Author Gregory J.E. Ladas
By Gregory J.E. Ladas
Why it is so hard to stay on a diet?
I bet you find it difficult like me to stay on diet plans? The popular low-calorie, fat, or carbohydrate (carb) diets of the day ask you to make significant changes in the way you eat. Even the diets that claim you can eat what you like ask you to spend major time counting calories. Who wants to carry around a calculator everywhere just to know when to stop eating for the day? For me, I would have to stop counting after breakfast! Enter The Couch Potato Diet Plan
Do you want to enjoy pizza, pasta, burgers, ice cream, chips, cookies, candy, and soda & still easily lose weight and keep it off for good? This is the diet and exercise book for you!
The Couch Potato Diet follows three core principles for sustained weight loss… 1) add more fiber and protein to your diet, 2) reduce saturated fat and cholesterol, 3) and significantly reduce your overall sugar intake. I found the trick to losing weight without increasing other health-related issues is to significantly reduce sugar intake while eating a healthier blend of fats and salt. The extra fiber helps to give you the feeling of a full stomach (and aids the digestive process). The protein helps you to build lean muscle.
If you consistently eat foods low in sugar, your body will start to burn the stored fat, and the pounds will come off. If you consistently take in too much sugar (carbs), the body will burn just the carbs and never burn your body’s fat. A low-sugar diet with the right combinations of fats (unsaturated, low cholesterol) and salt (light) should allow you to eat plenty, lose weight, and also reduce your overall cholesterol.
How do you do it though? How do you give up sugar and snacks? Why do you have to give them up at all? You can significantly reduce your sugar intake by switching to a great-tasting, natural alternative like Maltitol. Diabetics have been using Maltitol as a natural sugar alternative for years. If you want to use a great tasting, natural sugar alternative try Joseph’s Maltitol Sweetener™ found at
www.JosephsLiteCookies.com. You can find so many foods, drinks, and snacks sweetened with sugar alternatives you really won’t notice the difference in the way you eat! The trick is in order to stay on a successful, long-term diet you must find healthier substitutes (like no-sugar added and reduced fat or light versions) for the foods that you love to eat every day.
An example for me is nachos. How could I possibly live without tortilla chips, cheese, and salsa? Well, I did not give up nachos on The Couch Potato Diet in order to lose weight, just came up with a healthier, good-tasting alternative.
Low-Carb/Fat Nachos Example
Trader Joes™ sells Soy and Flaxseed Tortilla Chips. These reasonably priced chips contain flaxseed (soy and flaxseed are very high in omega-3 essential fatty acids, “good” fats that researchers are looking at in terms of their possible effects on lowering cholesterol, stabilizing blood sugar, and lowering the risk of certain cancers). Galaxy Nutritional Foods™ sells Veggie Shreds™ in most markets (check out the natural foods refrigerator section). The shreds are made from soy and come in all popular flavors like mozzarella (for pizza) and for my nachos cheddar or a jack blend. Go ahead and spread liberal amounts of chips on a microwave safe dish (as you normally do when making nachos). Add soy cheddar or jack to cover the chips (unlike dairy, soy has a healthier blend of fats and no cholesterol, but if you cannot part with dairy cheese, make sure to use a light, reduced-fat cheddar or jack blend). Microwave until the Veggie Shreds have melted. You can top off with salsa and or jalapenos prior to or after microwaving. I suggest you use fresh jalapeno peppers and a fresh-tasting salsa. Trader Joes sells reasonably priced varieties of quality salsa. However, your market will have plenty of salsas to satisfy your taste buds. If you are adventurous in the summer, grow your own ingredients and make your own salsa (see chapter on snacks). You can also add a little more zest to the nachos by sprinkling Frank’s Redhot™ on top of the Veggie Shreds prior to microwaving.
Gregory J.E. Ladas is the author of The Couch Potato Diet. A committed couch potato, Greg knew he needed to lose weight. He was so successful, he wrote this book to help others. Visit his website at www.thecouchpotatodiet.com