Resources Ive read: "Skinny Rules"

First off, this is a really unfortunate name for an otherwise great book and resource that has helped me a ton. A part of me wonders if Harper's editor chose this title in order to accommodate an American audience obsessed with appearances more than health. I don't agree with what "skinny" implies. I don't think that skinny equals health. There are many skinny people out there in the world who have awful nutrition habits. And I'd also like to say that this book is vastly different to his other book: "Jumpstart to skinny" which I definitely DON'T LIKE. As a resource as that book encourages severe calorie restrictions for a get skinny in 3 months kind of blah.

That said, I want to share the better points of this book. So lets ignore the title and look at the content.

First of all, some of you may know Mr. Harper as being one of the trainers from "The Biggest Loser." I don't remotely care about that show, but I'm sure my Kiwi friends and family may go "Oh yeah, thats where I know him from.."

Second of all, I disagree with his statement of "non-negotiable." Of course they're negotiable! Now if you are super self controlled and want to lose 20kg like me but in half the amount of time I took (a year), be my guest and treat his rules as non negotiable. But I knew myself. And part of the rule of successful weight loss is that the goals are SMART (Simple, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timed). To me, following his rules rigidly was just not realistic. I found them all helpful, but because I had so many bad habits to break and his book described 20 "rules" I knew it would take me a while. So what I did is, I just started working on 1-3 rules, slowly incorporating them into my meal planning. As I got better or more consistent at one, I would pick another "rule" to work on. And I was NEVER perfect. And Im totally ok with that. 

The rules:

I know what you're thinking right, too many rules!!

But actually, I found that this guideline (I like that phrase better than 'rules') complimented what I was trying to achieve with my MyFitnessPal app. 

In his book he spends a chapter discussing each rule and justifying its use. I'll leave it up to you to read the book to find out more. If you know me personally, you can borrow a copy from me.

A few things I took away from this book:

1. I didn't drink water before every meal. But I did buy a 1L water bottle and drink my way through it throughout my day (plus more if I worked out that day). I typically keep it on me at all times at work and at home so that its the first drink I reach for when Im thirsty rather than tea or coffee which I also love to drink. I think the primary rule should be prioritizing water consumption over other fluids as it is the most hydrating for us and best drink for weightloss.

2. Not drinking my calories. For me, an old habit would be those Starbucks frappecino drinks as well as general soda/fizzy drink consumption. Even a latte has calories. Having worked for Starbucks (a great company fyi), but honestly, most people have no idea the gigantic amount of sugar is in those drinks esp the Christmas/Thanksgiving themed drinks. But I continue to drink coffee incl lattes. Now I just ask only for a tall/small with non fat milk. And I literally measure my sugar. 1 tsp/1packet. I also drink a beer or cocktail if Im out on date night with the hubby. That said, I can probably count on one hand the amount of alcohol beverages Ive had this year so I treat them as a treat. 

3. Eating protein. This was a bit more new to me. Introducing more forms of protein to my diet became rather essential and now I love it. Protein IS what keeps me full way more effectively than carbs. This meant I started eating more beans, egg whites, protein powders, low fat dairy, red meat, white meat, nuts and seeds.  

4. Replacing High GI carbs with Low GI carbs. For example, substituting refined wheat products with other grains like rye, quinoa, brown rice, barley. And even trying out stuff like buckwheat groats and millet. Even so, I still love bread AND continue to eat bread. My Mum never allowed me to eat white bread growing up (or as she called it "sugar bread"). We always ate plain regular ol brown wheat bread (crusts always included). I do this and it seems to work. And I love toast. Maybe its the crunchiness of it..

5. "No carbs after lunch." THIS was probably the newest and craziest change Id ever done to my diet and I rechon its helped with my weightloss a TON. Like I said earlier, Im not perfect at this. And I generally put this rule on the shelf when Im eating at a friends house and I know they've made a lovely meal. The last thing I want to do is hurt peoples feelings, insult the cook, and be that annoying person who makes food demands not because of allergies but just preference. We all hate that person. If I get a ton of mashed potato on my plate put there by someone else, I'll likely only eat half to a quarter of it and just focus on my meat and veg. Not eating carbs after lunch is and continues to be difficult. But its working now. North American/Western dinners are heavily dependant on carbs as the main feature of the meal. Remove it and people tend to scratch their heads. One thing I noticed about not eating carbs after lunch is this - I stopped feeling bloated after dinner AND prior to breakfast. I actually started feeling hungry for a more hearty protein/carb based breakfast. AND, I started sleeping better with (excuse me) less gas at bedtime. My dietitian friend at work pointed out to me this carb fact - its needed and appropriate for consumption for energy. So if we're getting home from work, eating dinner then typically just resting in front of the tv or reading a book or other sedentary activity, why eat carbs? Its not needed. If I do have high physical activity in the evenings as my husband sometimes does in his work then yes, carbs are needed. If Im doing a 3-6 day hiking trip then damn yes you should eat carbs at every meal during that trip what with the huge amount of kilojoules one is expending. Eat the food for your activity level. I work primarily in an office at my desk. I only work out about 3x per week. So for me, cutting out carbs after lunch made sense.

6. "Go to bed hungry." I admit, this is head scratching. I honestly don't think he means, attempting sleep with a horribly grouchy stomach. If you're eating the correct amount of veg and protein for dinner, a grouchy stomach shouldnt be occurring in the first place. For me I took this to mean, no snacking or eating extra food after 8pm. No midnight desserts either. I know Nigella Lawson does it. She can afford lipo or a personal trainer, you probably can't. A few times I did go to bed with my stomach mildly growling somewhat as an experiment. You know what happened? I fell asleep and forgot about it. My stomach then started promptly waking me up at 6:30am every day for food like a natural alarm clock. And hunger is a great motivator for getting out of bed.

7. The recipes. Frankly, I found them... Boring. Helpful if you need some easy ideas to follow in following the "rules" but with google and some know how, its easy to follow the rules without his meal plans. I found it terribly boring! No spices, no flavours! Enough brown rice and plain chicken to bore anyone to death! I found Middle Eastern and South East Asian recipes were really helpful in maintaining my adherance to those rules as well as enjoying some amazing foods and flavours.

I only went over a couple of these rules. I know some people may or may not like the "rules" but I found it helpful more as a general guideline to tweak where I chose rather than as a rigid system. Am I aiming to lose weight? Yes, definitetly. Am I aiming to get Hollywood's definition of skinny? Not really. The book has a sucky title but I think his advice is very solid and overall very helpful. 

See ya!

Melody