By Hugo Rivera, CFT, BSCE

Summer is just around the corner. Along with it comes the time to get in your bathing suits and go to the beach.

But, wait a minute! Do I hear that can’t do because some of the flab gained over the holidays is still on your waist?

If that is the case, forget about the infomercials that promise quick results without any effort, as there is no thing as a free lunch. The good news however, is that you do not need to send me 4 payments of $59.99 for the secrets on how to lose those pounds of fat.

In this article, I cover what needs to be done with your diet. Don’t worry; I won’t take your carbs away or stick you with a liquid or celery diet. If you want a summer body and have the determination necessary to do what it takes to get it, I describe the path that will lead to it.

1) Eliminate all sorts of junk food from your diet. That alone will cause you to eliminate empty calories that are not used by the body and are turned into fat.

2) Reduce your intake of bad fats. Bad fats are things like butter, cooking oils, and saturated fats such as the ones found in meats. However, ensure adequate intake of good fats such as flaxseed oil. 1 tablespoon of flaxseed oil a day covers all of the essential fatty acid requirements of most people. I tend to take 1 tablespoon in the morning with my protein shake.

3) Reduce your intake of sugars. Foods laden with sugar cause a sharp rise in insulin levels. Insulin is a good hormone when it is not present in excess as it carries the amino acids from the protein into the muscle cell so that they can be used for growth and repair. It also carries the carbohydrates into the liver and muscle cells for storage as glycogen (stored carbohydrates) that can be used for future occasions. However, in excess, once the body’s reserves of carbohydrate storage are full, insulin turns these carbs into fat!

In addition, the excess insulin production will also take the carbs away from the blood stream too quickly creating a situation of low blood sugar. In this case you feel tired, groggy, and usually craving sweets. It is a vicious cycle that guarantees fat gain.

4) Increase your intake of protein. Protein foods provide the building blocks of muscle tissue. Without it, building muscle and burning fat efficiently would be impossible. Its importance is paramount. Protein also helps increase your metabolism every time you eat it by 20%! It also makes the carbohydrates that you eat ‘timed release’, so you get sustained energy throughout the day and you get a more steady release of insulin as opposed to the sharp rise you would get if you ate carbohydrate foods alone.

Good examples of protein are eggs (I use Egg Substitute: 1-1/2 cups liquid), chicken breast (cooked, skinless and boneless: 6 oz), turkey (cooked, skinless and boneless: 6 oz), lean (90% lean) red meats (6 oz), and tuna (6 oz). Each serving size equals approximately 35-40 grams of protein.

5) For every serving of protein, have an equal size serving of starchy carbohydrates. Remember, too many carbohydrates cause a huge release of insulin. When there is too much insulin in the body, your body turns into a fat storing machine. Therefore, it is important that we eat no more carbohydrates than necessary and that we eat the right amount of carbohydrates. Good sources of starchy carbohydrates are: Oatmeal (1 cup dry), sweet potatoes (8 oz baked), potatoes (8 oz baked), rice (1 cup cooked), pasta (8oz cooked), corn (1 cup canned), peas (2 cups cooked).

Each serving approximately equals 40-50 grams of carbohydrates.
By ensuring that you get no more carbohydrates than your body requires you will guarantee that body fat decreases. Now, I am not saying to eliminate the carbs. All I am advocating is portion control. In other words, if you have a serving of protein, have an equal sized serving of starchy carbohydrates. The minimum amount of carbs that you can get away with is an equal serving of them in three meals. For instance, a diet like the following will provide most men the results they are looking for.

If you are a woman, then just take out meal 6 and reduce your portion sizes as described below:

Fat Loss Diet for Men

Meal 1 (7 AM)
1 cup of dry oats mixed with water
1 cup of egg beaters

Meal 2 (9 AM)
Meal replacement or protein powder (around 40 grams of protein) mixed with water
1 Tablespoon of Flaxseed Oil

Meal 3 (12 Noon)
1 cup of brown rice, or medium sized baked potato, or 1 cup of oatmeal
2 cups of green beans, broccoli or any other desired vegetable
6-8 ounces of chicken, turkey, or lean fish

Meal 4 (3 PM)
Meal replacement or protein powder (around 40 grams of protein) mixed with water

Meal 5 (6 PM)
1 cup of brown rice, or medium sized baked potato, or 1 cup of oatmeal
2 cups of green beans, broccoli or any other desired vegetable
6-8 ounces of chicken, turkey, or lean fish

Meal 6 (8 PM)
Meal replacement or protein powder (around 40 grams of protein) mixed with water (No flaxseed Oil at this time)

Fat Loss Diet for Women

Meal 1 (7 AM)
1/2 cup of dry oats mixed with water
1/2 cup of egg beaters

Meal 2 (9 AM)
Meal replacement or protein powder (around 20 grams of protein) mixed with water
1/2 Tablespoon of Flaxseed Oil

Meal 3 (12 Noon)
1/2 cup of brown rice, or medium sized baked potato, or 1 cup of oatmeal
2 cups of green beans, broccoli or any other desired vegetable
6 ounces of chicken, turkey, or lean fish

Meal 4 (3 PM)
Meal replacement or protein powder (around 20 grams of protein) mixed with water

Meal 5 (6 PM)
1/2 cup of brown rice, or medium sized baked potato, or 1 cup of oatmeal
2 cups of green beans, broccoli or any other desired vegetable
6 ounces of chicken, turkey, or lean fish

6) Drink plenty of water! Water is by far the most abundant substance in our bodies. Without water, an organism could not survive. Most people who come to me for advice on how to get in shape almost always underestimate the value of water. Realize that a lack of water will not only cause dehydration, but also would stop the fat burning processes!

Water is good for the following reasons:
·Over 65% of your body is composed of water (most of the muscle cell is water).
·Water cleanses your body from disease inducing toxins and pollutants.
·Water is needed for all of the complex chemical reactions your body needs to perform on a daily basis. Processes such as energy production, muscle building, and fat burning require water. A lack of water would interrupt these processes.
·Water helps lubricate the joints.
·When the outside temperature is up, water serves as a coolant to bring the body temperature down to where it is supposed to be.
·Water helps control the appetite. Sometimes hunger indicates a lack of water. Drinking water may take the craving away.
·Cold water increases metabolism.

In order to know how much water your body needs a day, just multiply your lean body weight by .66. This would indicate how many ounces of water you require per day.

7) If you fall into temptation, do not sabotage the entire diet! We are all human and we are bound to make mistakes. If you fall off your diet, do not binge all day long because you fell off once. Just start eating correctly at the next meal. Bingeing for a full day can destroy the progress that weeks of effort delivered. Do not fall for it.

Be prepared! Prepack all of you
r food so that you have all of the food that you will need throughout the day. I don’t know about you but my life is pretty hectic. Without my cooler, I would be at the mercy of the fast food joints and then I would probably be a candidate for the Mr. Pillsbury Doughboy Championships. In addition, if you run into a situation where you don’t have food with you and don’t have the time to stop somewhere to eat either, hunger will increase and drive you to binge! So prepack all of your food; such practice wins half the battle.

9) Get your Zzzzz’s. That’s right, getting enough sleep. Everyone’s requirements differ but, on the average, people usually need between 7-9 hours per night depending on their level of physical activity. Sleeping adequately will ensure that your insulin metabolism operates properly. A faulty insulin metabolism leads to sugar cravings which spell disaster in any diet.

In addition, deprive your body of sleep and you’ll have lousy fat loss. As a bonus, you also get muscle loss which lowers your metabolism. The reason for this is because without enough sleep the body stops producing anabolic hormones (Muscle Producing/Fat Burning Hormones; e.g. testosterone and growth hormone) and starts increasing the production of catabolic ones (Muscle Destroying/Fat Depositing Hormones e.g. cortisol).

In addition, you will lack the energy and focus to get through your workouts and it will also lead to overtraining as you won’t be able to recover adequately.

To top it off, there is research that indicates that a lack of sleep creates cravings and binges in addition to hardening of the arteries which leads to heart attacks. If you don’t think that you have enough time to sleep, then turn off the TV and make the time!

10) Stop associating social gatherings with food. Unfortunately, we live in a society that celebrates everything with food, usually the type that does not serve our goals. The minute that you train yourself to think about what is more important for you, the chips and the piece of cake at the party or the six pack of abs (not beer), the faster you will reach your goals. I wish that we lived in a world where exercise gave you a license to eat whatever you wanted. If that were the case, I would be the first one in line waiting for the cake. But since life is not fair, you only have one choice. If that summer body is important enough for you, I am sure that when the time comes, the decision will be clear.

Follow the tips above and I guarantee you will be well on the path to the look you are striving for.

Hugo A. Rivera, a University of South Florida graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and also a Trainer Certification from the ISSA, was born December 5, 1974 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. As an overweight child he experienced at an early age the feelings of insecurity that come along with obesity as well as the scorn and ridicule from the people around him. After going anorexic at the age of 13 and losing a total of 70 pounds in less than a year, he was taken to a nutritionist by his concerned parents in an effort to stop the anorexic cycle. This nutritionist mentioned one thing that would change Hugo’s outlook on dieting forever: "Eating food will not make you fat; only abusing the quantities of the bad foods will." After listening to that statement, Hugo decided to kick the anorexic habit and to dedicate his life to studying the effects of foods on the human physiology.

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