Brando's Blog

TV Doctor Chris Steele's Farewell to Fat Diet - Part 4

In the final Post of this Series, I discuss Dr Steele's recommendations on Replacing foods, Snacks and Forebidden Foods:

Replace the following foods

 

Instead of:

• Sugar - use low calorie sweeteners
•  Milk - use semi skimmed milk; 1pint/day allowed
•  White bread - eat wholemeal bread; 3slices/day allowed
•  Cheese - use low fat alternatives, e.g. cottage cheese
•  Butter - use low fat spreads; use sparingly
  
•  Soft drinks - drink low calorie drinks
•  Fried food - eat grilled, poached, baked, steamed or boiled

My Comments:

• Low-calorie sweetners and soft drinks. Low-calorie sweetners are excito-toxins that kill brain cells. They have also been shown in research to increase the total amount of calories consumed and aid FAT GAIN! They have also been indicated to be related to several forms of brain disease.
• Semi-skimmed milk. You take the fat out of the milk and you’re left with lactose and water. Lactose is the sugar in milk. Sugar increases the release of insulin which increases uptake of calories into fat cells!
• Wholemeal breads has the same protein as white bread. So if you have a sensitivity to gluten, wholemeal will still cause major problems. Wholemeal will release sugar slower than white bread though.
• Low fat cheeses. Again you take out the fat, the release of sugar into the blood will increase and the amount of insulin released will increase. In addition, fat slows down the release of sugar.
• Low fat spreads instead of butter. I wrote a whole blog post on this (January 2010). Suffice to say butter is full of nutrients, is stable under heat, whilst low-fat spreads are basically trans-fats with dyes and fragrances added to hide the fact that they are rancid unsaturated fats and are unstable under heat.

Snacks

 

• Ideally no eating between meals!
• If tempted, nibble on portions of carrots, apples, celery, radishes, pickled onions, melon and small portions of nuts and grains (unsalted).
  
• If thirsty, drink plenty of water and low calorie drinks.
• Remember that feelings of hunger can often be controlled by drinking fluids, and drinking plenty of water before and during a meal can add to that feeling of fullness and satisfaction.

My Comments:

• You should snack if you need to between meals. This prevents blood sugar fluctuations. Sugar fluctuations cause your body to go in survival mode, break down muscle for energy, which lowers metabolic rate and increases lipogenic enzymes, which help to store body fat to survive the
   perceived famine.
• Staying hydrated is a good recommendation, not just to reduce hunger, but to ensure that when you do eat your digestive system is hydrated enough to do its job.

Forbidden foods

• Avoid sweets, sugar, chocolate, jams, cakes, pastry and biscuits 
•  Avoid high fat foods, e.g. fat on meat, skin on poultry, butter and cream
•  Avoid all fried food
•  Avoid thick soups, thick sauces and mayonnaise
•  Alcohol supplies calories with little nutrition
•  Even when you're on a diet, it's good to have a treat every so often. If you're sticking to this diet and are losing weight then you deserve a treat!

My Comments:

• I agree with all his forbidden foods except fatty foods (as long as they are from high quality sources).

I think it would be great if Doctor's realised the limitations of their training on nutrition and knew where they could refer people to for accurate information and advice.  

My suggestion if you need advice on losing weight and nutrition would be find a professional who is in good shape (walks their talk) and has a pile of testimonials from satisfied healthy weight-loss clients.

I also suggest you say farewell to Dr Steele's diet unless you want to put more weight on.

TV Doctor Chris Steele's Farewell to Fat Diet - Part 3

Evening meal 

• Any amount of fish or meat of your choice
• Any amount of two fresh vegetables 
• One baked potato or a small helping of boiled potatoes or a small helping of boiled rice or a small helping of pasta
• Fresh fruit or low fat fruit yoghurt
• Tea, herbal tea or coffee

Here are my Comments:

• These are the most sensible recommendations. However, rice and potatoes again, might lead to the release of too much insulin and help to store the calories as fat.
• Coffee at evening meal time is asking for trouble if you want to lose weight. The half-life of caffeine
  will mean that your body will be jacked-up well into the night and affect sleep. Good quality sleep is crucial to hormone balance, maintenance of muscle tissue and metabolic rate.

Check out my last post on this subject when I discuss Dr Steele's recommendations on Food Replacing and Snacking. You don't want to miss this one! 

 

TV Doctor Chris Steele's Farewell to Fat Diet - Part 2

Here is Dr. Steele's suggestion for a good lunch for weight loss:

Lunch

• Low calorie soup
• Lean meat, any amount 
• Mixed salad, any amount. Meat and salad can be taken as a sandwich with 2 slices of wholemeal bread
• Two portions of fresh fruit 
  
• Tea, herbal tea or coffee

Here are my Comments:

• If you survive until lunch (after your rabbit size breakfast and low blood sugar), at last you can have some meat.
• Low-fat soup again runs the risk of raising insulin levels, so when you eat the main meal the calories will go straight into storage in your fat cells!
• Wholemeal bread is quite an interesting suggestion. In the last two years, every person I have tested has shown a sensitivity to wheat and/or gluten (the protein in most grains). A sensitivity is enough to cause someone to be overweight and totally prevent fat loss!
• Again the suggestion of lean meat when there is nothing wrong with fat from good quality meats. Many people today will do better and lose more weight on fatty meat than lean meat.
• Coffee is suggested. Coffee at lunch time will jack the body up (stimulate the sympathetic nervous system) which will put a strain on the hormonal system (hormonal balance is crucial to weight loss).

Stay tuned for the next post when I will discuss Dr. Steele's recommendations for an evening meal to lose weight...

TV Doctor Chris Steele's Farewell to Fat Diet

Searching on the internet recently, I came across this article by TV Doctor Chris Steele (below). Now, I'm not looking to criticise Dr Steel as I am sure he is doing his best. 

After all, it should be understood that in the seven years of training, a student Doctor receives approximately four hours of nutritional study (most of their syllabus is on pathology and pharmacology) which is often sponsored by food manufacturers. 

Here is part of his article, with my comments below... 

What to eat

Before planning your meals, remember these simple guidelines:

Where amounts are not stipulated, any amount of that food can be eaten

Where fish is mentioned, any fish can be eaten. Tinned fish in oil is not allowed; tinned fish in brine is allowed

Where meat is mentioned, any meat without the fat is allowed and chicken without its skin. Sausage meats and high fat meats like burgers are not allowed 

No fried foods, and no foods with more than 3% fat content

Breakfast 

• Fresh fruit in any amount or a large glass fruit juice
•  One egg with one slice of brown toast or one average helping of unsweetened cereal (ideally whole-grain)
• Tea, herbal tea or coffee

My Comments:

What to Eat

TInned fish is recommended: 

• Tins contain heavy metals and toxins. Toxins are stored in fat cells in the body and disrupt hormone production

Any fish is recommended: 

• Farmed fish, even organic are fed unnatural feed and kept in unnatural, cramped environments, which makes them sick. They are often treated with anti-biotics and other drugs, as they are so sick. Drugs are toxic and where do toxins get stored in your body? 

Any meat as long as it has no fat or skin: 

• Why? As a species we have eaten high fat meats for millions of years. We need saturated fats from good sources for our cellular membranes, brain development and to produce hormones. Our hormonal system needs to work correctly to lose weight in the long term.
• Any meat? Does that include non-organic meats that are fed toxic feed, fed grains to make them fatter (what is stored in the fat cells? Was it toxins by any chance?), injected with copious amounts of medical drugs, which are toxic, they don't get to see the light of day, and contain very little if any nutrients. What happens when your diet is nutrient deficient? Oh yes, you want to eat more food. What happens when you eat too much food?

Breakfast recommendations: 

• The recommended breakfast would fill most active people for about 20 minutes before they needed to eat again. For most people it is way too high in fast releasing sugars, which increases insulin levels. Insulin is a hormone that helps drive calories into fat cells and makes them bigger and you FATTER!

Stay tuned for Part 2, when I show you Dr. Steel's ideas for lunch and explain why they are not a good idea... 

 

 

My Current Workout Routine - Part 4

Today, I managed to complete Lunge, Squat and Bend patterns. Got to strengthen my knee before the start of the tennis season!

 

My Current Workout Routine - Part 3

No particular Patterns on this day. Just a little upper back, shoulders and a bit of guns.

Music a little deeper yet again.

 

My Current Workout Routine - Part 2

Here's an insight into my Pull Pattern workout:

 

The music is a bit more up-tempo on this one!

My Current Workout Routine

Just to change things up a bit, I thought I'd give you an insight into my current workout routines, my musical tastes and mixing skills (or lack of).

Here's a flavour of my Push Pattern day!