The Lunch Box Diet: Eat all day, lose weight, feel great. Lose up to a stone in 4 weeks.

The majority of fad diets are nothing more than very low-calorie diets with a gimmick or smoke screen to cover up this fact. Whether you’re told to eat a grapefruit or drink a strange mixture, at the end of the day, you’ve consumed fewer calories, often to the extreme.

At best, there’s a small grain of truth in each theory but only to a minuscule degree. All that these diets do is, once again, cover up the fact that calories are being restricted, no matter what horse and pony show went into making you not eat. And most of the time, you will not be able to stick with it because people, quite simply, get hungry! We like to eat. We don’t usually enjoy hunger pangs, weakness and dizziness. We do enjoy treats like chocolate and crisps. We can go some time without these things but if you ignore a craving long enough, chances are it’ll come back to bite you on the bum and a little craving for a taste of chocolate will snowball into eating an entire box!

Let’s recap:

Healthy weight loss relies on one equation.

Fad diets fail because most are very low-calorie diets (VLCDs for short).

Fad diets fail because they are too stringent.

Fad diets fail because they are not built for the long run.

Fad diets fail because starving yourself will mess with your metabolism! Metabolism? I know what you’re thinking: ‘You said you’d keep it simple!’ I will, I will.

The Bear Necessities

‘When you eat small amounts of food frequently throughout the day (graze) rather than starve yourself, your metabolism remains at optimum fuel-burning level’

Metabolism is the rate at which our bodies burn calories or, in other words, fuel. The higher the metabolism, the faster the fuel is burned. The lower the metabolism, the slower fuel is burned. When you starve yourself, you end up lowering your metabolism.

The best way I can explain how metabolism aids in weight loss is to talk about bears. Huh? You heard me right. A bear spends all summer fattening itself up. It has to fatten up to get through the whole winter without eating. A bear’s metabolism slows way, way down during hibernation. This is the body’s way of preserving all that fat the bear put on last summer. Good for the bear, not so good for you. When was the last time you saw a bear having to wear a backless cocktail dress?

When we starve ourselves, we do the same thing to our metabolism as hibernation does to the bear’s metabolism. Without any new fuel source, your body works as efficiently as possible by lowering its metabolism to conserve any existing fuel. It stores what it can. Conversely, when you eat small amounts of food frequently throughout the day (graze) rather than starve yourself, your metabolism remains at optimum fuel-burning level. It can rely on getting fuel every one to two hours and therefore it burns fuel instead of storing it.

That being said, you can’t eat high-calorie, high-fat food every one to two hours and still lose weight. So, what do you eat? That’s where my diet plan comes into play.

In designing the diet, I knew I wanted my clients to graze but I didn’t want to give them a blanket instruction to eat all day. They needed to eat foods that had a lot of nutritional punch per bite without a lot of calories. They needed something lasting and tasty yet without a ton of calories. Some foods are just fattening and may be low in nutrients. Those are the types of foods that, when consumed regularly, make us fat.

Beyond the Mirror

Overcoming Emotional Eating

Next time you overeat or indulge in fattening comfort foods, write down the emotions you are feeling.

When you feel the urge to eat, ask yourself, ‘Am I physically hungry or emotionally hungry?’

Keep temptation out of the fridge and cupboards. If instant gratification isn’t available, you’re less likely to eat for the wrong reasons.

Go for a walk, run or hit the gym the next time you’re angry, sad or anxious.

Before you reach for that pizza slice, stop, close your eyes and visualize the life you want for yourself. Will the pizza slice get you there? Will it fix what’s wrong?

In a world where thin is in and obesity is (what the heck rhymes with obesity?) not, it’s tough to be heavy for a whole plethora of reasons. Many of you are reading this book because you’re tired of being heavy and have chosen to do something about it. Good on you!

I’ve seen so many people literally change their entire lives when they drop the pounds. For most people, food means so much more than just fuel for our bodies. We use it at nearly every celebration: birthday cake, Easter eggs, and don’t even get me started on the days of feasting around Christmas. We’re taught at a very, very young age that sweets and cake are pleasant and that pleasant things make us feel good. If you scrape a knee, you get a plaster followed by a lolly to turn off the tears.

The lolly doesn’t fix the wound, but distracts the child’s attention from the pain. When you’re sad, lonely, restless, anxious or angry, your ‘lolly’ might be chocolate cake or a fast-food burger that distracts you from your emotions. For a brief moment, you’re preoccupying yourself by doing something pleasurable. Unfortunately, it’s not lasting and, just like the lolly, it doesn’t fix the wound. Food can’t fix what’s really wrong.

What’s worse is that the excess food is only complicating your life further. It’s a vicious cycle. We eat too much because we’re depressed, we gain weight, we get more depressed, we eat more, we gain more and so on. Stop the cycle! When you start treating your body right, when you take control of your weight instead of letting it control you, you empower yourself to make other changes in your life.

You may not be able to fix everything overnight but a journey begins with a single step. You have taken that step by purchasing this book and trusting me. I won’t let you down! I’ll be with you on that journey.

Kids and Emotional Eating

I really want what’s best for you and your kiddos. I hope these little tips will get you thinking about what you can do.

Try not to use food as a comfort with your kids. Instead of a lolly when they scrape their knee, how about a hug or kiss after the plaster? Perhaps suggest a trip to the book shop.

Dump the idea of ‘finish your food’. Don’t say things like ‘If you don’t finish your food, you can’t have dessert.’ Try to trust what they tell you about their bodies.

Don’t make food a focal point. Get your kids moving more by planning fun activities such as hikes, bike rides, or some other type of family adventure.

Slowly replace any fattening foods kept in the house with healthier alternatives.

Suggest a trip to the park after dinner instead of serving dessert.

For starters I urge everyone to join the Lunch Box Diet community (see page 224) at www.lunchboxdiet.co.uk – go and do it now. I will send you regular emails to keep you motivated and this is key to your success! I’m constantly coming up with new techniques, tips and tricks and I’ll share these with you. How about that for an added bonus?

Though looking good will be a big part of the end result of following this diet plan, what’s most important is how you will perceive yourself from the inside out once you begin the Lunch Box Diet. Eating healthily means feeling good. More energy, less illness, less chance of developing diseases related to obesity. You’ll be able to enjoy your life.

Whenever you’re feeling down, remember this word:

BELIEVE!

Believe in this diet. Believe in your efforts. Believe in me. Believe, above all, in you and your abilities!

We’ll get there! I promise!

Okay, enough pep talk. Can you feel the energy? If not, put the book down for a minute, get off your bum and jog around the couch ten times.

Ready? Let’s get to work. Turn the page.

Chapter 3 The Lunch Box Diet (#ulink_c4b3d7bc-52f0-5a96-9297-7198e1a87932)

You made it! We finally get to delve into this life-changing eating plan. You’re days away from feeling fantastic!

Hard to believe? Believe it, because in just seven days you’re going to feel the effects of optimum nutrition. Work independently for a month, following the lunch box system, or finish my 28-day plan and you’ll be on top of the world.

The Box

Okay, remember our little chat about healthy weight loss, grazing and metabolism (see page 25)? You’re now going to find out why you had to go back to school for a bit.

Here’s what you will be doing:

1 Eat a healthy breakfast (or your normal breakfast and build up to a healthier one).

2 Graze from your lunch box between breakfast and dinner.