Happy Plan Z Diet Mother's Day to All the Moms Out There!

How to celebrate Mother's Day on The Plan Z Diet.

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet




Mother’s Day is Sunday and I know a lot of you will probably be going out to eat. In fact, this holiday will attract some 80 million diners (about 1/4 of the American population) to restaurant meals! That’s a lot of chances to blow it, big time, on your Plan Z Diet.

Here are a few quick tips to eating out on the Plan Z Diet without going overboard:

Order a grilled meat or fish. You can have a steak, chicken or any kind of fish. Ask them to grill it with just a touch of oil.

As an alternative, you can order up a grilled hamburger. Sirloin or angus if possible. Just ask for it with no bun and no fries. Side salad. Ask for the lettuce, tomato, and mustard on the side. Get a French mustard, not the sugary yellow stuff. This way you can even eat at a fast food chain if you have to and get your protein, vegetable and a salad that you can eat.

You can always get a salad, just be careful of super sweet salad dressings like French or Catalina. There’s another way to handle this. You can order your grilled meat on top of a salad. Warm chicken on top of a cold salad is delicious and you really don’t need any dressing because the juices from the meat become the dressing. Or you can order your dressing on the side and use it sparingly. Have them leave off toppings like corn and onion strings and tell them to take the bread basket away. Order a cup of broth-based soup instead.

For drinks, you can feel pretty fancy with a nice glass of sparkling water with a lemon or lime!

For dessert, try a small bowl of berries. Maybe a bite of that dessert that someone in your family ordered. Follow this and you’ll go home feeling treated but not guilty.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there from The Plan Z Diet!

Cheers,


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

The Incredible Edible Egg

Eggs have so many vitamins. In particular the egg yolks not just the egg whites!

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet




Ads are coming out now for fast food breakfast sandwiches that are made with egg whites; like that’s something to celebrate. This is just another example of bad diet advice coupled with mass marketing that we try and uncover on the Plan Z Diet.

Eggs have lots of vitamins. They are rich in the B vitamin family, and also contribute vitamins A and D. In particular, egg yolks are one of the greatest sources of riboflavin, B12, and choline, which may well not only help developing brains in utero, but protect us from age-related memory loss. In the mineral department, eggs are especially rich in selenium. Eggs are also abundant in lutein and zeaxanthin, carotenoids which protect our eyes from macular degeneration, among other benefits. And the lutein in eggs seems to be better absorbed than when it comes from vegetable sources. Almost all these nutrients are in the yolk of the egg. So why would you take the egg yolk out of the breakfast sandwich and call it healthier?

The argument is that eating egg yolks will raise your cholesterol which in time would clog your arteries and give you a heart attack.

So what about the cholesterol? Eggs have a lot of cholesterol, so for a long time it was considered unhealthy to eat too many. However, advice is changing on this as more research comes out. Eggs aren’t harmful to our health. In fact, some studies show an improvement in blood lipids from eating eggs. It seems that this high-cholesterol food raises our “good” cholesterol rather than the “bad.” The research is showing it’s the inflammation from consuming too many carbohydrates that will set you up for clogged arteries. Eat the eggs especially on the Plan Z Diet. Skip the ‘sandwich’ in the breakfast sandwich.

Cheers,

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

The Biggest Plan Z Diet Loser

The Biggest Plan Z Diet Loser

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet




I was asked recently by an exercise enthusiast what I thought of the TV show The Biggest Loser.

Just the posing of the question released a torrent from me. I couldn’t help myself. I just went off on a rant. What I’m going to do here is show you my answer and then spend a bit of time trying to explain myself. Here goes:

I see nothing on TV that is a bigger disservice to the fat people of this nation than that show. I have watched it. The first season I think I watched every episode trying to find the redeeming qualities it might have. I have tried to watch it each season since, and now I can’t get through more than five minutes of any episode before I become so angry I want to vomit. My heart goes out to those people.

I don’t think that show is motivating to the huge majority of potential watchers. It’s just disheartening. It’s demotivating, and leaves people thinking that unless they check into someplace where they will be badgered, berated and tortured for hours on end, they will never lose weight.

I can’t be the least bit unbiased about that particular subject. My apologies if my passion runs rampant. The people on this show believe nothing more than calories in/calories out and the amount of expenditure required is so unreasonable for most people to even dream of doing – it’s sad. I’d much rather see them help people get weight off first and then put them through a tone-up, build-up program that looks attainable. Then I think the show would be an inspiration to the world.

Okay, so that’s the end of my rant.

Some additional thoughts: I do think exercise is a good thing. I believe non-impact exercise is best because it has been proven that high impact exercise (like jogging on a treadmill) will only wear out your joints. We did not evolve to run like that unless we were being chased. That’s why the sports medicine industry has mushroomed. We ache. Joint replacement surgery has skyrocketed. Too many of us started jogging in the 1970’s and wore out our bodies before retirement even hit. I worked with a trainer for more years than I can count. I worked out at my appropriate aerobic level which was monitored by said trainer. I religiously met with that person and went through the paces for an hour at a time a minimum of three days a week. It was a major investment, but as the CEO of The Plan Z Diet I felt that working out was part of my job description. I had to be in healthy shape.

For most folks, working out three days a week for 3 hours total is just about all they can fit into their schedule. Some can’t even fit that amount in. I made it a priority. After 7 years you know how much weight I lost as a result? Nothing. I kept gaining weight. I ate about 800 calories a day most weekdays. I ate a little more on the weekends when I had dinner parties. I kept getting fatter and every obesity expert I consulted was stumped. Many of them thought I was lying because they could not figure it out. Did I get stronger? Absolutely. I could bench press 160 pounds. A lot of guys can’t do that. I could leg lift 500 pounds. That amazing for a woman. I could toss my bag into the upper cabinet on an airplane with one hand but I could barely fit in the airplane seat. Exercise was not the solution for my weight problem. And most people can’t come anywhere close to the activity level expected of the people on The Biggest Loser.

Studies also show that calories in/calories out is not the answer for most. Take me. I went down to 800 calories a day and didn’t lose an ounce. I reported everything I ate to a nutritionist for months. Once I was down to 750 calories and still not losing, he quit. He felt that was starvation level and he worried about me dropping over dead. He did not want to risk his reputation on losing a client to death by starvation. He admitted that to me the day he resigned.

So if it’s not all about calories in/calories out, and exercise won’t make you skinnier unless you do a blazingly large amount of it, then where does that show stand in my credibility rankings? Very low on the list. It’s a reality show. Reality shows don’t garner ratings without drama. My husband renamed The Biggest Loser “Gym Teachers Gone Wild.” I have to admit that’s pretty descriptive. Maybe that’s a good title for a spin-off.

In the interest of self-disclosure I’ll be the first to admit I’m not finished losing weight. I’m still a work in progress. I’m also not going to get in a spandex contest with Jillian from the show. I’ll be happy when I am comfortable in a tank top and shorts. All in good time. I don’t have to get it done in the span of a TV season. But I will get there. For now I’m happy with frame-worthy blood tests that show I’m pretty close to perfectly healthy.

Cheers,

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

These Fats Won't Make You Fat

The Plan Z Diet uncovers why the "low fat" craze isn't what it's hyped up to be.

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet





“Eat less fat” has been the mantra of the US government for the past 30 years. But while Americans have dutifully reduced the percentage of daily calories from saturated fat since the 1970s, the obesity rate has more than doubled, diabetes has tripled, and heart disease is still the country’s biggest killer.

I got sucked into the “low fat” craze along with everyone else. The tide was huge. I used to read packages looking for low fat everything, so why was I getting fatter? I was eating the WRONG stuff.

Today I want to put emphasis on things you can happily eat with satisfaction, and they are all fats.

I’m not going to get all scientific on you. When I start talking about unsaturated fats, monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats and trans-fats I see people’s eyes begin to glaze over. So I’m going to skip all that and just give you a straightforward list of good fats to eat.

Take this list with you when you go to the grocery store.

Here’s a Plan Z Diet list of good-for-you fats:

• Extra virgin olive oil – A Plan Z Diet favorite, I use this in most of my cooking now. No more canola oil, vegetable oil or corn oil in my cupboards.
• Butter – Toss the margarine.
• Extra virgin coconut oil – Another big YUM. I use this in my cooking too.
• Flaxseed oil – I put this stuff in my Plan Z Diet protein smoothies in the morning. Hair stays shiner and nails grow strong. It doesn’t taste great out of the bottle but you can hide it in just about anything; even your soup.
• Avocado and avocados – Think homemade salad dressing and eat the guacamole!
• Almonds and Walnuts – I roast my own and put spices on them to zip them up. Then I snack on them. Great for Plan Z Diet ZReboot munchies.
• Pumpkin seeds as well as most raw nuts and seeds – Ditto on these.
• Olives – Need I say more?
• Cod liver oil – Your grandmother knew. Okay, so I’m still not eating this off a spoon but it is a good oil.
• Wild, cold water fish – I spend the extra money every time to get wild caught salmon. You don’t want to see a fish farm. Ugly experience. You don’t want to buy farm raised fish either.
• Coconut Milk – So Good Unsweetened is a great brand. I put this in my Plan Z Diet smoothies instead of cow’s milk.
• Flax meal
• Organic goat cheese
• Organic free range egg yolks – We eat eggs almost every day at our house. If not, we eat unsweetened peanut butter spread on apple slices.
• Almond butter – This works great on those apple slices too.
• Pine nuts – Any Italian meal goes better with toasted pine nuts sprinkled on top.
• Macadamia nut oil and sunflower oil – 2 other great salad dressing options as a change from olive oil.

Your body needs healthy fats to run smoothly. Your brain is made up of 60% fat. Feed your brain these fats and you’re less likely to have memory loss, dementia and depression. And enjoy eating them. They used to be on my list of BAD foods. Now they are a staple of my diet. How about you? Oh, and by the way…my total cholesterol is way below 200; just in case anyone was wondering about that.

Cheers,


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

Glug, Glug

Did you know that an average Plan Z Dieter loses 30% more weight if they drink over 100 oz of water per day!?

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet





There’s more data out in support of water consumption.

We did a small study as part of the development of The Plan Z Diet. One group in our study was allowed to just drink as much water as they wanted during a day and by most standards, that meant they didn’t drink very much. I tried to cajole people into drinking at least 70 ounces a day. You would not believe the number of excuses I got when they fell short of hitting the mark. They were as bad as “my dog ate my homework.”

Then there was another group who embraced the idea of drinking water and that group consistently drank more than 100 ounces of water per day. YAY for them!

Big reason to celebrate: the group who drank large quantities of water lost a whopping 30 percent more weight than those who drank 70 ounces or less.

So there’s your first reason to drink more water if your goal is to lose weight.

Don’t worry. Your body will get used to it. For the first few days when you increase your water intake on The Plan Z Diet I will admit you’ll spend more time in the washroom. Interesting thing is your body gets used to it. Then your body begins to crave water and might even begin to prefer water to other drinks; like mine does.

Some folks ask me. “Can I count my coffee as part of my water intake?” This is actually counter-productive. Caffeine is a dehydrator so it’s not good to count that as part of your 100 ounces. I drink 100 ounces of water no matter what else I drink, and the other stuff just becomes bonus. Make sense?

The old adage was, “Drink eight glasses of water per day.” That’s old news now. There is a better rule of thumb you can use to determine the minimum amount of water you should drink in a day. Drink a half ounce of water per day for each pound you weigh. Clock in at that amount and your body will stay hydrated. Just take your weight and divide by two. So if you are a 230 pound person that’s 115 ounces of water. Easy math.

Now, why do you want your body that hydrated?

There are thousands of reasons why you should give your body the hydration it needs to function properly. But my reasons are personal.

My first reason is weight loss.

My second reason is pain management. If you are one of the millions of Americans who walks around in pain, listen up. Water can help with pain management.

Let’s say you drive long distances and your back hurts. Keeping your body hydrated will help decrease that pain. And caffeinated soda (even diet soda) is not helping. Water will help though.

The discs in your back are filled with fluid. That fluid comes most easily from the water you drink. You drink anything else and your liver has to work hard to filter it first. Not efficient. If you want your discs to have less degeneration and just plain last longer, drink more water.

Discs also have a tendency to deplete during the day. They shrink. That’s why when you drive a long distance your back begins to hurt more as the day progresses. Then your body replenishes the fluids in the discs while you are sleeping. So get good sleep too. The same applies for people who stand a lot, walk a lot or just plain work a lot.

New subject: Let’s say you have a sports injury or arthritis in some of your joints. Whenever you have a muscle or joint area that you are babying because of the pain, you notice it gets stiff. That’s ‘cuz you are not using it. But it’s also because you have inflammation in that area and toxins begin to settle in that spot (or spots). Those toxins begin to crystallize and clog up the circulation in that area. We know we need circulation to heal. Water will flush the toxins and allow your body more freedom of movement, less pain and faster healing.

So there are three more reasons to drink your water.

I’ve been at work for two hours. I’ve already consumed about 40 ounces of water. So that excuse about typing a lot is no excuse not to drink water. That pitcher of ice water sits right next to my left hand. Every time I stop typing (even just to gather my thoughts), I drink more water. It only takes a second. Even if you are driving you can have a bottle of water at the ready. No excuses.

Bottoms up!


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

Coconut Oil

So What's the Deal with this Coconut Oil Anyway!?

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet





My label reading experience started in the 1980’s. There was such a big uproar about palm oil being so bad for you that I began to read labels to make sure the things I was buying didn’t have palm oil or palm kernel oil in them. If they did, I would not buy them.

Now I know I was misguided.

I also know now how I got sucked into a marketing campaign that maligned coconut products like palm oil, coconut oil and palm kernel oil. The politics surrounding food can be so misleading.

Turns out virgin tropical oils are good for you. They always have been. And if you believe as I now do that fat doesn’t make you fat, you can happily indulge in the wonders of coconut oil.

The campaign against coconut oil was begun by the soybean folks. The American Soybean Association to be specific. They were very good at their job. They wanted us all buying soybean oil instead of coconut oil. Who is us? US food manufacturers and consumers. As consumers we all got so worked up we started screaming at the food manufacturers that if they didn’t quit using palm oil in the manufacture of their products we were going to boycott them. It worked.

There’s a money side to the story too.

Coconut oil is more expensive than soybean oil. Soybean production is subsidized by the US government. Coconut oil has to be grown in tropical places so we were importing coconut oil and the income from that in plenty of cases was going to foreign countries. So the “Buy American” element got twisted in the controversy too. Food manufacturers are always after more profit so if meant using soybean oil made the product cheaper to make, then they’d use it.

Turns out those cultures where up to 60% of their diet comes from coconut oil fat and coconut fruit products are some of the healthiest in the world. The data has been around for decades that the use of coconut oil is actually beneficial. We just got sucked into a load of misinformation.

Coconut oil can and is used in other countries for treatment of many diseases and conditions. Diabetes, heart disease, chronic fatigue, Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, Alzheimer’s, thyroid conditions and more. They all benefit from the incorporation of coconut oil into the diet. There is a lot of information online; entry after entry of the benefits of coconut oil.

Like this — check this out: http://wellnessmama.com/5734/101-uses-for-coconut-oil/

Coconut oil is even thought to help in weight loss. From the research I’ve found, I believe that it is more helpful in weight maintenance. Your body burns coconut oil very efficiently. Coconut oil can help thyroid function so that means it can help improve your metabolic rate.

How do you use coconut oil?

Just like any other cooking oil. We use it for making scrambled eggs. It’s our substitute for butter in that instance.

Coconut oil has a nutty flavor and a very light taste. It’s not gooey-sweet like the flaked coconut you find in the baking section of the grocery store. That coconut has been highly sweetened with a ton of sugar. I use Nutiva Coconut oil but another comparable brand is Vitacost Coconut Oil.

In the recipe I am providing, I roast butternut squash in coconut oil. It brings out the sweetness of the squash and gives it a lovely, caramelized element. I’m learning more everyday about how I can use coconut oil in my cooking.

Coconut oil looks like Crisco in the jar – re member that stuff? At room temperature they are both a solid white, but that is the only thing they have in common. Coconut oil when heated becomes a clear liquid; clearer than the other corn or vegetable oils you find on the grocery store shelves. I don’t recommend you cook with those other oils. You can substitute coconut oil instead. I also cook with a lot of olive oil.

Coconut oil is going to cost you more than those subsidized, cheap oils but it’s better for you. Much better. Look for it in many grocery stores on the bottom shelf. It doesn’t have the popularity of vegetable oil (at least not yet) so it doesn’t always get good placement on the shelves. You have to look for it. Or ask your grocer to carry it if they don’t already.

When doing the research for this column I found that coconut oil is still a highly controversial subject. I choose to side with the beneficial elements.

Cheers,


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

It's National Grilled Cheese Month

It's National Grilled Cheese Month, so let's celebrate by breaking out the cheddar the Plan Z Diet way!

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet




So let’s celebrate the Plan Z Diet way! Break out the cheddar!

I was raised in Wisconsin so I know my cheese. I’ve been eating cheese since I was a baby, and I don’t mean those gummy, rubbery slices wrapped in plastic. I mean real cheese.

Grilled cheese has always meant comfort food to me. For over 4 years I lived above an Irish pub on Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago. When my husband traveled and I felt sorry for myself I’d order up a grilled cheese sandwich from the pub. They did them up really nicely there. The white bread had just the right amount of butter, grilled to a golden perfection. The American/cheddar combo inside was triple gooey. The crispy bacon I had them add was just that. Crispy. And the tomato slices were actually ripe; even in the dead of winter. Best part — when I ordered it, they sent it up in an elevator on a tray. The grilled cheese sandwich rode the elevator all alone. This special elevator opened up into my living room and voilà! Special delivery of my piping hot grilled cheese sandwich.

I miss those sandwiches.

But I don’t really miss sandwiches in general. I have gotten over bread while on the Plan Z Diet. Too many carbohydrates, and leaving them behind has given me a smaller behind.

So I started dreaming of a grilled cheese sandwich. I think I’ll treat myself and make one, but it won’t look much like the one from the Irish Pub.I'll make a special Plan Z Diet grilled cheese.

First thing: I’ll use half as much bread. Commercial white bread has 23 grams of carbs per slice. That means 46 grams of carbs in one sandwich. That’s ridiculous. And who said you have to be able to eat it with your hands? I’m happy with my fork and knife. So I’ll cut the amount of bread in half and make my sandwich an open-faced treat.

When I make a grilled cheese sandwich, I labor over what cheese I’ll use. My first go-to is cheddar. That’s always a hit. But sometimes I like to mix my cheeses. So I may add some provolone for its melty goodness. My husband likes pepper jack cuz he wants the bite of the peppers. He also wants sautéed onions and a mustard smear. My new favorite is Boursin. I’ll spread some on the bottom piece of grilled bread. Then I’ll put a slice of cheddar on top. Top that off with the crispy bacon, the cold, ripe, red tomato slice and then another slice of cheddar. I use the oven and then my broiler to bring it to bubbling perfection. Sometimes I even add a bit of sliced avocado or spoonful of guacamole somewhere in there.

But back to the bread. I said one slice of commercial white bread has about 23 grams of carbohydrates. By cutting out one slice I cut that carb count in half. If I use a good commercial whole grain bread I can get it down to about 12 grams. So I’ve cut it in half again. But behold, we now have low carb breads on the market. Julian Bakery (for one) makes a variety of low carb breads made with almond flour and coconut flour. They have about 6 grams of carbs per slice. So you can have your bread and eat it too. Just in moderation and (to double that point) not every day.

A lot of made-up promotional holidays are just plain dumb. Shameless self-promotion. But I just might make a small exception for one grilled cheese sandwich.

Cheers,


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