Drop a Size Calorie and Carb Counter. Joanna Hall
CURFEW - HOW IT CAME ABOUT
As a weight management specialist, my studies and expertise led me to work with individuals and organizations in the United States, Australia and in the UK. During my travels, I became increasingly aware that many people out there were putting a lot of effort into reaching their weight loss goals, but their hard work appeared to be going un-rewarded. The scales were not moving in the right direction, their clothes were not feeling looser and their energy levels were not as high as they should be – but most galling of all, they were experiencing all of this while putting their real lives on hold! Yes, they were following recognized dietary advice to cut fat intake as a means of reducing overall calorie intake, and they were taking some physical exercise, but instead of feeling trimmer, lighter and full of energy, they didn't seem to be reaping the benefits.
What I began to realize, as I researched my Master's degree in sports science, was that following a low-fat diet wasn't the sole solution to weight loss. Yes, sticking to a low fat intake is still sensible dietary advice – one gram of fat alone provides 9 calories (the equivalent of nearly 45 calories per teaspoon) – but my studies have shown that for successful weight loss, you need to address your total calorie intake plus the proportion of carbohydrates and protein you are eating. Reducing fat alone won't work. What's more, my research revealed that people who were cutting the amount of fat in their diets were compensating for the ‘loss’ by filling up on ‘non’ or ‘low-fat’ starchy carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and cereal. This meant, quite simply, that while their fat intake was going down, their overall calorie intake was going up. A recent study from the centre for disease control and prevention reported a 22 per cent jump in the calories we consumed between 1971 and 2000. This increase in calories was directly attributed to increased carbohydrate intake despite a reduction in the percentage of fat we consumed over the same period. It seems people are eating more ‘non-fat’ starches under the misapprehension that because these starches contained little or no fat this automatically translates into little or no calories! This is what motivated me to develop the Carb Curfew – a tool that can help people achieve successful weight loss and healthy nutrition. The Carb Curfew Plan helps you redress your nutritional and calorie balance without having to count every calorie, or put your life on hold.
So what is the Carb Curfew?
The Carb Curfew means no bread, pasta, rice, potatoes or cereal after 5 p.m. As a result, your evening meal now becomes based around lean meat, fish, pulses, vegetables, fruit, low-fat dairy products and essential fats. It is not about cutting out all starchy carbs, as starch provides a valuable source of muscle fuel for our bodies. Instead, to ensure you get the right balance of nutrients at the right time, I recommend you eat some starchy wholegrain carbs at breakfast (try porridge with semi-skimmed milk and a piece of fruit, or boiled egg and wholemeal toast), lunch (for example, a small jacket potato with tuna or an open chicken sandwich) and in your mid-afternoon snack if you wish, but avoid them after 5 p.m.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF FOLLOWING THE CARB CURFEW?
There are several great bonuses to implementing my Carb Curfew:
When we eat starchy carbs, they are stored in the body in the form of glycogen. Glycogen is an important muscle fuel, but for every unit of glycogen stored in the body it is necessary to also store three units of water. This helps to explain why it is common to feel very bloated and uncomfortable in your clothes after eating a starch-heavy meal, such as pasta.
Since you will be eating more fruit and vegetables, you will be putting more vital nutrients into your body and these are essential in the breakdown of macronutrients (i.e. carbs, protein and fat) to release energy. Plus many of my clients say how much more energetic they feel as a result of not eating so many starchy carbs.
The absence of starchy carbs in your evening meal will encourage you fill up your plate with these important foods.
In essence then, Carb Curfew is a strategy that allows you to get the right balance of calories and nutrients at the right time of day.
THE CARB CURFEW PLAN – A LIFESTYLE, NOT A DIETARY REGIME
To me, successful weight management is all about having a strategy that fits with your life – if you have to press the pause button while you go on a diet, you can bet your bottom dollar your weight loss is not going to last long term. I developed Carb Curfew as a tool to help people achieve their weight loss goals, while boosting their energy levels, changing their shape and getting on with their lives. One of the main reasons people tell me it works is because they feel they have made a positive lifestyle change without too much effort – they feel in control and not ‘on a diet’. The Carb Curfew has helped thousands of people, and it can help you, too.
The Carb Curfew Plan consists of five steps, each of which plays a different role in helping you achieve and maintain your ideal weight and body fat goals. The plan has been tried and tested by my weight management clients over the past 10 years – and it works! The five steps are:
1 Use the Carb Curfew: By not eating certain starchy carbohydrates after 5 p.m. you will lose weight and boost your energy levels. It is a strategy that allows you to cut your overall calorie intake and get the right balance of nutrients at the right time of the day. For example, eating starchy carbs with protein at lunchtime, instead of in your evening meal, will help you beat your mid-afternoon sugar cravings – a challenge to those of us with even the strongest willpower – and boost your energy and brainpower for the rest of the day.
2 Drink more water: If you drink less than eight glasses of water a day you may be chronically dehydrated. This can affect your energy levels, and cause you to misinterpret tiredness as a need to eat more food. By drinking a minimum of two litres of water a day, you will fuel yourself with energy, curb your hunger and enhance your nutrient absorption.
3 Figure out your fats: This is not about cutting all fat from the diet, as some fat is essential for our health, rather, it is about reducing your overall fat intake, and specifically saturated fat, while at the same time increasing the good sources of fat in your diet.
4 Be consistent: The good news is the best way to lose weight is not to deprive yourself of all those things in life you love, but instead to stick to the 80–20 rule. You don't have to be ‘good’ 100 per cent of the time – if you can stick to the Carb Curfew plan for just 80 per cent of the time, you will have succeeded. Being consistent means you can actually eat a little more and you will still lose weight and body fat, and, more importantly, you are not setting yourself up for guilt and ‘failure’.
5 Move more, more often: Most of us know we have to take regular exercise to lose weight. But we also know how hard it is to find the time to fit structured exercise sessions into our increasingly busy lives – so it's hardly surprising even the best intentions often fall by the wayside. Well, the good news is that simply moving your body more often, in daily physical activities, is an important part of the exercise formula. It's important to try and make time for some regular, prolonged exercise when you can, but it is the combination of structured exercise with informal daily activity that really helps