Plan Z Diet

Friday, May 1, 2015

Chris Lytle Reviews Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss

By: Chris Lytle
VP of Anger Management
Plan Z Diet

“Bet You Can’t Eat Just One” was the advertising tagline for Lay’s potato chips. The commercials issued the challenge and the consumers took them up on it. But Frito-Lay already knew you couldn’t each just one chip. The chips were designed with the perfect combination of salt, sugar and fat that keeps people eating.

Where’s the sugar in a potato chip?

The starchy potato turns begins to turn into sugar as soon has your saliva starts working. That’s the carbohydrate effect.

Plan Z diet by Zola has a VP of Anger Management. That’s me. My name is Chris Lytle and my job is to connect you to new learning. I see RED whenever the media spews bogus advice on diet, exercise and nutrition. Misinformation is everywhere.

Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us is a compelling look at the companies, the executives and the food scientists who share (but don’t accept) the responsibility for America’s obesity and health crisis. As a future Plan Z diet by Zola client you understand the importance of reading labels and avoiding the aisles of the grocery store that are filled with processed foods. If you want to build your resolve to stick with this for the rest of your life, then add Salt Sugar Fat to your must read list. If you don’t want to read a 356-page book, you can get the highlights in the article excerpted from the book that appeared in the New York Times magazine last month.

About the Author:

Michael Moss is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who spent 3-1/2 years researching this book. He’s at his best as he recreates his conversations with the people behind the products. As you read, you begin to understand the people, the products, the research and the marketing that goes into creating a billion dollar brand and how they foist it on the consumer.

Moss is not at his best as he parrots the government and American Heart Association lines to cut down on salt and saturated fats as a way to build health. Despite including Gary Taubes’ Good Calories Bad Calories in his bibliography, Moss still believes that fat makes us fat and salt raises our blood pressure. My takeaway was a deeper understanding of the role Wall Street plays in the obesity epidemic by making the selling of food more important than the food itself. Moss asks the industry insiders he interviews whether or not they eat the food they sell. They respond that they don’t. They acknowledge that they have to sell more to satisfy their stockholders whether or not they are nourishing their customers.

Bottom line:

The food processing industry knows what it’s doing. They are filling their foods with salt, sugar and fat to make them more appealing and habit-forming. There is no cheese in Cheez Whiz and there is no butter in Keebler Light Buttery Crackers. Cheaper ingredients mean higher profits. You need to know what the food processing industry is doing. When you do, you won’t find their foods nearly as appealing or “crave-able” as they would hope you would.

Remember, your own ANGER is the emotion that will take you from a life of frustration to one of fun and freedom.

But only if you make the decision to do something about it.

So keep asking those tough questions. You deserve a healthier Plan Z Diet life.

Stay Angry,

To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

The Dieter's Dilemma

By: Chris Lytle
VP of Anger Management
Plan Z Diet

If two “experts” are giving you diametrically opposed advice on weight loss, only one of them can be right. The other “expert” has to be dead wrong. Choose your expert wisely because taking the wrong advice can stop your weight loss dead in its tracks.

That is the Dieter’s Dileamma.

It doesn’t have to be your dilemma. We’re going to guide you to the right advice. However, you have to decide if it’s right for you.

Chris Lytle here, VP of Anger Management for Plan Z diet by Zola. My job is to point out bad advice and help you choose the right advice that will get you to your healthy weight. When I started my own weight loss program, I read Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. Twice! It took two readings for the powerful message to sink in. Here are three of the conclusions Taubes came to after 5 years of research:

1. Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, does not cause heart disease.
2. Carbohydrates do, because of their effect on the hormone insulin. The more easily-digestible and refined the carbohydrates and the more fructose they contain, the greater the effect on our health, weight and well-being.
3. Exercise does not make us lose excess fat, it makes us hungry.

If these three statements are true, then the “conventional wisdom” is false. But Gary Taubes is only one guy. Everywhere you turn, there are web sites, talk show hosts and news media giving you advice that is diametrically opposed to his. How can one guy (Taubes) be right and all of the other experts be wrong?

Let Gary Taubes convince you himself. He is the award-winning science journalist who spent five years researching the science of obesity. I have urged my friends and family to watch his lecture at Dartmouth You decide for yourself whether he is right or wrong. If you decide he is right, then you have to quit taking weight loss advice from the government and the media. Fair enough?

The United States Department of Agriculture tells us to eat six to eleven servings of grain-based products (carbohydrates) per day. The Center for Disease Control tells us that exercise is a vital component of weight loss. And I quote . . .

"To lose weight, you must use up more calories than you take in. Since one pound equals 3,500 calories, you need to reduce your caloric intake by 500—1000 calories per day to lose about 1 to 2 pounds per week. Once you’ve achieved a healthy weight, by relying on healthful eating and physical activity most days of the week (about 60—90 minutes, moderate intensity), you are more likely to be successful at keeping the weight off over the long term."

Bob Greene, Oprah’s go-to-guy for exercise advice is convinced that a woman can’t lose weight unless she exercises at least 20-minutes per day, five days a week. Watch the clip. Watch Oprah’s eyes. See how seriously Oprah takes Bob Greene’s advice. My next door neighbor Burt is a member of the East Bank Club in Chicago. He is an eye witness to some of Oprah’s grueling workouts there. You can be an eye witness to how well this “conventional wisdom” is working for her Monday through Friday (check your local listings).

You may not be richer than Oprah, but you have much better (and cheaper) advice than she does about losing weight. And because you do, you will have much better results than she has had as she starts her 24th season.

If Taubes’ conclusions are right, then the USDA, CDC, Bob Greene and most of the other experts are dead wrong.

I believe Taubes. You may have trouble believing him. If you are skeptical, I urge you to buy his book or read some of the Internet chatter on him. There are people who are critical of his work and people who are benefiting from it every day. You’ve got to find out what works for you.

Here’s the big question: If you had proof that something you always believed to be true was absolutely false, would you change your mind?

Chris Lytle VP of Anger Management

Please note: We are not saying you shouldn’t exercise. We are saying that diet is much more critical to weight loss than exercise. Zola took a couple of walks as she lost her first 30 pounds, but there was no heavy lifting or breathing involved.

To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

Zola's Plan Z Diet Birthday Menu

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet

At my most recent birthday I decided to go all-out-gourmet. We went to a highly acclaimed restaurant in Chicago called Tru. Tru is ranked in the top 10 restaurants in Chicago in any given year.

Tru offers a marvelous tasting menu. That means you get lots of little courses rather than choosing from a regular-style menu. It also means they will match up wine tastings to go along with your little courses if you want them.

The dining room is stunning. They have an amazing art collection and perfect lighting to accent the paintings and sculptures.

The food was amazing but I expected that. I expected to be introduced to some new flavors and to be dazzled by the combinations. All that happened.

The thing that was the highlight for me besides the beauty of the setting and the food, was the service. They are not pretentious at Tru. No one is snotty or full of themselves. Everyone laughs. This is not one of those hushed restaurants where you are expected to worship what’s on your plate. You are there just to enjoy yourself. There was an older gentleman there having his birthday too. His adult children and his wife were with them. They gave him a watch as a gift. They all hugged, kissed and just generally yucked it up. It was fun to watch them. I almost forgot it was my birthday too.

The other thing about the service was the orchestration. They didn’t make a big deal about it but watching them service a table was more like watching water ballet than it was about watching servers put food on a table. They swooped in (sometimes as a team) and took care of serving the food or filling the wine and water… and all that. But they did it with a grace and personality I’ve never seen before.

I was very impressed.

I thought you might like to see Tru http://www.trurestaurant.com and I’ve included a link to the personalized menu they gave me as I left the building. I had it signed by the chef that evening. The sous-chef was on duty. I might have the menu framed and include it in my collection of menus from some of the most memorable meals of my lifetime.

So, the question still remains. What is YOUR favorite way to celebrate your birthday? I’d love to hear.

Cheers and Happy Plan Z Diet Birthday to Me….

To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

How to Order in a French Restaurant and Not Get Fat

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet

There are ways to enjoy food without gaining weight. I teach my dieters on the Plan Z Diet that a bit of fat in your diet won’t make you gain weight. It’s the excessive amounts of complex carbohydrates and sugars in our diet that will pack on the pounds. You’ll gain a lot more weight eating lentil soup, pasta with chicken and garlic, roasted squash and popcorn than you would if you ate fried green tomatoes, king crab legs, broccoli cheese soufflé and fresh fruit sorbet. Knowing what to eat (and how to eat it) is crucial to weight maintenance. Once a dieter completes the Plan Z Diet, they will have to make different choices in order to maintain a new, lower weight. The education that dieters receive on the Plan Z Diet gives them a different approach to food and teaches them how to eat healthy and satisfying meals without gaining the weight they worked so hard to lose.

When you are maintaining you weight, the right know-how can turn a worrisome Plan Z Diet restaurant dinner into a decadent experience. Take me, for example. I’ve been on a French Bistro kick. I must admit I’ve been on this kick for about 2 years now. I currently much prefer to eat simple food prepared lovingly with local ingredients over eating a chemistry experiment with all the pomp, circumstance and endless tasting courses. Those places do serve their purpose but I think eating in small, locally-owned restaurants in Chicago is fine dining too.

And fine dining it is. You can eat wonderful things and not gain weight if you’re just careful about what you choose to order. And if the menu offering isn’t exactly what you’d like, the restaurants are much more accommodating these days. Let me tell you what I ate last night.

Following a business meeting I walked a block to one of the fancier French Bistros in Chicago. Henri is located on Michigan Avenue which automatically elevates its status. It also elevates the rent for the restaurant so the prices are a bit steeper than the tiny bistros in the neighborhoods but the décor, the service and the food presentation make it worth that little bit more. The chandeliers are stunning. My favorites.

As soon as we were seated and “watered” a young man brought perfectly shaped French bread rolls and butter to our table. In most restaurants I won’t eat the bread. The carbohydrate content of bread very closely equates to dessert. Your liver can’t tell the difference between bread and dessert. It’s all just varying amounts of sugar so I don’t usually eat it. When I do eat the bread served before a meal I just consider that I’m getting part of my dessert early. The secret to making the bread slightly more appealing to your body in not jacking up your blood sugar level is to go liberally with the butter. The fat in the butter will tame the glycemic index value on what you’re eating and the butter slows down the uptake so it’s not such a sugar jolt in your system.

Already, to many, I sound like a heretic. For decades we were told the butter is what’s bad for us. Eat the bread. Skip the butter. Well, that was wrong. As I shout so often, it’s now been proven that FAT doesn’t make you FAT. It’s the carbohydrates that do. So if you’re going to eat the bread, slather it with butter and enjoy in moderation. Save the bread consumption for the warm, wonderful bread. Skip the rest.

For a first course I ordered the fois gras pave. I’m a huge fois gras fan and when formed into a mousse, I’m salivating. The term pave just translates to “cobblestone” so anything formed into a pave is going to arrive on the plate looking like a square or rectangular block. This dish was served with a few peach bits, some peach preserves and a dusting of pistachios. And of course, on the side they served the traditional toasted brioche. Bread again. But when you are at Henri you know the bread will be the finest available so you indulge just a bit. In this case the fat is not coming from the butter but from the fois gras. I keep my brioche consumption to an absolute minimum by stacking the fois gras on a little thick. They serve 5 brioche triangles with the dish. I don’t eat quite two. I leave the rest.

For the dinner course I ordered the venison tenderloin. Venison is even leaner than beef tenderloin and was offered as the game course of the day. The venison arrived perfectly prepared. Maybe 5 ounces tops. The dish was surrounded with a few teeny seasonal vegetables and a three tablespoon smear of the best pureed cauliflower I have ever seen and tasted. I told my husband the flavor was “transcendent” and the waiter overheard me. He commented over his shoulder that he couldn’t believe his taste buds earlier in the afternoon when, he too, had a chance to sample it. It was white as snow and fluffier than warm marshmallow cream. Divine.

So I ordered fat for first course. And lean for the second one. I skipped dessert altogether. I was full and perfectly satisfied. We enjoyed a Cote Rotie for our wine accompaniment and were ready to leave very happy diners.

When the waiter brought the check he also came with a teeny plate that had two perfectly cut ½” square brownies with a chocolate mousse dab on top. Decadent, delightful and just the exquisite last bite.

I woke up today .4 pounds lighter than I did yesterday. So much for getting fat in a French restaurant.

As a side note: When I order dessert in a French Bistro I often order a cheese course with a bit of late harvest French wine or maybe an Armagnac. The French are masters at tempering their cheeses so the lushness of the flavor stands out. They GET IT when it comes to cheese. They don’t serve it to you refrigerator cold and the little bit of fruit accompaniment (often figs or dates) satisfies my sweet tooth. No big, sugary dessert required. If I do experience a regular dessert it’s often split amongst 4 – 6 people and I am perfectly happy with a bite or two. Any more than that I’d be out on the curb with my head spinning from the sugar. Once you get that stuff cleared out of your system your tolerance for the side effects of sugar plummets. Your body is trying to tell you something. Sugar = BAD.

Other Favorite French Bistros in Chicago: if you come to Chicago these are the places to check out. I often get email from readers who are coming for a conference so save this list for reference.

Chez Moi. Chef Dominque will accommodate any low carb diner. He’s happy to come up with special tidbits for appetizer or dessert. Many of his entrees are low carb too.

Kiki’s Bistro. This place has been on a quiet little street called Franklin for decades. Kiki is a perfect example of a French gentleman with a bit of flirt in him. The décor is very country, barn French.

Bistrot Margot and Bistrot Zinc will make you feel like you just stepped into Paris. La Sardine and Le Bouchon have the same owners.

La Sardine is Le Bouchon’s big sister. You can find me at Le Bouchon for lunch. It’s about six blocks from my house. Parisian authenticity all around.

Café Absinthe has been on my radar for almost 30 years. And a perennial favorite. The lighting in here is done by a theater designer and is so romantic and dramatic. The draperies too.

Chez Joel is a teeny place on the south side of Chicago. Well worth the venture down there.

Gemini Bistro gets high acclaim and has freshly roasted chickens for take-out when we Chicagoans want to eat French bistro at home. This place has a busy, buzzy feel. Lots of chatter.

Cheers,

To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

Gorgeous Gourmet

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet

The words gorgeous and gourmet do not have to be mutually exclusive concepts.

So many people jump to the conclusion that if you’re going to eat what is categorized as gourmet food you’re going to get fat. If you get too fat you’re no longer considered good looking and therefore not gorgeous.

I say “Oh Contraire!”

It is possible to eat gourmet food and keep your figure intact. You just have to eat the right stuff like the foods I focus on during the Plan Z Diet. You can even eat gourmet and lose weight.

Gourmet food, by definition, involves high quality ingredients, maybe exotic ingredients, and involves skilled preparation of the food. Is the word fattening in here anywhere? Nope.

Check out these gourmet menu items for the Plan Z Diet from our Taste Drive section:

Plan Z Diet French Chicken with Lemon-Tarragon Cream Sauce

Plan Z Diet Speckled Salmon with a Fresh Cantaloupe Salsa

Plan Z Diet Coffee-Crusted Beef Tenderloin Steaks with a Tomato Salad and Caramelized Onion “Jam”

Plan Z Diet Grilled Baby Lobster Tails with a Smoky Orange Essence and a Shallot Tomato Salad

And notice I gave you live links to these recipes so you can taste test what I guarantee to be the best tasting diet on the planet--the Plan Z Diet! Hands down.

These are all flavorful menu options that help people lose weight. They don’t come from a box. You go to the grocery store to buy the ingredients. They aren’t salt restricted. Your kidneys actually need salt support when you are dieting but don’t eat regular table salt. That’s the bad stuff doctors don’t want you to eat. Buy sea salt. Get the chunky version and grate it just like you do fresh pepper.

These delectable offerings don’t take long to cook either. Like all of my Plan Z Diet recipes most of them are ready with about 15 to 20 minutes of preparation.

These things all sound like they are on a menu at a gourmet restaurant. Don’t they?

So that means you can eat like a gourmet and still look gorgeous. Don’t you think that’s just great?

Bon appetit.

Enjoy!

Cheers,

To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

It's Not The Fat

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet

There are still plenty of people who think I’m nuts.

When I tell them fat doesn’t make you fat, it’s the inflammation caused by carbohydrates that makes you fat, they look at me like I’m from Mars. When they come back to me and say they can’t eat fat because that will clog their arteries, I tell them it’s not fat that will clog their arteries, that’s the carbohydrates too. Then they make faces.

They can’t help it. We’ve collectively had it beaten into our brains for over 60 years that it is fat that makes us fat and we need to cut the fat to get thin.

Well, I tried that. I tried that. And I tried that. I diligently kept up with that and watched my body get fatter and fatter.

So when I got completely fed up, I took matters into my own hands and designed The Plan Z Diet that works. It works so well that people write to me every day to tell me that the Plan Z Diet is the best diet they’ve ever done. Several of them have lost over 100 pounds and for the first time in their lives they are able to keep the weight off and stay healthy.

Still, I am not a doctor and I never went to medical school, so when I spout off things like “fat doesn’t make you fat” to those who are unfamiliar with the success rate of Plan Z, they think I’m a tad off my rocker.

Well, slowly there are others that are coming to the same conclusion I accepted. And some of them ARE doctors. What I have included here is a link to a short article written by a highly respected heart surgeon. If a heart surgeon agrees with me that cholesterol build-up and fat is brought on by the inflammation caused by carbohydrates poisoning our system, (and not from eating fat), I feel like as a society, we are making progress.

Right now, what I really want to do is keep a copy of this article in my pocket. I want everyone to read it. I want my own doctor to read it too. And I want to hand a copy of it to those who make the faces. Feel free to read it yourself and send me your comments.

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/242516-Heart-Surgeon-Speaks-Out-On-What-Really-Causes-Heart-Disease

Cheers,

To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

How to Survive the Summer Social Events

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet

People are faced with social events all the time even while on the Plan Z Diet and not just during summer. It’s just that during summer most of the events focus on picnic food and most picnic foods can be disastrous to your dieting success on the Plan Z Diet. I have several strategies for party participation that don’t involve you feeling like you have to suffer or turn down the invitation. Socializing has to fit into your diet protocol too. Sometimes you just have to be clever.

Show up Early. Show up Late.

If you are a Plan Z dieter that feels you have very low self-control, you have two options that will help you avoid temptation.

Show up early at the party

Parties take time to warm up. If you show up early and the host starts bringing out too many things that will make you feel like you are suffering or you’ll feel tempted to gorge on the guacamole you can bow out and leave earlier than you might have otherwise– and not feel guilty. You will have stayed long enough to be polite. You don’t have to stay until dessert is finished and the candles are burned out. There are other strategic reasons to show up early too, and I will get to those.

Showing up late is another strategy

If you come after the main course has been served you can mingle with guests and no one will notice you didn’t eat the meal. Be polite though. Tell your host you will be arriving late so they don’t buy food for you or worry because you are not there yet. The most extreme version of this strategy that I employed was one year at Thanksgiving. I told my mother I would be late, but I hadn’t told her yet that I was beginning a VERY restrictive diet. A liquids-only diet. I had decided to do the same liquid diet that many of you will remember Oprah was involved in. Turns out Oprah and I were on the same diet at the same time. She lost 67 pounds and dragged a wagon full of fat on stage. I lost 52 pounds that go-round. Because I was doing that liquid diet and it was early in the process, I was too scared to tell anyone (except my husband) that I was on it, so we showed up for the dinner about the time my mother was carving the last bits off the turkey carcass and putting away leftovers. My husband grabbed a plate and piled it with his Thanksgiving dinner. I just stood in the kitchen socializing. Even my mother never noticed I didn’t eat. Worked great.

Dealing with drinking on the Plan Z Diet.

Dealing with drinking on the Plan Z diet is another conundrum. I show up early for parties and make my drink before anyone will notice I’m not drinking alcohol. I grab a rocks glass, fill it with ice water and garnish it with lemon. Most folks think I’m drinking vodka and they don’t ask questions. I have found that if you drink alcohol while on a serious diet like the Plan Z diet (even wine) you will lose about 60% less weight than you would if you don’t drink. So knowing 60% is a lot less weight to lose will give you the strength to abstain.

If you don’t show up early for the party, just try to make your drink while no one is really watching. They don’t care that much. You just think they do. I have had a lot of experiences where people told me they felt uncomfortable that I was not drinking. When that comment doesn’t immediately get me to fall apart and cheat, they back off and leave me with my sparkling water. You don’ t have to catch their guilt ball. Just let it fly by.

Bring your own food

One way to know you’ll have things you can eat at the party is to bring your own. I have gone to many parties or business meetings with my own food. When it’s time to eat I just get out my little package, open it and begin to eat. Just make it something that smells good, looks good and tastes good. Especially at meetings, you’d be surprised how many people look at what I am eating and are jealous. They wish they could eat my dish instead of the lousy sandwich buffet they were offered at the meeting. Then they want to know what diet I’m on (I tell them I'm on the Plan Z diet!) and how they can get involved. They are proud that you show so much discipline. That garners respect.

At picnics I bring something I know I can eat. I set that on the buffet table and make sure I get in line to eat in time to get some of my own food. I am brash enough that I might even make a cold entrée or a substantial appetizer. That way when I eat it I know I won’t go hungry, and most times I can eat least find a veggie tray that someone else brought and I can have some of that too. Also a good strategy to bring a beautiful bowl of strawberries. Voila! Dessert for me!

So what can you if you have a relative or friend who tries to push food on you that’s not allowed on your diet? Do what I do. Tell them you are “temporarily allergic” to that food. Most folks don’t hear the word “temporary” but they respect the word “allergic” and quit bugging you. If they know darn well you are not allergic they find that phrase clever and funny. That starts up a conversation. It’s okay to be on a diet and be proud of the fact that you are taking the initiative to take care of your health. This behavior also bolsters the commitment you have in your dieting quest. The more public you are about the process, the more likely you will stick to it.

I’ll admit that on some occasions, I have cancelled my calendar in order to sequester myself and be on my diet. I have not found that to be a solid strategy. I’d say that’s fine for the first weekend. Sometimes it’s just good to go to a movie and drink mineral water that first weekend. Those are the hardest first days of a diet. There really is no reason to keep up this behavior. You don’t have to be a mole and go underground. If you get out after losing some weight people will begin to compliment you and you’ll feel better about yourself. That strategy will give you extra confidence to see yourself through all the way to your new weight goal.

P.S. One last strategy for picnic dieting success? Throw the party yourself. That way you’ll have control over the whole menu and you can serve things like this!

Enjoy!

Cheers,

To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/