Lose Weight By Following The Rule Of 100
In a previous article called The No Bullshit Diet, I wrote all about ketosis and my success with weight loss, but for those who cannot bring themselves to do the ketosis diet, in which you give up almost all carbohydrates in your diet in favor of fats for quick to moderate weight loss, this diet works for many people; but for others, they may struggle to get into ketosis, or may just not care to live the ketosis diet. Vegans may also struggle to find their place within the ketosis diet. Towards the end of the article, I briefly touched upon The Rule of 100, for the easiest and fastest way to lose weight.
The Rule of 100 requires that you give up nothing from your diet, but that you implement restrictions on the amount of food you consume in your diet. Basically, your intake of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are limited to 100 grams per day. If you go over a few, that is fine, if you happen to eat less than 100 grams, you can certainly manage that way too, and results may be quicker for weight loss. This rule means that you can eat whatever you want, but it is highly recommended that you use a calorie logging service such as LoseIt! or MyFitnessPal in order to know how much you are consuming every day. The diet will allow you to eat anything you desire, including your favorite sweets, but remember, you are limited to 100 grams in how many carbohydrates, fats, and protein you can consume per day. If you happen to hit 100 carbohydrates, but you still have room for fats and proteins, than you must consume foods that will not effect your carbohydrate count, as doing so will increase your number.
If you are not familiar with how to read a nutrition label, you should learn how to read one, as every food item contains a nutrition label, required by law. Here is a photo of a nutrition label:
The important things you want to worry about on the nutrition label are the serving size and the macronutrients (Fat, Carbohydrate, and Protein) and making sure that with whatever you are eating, the grams of Sugar are low.
While you can get away with eating more carbohydrates if those carbohydrates come from a fiber source (sugar alcohols and other sweetened snacks may work as well, but you must experiment, as the effects are different for everyone), than you can sneakily trick your body into eating more, if you find yourself still hungry or with cravings. This diet will work for short-term or long-term. This diet may seem like its great because you get to eat whatever you want, but the grams in certain foods can add up very quickly, making you feel like you ate almost nothing all day. Research the foods that will make and keep you full throughout the day.
Take a plate of spaghetti, for example, can add up to 1.3g of fat, 43.2g of carbohydrates, and 8.1g of protein. Have two plates of pasta and you have nearly hit your limit of carbohydrates allowed for the day. Add a slice of bread and you will have likely exceeded your limit. Want to forego the bread and go for a can of soda? Unless it is diet, you can add another 40 grams of carbohydrates, which is about the amount you will find in ONE can of Pepsi, Coke, or any other soda, and you will have exceeded your limit. Want pizza? You can have up to 3 slices to reach your limit (about 34 carbs per slice). After you have hit this limit, you cannot eat anymore that day. You must give your body the time to burn the food you have eaten. You can even eat a piece of cake or pie on the diet, so long as you remain within your limit of 100 grams of carbohydrates, 100 grams of fat, and 100 grams of protein. It is highly recommended that you do add some healthy vegetables into your diet and do not just eat processed, junk food, or sugar all the time.
Not that we will get into it in great detail in this article, but speaking on terms of a micro-organisms and the cellular level, our bodies break down food and use the nutrients to re-build itself, repair itself, and regenerate new cells. If you are not giving your body proper nutrients, your body will try to use what it can with what it has available, and this may not always be the best thing. Our bodies use the food we eat to design and shape our bodies into what they become. If you eat sugar all the time, you are probably not going to look good, you might even gain weight, and you are literally starving your body of the nutrients that it needs to sustain itself and function properly on the molecular level. It is highly recommended that you eat "real food" from real protein sources and real fat sources. Please refer to The No Bullshit Diet, which has a list of foods that you should be eating. If you choose not to do this, I cannot guarantee you that The Rule of 100 will be 100% effective for your body.
Why The Rule Of 100? It really does work. The USDA recommends that the typical American diet consists of 225 to 325 grams of carbohydrates per day OR 45% to 65% of your daily caloric intake. That is a lot of carbohydrates and should be much less than that. You would need to eat over 5 plates of spaghetti to even match that or 6 slices of pizza to max out on the recommendations. That is a lot of food to consume. Yes, I know, some of you can eat an entire pizza pie. I used to be able to do it myself when I weighed no less than 230 pounds. 5 slices of pizza? No problem! I would also go back for seconds, thirds, and sometimes even fourths when it came to a plate of pasta.
What the USDA recommends is completely inaccurate and is the reason that everyone is either overweight or obese. If the USDA recommended no more than 100-120 carbs per day, everyone would certainly be much slimmer. Take health into your own hands and understand that the less food you eat, the skinnier you actually will be, so The Rule of 100 entails cleverly planning your meals and portion control.
Is it the USDA's fault? Not really. If the USDA had a different policy of eating only 100 grams of carbohydrates per day, would anyone actually listen? Probably not. You control what goes into your mouth and you control what goes into your children's mouths. If you have failed to educate yourself on proper nutrition, than you are to blame. With the Internet available to everyone, and you are using it right now, there is no excuse for you not to know that sugar, fast food, and processed foods are unhealthy for you and your children.
It is ultimately up to the individual and their families to make the decision of how they want to live their life. The USDA is there to make recommendations, though not good ones, and there are plenty of food blogs, food journals, and many health food bloggers and nutritionists who are much more qualified and experienced with food and weight loss advice than your own doctor is. I can tell this: from living as an overweight to an obese adult (BMI of 37) to dropping to an average healthy adult (BMI of 24-25), it has been worth giving up the extra plates of pasta, giving up the slices of pizza, giving up the sugar, giving up the bread, ignoring the three or four fast food restaurants on my way home from work, and simply making my own meals, and sticking to a portion-controlled lifestyle when it comes to food. It has been worth every meal skipped to have good health and to look and feel great at a much more healthy weight.
As Louis CK once said, "The meal isn't over when I'm full, the meal is over when I hate myself, and I'm saying, 'Why the..... did I eat....'" Yup, that was me, all the time. I ate everything on my plate and usually everything on other people's plates too. That was me then. You would not ever catch me doing that nowadays. I have taught myself how to throw food out, say no to offerings, share food with others, and order or make less food, or eat it at a later date if I make too much food. Those Italian Sunday dinners didn't do our waistlines any favors! All of this food plus the drink definitely added up beyond the 100 grams of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. The results of this meal every Sunday or even a similar meal during the week or fast food meals a few times a week? You and your family are probably overweight or obese. Your children probably are too because the cycle is repeating itself because of the lack of education on how much food we should actually be consuming. Generations of obesity.
The Rule of 100 usually gives your body plenty of time to burn excess calories so you will end up losing weight, especially if you add in exercise. It is not just for weight loss, but it will also help revitalize your body, restoring your blood pressure, lowering your blood sugar, your LDL and HDL cholesterol, your triglycerides, and may even reduce or eliminate your risk of diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, or stroke. It is slightly different than calorie counting, as you are counting the macronutrients you eat instead of the actual calories, but ultimately, you are training your body to eat less food and burn your excess fat. The rule is quite simple to follow as you are not restricting any foods you eat, and you are able to enjoy all the foods you love, but you must remain strict with the The Rule of 100 in order to lose weight. Good luck in your weight loss efforts!
Helpful Resources:
https://authoritynutrition.com/how-many-carbs-per-day-to-lose-weight/