Wells - Eat 80:20 Or Stay Fat! : Eating carbohydrates in this ratio of vegetables makes it impossible to gain weight from carbs!

Our grocery stores are filled with prefabricated and modified foods bursting with carbohydrates and sugars. The health-conscious among us know to avoid the cookies, doughnuts, candies, cereals and other snack foods that are obviously almost nothing but sugar. But now were finding sugar where we once didnt expect itin breads, sauces, juices, soups. Its everywhere! Sugar is sneaking into staple foods we once thought of as wholesome and healthy. Well, theres an easy way to avoid these sneaky sugars and junk carbohydrates, and thats to eat whole foods in the right proportions. By getting your carbs from whole, quality sources, youre making a better choice immediatelybut heres how to take the benefits a step further.

I call it the 80:20 Ratio. When you make 80% of your meal fiber-rich vegetables, fresh herbs, and other such succulent ingredients, digestibility and alkalinity are increased. Make the remaining 20% quality, whole-food carbs, and you have a winning, healthy, deliciously dynamic combo. The quality carbs are buffered by the easily assimilated veggies and herbs, and are digested without the usual carb effect of raising glucose in the blood. When we eat white rice, white bread, pasta and other such refined foods alone, we are literally dumping sugars into our bodies that stampede into the bloodstream and leave us with high blood sugar. The body responds by pumping excess emergency insulin into the blood to round up all that sugar.

The inevitable result is a major drop in energy. We feel tired, irritable, and generally lousy. And we jiggle with extra fat. The reason? Insulin resistance, where the cells in the body eventually lose their ability to respond to insulin. Blood sugar spikes, the pancreas goes into overdrive to produce more insulin, blood sugar drops drastically. And one of the undesirable side effects of insulin resistance is the storage of fat you dont need.

In extreme cases, the exhausted pancreas quits, and voiladiabetes. The problem is that most of us find these foods irresistibleeither we grew up on them, or we crave them because theyre tasty and highly habit-forming. Well, you can still have yummy, satisfying carbs. Just switch to the 80:20 Ratio, and make the carbs whole and high-quality, the veggies and herbs fresh and succulent. Youll soon find that this way of eating is habit-forming, toobut in the best possible way. Youll get into the habit of eating delicious, filling, satisfying food, feeling great and loving the sight of the unwanted pounds rolling off.

In todays world, with the alarming increase of type-two diabetes and childhood obesity, we all need to educate ourselves about insulin resistance and the devastating effect it has on health and wellbeing. We and our kids have to get smart about eating for controlled, sustained blood sugar. Its something we need to do for ourselves, because the food manufacturers are surely not going to do it for us. This doesnt mean deprivation or turning into a food fanatic. Simply adjust the ratio and buffer the rise in blood sugar. The effects are wondrous.

I worked with a client who wanted to run the Chicago marathon, but he needed to lose about 70 pounds. He thought he was eating healthilyhe said he ate mostly salads and only occasional snack foods. He didnt understand why he was carrying around so much excess weight. I looked into his diet, and found the culprit: the salads he ate came mostly from salad bars, and the dressings were loaded with fat and sugar. We counted the calories. He was shocked to learn that one of his typical salads totaled more than 3500 calories, half of them from fat, because of the dressing.

I showed him the 80:20 regime, and he took to it right away. Once he was off the salads and snack foods and eating this new way, the pounds melted right off him in just five months. I also worked with a Silicon Valley executive who weighed almost 400 pounds. He had the health issues youd expect with such obesity: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, adult onset diabetes and edema. He wanted to get gastric bypass surgery, but his doc said nonot until you lose 25% of that dangerous weight. I started working with him on an exercise program, which at the beginning was just walking in a circle with a 50-foot radius.

I taught him the 80:20 regime, showed him a selection of recipes. Within a month, hed shed 20 pounds and was walking 25 minutes a day. Within six months hed lost 95 pounds and was walking two hours a day. He got his bypass surgery. Today, hes traveling the world, disease-free, a new man. Youll see how easy it is to adopt this new, healthy way of eating thatll help make you lean and full of energy.

Quinoa Tabouli Salad 80:20 (8 servings) Looking at the ingredients, youll see that there are approximately 2 cups cooked quinoa and 8 cups fresh, raw vegetables. Quinoa is a great example of a quality carbnot only is it a whole food, it happens to be a super food, 14% protein and easily digested. The porters who dwell in the Andes have been eating quinoa for breakfast for centuries, and they can carry close to their own body weight up the mountain without tiring. This recipe is just one example. What youll see in all the recipes Ive included in this book is that youll be ditching the old salad dressings youre accustomed to, using instead herbs, sometimes fruit or fruit zests, and different spices galore to dress your vegetables-and-quality-carb meal. These salads are full of fresh flavors, are highly nutritious and a breeze to digest, therefore nearly impossible to store as fat.

Youre going to love it.
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked quinoa 2 cups seeded and diced cucumber 3 cups seeded and diced tomato 3 cups chopped Italian parsley 1 cup chopped mint cup lemon juice 1 Tablespoon ground cumin To taste salt and pepper Method:
Combine all ingredients together, mix well and let sit for 1-2 hours. Mix well again and serve on bed of romaine or spring greens. Baby French Lentil Salad Baby French green lentils are the most intensely flavored of all the lentil family. When cooked they hold their firm texture which is great for many applications including salads. Their history dates back with archeological digs on artifacts dating to 8,000 to 7,000 BC.

Though they are small in size but they are packed with nutrition, rich in fiber and high in protein.
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked baby French lentils 2 cups seeded and diced cucumbers 2 cups seeded and diced tomato 1 cup chopped chives 1 cup chopped Italian parley 1 cup chopped dill cup chopped tarragon cup white balsamic vinegar 1 Tablespoon lemon zest To taste salt and pepper 2 cups shredded romaine lettuce or spring greens Method: Combine all ingredients together, mix well and let sit for 1-2 hours. Mix well again and serve on bed of romaine or spring greens. Fennel and Apple Salad (8 servings) Fennel is a bulb with a long medicinal and culinary history. It was used by ancient Egyptians as a special food and medicine. It was used as a snake bite remedy in ancient China.

Fennel is used today as a digestive aid and stomach tonic. It is also used as a weight loss aid. It is especially delicious steamed or lightly boiled, then marinated with olive oil and garlic, then grilled over an open flame. Ingredients: 2 cups cooked fennel root 2 cups small diced red bell peppers 2 cups diced green apple 2 cups diced celery root 1 cup chopped Italian parsley 1 cup chopped chives cup lemon juice cup extra virgin olive oil (optional) To taste salt and pepper 2 cups shredded romaine lettuce or spring greens Method: Combine all ingredients together, mix well and let sit for 1-2 hours. Mix well again and serve on bed of romaine or spring greens. Red and Yellow Pepper Salad (8 servings) Bell peppers have excellent flavor and when roasted or charred over an open flame, they become sweet and even more delicious.