Many health guru’s will tell you that you can have all of your favorite foods in moderation, and you don’t have to count calories. Maybe you orderd something healthy at dinner only to have a friend or family member say you could have something else (unhealthy) if you only eat in moderation.

Give me a break. If your health goals involve losing weight, you have to count calories if you want consistent results. Living in the land of “moderation” will only make you fatter. Let me explain why eating in moderation does not work.

A Little Adds Up

Let us say you are going to have your favorite foods in moderation. Which is the same thing as reasonable portions every one in a while. Consider the following:

Each one of the above on their own is no big deal. Could you look through that list and say you only have one of those a month? In a week?

More than likely you eat all of those things every week or month. You are eating reasonable portions of your favorite foods every once in a while. Nothing wrong with that, right?

Well, in a months time you would have eaten 8 slices of pizza, 8 beers, 4 fast food hamburgers, 4 donuts, 4 bowls of popcorn, 1 slice of office cake, and a big plate of pasta. Does it still sound like your life of moderation is a healthy lifestyle?

Believe it or not, that scenario is conservative. If you take a close look at your diet and you may find yourself eating far more than you realize under the disguise of “moderation”. I’m willing to bet you are combining some of those items in a single meal.

What Moderation Really Means

While I have painted a grim picture of moderation, it only represents how most people view food when eating in moderation. What moderation should represent to you is eating ONE favorite food every once in a while (once a week).

This can be flexible depending on your goals. If you are losing weight, “once in a while” should mean once a week to you. If you are active, healthy, and maintaining your weight, you can get a way with a reasonable portion of your favorite food couple times a week.

Still Need to Count the Calories

If you choose to eat your favorite foods every once in a while, you still need to count the calories and keep track of it in your food log. Staying under your target calories for the day will limit the impact a large calorie meal will have on your results.

Don’t forget if you eat more calories than your body can use over the next few hours, it will get stored as fat. This is why it’s important to limit your portion sizes of your favorite foods.

My advice is to eat your favorite foods while tracking the calories. This may help limit the amount you will eat and keep you on track towards the goals of your diet. “Moderation” without keeping track of what you are eating will only make you fatter.

What do you think?

Mmmm, cookies. Who does not love cookies? They come in any shape, color and flavor imaginable. Without a doubt, there is a cookie tailored to the needs of even the pickiest of eaters. These delightfully evil treats are a key contributor to the obesity epidemic in the world today. When somebody, a doctor in this case, comes up with a diet based around the cookie, it’s going to get the attention of every cookie lover looking to lose weight.

As a result, the aptly named “Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet” has received a great deal of media attention. No doubt you have heard of it. Now it’s my turn to review the Cookie Diet and whether it should used in the spirit of eating every three hours, or avoided entirely.

Dismissed it Because of the Name

The first time I heard the phrase “Cookie Diet” was a few years ago. I immediately tuned out after hearing the phrase. Back then, I was an obese man still trying to figure out how to lose weight. The idea that a diet can be centered on cookies was outrageous to me. I tuned-out and forgot all about the Cookie Diet, that is until a review of the Cookie Diet popped up on the blog Lazy Man and Health.

About the Cookies

Dr. Siegal chose cookies because he was looking for a snack that was portable, durable and does not require refrigeration. It really is a good idea if you can get your head around that your diet will consist mostly of cookies.

These are not your traditional cookies consisting of large amounts of sugar, chocolate or peanut butter. The Lazy Mandescribed the cookie as nothing more than a “nutrition bar”. I agree with that assessment in the sense that the cookies Dr. Siegal is pushing are not traditional cookies, but I do believe them to be cookies in the sense they are a round, flat-ish and baked product.

I have not personally sampled these cookies, but there is some indication that they probably don’t taste great. There is very little information on their web site. Most useful information is scattered throughout the Cookie Diet Blog. One snippet caught my attention:

If you’re serious about finding truly delicious cookies, or weight loss through magic and miracles, then you probably aren’t serious about doing what is necessary to achieve a healthy and sustainable weight. If that’s the case, you might want to wait until you’re ready. The last thing you need is another diet failure.

Wow. Dr. Siegal indicates if you are looking for a deliciouscookie, you are not serious about losing weight. I agree that one needs to be in the correct mindset in order to lose weight, but he can’t blame people for asking if his cookies taste good. People want the Cookie Diet to be about eating the tasty and unhealthy cookies that we know and love. Maybe Dr. Siegal should have called the diet the “Healthy Cookie Diet”. But if he had done that, his sales would be much lower.

The blog goes on to say “Delicious foods make people overeat and get fat“. I generally disagree. I’m more from the camp that believes having unclear goals and not eating enough calories on a diet will lead to overeating because of a starvation response. I will concede that in a general sense, it’s difficult to eat only one delicious cookie. I’d rather have 2.

Are the Cookies Healthy?

Possibly. There are numerous references to these cookies containing some amount of protein. If they don’t taste ”delicious” then there is probably a limited amount of sugar, if any. The Cookie Diet web site does not provide any information about the nutritional content of its products, which includes drinkable shakes. I’d imagine there is a nutritional label located directly on the product packaging. If anyone has access to one of these labels, please send me the information and I will update this article.

The site does indicate you will eat six cookies a day and they will total about 500 calories. My college education allows me to conclude the cookies are just around 83 calories each. With so few calories there is likely little fat and sugar in the product. There may also be good starchy carbs in addition to the protein in their secret cookie formula.

I don’t think Dr. Siegal is including protein in the cookie for the benefits protein provides, but rather protein has been known to make a person feel fuller and more satisfied. It makes sense that if you are only going to give someone 80-85 calories to last them a few hours, giving them protein may help that person feel less hungry than if you were to give them the same calories in carbohydrates or fat.

Even with the limited information, some might determine the cookies can be called “healthy” based on the fact there are only ~83 calories. There is little chance of gaining weight on these cookies; you would be hard pressed to gain weight even if you scarfed your entire day’s supply in one sitting.

What the Diet Really Involves

The goal of the cookie is to provide a very small number of calories to keep your stomach from shriveling up like a prune during the day. From what I gather, the cookies are only there in an attempt to keep you from eating anything else during the day. I can imagine followers tearing into their 83 calorie cookie as if they were on crack struggling to get their next hit.

The real food comes in the evening when you get to have a 300 calorie dinner consisting of “six ounces of lean chicken, fish or turkey and one cup of non-starchy, green vegetables“, according to the Cookie Diet Blog. This 300 calorie dinner will be your primary source of nourishment for the entire day, and there are no cookies for dessert.

I can’t argue with that type of dinner, it is a good balance of lean protein and fibrous carbohydrates. My problem is a dieting person will have to go hungry (even with the cookies) during their most active hours, which for most people is the morning and afternoon.

Realities of the Cookie Diet

The Cookie Diet is an intriguing idea, but I feel it suitable for a very small number of people. Here are my conclusions about the diet: 

In my opinion, I believe the cookie diet to be more about selling cookies under the disguise of a diet, rather than the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. The Cookie Diet is not a lifestyle. The Cookie Diet web site is only pushing cookies and does nothing to educate their customers about weight loss. I had to piece together tid-bits of information scattered around their site just to get an idea of what the diet is about. Perhaps they include some dietary information with their products, but it would seem to me that is something they would mention on their site.

Obviously, I do not recommend the diet. There is no reason to starve while losing weight. Take the Cookie Diet dinner, which does not include cookies, and eat it four or five times a day. You won’t be so hungry and you’ll probably be at a calorie deficit.

Have any of you tried the Cookie Diet or known someone that has? Were they successful in losing weight and keeping it off?

Everyone I know that has made the attempt to start a diet that involves eating every three hours has the same complaint: “I cannot eat that much food!” It’s very difficult for them to eat 350 calories worth of health food. They often gasp at the idea of eating another meal in just three hours time. It’s weird to think the same person might rather eat a 1200 calorie plate of pasta in a single meal.

I’ve been there too. The first steps into eating five or six meals a day often left me feeling over-stuffed, wondering if this diet is really some sort secret way to get us all to hate the idea of eating food, so we don’t eat so much later on. Rest assured there is nothing shady going on.

Here are some suggestions to make those meals a bit easier chow down.

Eat Foods With Higher Calorie Density

While healthy foods in general have lower calories, there are some with very low calorie density and others that are packed with calories. For example, 4oz of food “A” may have 35 calories while food “B” may have 140 calories. Both foods are a natural source of carbohydrates, but you would have to eat a full pound of “A” to get the same amount of calories as in 4oz of “B”.

If you are having a hard time eating your entire meal, perhaps you can look at trading out some of the food for something with the same amount of calories, but with less physical food to eat (higher calorie density).

Drink Less Fluids

Drinking a large amount of fluids may not be your problem, but that second or third cup of coffee in the morning right before your second breakfast can make you feel full and unable to eat your planned meal. Try drinking less before or during your meal to see if that makes a difference in how much you can eat.

Eat Faster

Our mother teaches us that it’s bad table manners to scarf down our food (queue the sound of a vacuum cleaner). If you took your time eating five or six meals you could easily blow four or more hours every day doing nothing but eating. No thanks. This diet plan calls for us to pick up the pace a bit.

One common “trick” to lose weight is to eat slower. In my opinion this only applies when eating high calorie processed foods that are not good for you. Eating slow can be detrimental when you are first starting to eat on a three hour schedule. If you eat your food in less than 20 minutes, you should be able to beat the signal to your brain that your belly is full.

Change How the Calories are Distributed Between Meals

Perhaps you are hungrier in the afternoon than in the morning? If you find that eating all of your third and fourth meal is easy while you cannot seem to eat all of your first or second meal, you may want to move the calories around.

Take some of the calories from your hard-to-eat meals and put them into your easy-to-eat meals. This may provide the balance you need. Just be mindful not to overload any one meal, as you could have too many calories for that time of day. Spread things out evenly as possible when first starting out.

Temporarily Cut Back on Calories

Only as a last resort should you consider cutting back your calories to make your meal easier to eat. However, for some this may be the only option. I recommend preparing your meal as you originally planned with all of the calories. Eat as much as you possibly can and take note of how much food is remaining. Each day, try to eat a little more so the amount left over is smaller. Before too long, you should be able to consume all of your required calories.

Relax! You Won’t Get Fat

From my observations, this may be truer for women than men: The worry if you eat that much food you will only make yourself fat. This reaction is probably more common for those people trying to lose weight. It feels odd to eat more food and stuff your belly with food when trying to lose weight. As long as you planned your calories you should have nothing to worry about.

Stay the Course

To my surprise, after a couple days of forcing myself to eat the food described in my meal plan I could comfortably eat the entire meal and was looking forward to my next feeding. Your body will quickly adapt to this new lifestyle. You only have to give it a chance. Stay the course!

Did you feel like a beached whale when starting to eat every three hours? How long did it take for you to get to a point where eating your meals became easy?

Have you ever heard a family member or friend talk about starting a new diet and eating only “healthy” food such as salads, fruits, and, non-fat yogurt only to find a short while later they are unable to keep on the diet plan because they feel as if they are starving? Perhaps you have experienced this yourself?

It’s generally considered common knowledge that we must cut calories in order to lose weight. It’s also common knowledge that salads, fruits, and non-fat yogurts have less calories than pizza, hamburgers, and ice cream. So, if we want to lose weight it makes sense that we replace the high-calorie foods with low calorie alternatives. However…

If you eat three healthy meals a day you will only succeed in starving yourself.

While we may lose weight by doing this, it’s difficult to maintain a diet that consists of three low calorie meals over the long-term. Many of us will tend to binge on one of our daily meals, or perhaps the starvation pains kick-in after a couple weeks. Even though some weight loss has occurred, the weight will often return once the old eating habits take over. This is the diet roller-coaster.

If you can relate, take comfort in knowing that your chances of succeeding with such a diet is extremely small. In fact, had you kept it up for a long time you may have caused yourself some additional health problems. Failure is almost unavoidable since your body has mechanisms in place to prevent you from starving.

The weight loss results from eating in this manner are not worth the pain and mental distress that comes with borderline starvation. I’m not sure about you, but I’d rather be fat and happy than thin and miserable by eating in this manner. Life is far too short. The simple fact of the matter is there are not enough calories in three meals of healthy food to keep your body functioning as it should.

Unless you recently won a hotdog eating championship and/or have an unnaturally large stomach, it’s unrealistic to eat your required number of calories each day by only eating three healthy meals. This is where eating every three hours enters the picture.

Eating five or six healthy meals a day enables you to lose weight while practically stuffing yourself.

Generally speaking, good natural health foods are lower in calories than their processed counterparts. 300 calories of healthy food is very filling compared to the 300 calories of a hamburger (small part of a whole burger) which will leave you hungry for more.

As I already mentioned, the 300 calorie healthy meal won’t cut it when three meals will only total 900 calories. You won’t last long like that, especially men. However, try eating 300 calories every few hours and you’ll be getting 1500 to 1800 calories a day depending on if you go with five or six meals.  As long as these calorie numbers are less than the calories needed to maintain your current weight, you will lose weight while eating every three hours!  See, no need to starve yourself!

Would you rather eat three healthy meals and starve, or eat healthy meals every three hours and still lose weight?

This is the fourth article in the Get Started Eating Every Three Hours series that outlines how to start eating every three hours and the benefits of such a diet.

As I mentioned in “You Must Count Calories if You Want to Be Healthy“, keeping a food log is essential to ensuring that you are not eating too few or too many calories each day. This is especially important if you need to lose weight or train for a sport. Having a log aids in keeping your meals properly balanced and your daily calories on track. Knowing what to track in your food log can be a daunting task for the beginner. Today we’ll look at the key information you need to take from nutritional labels and put into your food log.

Start reading nutrition labels… today.

The nutritional labels on food are there for a reason. Don’t put anything into your body unless you can read and understand the label. Even if you end up eating a high calorie, nutrient deficient food, at least you know what you are eating and the consequences it will have on your daily plan.

Start reading the nutritional labels on everything, preferably before you put it into your shopping cart. Temptations are much easier to curb when you are still at the grocery store. You are far more likely to eat a “bad” food if you already paid for it. Nothing should go into your shopping cart unless you have read the nutrition label and decided if that particular food can be put into your Eat Every Three diet plan. Make reading the nutrition labels a habit.

What to track in the log.

In your log, you want to track the “sides” of the meal or main ingredients. Do not only track the combined calories of the entire meal unless you absolutely must. Keep track of the following in the log:

The name of the food would be its own row in your spreadsheet. The other information should be column titles. Armed with this information, you can add up the information from each of the columns to get your grand totals for the meal.

The reasons for tracking the nutrient information in addition to calories will become useful later when we get to meal planning.

Make a spreadsheet, use a notebook, or an online log.

Creating a simple spreadsheet to to log your food and the nutritional content is the most convenient method of tracking your calories and nutrients. If you are not savvy with spreadsheet programs such as Excel, then you can use a notebook to write the information down. Use whatever method that you will consistently utilize. The advantage with Excel is that it can provide an automated way to add columns together, that way everything in your meal will be added up for you.

My log consists of two spreadsheets. I use one sheet to track the meals, the other is a list of the common foods and their nutritional content that I routinely buy and eat. This way, I can cut and paste a line of nutritional content from the food list to my meal plan without having to memorize or reread the labels on the food. This works well for me, but you may find another method that is convenient for you.

There are free online food logs available from a number of places. I personally have not used them, but I know others that have. Each of them have their own food database (which may or may not match up to the food you eating) so you can easily populate your log with the relevant information. I am not sure if they all track the information listed above. Feel free to check them out and see! Try online logs such as:

I do not use online logs because I’m too lazy to take the extra step of logging into an account. However, there is the added advantage of accessing your food log from any computer with Internet access.

Get in the habit.

Habits do not form overnight. I believe there are studies that show a habit takes three weeks to form. Tracking all of the food you eat will be slow and time consuming in the beginning. Before too long, keeping your food log up-to-date will be second nature. If you are serious about achieving personal health goals, keeping a food log is a must.

Do you have a handy method or tricks for keeping a food log updated?