The Ideal Diet
June 24th, 2007It is amazing that after two decades as a bodybuilder and many years as a professional personal trainer I have finally stumbled upon what could be considered the ultimate or ideal diet. Over the past couple of years I have been living in Thailand and traveling extensively throughout South East Asia. In that time one thing that has perplexed me is how Asian people manage to stay in such good shape although they are constantly eating. Back in the Western world if people ate that much they would get fat for sure, or would they?
While I have been in Asia I have looked closely at what exactly it is that people eat and how often does the average Asian person eat. What I have come up with is definitely the ideal diet and I believe this diet would work with virtually anybody from any where in the world. As most people know Asian people eat a lot of rice but rice is a complex carbohydrate and too many complex carbs will make you fat and that is a fact. Although only a smaller percentage of the population, there definitely are quite a few overweight Asians in Thailand as well as every other Asian nation.
So if Asian people eat a diet high in complex carbohydrates which if not burned for energy will make you fat, how could this be the ideal diet? Well the magic of this diet comes down to the frequency of their meals which has a direct effect on the metabolism. When you eat frequently but only in small portions you speed up the metabolism which has a positive effect on burning fat. When you eat infrequently your metabolism slows down and this has the effect of making you store fat for energy as the body doesn’t know when it will be fed again. Check out why diets dont work for a more detailed explanation.
The reason Asian people have the ideal diet is directly related to their frequency of eating and the small portions of food they eat in each serving. Asian people don’t eat till they cannot fit in another mouthful like so many Western people do. A typical Asian meal consists of a small portion of rice, some vegetables for essential fiber and a small portion of some type of meat. They eat to the point they are just satisfied then they stop eating and rarely snack in between meals although they eat more of these small meals per day than simply breakfast, lunch and dinner.
In the West we tend to eat a decent size breakfast, a big lunch and then a big dinner, however three big meals per day is simply not the ideal diet if you have any weight problems. Of course the genetically gifted may be able to eat what they want and not get fat, although this is not the case for everyone and even those with good genetics often find as they get older their metabolism slows down and then they need to watch what they eat.
Another important ingredient in the ideal diet is fiber. The importance of fiber cannot be overlooked when preparing a meal. Without fiber you will not be able to properly digest your food and subsequently you may end up with constipation or other more serious health problems. You can get enough daily soluble and insoluble fiber from fruit, vegetables, oats, bran and many other sources. Most Asian meals contain small portions of all the essential nutrients we all need in our meals like vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates and small amounts of necessary dietary fats.
Whether you want to gain lean muscle tissue, lose body fat or maintain a healthy body and mind this style of eating is ideal for everybody and when you eat smaller, healthier meals more frequently you will find you do not want to eat unhealthy snacks like potato chips, biscuits and sweets in between meals. Eating this way will give you more than enough energy each day and relieve any problems with digestion from overeating. Check out the ideal breakfast for information on what is best to eat first thing in the morning.
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[…] John Hill presents The Ideal Diet posted at Universe Of Success. John’s travels to Asia learned him a thing or two about diets. […]