The All-Day Fat-Burning Diet: The 5-Day Food-Cycling Formula That Resets Your Metabolism To Lose Up to 5 Pounds a Week (31 page)

NUTRITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR ENHANCING YOUR SLEEP

A number of neurotransmitters in the brain are involved in the sleep-wake cycle. Therefore, it is possible that what you eat—especially later in the day—can act upon these neurotransmitters and influence your quality of sleep. Remember, everything in your body ultimately comes from the foods you eat. Your skin, hair, eyes, and everything inside your body, including your hormones and neurotransmitters, owe their existence to the raw materials you put into your body—the food you eat.

Diet obviously influences your central nervous system, partly through the production of serotonin and melatonin. Synthesis of serotonin is dependent on the availability of its precursor in the brain, the amino acid L-tryptophan (Trp).
²²
Tryptophan is transported across the blood-brain barrier by a system that shares other transporters, including a number of large neutral amino acids (LNAAs). Thus, the ratio of Trp/LNAAs in the blood is crucial to the transport of tryptophan into
the
brain. You can increase this ratio by taking pure tryptophan or tryptophan-rich protein (spirulina, game meat, eggs, spinach, halibut). By the way, turkey contains no more tryptophan than other kinds of poultry; in fact, turkey actually has slightly less tryptophan than chicken. So, feeling tired after eating Thanksgiving dinner is likely the result of the massive onslaught of food that wears on your digestive vitality, rather than the turkey itself.

The ingestion of other forms of protein generally decreases the uptake of tryptophan into the brain, as it becomes the least abundant amino acid and, therefore, other LNAAs are preferentially transported into the brain. However, as I mentioned earlier, carbohydrates actually increase tryptophan in the brain by driving more amino acids into your muscles through the stimulation of insulin (which stores energy). With more amino acids in the muscle and less in the blood, the result is an increase in free tryptophan, which can then cross the blood-brain barrier.
²³
Once in the brain, tryptophan becomes the precursor to the relaxing neurotransmitter serotonin, which then gets converted into melatonin.

Only a small number of studies have investigated the effects of meals or drinks of varying composition on sleep. One study examined the effects of high-energy versus low-energy liquid lunches (993.5 versus 306 calories), compared with no meal, on daytime naps. Both liquid meals caused subjects to experience increased time in stages 2 and 3 of non-REM sleep when compared with no meal. However, there were no differences in how quickly subjects fell asleep.
²⁴

Again, there is very limited research in this area, though it appears that reduced caloric intake may result in poor sleep. Interestingly, in my experience and that of many of my clients, quality of sleep tends to improve after a day of fasting. This is only anecdotal, so you’ll have to see for yourself whether having little to no food or a lot of food makes a difference in your sleep.

Overall, the research seems to indicate the following associations between food and sleep.

•
Foods with a high glycemic index (GI), such as white rice and potatoes, may promote sleep. However, they should be consumed more than 1 hour prior to bedtime and, ideally, closer to 4 hours earlier. This
is
yet another reason I recommend increasing your carb intake as the day progresses. Yes, it seems counter to what others have told you in the past, but this tends to work best for your body.

•
Diets high in carbohydrate may result in shorter sleep latencies (the time it takes to fall asleep).

•
Diets high in protein may result in improved sleep quality.

•
Diets high in fat may negatively influence total sleep time.

•
When total caloric intake is decreased, sleep quality
may
be disturbed.

•
The hormone melatonin and foods that have a high melatonin concentration may decrease sleep onset time.

You should now have a better sense of what and when to eat at night: some protein and fat, with perhaps more carbs, with dinnertime ideally 4 hours before bedtime. Additionally, ensuring that your overall diet is generally higher in protein can help the overall quality of your sleep. The best part is that you don’t need to obsess about this stuff because my 5-Day Food-Cycling Formula and the 21-day meal plan that I’ve laid out for you in this book have done the work for you.

DOES EXERCISE IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP?

By now, you might be wondering how exercise impacts your sleep. So let’s take a quick look at how and when to work out to create the best possible sleep results.

As you probably know, high-intensity exercise revs up your body and leads to a surge of stress hormones like adrenaline (epinephrine) and cortisol, so doing this type of exercise close to bedtime might not be the smartest idea. A meta-analysis conducted by the American Psychological Association looked at 38 studies of the effects of exercise on sleep. Results showed that exercise’s impact on sleep latency, slow-wave sleep, REM sleep, and total sleep was moderate. The more significant finding was that intense exercise closer to bedtime impaired the ability to fall asleep.
²⁵

A more recent study looked more closely at time of day of exercise and its impact on sleep. Here, subjects were asked to perform maximal
aerobic
exercise (the “beep test”—basically, progressively faster running) at both 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. The findings revealed that sleep-onset-latency, number of awakenings, slow-wave sleep, and REM sleep latency were all negatively affected after the evening test session.
²⁶
This is not surprising, and I’m sure you can relate if you’ve ever engaged in evening sports or like to work out after work. One of the reasons I no longer play competitive amateur-level soccer is that most of the games are either at 7:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. For years, playing at these times would ruin my next day. I’d get home by midnight and not be able to sleep for hours. The next day was a complete write-off.

Now, I value my sleep and consistent sleep-wake schedule much more than playing soccer until all hours of the night. But that’s just me. If playing on a sports team or working out at night is your only option, then that’s certainly better than doing nothing at all. The most powerful recommendation I can make is to do a good cooldown, followed immediately by meditation or some other form of relaxation. Doing so will lower the stress hormones circulating in your body that impair sleep and lower your core temperature—both of which will help you turn in for a good night’s sleep.

Okay, that’s a pretty comprehensive look at sleep. By now, you should have a solid understanding of the health and fat-loss implications of poor-quality sleep, how to set up your house and lifestyle to get better sleep, and specific nutrition and exercise recommendations to get deeper Zs. I really can’t stress this enough: Sleep is the most important component of your recovery. No matter how active you are during the day, a good night’s sleep is essential to functioning as you should while you’re awake. Commit yourself to it alongside the other tasks in this book, and I guarantee you’ll gradually start waking up slimmer in no time at all.

We’ve just walked through 6 steps to a slimmer, happier you. As straightforward as this outline is, however, I know that you’ll need further support to get where you want to be.

So many aspects of getting and staying in shape are often overlooked, be they social or emotional. There are also matters of habit and convenience. I’ve accounted for all of this, and in the next section,
we’ll
lay out a series of tips, hacks, and support structures that will carry you through to the body you want to see in the mirror.

I’ll also condense everything we’ve already mapped out into a quick reference guide that you can refer to throughout your 21 days. Forgot today’s workout plan or eating schedule? It’s all in there.

Best of all, I’ll share with you the smoothies and meals that will delight your palate over the next 21 days, and hopefully will become a part of your regular diet in the weeks and months to come. They’re all regulars in my household, and they make eating healthy, fun, and yes, even comforting.

Are you ready? This is where it all comes together.

Part
III

How to Eat Your Way Thin

CHAPTER
9

START YOUR FAT-BURNING ENGINES

H
ere we are: the heart of this program. So far in these pages, we’ve worked through the damaging things happening to your body every day because of the litany of unhealthy living and eating habits you’ve likely practiced for years. In the next 21 days, we’re going to rip these habits all apart and start again. This 3-week plan combines the diet, exercise, and recovery protocols introduced in earlier chapters. It’s one I’ve tested and fine-tuned over years of working with clients. I can confidently say that when implemented correctly and consistently, it will supercharge your metabolism, optimize your health, and help you lose weight on autopilot.

Obviously, each person’s results will vary, but you can look forward to losing up to 5 pounds per week. Best of all, you won’t experience the usual sense of deprivation and confusion that a new diet or exercise program brings on. As complicated as the world is, staying healthy and lean is rather simple. I’ll prove it to you. Actually, you’ll prove it to yourself. Ready? Let’s do this!

STEP
1: DETERMINE YOUR BASELINE

The basis of this plan is a 5-day cycle of eating and exercise that you’ll repeat over the next 3 weeks (and beyond, if you can). It’s made up of five different days: a Low-Carb Day, a 1-Day Feast, a 1-Day Fast, a Regular-Calorie Day, and a Low-Calorie Day. Since we’ve already covered each day in detail, here, I’ll provide an abbreviated look at how to eat on each day.

You’ve probably heard a number of definitive “truths” about how much you should eat at any given meal, all backed up by “experts.” Some tell you to count calories. Others say you should weigh your food. Pretty meticulous, no? If you ask me, it’s really a bother, and I know you don’t need those complications. The easier alternative I offer to you is the Serving Size Simplifier, first mentioned in
Chapter 5
. You’re not going to put your food on a scale or calculate how many calories it contains. Instead, you’re simply going to eyeball it.

If this seems lax, don’t worry. It’s actually a remarkably easy and effective way to ensure you’re getting the right amount of food every time you sit down to eat. If you’re following the recipes in this program, the portion sizes will already be taken care of for you, for the most part. These guidelines will become increasingly handy (no pun intended) when preparing your own meals from scratch and also when eating in restaurants.

The Serving Size Simplifier

Thumb = Fit Fats

For fat-dense foods like oils, butters, nut butters, nuts, and seeds, use your entire thumb to determine your serving size. I recommend 1 to 2 thumb-size portions of fats with most meals for women and men, respectively. So your total intake, by day, will look like this:

Low-Carb Day = 4 thumb-size portions (women)/8 thumb-size portions (men)