How I Lost Over Forty Pounds - "One gram of fiber for every 100 calories"

One Gram of Fiber for Every One Hundred Calories

by  William Schaeffer   

I. The Basic Idea

When I was 42 years old, I weighed 210 pounds and wore a size 40 inch waist pants which were a little tight.   I was 5’ 11” and was 40 – 50 pounds overweight.  During a colonoscopy the doctor removed a precancerous polyp from my colon.  This was frightening and I knew I had to change my diet.

At that time, I ate a “typical American diet.”    I ate fast food for lunch.   Most evenings I drank beer or wine with a dinner that mostly consisted of TV dinners, pizza and snack food.    I rarely ate fruit because it was “too inconvenient” and “spoiled too quickly.”   I lived alone and was forced to work long hours at my job.

I knew that I had to make a change in my diet, but did not know what to do.   I started reading books and literature and found it very contradictory and confusing.   Most books I read had pages and pages of menu plans which were too complicated.   I did not know what to do.   This was a frightening.

Finally, after thinking about it I realized that the most important thing to prevent colon cancer was: 1. Stop drinking beer, 2. Stop eating beef, 3. Get enough fiber in my diet every day.

I do not like thinking about food.   I do not like preparing food, trying “new exotic dishes,” or going to dinner parties.  I just want to eat a meal, and get on with the rest of my exciting and engaging lifestyle.   I knew that menu plans, food weighing, and food limitation would not work for me.   I was discouraged.

Finally, an idea came to me.  We need 2500 calories a day, and 30 grams of fiber a day for health.   Maybe I could restrict myself to foods that had that same ratio of fiber to calories and then I would not have to think about food preparation.  (which, as I said, I do not want to think about).

And then this slogan came to me like a revelation:

“ONE GRAM OF FIBER FOR EVERY ONE HUNDRED CALORIES”

Now HERE was a dietary rule that even I could follow.

The actual division of 30 grams fiber over 2500 calories yields 1.2 grams of fiber for every 100 calories.   I figured that using 1 gram of fiber for every 100 calories would be close enough and much easier to calculate.

This was exciting:

“ONE GRAM OF FIBER FOR EVERY ONE HUNDRED CALORIES”

So I started following this program very seriously, because I felt that my life was at stake.

1. I quit drinking beer and eventually all alcohol. 

2. I quit eating beef.

3. For two months, I only drank water, and then I allowed myself tea without sugar.

4. I quit eating and drinking milk products which have no fiber.

5. Every time I went to the store, I looked at the nutritional information on the box.   I did the math in my head (it is a trivial calculation).  If the product satisfied the criterion of “One gram of fiber for every one hundred calories” then I would buy it.

If the food had no fiber, or “not enough” fiber, I would not allow myself to buy the food.

6. I found out that ALL fruits, nuts, vegetables, and most grains have plenty of fiber.  In fact some fruits, nuts, and vegetables have much more fiber.

So the rule became:

1. Only drink water, or tea without sugar

2. Only buy food with “One gram of fiber for every one hundred calories”

3. All fruits, nuts, vegetables, and grains are ok.

After a few months, a strange thing happened:  I began to lose weight.  I had not intended to lose any weight at all.   I just wanted to eat healthy.   I thought that weight gain was a natural part of aging and my situation was “normal.”  I was wrong.

Perhaps, because most of the people I worked with were also overweight, I was not really aware of my potential.

In any event, it took me two or three years to fully integrate this idea into my lifestyle.  By that time, I had lost 45 pounds and was at a constant weight of 165 pounds.   My weight has remained consistently at that number for the past ten years.

It is my belief that if you use this rule consistently and without exception then you will finally have the correct body weight.  

However, nature is unforgiving and YOU CANNOT CHEAT.   You must be rigorous in your self-control.  But do not worry, you will not feel deprived if you adjust your thinking correctly:

There are tens of thousands of delicious, enjoyable, tasty, fun, filling, foods and snacks that you can eat.

II. Additional information

1. Your taste in food is mutable, and changeable.   The more you eat something, the more it seems normal to your body.

At first I felt deprived when I changed my diet.   Most of the foods I ate were no longer acceptable.  I was used to eating cheeseburgers regularly and really missed that food experience.   So, I bought frozen vegetable soy burgers that had fiber.   In time I came to prefer these to cheeseburgers.   Today my tastes have changed so much that I don’t really eat any kind of hamburger substitute because there are SO MANY other delicious foods to eat instead.

Today, I don’t even like the smell of meat or cooking meat.  It is a strange phenomenon.   A typical BBQ grill used to smell delicious and enticing to me.  Today it smells bad to me; heavy and greasy and kind of “dead” (for lack of a better word).

I used to drink sugar sodas, and hated the taste of diet soda.   Once I changed my diet I occasionally drank a diet soda.   In time I grew so used to this, that when I drank a regular soda it tasted “sticky” and left a bad aftertaste in my mouth.  

2. All tree nuts are acceptable.   I had been conditioned to think that tree nuts were an “expensive” food luxury.   But ounce for ounce, nuts are no more expensive than beef.   Nuts are not an expensive food item and are very healthy.

3. “The China Study” by T. Colin Campbell.   This is a fantastic book and I highly recommend reading it.   The author summarized the results of the largest diet and health study ever done involving over 60,000 people over 28 years.   The results of that study are fascinating:

The three modern disease of civilization are:  
1. Heart Disease, 
2. Diabetes, 
3. Cancer.
  
They are strongly correlated with the following habits:

1. Consumption of animal protein.

2. Lack of fiber in the diet.

Animal protein includes any animal product like beef, chicken, duck, turkey, pork, lamb, fish, shellfish, crab, lobster, and any other animal that is eaten.

4. "The less meat you eat, the healthier you are."   A slogan I invented based on the results of the China Study.

5. "Your body does not monitor caloric intake."  Although there are many evolutionary reasons for this, we can think of this as a “defective” feature of the human anatomy.

Your body measures the bulk of fiber to determine caloric intake.

Therefore, when you drink alcohol, sugary soft drinks, milk, fruit juice, or eat ice cream, your body is absolutely unaware that it has consumed extra calories and you get fat.  

This is why you should only drink water or tea without sugar.

Our primal ancestors only drank water.   All the rivers on the planet were pure and clean and brimming with life and they only drank water.

6. With “One gram of fiber for every one hundred calories” you can eat as much as you want!   This is an amazing feature of this diet.

If you only eat food that has enough fiber, then your stomach will fill up normally and you will feel naturally satiated at the appropriate time.

In fact, if you only buy acceptable food, then your entire house will only contain food that is acceptable to eat.   Then, you can eat as much of anything you want at any time of day and you will always feel satiated at the appropriate time.

This is a great relief.   You do not have to think about portion size at all.   You do not have to regulate your own eating behavior at all.   You do not have to feel deprived.   You are free to eat and behave naturally.

7. Animal protein has no fiber.   The cell walls of the plants in the plant kingdom are firm and reinforced with cellulose.  This is the fiber.

The animal cells, however, are flexible and have no cellulose and no fiber.  Incidentally, it is this feature that allows frozen meat to be thawed out and still taste very acceptably like a “fresh kill.”

Freezing destroys the cell walls of plant cells as the water in the cell expands and bursts the cell walls.   This is why frozen vegetables don’t taste quite as good as fresh; and are a little mushy.

8. Our Prosimian [proto-type monkey] ancestors lived in trees for millions of years.   Our digestive system is inherited from these little monkeys and has not changed significantly since we became human.   Our digestive system is “optimally designed” to consume the same types of food as these little monkeys ate:  “Fruits, nuts, and leaves from trees and vines, and an occasional egg (or insect).”

 This is the basic healthy diet for humans: 

“Fruits, nuts, and leaves from trees and vines, with an occasional egg”

Although eating insects does not appeal to me, and is prohibited in the Jewish Bible, some people seem to enjoy the practice.

The ancestors of these monkeys were little rat like creatures that survived the end of the Jurassic Period global disaster 65 million years ago.   They ate beans, grain, and roots (or tubers). These foods are also basic to the design of our digestive system.   It was probably their ability to eat roots that allowed them to survive the years when the sun was blocked out, plants died and most of the life on Earth became extinct.

These foods are also part of the basic healthy diet for humans:

“Grains, beans, and roots”

9. Exercise does not help you lose weight in any appreciable way.   It can be fun and strengthen your muscles, but only diet modification can cause weight loss.

Before the change in my diet, I rode a bicycle almost every morning (4-5 days a week) for 6- 10 miles.  When I changed my diet, I stopped, and still lost weight.

A can of beer, or a can of sugar soft drink, contains 150 calories.   In a half an hour on the treadmill, I can burn 150 calories.  To burn off 500 calories takes a little over an hour and a half.

A six pack of beer contains 900 calories which is more than one third of the daily requirement of 2500 calories.   It would take you three hours to burn off 900 calories and over time, you might damage your knees.  

It is not possible to eat whatever you want and then “burn it off” with exercise.

10. You will need to change you socializing behavior.   This is just like alcoholics that should avoid bars and taverns and find other environments to socialize.

You should avoid dinner parties and BBQ events where the entire activity is centered on food consumption.    You need to find friends that have exciting personal hobbies and join groups that are centered around some other activity like: social service, singing or playing music, sports activities, hiking and walking, swimming, creating art, sewing or knitting, building or repairing machines, working on cars, photography, video, playing cards, taking day trips, camping, reading books, and thousands of other fascinating, fun and exciting activities.   Don’t join a cooking or baking group.

11. Avoid restaurants.   Eating in restaurants is just not healthy and will not help your diet.   Although the food is tasty and fresh and well prepared, there are several problems with restaurant food:

a. The portions are too large.   You are encouraged to eat too much food (because you paid for it) and you will eat past satiation.

b. The food is prepared to look and taste good.   The nutritional content is an incidental feature.   Frequently the food itself has way too many fats, oils, and animal protein and not nearly enough fiber.   And you have no way to know; because restaurants do not publish the nutritional contents of their foods.

c. Restaurants are boring.  There is nothing to do except eat.   The conversation, while pleasantly engaging is superficial and generally meaningless.   Again, during the lapses in conversation, you will be encouraged to eat more than you want.

d. The meals take too long.  You are encouraged to eat too much while you are waiting for others to finish.  If you have a boring, meaningless life and are looking for activities to fill the time, then Restaurants seem attractive.  If you have a dynamic, exciting, and fun filled life, then you just don’t want to waste your time sitting at a table in a restaurant.

12. Have a fun and interesting life.   Enjoy the people you spend time with and make every second count.   Develop a passion for your work and hobbies.  

Stop using food as entertainment and start living fully.

III. Summary

A. “One gram of fiber for every one hundred calories”

B. “Water, or tea without sugar”

C. “Fruits, nuts, and leaves from trees and vines, with an occasional egg”

D. “Grain, beans, and roots”

E. “Your taste is changeable”

F. “The China Study” by T. Colin Campbell

G. “The less meat you eat, the healthier you are”

H. “Exercise doesn’t lose weight”

I.  “Avoid dinner parties and BBQ”

J.  “Avoid Restaurants”

K. “Have an exciting and dynamic life with good friends and interesting hobbies.”

Text is copyright © 2014 William A. Schaeffer