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How to Change Just One Meal and Finally Start Losing Weight Without Dieting or Exercise.

​If you have weight to lose, there is one critical thing you absolutely must know. It is impossible to exercise your way out of a bad diet.

Exercise certainly helps, and you need it for more than just weight loss. Exercise also reduces chances of developing other debilitating, or life-threatening diseases.

But consider that a moderate intensity stationary bike ride will burn between 325 to 370 calories for a 30-minute workout.  Also consider that a cheeseburger can range from 400 to 700 calories. Throw in some fries and a soda and you can clearly see that you’ll have to spend most of your day peddling if you want to lose weight while on a diet like this.

Of course, you don’t need exercise to burn all the calories you consume since your body burns calories even when resting, but the point is that you can’t count on exercise alone if you want to lose weight.

Why People Fail at Losing Weight

People often start intensive workout plans or restrictive diets and then when they fail to lose weight the get frustrated and quit. This loss of motivation is just one of the following three primary failures in weight loss:

• Loss of motivation to try to lose weight
• Belief that you must go on a restrictive diet
• Belief that you need long, strenuous exercise sessions

The good news is that you don’t need restrictive diets or intense workout programs. So that just leaves motivation. That’s what I’m here to help you with.

You’ll become motivated when you start to see results, and you’ll see results with changing just one of your meals…breakfast.

​Eat a High-Protein Diet for Breakfast

You may not currently eat a breakfast, and if that‘s the case, just consider your first meal of the day to be breakfast. It doesn’t matter what time it is.

If you think about it, not eating all night is a form of fasting and with the first meal of the day you are breaking that fast. That’s where the name break-fast, or breakfast, came from.

But whenever you do eat your first meal, it should be a high-protein meal. There are lots of studies that prove that protein helps lose weight.

A University of Missouri-Columbia research study among teens compared eating a high-protein breakfast of 35 grams of protein to a normal-protein breakfast. The study found that the high-protein breakfast reduced daily food intake and feelings of hunger and prevented gains of body fat. (1)

This study was done on overweight teens that were divided into three groups, breakfast skippers, normal-protein breakfast eaters, and high-protein breakfast eaters.

The breakfast skippers did the worse in body fat mass, followed by normal-protein consumers. The high-protein diet had the best results.

The takeaway from this study other than the high-protein breakfast is best, is that skipping breakfast is not a good idea. In fact, those who skip breakfast are more likely to snack in the evening, which is the worst time to eat anything because your body doesn’t have time to burn the calories before you sleep.

Another study that did MRI scans of participants brains showed that eating a protein-rich breakfast reduced the signals in the brain that control food motivation and reward-driven behavior. (2)

Eating a high-protein breakfast led to visible reductions in the brain activity normally associated with appetite. It reduces your desire for food that you would have had if you skipped breakfast.

Another study showed that once you lose weight, a high protein diet also helps you keep the weight off. (3) And if you decide to cut calories in other meals, the protein can also help you maintain muscle. (4)  Muscle burns more calories than fat so that’s a good thing.

So in summary, don’t skip a high-protein breakfast if you have been having problems losing weight or keeping it off! You’ll just be more likely to eat more later in the day.

Protein Burns More Calories in Digestion

In addition to feeling more full with higher protein food, your body uses more energy digesting protein that it does carbohydrates.

According to a study by Klaas Westerterp, your body uses significantly more calories to metabolize protein than carbs or fat. (5)  The study measured Diet Induced Thermogenesis (DIT), which is energy dissipated as heat after a meal.  The more heat produced the more calories you are burning. Here is what the DIT percentage for protein, carbs, and fat were found to be in this study:

• Protein = 20-30%
• Carbohydrates = 5-10%
• Fat = 0-3%

So when you start your day with a high-protein diet, you are not just reducing the number of calories you take in during the day because you’re not as hungry, your body is working harder to burn the calories you did eat. That’s a good thing for weight loss.

Eggs for Breakfast

A research study published in the International Journal of Obesity tested “the hypothesis that an egg breakfast, in contrast to a bagel breakfast that matched for energy density and total energy, would enhance weight loss in overweight and obese participants while on a reduced calorie weight loss diet.” (6) It was found that eggs do indeed enhance weight loss.

It isn’t that eggs induce the weight loss. It just keeps you from feeling hungry so quickly. In the study it states that an egg provides a 50% more feeling of fullness compared to white bread or breakfast cereal.

The benefit of not feeling as hungry so quickly is there is less of an urge for snacking in between meals and less of a desire to overeat for lunch. In fact, the study showed there was less food consumed for up to 24 hours after an egg breakfast.

Plus, eggs are high in protein, and as discussed above, protein increases your metabolism.

What About Eggs and Cholesterol?

Eggs have been a controversial subject for decades and the opinions keep changing.

Since eggs are a concentrated source of cholesterol, you may be concerned about what they do to your cholesterol level. For most people they increase your good cholesterol level and your bad cholesterol level stays about the same. (7) However, if you start losing weight your bad cholesterol level will likely go down.

The exception in this study is people who have Type 2 diabetes. For some reason people with Type 2 diabetes may see a cholesterol increase so consult your doctor if that is you.

However  a new study in 2019 by Northwestern Medicine goes counter to this study. (8) Even though the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans no longer limited how many eggs you can eat, this study does not agree with that. The study included 30,000 people so it is one that should be listened to.

The conclusion of this study was that people who eat more eggs and dietary cholesterol have more heart disease.

Given the large number of people in this study I think it would be wise to only use an egg diet to jump start your weight loss and therefore increase your motivation to try other things. I have since switched to a plant-based protein breakfast since my cholesterol was higher than normal during a recent blood test. 

The Breakfast I Used to Finally Lose Weight

Based on the above research I modified my breakfast routine since I was having a hard time keeping my weight down the older I got.

I really changed two things about my breakfast. One is I moved it back a couple of hours. I was having my breakfast at 7:30 am and I then moved it to 9:30 am or later. This also pushed back my lunch time. Dinner stayed the same time, but I was less hungry. Since evening is the worst time for a big meal, that’s a good thing.

The second thing I changed is I moved to a high-protein breakfast. Before this change I was having a fruit, vegetable, and protein powder smoothie that had around 19 grams of protein but was also high in sugar from the fruit.

The breakfast I changed to is not much higher in protein, but it has far less sugar, so it is starting my metabolism right for the day.

What I changed to is a simple and quick-to-make egg breakfast. I just combined the ingredients below into a ceramic egg cooker and put it in the microwave for a few minutes. You can use an egg cooker like this one: ceramic egg cooker

High-Protein Egg Breakfast Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs – 12 grams (sometimes I’ll have three eggs after a resistance training workout when my muscles need more protein)
• 1.5 ounce ham – 8 grams (or turkey bacon or other meat of your choice)
• ½ ounce shredded cheddar cheese – 1 gram
• A little shredded spinach leaf and whatever seasonings you want

Since I still loved the smoothie I used to have for breakfast, many days I just had it for lunch. If you want to see what it consisted of you can see it here: https://youtu.be/W7g1kl_6uTo

I used this breakfast for four months and now have switched to a more plant-based protein breakfast. My cholesterol was borderline high during a recent physical and I have never had that before. It could be just getting older or it could be the eggs.

I'm now experimenting with pea protein milk that is actually pretty tasty and I mix it with ice and Orgain Protein Superfood Powder.  I also have a serving of mixed nuts which are high in fat but they are the kind of fats your body needs, especially in the morning.

Yogurt is also high in protein but you have to watch for the sugar content in it. Some of the plain yogurts are high-protein, low sugar but the don't taste the best. I've added a little honey to it which makes it taste better, but honey is sugar so not sure that is any better. 

If you are on the go something like a Quest Protein Bar is low in sugar and has around 20 grams of protein.

Breakfast at Work

So you may be thinking that if you push your breakfast back you’ll be at work. If you have no choice but to eat your breakfast at work, you can prepare everything in advance and put it in plastic container. Most offices have a microwave and a fridge so you can bring your egg cooker and just make your breakfast there. Also, there are likely some other high-protein items you could substitute for this breakfast.

Conclusion

So technically just changing your breakfast is not the total solution for weight loss if it doesn’t also unconsciously cause you to change any of your other eating habits during the day. What I hope is that you will experience what I and others experience, which is a change in your desire to eat so much. The high-protein, low-surgar breakfast should help you with this change.

I’m not asking you to start any restrictive diet that totally cuts out certain food groups. These diets aren’t sustainable over the long term. All I’m asking is that you just try the recommendations in this article to see if you experience the changes I and others have experienced.

Once you start seeing the scale trend down, that’s when true motivation to make some other changes will kick in. Progress in the right direction is motivating so who knows, you may want to exercise too! I wish you the best of luck in your efforts to drop those extra pounds.

References:                             

1. Protein-packed breakfast prevents body fat gain in overweight teens: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/oby.21185
2. Neural Responses to Visual Food Stimuli After a Normal vs. Higher Protein Breakfast in Breakfast-Skipping Teens: A Pilot fMRI Study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4034051/
3. High protein intake sustains weight maintenance after body weight loss in humans: https://www.nature.com/articles/0802461
4. Increased protein intake reduces lean body mass loss during weight loss in athletes: https://insights.ovid.com/crossref?an=00005768-201002000-00014
5. Diet induced thermogenesis: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC524030/
6. Egg breakfast enhances weight loss: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2755181
7. Eggs and Cholesterol - How Many Eggs Can You Safely Eat?: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-many-eggs-should-you-eat
8. Higher egg and cholesterol consumption hikes heart disease and early death risk: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190315110858.htm

Introduction

What is the Keto diet and is it healthy? That's what we will answer here.

If you are trying to lose weight we recommend some form of resistance training but diet is even more important than exercise.

Let's just start out by saying that we at FitManPlan are not big fans of diets that eliminate large groups of foods.  They may offer short-term results, but if they are not something you can maintain over the long term then they can do more harm than good.

Plus, there are often no studies that confirm whether or not these diets are safe. There's no telling what these can do to your internal organs and it may be too late once you find out they are causing you harm.

That said, there are parts of the keto diet that may make sense. 

What is a Keto Diet?

The keto diet, or also known as ketogenic diet, is a high-fat, adequate-protein way of eating that forces the body to burn fats instead of carbohydrates (sugars). So those fats are hopefully the extra fat around your belly and other places of your body.

From a technical definition, the goal of a Keto diet is to get your body in the state of ketosis where there are ample ketones in your blood stream.

So let's start with defining what ketones are. In short, keytones are fuel your body uses to produce energy to feed your brain, heart, tissues, and muscles.

But your body doesn't normally produce ketones for energy. It normally uses glucose (sugar) as a it's primary energy source. However, when the body runs out of glucose it can convert to burning fat. When this happens the liver converts the fat to ketones.

Using fat as fuel probably results from the days when people did not have the capability of eating three meals a day. In fact, sometimes they weren't able to eat for days. So the body had to rely on fat reserves for energy.

These days our diets are so full of carbohydrates your body seldom has the need to produce ketones. They are only produced with high-fat, low-carbohydrate diets, prolonged exercise, or fasting/starvation. Unfortunately for busy men these situations rarely occur.

I threw out one other word you need defined and that was ketosis. Ketosis just means your body is in the state where it produces ketones. The state of ketosis is what you want to get in when you are doing the Keto diet since that is what burns the fat.

Is a Keto Diet Safe?

One form or another of the Keto diet has been around for decades. But it has mainly been used for children with epilepsy.

A 2004 study published in the journal Clinical Cardiology that concluded,  "the present study confirms that it is safe to use a ketogenic diet for a longer period of time than previously demonstrated." (1)  

However it should be noted that this study was only 24 weeks long so it still does not verify that the diet is safe over many years.

The  Mayo Clinic has a different opinion: "Mayo's verdict: While the ketogenic diet may be recommended for some people with uncontrolled epilepsy, the high fat content — and especially the high level of unhealthy saturated fat — combined with limits on nutrient-rich fruits, veggies and grains is a concern for long-term heart health." (2)

Joanna Clay of University of Southern California voices the same concern about nutritional content of the diet.  According to Joanna, "One of the problems with a Keto diet is that it doesn't provide all the nutrients your body needs. So it is recommended that you supplement it with fresh fruits and vegetables. It's also not clear how the diet could affect bone health" (3)

As I voiced my concerns about any sort of restrictive diet I am not alone. Dr. Marcelo Campos in an article on Harvard Health Publishing says: "We also do not know much about its long-term effects, probably because it’s so hard to stick with that people can’t eat this way for a long time. It is also important to remember that “yo-yo diets” that lead to rapid weight loss fluctuation are associated with increased mortality." (4)

There is ample evidence that any sort of restrictive diet is harmful and the yo-yo effects of weight loss and weight gain are harmful to your body. It's better to not diet at all than to start one of these diets. We believe it is better to make a long-term change to your way of eating that is balanced with all types of food groups. But there are parts of the keto diet that make sense so we aren't totally against it.

However, you don't really need to follow the Keto diet. "Michael Goran, a Keck School of Medicine obesity researcher, said you can get the same results as the keto diet without being so extreme. He advises his patients to cut out added sugars—sodas, juices, processed foods—and simple carbohydrates that metabolize into sugar faster and lack fiber." (3)

So my conclusion is that the safety of the Keto diet really depends on how you do it. If you do it with the proper foods and are still getting balanced nutrition, then it can be okay. Dr. Kellyann of www.drkellyann.com says, "Healthy fats on the keto diet, or any diet for that matter, must come from whole foods and be minimally processed. This includes foods such as coconut, avocado, olives, nuts, seeds, wild fish, and grass-fed dairy." (5) 

I personally would not try the keto diet, but I do try to start out my day with a breakfast that looks a lot like a Keto diet. It keeps your body from creating a post-breakfast sugar spike that then encourages you to crave carbs later in the day. Just this change alone has helped me lose weight.

Try to avoid starchy foods like potatoes, rice, bread, and pasta. Of course you will also totally avoid all sugary foods like desserts and candy. You should avoid all processed foods completely since they are typically loaded with a lot of ingredients that aren't in agreement with keto, or any healthy diet for that matter.

It is important to note that you will likely not achieve the state of ketosis if you cheat by drinking even one soda or sugar-laden dessert. Once you load up your body with sugar you are back to burning carbohydrates instead of fat. So you need to commit to the diet, which is why the failure rate of people dropping the diet is so high.

Keto Foods

Keto-Perfect Oils and Fats

Avocado oil, almond butter, bacon fat, Brain Octane Oil, cacao butter, coconut oil, cod liver oil, egg yolk, grass-fed butter and ghee (clarified butter), krill oil, lard, marrow, MCT oil, olive oil, sunflower lecithin, tallow

Keto-Perfect Protein

Collagen peptides, colostrum, dark meats, eggs, fish, gelatin, offal/organ meats, pork, shellfish, whey protein concentrate

Keto-Perfect Vegetables

Anaheim peppers, Arugula, asparagus, avocado, bell peppers, bitter greens, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, chard, collards, cucumbers, eggplant, endive, fennel, green beans, jalapeno peppers, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mushrooms, nori, olives, peas, radishes, red bell peppers, spinach, summer squash, tomato, zucchini

Keto-Perfect Nuts

Almonds, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, walnuts

Keto-Perfect Dairy

Grass-fed butter, grass-fed colostrum, grass-fed ghee, chedder cheese (harder cheeses typically have fewer carbs).

Keto-Perfect Beverages

Bone broth, diluted coconut milk, coffee, Bulletproof coffee (with saltfree, organic butter), filtered water with lemon/lime, high-quality green tea, mineral water

Keto-Perfect Fruits

Avocado, blackberries, low-fructose berries, coconut, cranberries, lemon, lime, raspberries, strawberries

Keto-Perfect Seafood

Alaskan salmon, Cod, Herring, Mahi mahi, Mackerel, Perch, Rainbow trout, Wild Salmon, Sardines, Striped bass, Tilapia, Tuna,

Keto-Perfect Meats

Bacon, grass-fed beef, organ meats

Keto-Perfect Spices & Seasonings

Apple cider vinegar, Ceylon cinnamon, cilantro, cocoa powder, ginger, mustard, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sea salt, thyme, turmeric, vanilla bean

Keto-Acceptable Sweeteners

Allulose, erythritol, maltitol, monk fruit, sorbitol, stevia, birch xylitol

Keto Side Effects

With keto you will likely experience what has been nicknamed the "keto flu." Drastically dropping carbohydrates can product side effects similar to what a drug addict will experience when they try to stop using their drug of choice. Your effects won't likely be quite a severe, but you may experience many of the following symptoms:

Fortunately these symptoms are only temporary and should go away in a week or two. The only way to get through it is to just power your way through it or you can ease into your new diet.

You also want to stay well hydrated. Water is of course the choice drink, but tea and coffee are okay too. Just make sure your drink of choice doesn't add carbs. A new trend in coffee drinking is to add fat to it such as unsalted, grass-fed butter. Or you can add coconut oil or use both.

Since your electrolyte and sodium level may be reduced, you may also want to drink bone broth or add some Himalayan Pink Salt to some water or a smoothie and drink it. Low levels of these can cause flu-like symptoms as well.

Another thing that may help is to take a magnesium supplement and eat foods that are rich in potassium like avocados, mushrooms, spinach, nuts, and salmon.

If you really want to do the Keto diet then you'll have to tough it out but hopefully these pointers will help you out.

Resources:

1 Clinical Cardiology: Long-term effects of a ketogenic diet in obese patients: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2716748/

2: Mayo Clinic: The truth behind the most popular diet trends of the moment: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/the-truth-behind-the-most-popular-diet-trends-of-the-moment/art-20390062

3: Joanna Clay, University of Southern California: Is the keto diet safe? USC experts have some serious concerns: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-02-keto-diet-safe-usc-experts.html

4. Marcelo Campos, MD, Harvard Health Publishing: Ketogenic diet: Is the ultimate low-carb diet good for you?: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/ketogenic-diet-is-the-ultimate-low-carb-diet-good-for-you-2017072712089

5. Is the Ketogenic Diet Safe?: https://www.drkellyann.com/is-the-ketogenic-diet-safe/