave the table when you're 80 percent full" rule.

Is it too many calories? The only time I get very tight with regards to calories is when I have a fair amount of weight to lose. Usually, I'm within 10 pounds of my goal. If it's more, I'll start on feeling and then restrict calories for up to three or four weeks. I don't like to restrict calories longer than this because it can hinder my metabolism. And I always zigzag my calories so that I don't go into "starvation mode."

Is it too many carbs? It's actually low on carbs for the amount of exercise I'm doing. When I'm really cranking along, I'll eat triple the carbs and triple the calories. This is my version of a low-carb diet.

Do you drink with your meals? I try not to. Maybe a few sips of water or wine. But drinking with food interferes with the digestive process and should be minimized. I'll often drink a glass of water a bit before a meal. This helps fill my stomach so that I'm less hungry and I rarely feel the need to "wash down" my meal.

How long do you do it? Like I said, I'm usually within that last hurrah or my target weight. This means that I usually don't have to stay strict for more than a few weeks at a time. More than a month on a diet like this and my body fat percentage begins to get dangerously low.

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Cheerfully giving!!

So as I was watching the 700 Club this morning.  Not my usual thing to watch while eating breakfast but it was on and I decided to see what it was about.  It was a couple that was down on their luck and bout to loose their house and on food stamps.  They turned to god and asked what to do.  They decided that to donate a dollar to 10 churches in the area and when they did they found out that they had a death in the family and was given an inheritance of $10,000.  They then gave $100 dollars to the churches and then jobs came to them and they were making $700,000  that year.  All for just believing that when you pay it forward you will receive more.


This is a great belief.  Paying forward isn't just about sending money to a church.  What about helping a friend on your day off from work, volunteering your time to a homeless shelter or habitat for humanity, giving your advice and sharing what works for you in your business.  I do this daily with Beachbody.  Paying it forward is what Beachbody is all about. 

The feeling of having someone I know either from facebook or the grocery store or at a child's game tell me how happy they are that I shared my success with them.  They are so happy to have lost the weight and to make some money.   Walmart wouldn't help Target with their customers would they.  I mean think about it.  If i went to walmart and said can you tell me if Target has what I need they would say sure they do.  Just go to Target and get it their.  We all know that really isn't how it works.

But in Beachbody that exactly how it works.  I have talked to a new friend (Roxanne) daily.  No she isn't a customer of mine and no she isn't one of my coaches.  Actually she was a coach before and decided to quit.  Her upline kept trying to get her to become a coach again.  We became friends on facebook and after sharing my story and my BELIEF in her she signed up as a coach again for the other team and is loving it.  This didn't help me with my business but more importantly it helped her.   Having a friend, even thou we have never met, has helped her with her belief in herself and her finances.  She I know will pay it forward.  I am so proud of her.  This is exactly what PAYING IT FORWARD IS ABOUT!!! 

So I challenge you to pay it forward today.  In what ever way you find happiness and fulfillment.