Diet Food Will Not Fill You Up

I've been getting a lot of e-mails lately:

"Are cereal bars OK?"

"Can I eat this or that?"

"What about fat-free this, or light that?"

Here's the problem.  All of those may be perfectly fine, but you're barking up the wrong tree.  Read the next sentence and commit it to memory:

You need to eat food that will fill you up.

Starving yourself, eating diet food, eating ridiculously small portions, eating frozen dinners...it's all a short-term recipe for failure.  Sure, your calories will be restricted and you will lose weight, but you're not going to be able to keep it up.

A better idea is to eat healthy food in abundance.  Eat until you are full, until you don't want anymore.  I call it the 6 food groups:

1.) Fruits. Find fruits you like and eat them all.

2.) Vegetables. Same thing. Find ones you like and eat them.

3.) Lean meats. Baked fish.  Baked chicken breast. Grilled. Pork. Turkey.

4.) Whole grains.  Really heavy, high-fiber wheat bread.  Brown rice.  Oatmeal.

5.) Low fat dairy.  Fat-free milk.  Non fat yogurt, etc.

6.) Water. (yes, on the Ganey plan, water is a food group.) At least a gallon a day.


You are *not* going to be successful, long-term, for the rest of your life, eating tiny portions, energy bars, cereal bars or diet food.

Eat real food! And eat a lot! Stay full!