Chris Powell’s Book review

Although I never needed to lose more than 10 pounds weight in my life, I’ve always loved to observe, watch, read about how other people transform themselves, find strength to face that they need to change and become healthier, leaner and better. Chris Powell is one of my favorite life, fitness coaches, I’m inspired by his work and eagerness to help others. So imagine, how happy I was when I randomly saw his book “Choose to Lose: The 7-Day Carb Cycle Solution” in my local bookstore.

Finally, there is a person -Chris Powell, who does not says you need to eat only protein , or go on paleo, vegan or other extreme diets to lose weight that might seem especially overwhelming for those, who just started transforming their habits, and becoming conscious about their nutrition.

I think, Chris’s advice to go high and low carb, meaning one day you eat high amount of carbs, and another day you eat high carb breakfast, and the rest of the meals are high in protein but very low in carbs. He also suggests to do workouts on “low-carb days”. This totally makes sense: you won’t get into plateau because of the variety in the eating habits. Plus, eating high carb breakfast on “low protein” days will give you enough energy to start the day, but then you will be using glycogen and fat storage to push through the workouts.

The book also contains exercise pictures, sample menus, tips how to measure the amount of food YOU need to consume. And overall everything is explained clearly and in easy to follow way. Great buy!

7 “Healthy” foods to avoid

Current market offer a vast variety of “diet” foods that manufactures claim to be healthy and help you lose weight. But let’s look at some of them in more details.

1. Wheat/multigrain breads and rolls. The words “wheat” and “multigrain” might look appealing for those trying to eat healthy, but look at the package and ingredients. A lot of manufactures add corn syrup and sugar, and make them from REFINED wheat, meaning its no better for you than regular white bread.

SOLUTION: Look for word WHOLE wheat, grain etc, and small yellow FDA sign on the package with the word WHOLE in it.

2. Yogurt. Yogurt provides a good amount of protein, calcium and healthy bacteria that promotes digestion and food absorption. However, the LOWFAT with so-called “real” fruit versions are very high in sugar. Even worse is the LIGHT yogurt with added artificial sweeteners like aspartame, which according to latest research can actually cause you to gain weight!!!

SOLUTION: Get plain regular or Greek yogurt, add some fresh berries or fruits, a little honey (optional) to them and it will taste better than any flavored yogurt you tried before, not to mention the benefits like fiber and vitamins of the real fruits.

3. Canned fruit. In order to preserve the fruit, manufactureres add corn syrup, or other source of sugar.
SOLUTION: Look for no sugar added varieties, or frozen fruits. Check the ingredients, it should be only the fruit you getting, no syrups, no artificial sweeteners, or better off – get a real seasonal fruits and berries, and simply freeze them yourself.

4. Juices, smoothies, and other bottled fruit drinks. Again, very HIGH in sugar, if not sugar, than artificial sweeteners, look above.
SOLUTION: The best is just to stay away from them completely, if you want a drink – water is your best friend, want something sweet – eat real fruit/berries. Easy, right?

5. Snack bars.You might say: what’s wrong with oat bars, they are high in fiber! Yes, but again, some manufactures “soak” them in syrups, chocolate, caramel, sugars to make them more palatable. Not good!

SOLUTION: Look at the sugar content on the label, it shouldn’t be more than 6 grams per bar. There are very affordable and delicious varieties out there, like Kashi.

6. Diet sodas.  Latest medical research suggests that artificial sweeteners used in diet sodas may cause kidney problems and mess up your metabolism, causing your body to become unable to regulate calorie intake, and results in storage of fat in your waistline.

SOLUTION: WATER, WATER, and WATER!

7. Non-fat dressings. To make up for the fat content and make the dressing pleasant to taste, food companies add different sugars and syrups. Another thing to think about is that a lot of vegetables actually have to be eaten with fat for vitamin absorption.

SOLUTION: Make your own: olive oil, lemon juice or vinegar and mustard. You can also add some purred mango, pineapple, or your favorite herbs. The DIY dressings can stay in a fridge for up to 7 days, depending on the ingredients.