Tuesday September 23

The 10 Commandments of Beginner Banting

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The first thing you need to remember is that weight loss is unique to everyone. For this reason, we developed the phases of Banting 2.0 to cater for your individual needs on your road to Awesome Weight and awesome health.

During your first few months at Real Meal Revolution, you’ll most likely experience dramatic weight loss as your body adapts to our program.

What we’ve found is that as time goes by, some Revolutionaries can reach a frustrating plateau.

The key to mastering the plateau is to use it as an opportunity to listen to your body and learn from it.

Even if you are following the Banting 2.0 Real Lists to a T and you are obeying the rules of each phase, you might be able to accelerate your weight loss even more.

Scrutinising your diet closely may give you insights that you may have missed in the past. Perhaps a food you’re eating contains hidden carbs, or you are unknowingly eating foods you are allergic to. There’s no telling until you take the time to get real with yourself and with what you’re eating.

Below is our list of the 10 extra rules to pay close attention to if you are struggling to lose.

The ten commandments of Beginner Banting

1. Eat enough animal fat.This is central to Banting. Saturated fat is NOT bad for you and you can totally eat it. Small amounts at a time help make you feel full and can stop you from overeating. So long as you are sticking to the phase-appropriate guidelines of Banting 2.0, you will be right on track.
2. Eat enough vegetables.Vegetables should make up the bulk of your diet, which means you’ve got to eat them with every meal. Green vegetables are the best because they are generally lower in carbs and full of nutrients. Have a look through all of the different vegetables on the Green List, and make sure that you have enough variety in your diet.
3. Don't snack. During Observation (the first phase of Banting 2.0), you can eat pretty much whatever you want, while snacking to your heart’s content. In the second phase, Restoration, you may need to snack periodically, if only to keep your sanity. Make sure that you have Banting-friendly snacks at hand; we have loads of recipes for these snacks in our Online Program. By the time you reach Transformation, the epic weight loss and fat burning phase, you won’t need to snack. So, snacking becomes a thing of the past, along with your excess weight and poor health.
4. Don't lie to yourself. Watch out for carbs disguised as proteins. Eating carbs that are perceived to be proteins, like legumes, baked beans, peanuts (allowed during Restoration) and quinoa (Preservation only), will undermine your attempts to burn fat. Pay attention to which lists you are allowed to eat from and in which phase. For more info on this, download the lists here and have a look at the phase lines on the bottom of the page.
5. Don't over- or under-eat.New Revolutionaries get nervous about the idea of not snacking and tend to go overboard at mealtimes to overcompensate. Don't worry about this. It takes practice and you will soon improve your aim. But remember, never force food down your throat. When you are full, stop eating! If you don't feel like eating a meal, skip it.
6. Don't eat too much protein. We cannot stress this enough. Banting 2.0 is NOT high-protein eating. The different phases of Banting 2.0 call for different levels of protein but in general, Real Meal Revolution endorses a low-carb, healthy fat diet and not a high protein diet. When you take our program, your protein consumption should be unaffected or even reduced.
7. Be alert! Many ostensibly 'healthy' products and ready-made meals are laced with carbs. Before you buy something, check the label. If the carb content is higher than 5g per 100g or the label lists anything on the Very Red list, don't buy it and be sure only to buy items containing Light Red and Orange B items in the appropriate phases. Try to buy foods that don't have labels. The best ‘real foods’ don’t have labels. At Real Meal Revolution we live by the mantra - "If you couldn’t have made it at home, probably stay away!"
8. Avoid too many fruits and nuts. Although all four of the Banting 2.0 phases allow for various quantities of fruit, it is full of natural fructose (the substance that makes it sweet). Fructose is perceived to be 'good sugar' but sugar is sugar regardless of its perceived 'goodness' and, while natural sugar is far preferable to refined sugar, its consumption needs to be strictly controlled. Of all the fruits, berries are best, but even berries need to be restricted in some cases. For limits, check out the different quantities on the Banting 2.0 Real Lists and how they correlate with the phases. Nuts are lower in carbs and great snack foods, but you must not go overboard. Nuts may cause weight gain in some individuals. That’s why we’ve also limited them during Transformation, the weight loss phase. Macadamias are best as they are loaded with healthy fat and almonds are packed with fibre and goodness. Always choose raw nuts in preference to commercially roasted nuts (which are actually deep fried – unless they are specified as ‘dry-roasted’).
9. Control your dairy. Although dairy is good for you, it does contain lactose, which is a sugar, which can be a stumbling block for most people. When you hit Transformation, the rapid weight-loss phase, you will cut down on dairy to a quarter cup per day. Generally, higher fat dairy is lower in lactose, and the grading looks like this: From most to least lactose – low-fat milk, full cream milk, double thick yoghurt, fresh cream, butter, clarified butter. Butter for the win.
10. Be strong! Setting goals correctly and putting structures in place to achieve them is something Real Meal Revolution takes very seriously. Even the best archer in the world can’t hit the target if she can’t see it. The Summons and The Trinity of Member Success are just two of the essential goal setting tools that keep you locked onto your goals and driven to achieve them.

THE ELEVENTH COMMANDMENT!

Watch what you drink. We’re faced with a dilemma here. We’re trying to promote health and overall well-being so promoting booze is not in our interest as alcohol is highly toxic. Dry wines, most spirits, low energy beers and a few other drinks are safe BUT that is only from a carb perspective. Alcopops, normal beer, any spirit mixer or cocktail will halt any weight loss you’re experiencing. It’s easy for us to promote low-carb alcoholic beverages but one needs to remember that a low-carb 5% vol. beer is still 5% toxic. Alcohol is also really good at draining motivation, lowering inhibitions, impairing driving ability and and and... So we leave drinking up to you. Consider the Eleventh Commandment our "drinking disclaimer".

You’re a grown-up and how much booze you choose to drink is up to you. That's why all alcoholic beverages are on the Grey List in the Banting 2.0 Real Lists