6 Weeks to a Hollywood Body

You should have a minimum of eight glasses of water a day.

3
Hollywood Nutrition Principles
Dieting has become an American obsession. Diet and nutrition are the most talked about topics in our popular culture. You cannot walk through a grocery store, turn on the TV, listen to the radio, or open your e-mail without being bombarded with the latest fad diet that promises a thinner you.
Weight is an issue for almost everyone. Some of us really have to watch every bite that we eat; with much suffering and sacrifice, we are able to lose a little. Some of us have tried every diet, but nothing works. There are also people at the other extreme—who have to try very hard to maintain their weight. Too much work or running around, and they are dropping weight like nobody’s business. For them, gaining weight would be a dream come true. Most of us are somewhere between these two extremes. You must understand both ends of the spectrum to figure out what will work best for you.
Body Fat
Your goal is to eliminate body fat. You will need the proper method to determine if your program is working. Your scale does not provide a clear picture of what is happening to your body. Your weight on the scale is only a small factor of this total picture. Before you begin, take measurements of your waist, hips, chest, each bicep, and thigh. This will provide valuable information to not only mark your progress but also to determine and concentrate your efforts.
While the easiest method to determine results will be to monitor how your clothes are fitting, most of us need a more telling measurement. In addition to taking measurements of various body parts, I recommend you determine your body fat percentage. This measurement will be your new guide and key indicator of your progress. It will provide you with a clear picture of what percentage of your total body weight is made up of fat and what percentage is made up of water, hair, bone, and lean muscle mass. Your goal is to create more bone and muscular density and reduce the percentage of fat.
How to Measure Your Body Fat
There are many ways to measure your body fat, such as hydrostatic weighing and bioimpedance, and there is a cost associated with taking these measurements. While going into a local gym and having a trained professional take a few measurements with skinfold calipers might cost $15, some other (and very accurate) methods might cost thousands. In truth, you can get a fairly good idea of your own body fat percentage in the privacy of your own home, at absolutely no cost. You will need a scale, a tape measure (a new cloth or metal tape is preferable), a calculator, and perhaps an assistant.
BODY FAT FORMULA FOR WOMEN
1.Step on the scale and weigh yourself.
Your body weight ________ × 0.732 + 8.987 = ________
2.Measure your wrist at the fullest point.
Your wrist measurement ________ ÷ 3.140 = ________
3.Measure your waist at your navel.
Your waist measurement ________ × 0.157 = ________
4.Measure your hips at the fullest point.
Your hip measurement ________ × 0.249 = ________
5.Measure your forearm at the fullest point.
Your forearm measurement ________ × 0.434 = ________
Now calculate your body fat. On your calculator:
Add the totals for 1 and 2.
Subtract the total for 3.
Subtract the total for 4.
Add the total for 5.
This number is your lean body mass (muscle, bones, organs, hair, etc.).
Subtract your lean body mass from your total weight
Total body weight ______ – lean body mass ______ = ______
This number is the weight of your body fat.
Body fat weight _____ × 100 = _____ ÷ Total body weight = _____
This number is your body fat percentage.
BODY FAT FORMULA FOR MEN
1.Step on the scale and weigh yourself.
Your body weight ________ × 1.082 + 94.42 = ________
2.Measure your waist.
Your waist measurement ________ × 4.15 = ________
Now calculate your body fat. On your calculator:
Subtract the total for 2 from the total for 1.
Measurement 1 ________ – Measurement 2 = ________
This number is your lean body mass.
Subtract your lean body mass from your total weight.
Total body weight _____ – lean body mass _____ = _____
This number is the weight of your body fat.
Body fat weight ____ × 100 = ____ ÷ Total body weight = ____
This number is your body fat percentage.
Body Fat Basics
There are some basic rules about body fat. It is stored within fat cells. You are born with a certain number of those fat cells, which you essentially inherited from your ancestors. Those with ancestors from Northern Europe inherit more fat cells than those who are descended from people nearer to the equator. Until the end of puberty, you can grow even more fat cells. After puberty, you will not grow any more fat cells, but the cells you have will either grow or shrink. Any given fat cell can grow to be as large as your head or shrink so small that several dozen could fit on the head of a pin.
You have and need a small percentage of fat. If you pinch the skin on the top of your hand (as opposed to your love handles or “saddle bags”) you can clearly see what “enough” means. For women, this minimal amount is 12 to 15 percent of your total body weight; for men, it is about 5 percent. Very fit and highly trained people can achieve these low percentages, but it is much more reasonable for women to be closer to the 20 percent range. Dip far below this and you might experience a loss of menstrual cycle, hair loss, and/or a loss of bone density. Men can strive for a healthy 12 to 14 percent.
Body fat exists for your survival and should be thought of much like a reserve tank of fuel. It prevents starvation, and this starvation protection mechanism is hardwired into your system. To eliminate body fat, you need to outthink your natural starvation protection mechanism.
Outthink Your Body
Your starvation protection mechanism is a primal system to ensure your survival. This system regulates what and how much energy to release to maintain your most basic bodily functions. The only tool this complex system uses is the regulation of body fat. In times of extreme hardship when there are prolonged periods without food, your body’s starvation protection mechanism works overtime—it stores almost every nutrient you eat within fat cells for later use. It then conserves all the energy it can and uses the barest minimum to keep your heart beating and your lungs breathing.
This primal survival system has no idea that it is living in the twenty-first century. It does not know that food is as close as the nearest drive-thru window and that going without food does not equate to starvation. When you go for long periods without food, all this primal system knows is that you are not being taken care of. Your body equates not eating regularly with danger. When it experiences danger, it stores all it can within fat cells and releases very little of what is held in those cells.
If you are not eating enough food for an extended period of time, something even more significant will occur. Your body needs energy, and you require energy to perform any activity. So when the starvation protection mechanism senses danger, it goes into survival mode and shuts down fat cells. If and when you do eat, most of these nutrients get stored within fat cells. Aside from fueling enough energy for heart and lung functions, this mechanism will not let any fat out of these cells. But you still need to walk from here to there or do whatever you have to do to get some food. That energy needs to come from someplace. Your body can easily consume body tissue to get these essential nutrients to fuel your activity. In the body’s starvation mode, muscle tissue, organ tissue, and brain tissue are literally cannibalized to provide you with the fuel you need.
When most people go on a diet, they do not lose fat; they lose random weight. Approximately one-third of your weight on the scale is water, and most diets and diet products are simply diuretics. If you see products that say you can lose 10 pounds in 48 hours, this kind of water weight is exactly what you will lose. Diet centers and fad diets, however, will reduce your food (caloric) intake, and will do so to such a drastic extent that your body will think it is starving. If the diet is extreme—and most are—you will step on the scale and see that you have lost weight. But that weight loss will be water, muscle, and bone, but very little if any fat loss.
When you can outsmart your natural fat storage system, you can naturally and effectively eliminate stored fat. To do this, you need to eat regularly and often. Most people make two serious mistakes: they wait too long to eat, activating the starvation alarm, or they eat too much, activating the fat storage system. This results in the body storing almost all of what we eat as body fat because it fears starvation.
To reduce fat, your starvation protection device needs to be lulled into a sense of security. This is accomplished by eating a small snack-size meal every 2½ to 3 hours at approximately the same times every day. When this becomes a regular pattern—after two weeks or so—your body will begin to trust that it does not have to be on alert because there are no danger signs of shortage or starvation. When the starvation protection device relaxes sufficiently, it will begin releasing the nutrients stored within your fat cells, since they are no longer needed to ensure your survival.
Eating small snack-size meals at regular intervals is key, but to attain the Hollywood body in the shortest amount of time, you must choose what to eat carefully and thoughtfully.
Combining Proteins and Carbohydrates
During the digestive process, the molecular structure of food is broken down into smaller and smaller bits until these bits are small enough to pass through the intestinal wall and are released into the bloodstream. Once set free into the bloodstream, they can be used by the parts of the body that need them most. Your body ultimately derives amino acids from eating protein. Amino acids feed lean muscle. The less fatty the protein, the more efficiently your lean muscle can utilize the amino acids.
When carbohydrates are digested, they are ultimately broken down into sugar or glucose. You need a certain amount of glucose to keep the body functioning properly, but when there is too much glucose in the bloodstream, it will cause a hormone called insulin to be secreted. Insulin has one job: to take out all the extra glucose in the bloodstream and store it within the fat cells just in case it is needed in the future. Once nutrients are stored away in fat cells the body is very reluctant to part with what it has stored. It is therefore your primary objective not to flood the bloodstream with too much glucose.
When choosing a carbohydrate, you will want to eat something that takes a long period of time to break apart in the digestive process, and you will find these foods listed in this chapter as primary carbohydrate selections. Because the molecular chains of these particular carbohydrates are difficult to break apart, glucose is released into the bloodstream slowly over a longer period of time. The more difficulty the body has in breaking apart the molecular chain of the carbohydrate, the higher the carbohydrate will appear on the list.
I am certain you know what fat is. Fat is butter, oil, lard—the stuff that hangs over your belt, the stuff you want less of. Fat is essential for the body. However, almost every living organism on the planet contains some fat, so it is not necessary to add any extra fat to your food. When cooking, you should try to eliminate most, if not all, of the fat you can. Unfortunately, fat does add to the taste of food, so if you are going to add it, add it by the drop and not by the spoonful or cupful.
Portion Size
For any given meal, first decide which source of protein you will be eating, then determine the carbohydrate choice and corresponding portion size. If you want to rid yourself of fat, the portion size of your protein should be approximately the size of your palm. If you want to maintain your present weight, your protein portion should be the size of your palm extended to first joint of your fingers. If you would like to gain muscle mass, your protein portion should be the size of your hand. You will find a food list in this chapter that outlines which protein choices are best. Good proteins are found in protein powder, egg whites, most fish, skinless chicken breast, and turkey breast. These proteins have little inherent fat and are absorbed most effectively by your body’s digestive system.
Secondary protein choices should be cut or very sparingly selected in your nutritional program. They include choice cuts of beef that are highly marbled, pork products, sausages, processed meats, cold cuts, duck, goose, lamb, and cheese. All of these secondary choices contain a higher proportion of fat and are not absorbed as effectively by the digestive system.
After your two-week initiation phase (described in chapter 6), you will combine your foods in a specific manner. Based on your choice of protein, you will then determine which carbohydrate and how much of that carbohydrate you should have. For instance, if you choose to eat one item from the list of primary protein selections, you can have twice that amount from the list of primary carbohydrate selections or the exact same-size portion of secondary carbohydrate selections. If you are eating a skinless chicken breast, you can have twice the amount of steamed cauliflower (a 1:2 ratio), or the same-size portion of rice, potato, bread, or pasta (a 1:1 ratio). If you choose to eat a secondary source of protein, you can have the same amount of a good carbohydrate or half that amount of a secondary carbohydrate. If you choose to eat a fatty protein such as beef pot roast, you can eat that same portion size of steamed vegetables or half the portion size of your protein in pasta. In addition, there are a number of free foods that do not count toward the equation, and you may have as much of them as you like if you are still hungry.
PRIMARY PROTEIN SELECTIONS
Chicken breast (not processed)
Cottage cheese (low-or nonfat)
Egg substitutes
Egg whites
Fat-free cheese
Fish (any)
Lean ground beef (15 percent fat or lower)
Mock chicken or mock duck
Protein powder (whey)
Shellfish (any)
Soy burger
Soy hot dog
Soy sausage
Tempeh
Tofu
Turkey breast (not processed)
All others = secondary protein selection, which includes higher-fat red meats and poultry
PRIMARY CARBOHYDRATE SELECTIONS
Vegetables

Artichokes
Chickpeas
Mushrooms
Asparagus
Dried beans (any)
Navy beans
Bok choy
Eggplant
Pinto beans
Broccoli
Green beans
Red beans
Brussels sprouts
Kale
Soy beans
Butter beans
Kidney beans
Spinach
Cabbage
Lentils
Squash
Cauliflower
Lima beans
Zucchini
Starches

Brown rice
Egg noodles

Fruits

Apples
Grapefruit
Plums
Apricots (dried)
Oranges
Prunes
Berries (all)
Peaches
Tomatoes
Cherries
Pears

Dairy

Nonfat yogurt with fruit and sugar substitute
Nonfat plain yogurt with sugar substitute
Nonfat fruit-flavored yogurt with sugar
SECONDARY CARBOHYDRATE SELECTIONS
Starches and Carbohydrates

Bread (all)
Most rice
Most pasta
Potatoes (all)
Most cereals

Vegetables

Beets
Corn
Pumpkin
Carrots
Peas

Fruits

Applesauce
Figs
Papaya
Apricots
Grapes
Pineapple
Bananas
Kiwi
Raisins
Cantaloupe
Honeydew
Watermelon
Cranberries
Kumquats

Dates
Mango

FREE FOODS
Celery
Cucumber
Crystal Light
Garlic
Jicama
Kohlrabi
Lemon juice
Lettuce (iceberg, romaine, butter lettuce, endive, radicchio)
Lime juice
Mustard
Peppers
Radishes
Salsa
Sugar-free ice tea
Sugar-free instant cocoa
Sugar-free Jell-O
Sugar-free popsicles
Sugar-free sodas
Vinegar
There are a number of ways that you can play with the 1:1/1:2 model. If you choose an excellent protein source and are craving a piece of bread, you can fit it into your meal in the following way: Look at the portion of protein on your plate. Divide that surface area in half. That will be the portion of your bread. You can have the same-size portion of primary carbohydrates, and you will have completed the 1:2 meal. I know it is really more like the 1:1½ meal, but you got the bread and you didn’t make yourself crazy. Still hungry? A small tossed salad is a free food; it does not count and is not part of the equation unless you have croutons or add a dressing other than vinegar, lemon, or a little salsa. So you might have a chicken breast, some vegetables, a little bread, and a salad. That is a really nice meal, and you wouldn’t feel like you were suffering if you did this five times a day. If you choose a secondary protein, simply have the same-size portion of primary carbohydrates or half that protein portion size of a secondary carbohydrate choice. Easy, right?

Reminders, Hints, and Tricks
To recap, you should have at least five small meals per day, eating about every three hours. Have breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and between these main meals have a snack consisting of a protein bar or shake, nonfat cottage cheese and fruit, or even a chicken breast with some raw or lightly steamed vegetables. Choose your protein first, then the appropriate carbohydrate choice

To recap, you should have at least five small meals per day, eating about every three hours. Have breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and between these main meals have a snack consisting of a protein bar or shake

decide which source of protein you will be eating, then determine the carbohydrate choice and corresponding portion size.

When cooking, you should try to eliminate most, if not all, of the fat you can

Your body ultimately derives amino acids from eating protein. Amino acids feed lean muscle. The less fatty the protein, the more efficiently your lean muscle can utilize the amino acids.

This is accomplished by eating a small snack-size meal every 2½ to 3 hours at approximately the same times every day. When this becomes a regular pattern