The Junkfood Eater's Diet


I wanted to lean out fast. I had just come home from college for the summer to work and I had a potbelly going for myself. I was mad because, as I said, I had been an athlete most of my life. This was a new and unhappy development in my life. I decided to lose the weight as fast as I could so that on the weekends I would look good on the beach. Well, I didn't know then what I know now, so I tried starving myself.

I would eat one sandwich a day. That was it, one. If you can believe this, it was a ham-and-cheese sandwich. With my sandwich, I would have a handful of potato chips and a glass of milk. What a genius I was! I would eat this meal after a full day of working in a warehouse. After my meal I would go to the gym for a two-and-a-half hour work out. Then, I would go for a two mile run.

What a great plan this was! I lost eleven pounds in two weeks. During the same two weeks, my arms grew a half-inch around. This was fantastic. There was only one problem, I became a miserable, raving lunatic.

This was the same diet that led to the great potato-chip-slugfest with my brother I mentioned earlier. This was not a good time. I was grouchy all the time and I hated being around people. That's no way to live. The diet was a failure. Not only was I miserable because my body was out of balance, but I also put the weight back on once I started eating again.

This is called the yo-yo effect. I'm sure you're all aware of it. When you go off a diet, you end up gaining the weight back and sometimes you even gain more. This will also be discussed later in this book in the chapter on metabolism.

With my system, you won't have to worry about that happening to you. First I'll teach you why it happens, and then I'll show you how to avoid it. (I'll give you a hint. It involves eating all day long!)

Another thing we do is turn to the latest diet out there. Far too often, these diets are gimmicks. They are designed to lure you in with the latest new breakthroughs and promise amazing results in record time. The problem is that gimmicks don't work. They can also be unhealthy. Before we go any further, I'm sure you're thinking, "Aren't you making those same promises? Aren't you bringing me in with some great new gimmick?"

No. I'm sure that I've aroused the suspicions of a few skeptics, but I know I can put your mind at ease. What I'm doing is showing you a proven healthy way to reach your goals. I'm not going to make ridiculous claims. I'm going to teach you a better way, a sensible way.

I'm not going to try to sell you a piece of expensive exercise equipment or meal plan. I'm going to first, eliminate the nonsense and then put you on a healthy path that you can live with happily.

So now, what's wrong with the gimmicks? For the most part they aren't healthy. Usually they get you on a poor schedule and/or have you eliminating essential nutrients. I've mentioned these before, they are the "quick-fixes" and they don't work.

What happens is that you go on one of these diets and you have some early success. (While you can still stick to that diet anyway). The reason that it works at first is because your body is used to burning a great deal of calories every day. Now it's getting fewer calories and it's burning them at the same rate. You are shocking your body. The effects are wonderful, at first. The same thing happens when you first lift weights. Your body responds quickly to the sudden changes it is facing.

That sounds good for the time being, but it doesn't last. So, you drop a few pounds fast. Now you're happy. You think that if you just continue following this plan, you'll have continued success. So far so good, the negative effects of not getting a balanced diet haven't surfaced yet and the weight is coming off.

This is perfect. It's perfect for whom ever is selling this diet. You see, you have become their newest spokes-person. You're telling your friends about this great new diet and what it's done for you. Now they want to get in on it and buy the book, video or meal plan too.

You're now working for them. But, where will they be when the plan hits the fan? Where will they be when your energy levels drop from being malnourished? Where will they be when you start getting sick because your immune system has been weakened? Where will they be when you finally give up this ridiculous diet and suffer the brunt of the yo-yo effect?

They will probably be on a yacht somewhere, thinking up ways to promote their new belly-smasher that folds neatly under your bed. Which, as many of know by now, is where it will probably spend most of its time.