How I Put It All Together
Excerpt from Eating-for-Life Chapter 8
So now you know all about the Eating for Lifestyle. You’ve learned what it really means to eat right. You know how to break free from the fast-food frenzy. We’ve separated myth from fact and have covered a great deal of information. Now it’s time to put it all together—to see Eating for Life in action. So I’m going to show you how I personally apply the Eating for Lifestyle. I’ll walk you through a typical day and show you what I eat, when, where and why. I’ll also share a little insight, as well as a few of the valuable lessons learned along the way.
Ready? Then let’s do it.
My Eating for Life day starts at night. Each evening, I invest just a few minutes planning what I’m going to eat the following day. I write it down in a journal or on
an Eating for Life meal plan, like those shown on pages 330 to 337 of this book. Planning my meals is one of the very good habits that feels natural to me since I’ve been doing it for so long. It’s easy because I have such a “consistent variety” to what I eat. It’s not exactly the same every day, but there is a pattern and predictability to it.
Fast forward to sunrise. When I awake on weekdays, I’m eager to start moving, so I do. First, I drink a 16-ounce bottle of water to help hydrate my body. Then I throw on an old T-shirt, a pair of workout shorts and slip on a beat-up pair
of Nikes, trot downstairs to my kitchen, have a quick cup of coffee, grab another 16-ounce bottle of water (to drink while I exercise) and scoot on over to my home gym for my morning workout ritual.
If you’ve read my book Body for LIFE, you know I work out first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. I don’t eat before I exercise because I know, and scientific studies show, that I’ll burn more fat for fuel (rather than blood sugar/glucose) during a workout on an empty stomach than I would if I had just eaten before.
My workout routine is very basic. Three days a week, I do 20 minutes of aerobic exercise. In the summertime, I’ll often jog and sprint, doing interval training outdoors. In the winter, when I’m at my home in Colorado, I exercise indoors, usually performing my 20 minutes of aerobics on a recumbent stationary Lifecycle. When I’m at my home in Maui, summer or winter, I’ll walk, run and jog on the beach to start my day.
Scientific studies have shown that even 20 minutes of exercise in the morning helps boost the metabolism so my body burns fat faster throughout the day. Also, morning workouts help me control my appetite. This is something else scientists have confirmed in recent years.
I also lift free weights three days a week, doing basic exercises like the bench press, shoulder press, biceps curls, triceps extensions, lunges and dumbbell squats for the legs, and a few sets of abdominal crunches for the midsection.
(No, I don’t train my abs every day... it’s a myth that the more you work the midsection, the leaner it gets.)
Make no mistake, basics are best when it comes to strength-training. The same 36 exercises I featured in Body for LIFE are really all you need to know to enjoy great benefits from weight training. Those were the best strength training exercises 30 years ago. Those will be the best exercises 30 years from now.
It’s not hard to learn how to lift weights, but I’ll tell you what, if you push yourself, every one of those darn workouts is hard! Afterwards, it’s really a great feeling, though. You see, not only does a good morning workout help get the blood pumping and wake my ass up, it has also been proven to increase the body’s natural “feel good” neurotransmitters, including the beta endorphins. That’s one
of the body’s most powerful, natural good-mood enhancers. It’s what joggers are referring to when they talk about the “runner’s high.” However, you don’t have to
be a long-distance runner to enjoy the positive effects of endorphins released secondary to exercise. You can get those juices flowing by simply getting up and getting going! And the more you “exert” yourself, the more you’ll enjoy the “afterglow” effects of exercise and activity.
My morning workouts help set the tone for my whole day, and they give me something positive I can count on no matter what.
Anyway, after my exercise, I get showered, dressed, attempt to do something with my hair (although it doesn’t always show), and then I head for the kitchen.
Typically, I give it an hour between finishing my workout and when I eat my breakfast. This is another way I’m able to extend my exercise efforts. You see, scientific studies have shown that if you don’t eat for an hour after you work out, your metabolism is revved up and you’ll burn even more fat for fuel.
For breakfast I usually have four pieces of cold, leftover Domino’s pizza and a couple cans of Pepsi. (Just kidding... and making sure you’re still with me here!)
For real, on the weekdays, my breakfasts are super simple—I usually have a nutrition shake, which is balanced in protein and carbohydrates and fortified with vitamins and minerals. I’ve been using nutrition shakes to help keep my bodyfat down and my energy and strength up since I led a health food company called MET-Rx back in the early 1990s. I used MET-Rx daily for years, and then I switched to Myoplex, a similar product developed by a company called EAS, which I owned from 1995 to 1999.
It has been years since I turned EAS over to a new management group, and in that time I’ve worked to develop “Right®” the next generation of nutrition shakes. They contain the best vitamins and minerals and the highest quality protein. And, Right® is 100% free of artificial flavors and sweeteners. I like the way
I feel after drinking a Right® nutrition shake. I’m satisfied but not stuffed. And I know that I’ve nourished my body with the nutrients it needs to keep going strong.
I don’t skip breakfast, but I do rush through it. I know I can feed my body what it needs with a nutrition shake, which I make in the blender and takes me all of about, oh... a minute.
On the weekends, I’ll have an omelet, whole-wheat toast, coffee and water for breakfast. Or a breakfast burrito or the Egg-Cellent Enchilada recipe (page 223).
Okay, so far so good... a sound night’s sleep, water, coffee, a workout and a healthy Eating for Lifestyle breakfast. Always a great start!
When I get to work in the morning, I really get to work. Focus, focus, focus! Even when I’m writing a book about food, like this one, the last thing I’m thinking about throughout the morning is eating. And so I have to remind myself to eat my morning midmeal by scheduling it at 10:30 a.m. on my day planner.
Now, with Eating for Life, it’s important not to think of these midmeals as snacks. Snacking is generally unconscious munching and crunching on something that is usually not nourishing.
Chips, crackers, candy... they offer very little nutrition, and what most people don’t realize is they stimulate the appetite and increase cravings. Ugh... keep that crap away from me!
My morning midmeal consists of another nutrition shake or a portion of cottage cheese mixed with Yoplait fat-free yogurt. (I eat a lot of that stuff. I like almost all their flavors: vanilla, blueberry, strawberry, peach... yum! I think you could mix a cup of dirt in that Yoplait yogurt and it would still taste good to me!)
Between breakfast and lunch, I drink another 16-ounce bottle of water. You won’t see me carrying around a bottle of water, though—I don’t sit and
sip—I “chug” big bottles of water like college freshmen do bottles of beer.
Lunch... that’s my third Eating for Life meal of the day, and I typically eat that at 12:30 p.m. A turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mustard on whole-wheat bread. That, and a 16-ounce bottle of water, is very simple and satisfying to me. So is a chicken breast, brown rice and broccoli. I bring lunch with me or pick it up at the local deli. Quick, nutritious. And I’m back to work. I rarely go out for lunch. Waste
of time. But that may just be the way I see it. I’m moving fast, and I want to get things done.
Unlike my morning midmeal, which I typically have to be reminded of, my body reminds me to eat by midafternoon. So at 3:30 p.m., I’ll have either another nutrition shake or another serving of yogurt and lowfat cottage cheese or an apple with cottage cheese. And another 16-ounce bottle of water. Now it takes me all of about three minutes to eat my afternoon midmeal, but I can tell you, this may very well be the most underrated meal of the day.
If I miss this meal, if I don’t feed my body with a balance of protein and carbohydrates in the afternoon, I begin to lose focus, feel tired and that cuts into
my work performance.
On the rare days that I miss my afternoon midmeal because of poor planning on my part, or meetings that ran overtime, or delayed airline flights, etc., I find that not only do I lose energy in the afternoon, but I’m also setting the table for a setback that evening. You see, like many people, I have the potential to binge eat at night. To get ahold of a box of cereal, crackers, cookies or ice cream late in the evening and just go hog wild. It happens once in a while. And when it does, the next day I look back at what “triggered” the binge, and almost every time it was a result of missing my afternoon midmeal. So be forewarned. Don’t miss that afternoon midmeal!
Dinner... ahhh, dinner... my favorite meal of the day. The meal that I truly invest time to enjoy. To sit down, catch my breath, relax and divide the “go-go” part of
my day from an evening of rest and relaxation. Over the last year, throughout the process of producing this book, most evenings our family gets together, and we enjoy the dinner recipes that you’ll find beginning on page 79 of this book. I’ve enjoyed every single one of those meals. Most, several times. Among my favorites are the Chicken Pomodoro (page 183), Grilled Salmon (page 84), Spaghetti and Meatballs (page 89) and Chicken Enchiladas (page 114).
I have hearty portions for dinner. In fact, dinner is my biggest meal of the day. I don’t stuff myself like a Thanksgiving turkey, but I love to leave the table fully satisfied.
I know diet dogma dictates that dinner should be your smallest meal or that you shouldn’t eat after 6 o’clock in the evening and other nonsense. That might look good on paper, but in the real world, it’s not practical. It’s just not. And I don’t expect you to follow any silly rules like that. I encourage you to enjoy your dinners. Really make them special. Invest the time to plan and prepare, to cook and share the experience with family and friends. Sit down, relax and eat for goodness’ sake!
When I’m at my home in Maui, I usually go out to dinner at sunset. And I order a meal very much like you’ll see in the dinners featured in this book. A fresh piece
of fish (seared Ahi and salmon are my favorites), a portion of brown rice or pasta, steamed spinach or broccoli and sparkling water.
One of the keys to eating right when you go out to restaurants is remembering the Right Recipe: the right foods, the right amounts, the right combinations and the right times. When you keep those four ingredients of Eating for Life in mind, you can almost always find something on the menu that will work for you. And if you don’t see it on the menu, simply explain to the waiter or waitress what you need. More and more, you’ll find food servers who are familiar with Body for LIFE and
the Eating for Lifestyle, and they will be happy to help you out.
At restaurants, it’s important to ensure you have the right amounts before you dig in. You might have to “scale down” the portions, especially the carbohydrate. And sometimes, especially for women, dinner is so big it’s a “double portion,” which means you can ask to have part of it boxed up, to go, even before you start eating, and just like that, tomorrow’s lunch is already planned and prepared!
Okay... so a couple hours after dinner, I virtually always have dessert. It’s my sixth Eating for Life meal of the day. Like midmeals, my desserts are different in that they are balanced with protein and carbohydrates and healthy. Dessert is fun, satisfying and provides nutrients that help my body and mind relax, recover, rebuild and renew overnight. Among my favorite desserts are Banana Cream Pudding (page 206), the Anyday Sundae (page 197) and Carrot Cake Muffins (page 211) or, another nutrition shake.
So that’s how I put it all together. That’s a typical Eating for Life day for me. As you can see, I exercise in the morning. I eat six meals. I drink a lot of water. I eat relatively small, easy-to-prepare, quick-to-consume meals for my breakfast, morning midmeal, lunch and afternoon midmeal. I enjoy each of those meals, but I don’t necessarily sit down, celebrate and get too worked up about them. Dinners, on the other hand, I really look forward to, and I savor. And desserts—they really are the icing on the cake of a great day of Eating for Life.
Now that’s typically how it goes for me six days a week. And usually, Sunday is my free day—the day I don’t work out; the day I eat pretty much whatever I want. That might mean doughnuts or a danish and milk for breakfast, but not always. It might mean pizza or pasta for lunch. But only sometimes. It might be eating a hot dog and nachos at a ball game. And/or it could include a big plate of lasagna at my favorite Italian restaurant and apple pie with ice cream for dessert. On my free day, I really don’t have a pattern. Sometimes I eat a lot. Sometimes I don’t. I pretty much just follow my gut instinct.
By the way, if I have free day foods around the house on Sunday, like oatmeal cookies, doughnuts or Twizzlers, I make sure I get rid of them when free day fun time is over. And I often do my grocery shopping for the week after I’ve eaten a free day meal or two. That way my cravings are virtually nonexistent and going to the supermarket doesn’t feel like I’m trapped on Temptation Island. When I’m full and satisfied, I simply stick to my Grocery Guide (like the one on pages 339 to 344).
My kitchen cabinets and pantry are very “clean.” Over the years, I’ve learned that
if I don’t want to wear it, I simply don’t buy it at the grocery store—I don’t allow it into my home. Chips, cookies, ice cream, sugary breakfast cereals... none of that stuff looks good on me! And so I don’t keep it around. It’s much easier to do the right thing if you put yourself in the right situation. And a refrigerator, kitchen cabinets and pantry stocked only with the right foods makes it easier to do the right thing.
At least it does for me.
So how is this working out for me? Well, at 38 years of age, I’m not doing too bad
at all. My bodyfat stays between 6 percent and 7 percent, year round. My cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure and blood glucose levels are all in the very healthy range. And I am stronger than I was 10 years ago. Overall, I’m holding up very well. All that in spite of the fact that 10 years ago I was 20 pounds overweight, already had high cholesterol and I looked like a mess! Felt like one too!
On the following page, you’ll see what I look like now and what I looked like 10 years ago, before I knew how to put it all together. You’ll notice that under the “way I was then” photo is an example of how I used to eat. And under the photo of me now, you’ll see how I follow the Eating for Lifestyle.
I hope you find this information helpful. If you do, be sure to review the two dozen other “success stories” I’ve prepared and am presenting in Appendix A of this book, which starts on page 345. I learn a lot from the real-life examples of people who’ve succeeded in transforming their bodies and lives for the better. I think you will too.
Of course, not every day goes as planned. Sometimes I miss meals. Sometimes I overeat. Sometimes I under eat. And when that happens, I simply make a note of it, vow to do better the next time, put it behind me and move on.
Bill Phillips Age 38 • Golden, CO • Author/Entrepreneur I’ve Maintained a 20 Pound Loss of Bodyfat for Over 10 Years
Favorite Eating for Life Meal: Mom’s Chicken Enchiladas (page 114)
Favorite Free Day Food: Warm oatmealraisin cookies and a glass of icecold milk!
Toughest Eating Obstacle Overcome: I did not know how to eat right back then. I was taught to“carb up” each day. I did that. And I got fat! Once I learned about balancing protein and carbs, and eating the right amounts six times a day, I achieved the results I was striving for.
Current Exercise Routine: I do 20 minutes of aerobics, first thing in the morning, three days a week, and I lift weights three days a week, first thing in the morning, on alternating days.
Favorite Benefit of the Eating for Lifestyle: What I love most about my experience with Eating for Life is sharing what I’ve learned with others!
I don’t follow the Eating for Lifestyle “perfectly.” No one does. Remember, it’s what you do most of the time, not some of the time, with this style of eating that creates long-term, positive results.
I want to emphasize that although teaching people about health and fitness is something I enjoy, I am far from obsessed with it. I simply have developed a daily routine of eating and exercise that works. It requires a minimal investment of time and energy. And it’s not at all complicated.
So all in all, what the Eating for Lifestyle does for me is provide a basic, balanced, scientifically safe and sound, practical approach to eating right. One which is “imperfect,” flexible and realistic.
Following the Eating for Lifestyle feeds my mind, so I can work hard and stay focused. It nourishes my muscles, so I have energy to work out and the essential nutrients needed to recover and renew. It is simple to follow, so I don’t have to constantly count calories or look for “hidden carbs.” It’s also a way I can feed my emotions—a way I can allow food to lift or soothe my mood.
Also, Eating for Life is not a “head trip.” I don’t have to become self-absorbed in ethereal explanations of why I eat what I eat and what that means about my “inner self.” Rest assured, I’m all for self-awareness and self-actualization, but I also do my best to not make things more complicated than they need to be.
Eating for Life also just flat out feels good and tastes good too! There are an endless variety of foods that I can choose from, which keep me from getting bored (the downfall of many dieters). The way I eat doesn’t exclude me from any social occasions or interactions, like holiday celebrations or dinners out with friends.
All in all, it’s just a good, smart, fun way to eat and a very respectable and responsible way to care for myself.
There you have it—that’s how I put it all together. And now, it’s your turn to give the Eating for Lifestyle a try. I guarantee it will work for you, like it has for me and literally thousands of others.
