Today’s shopping list is geared toward those of you in Hormone Category 1: women in their 30’s and 40’s. It is also geared toward the morning workout set (your meal plan will change slightly if you are an afternoon or evening exerciser). The food breakdown for the week will look like this:

Monday: Protein Day
Tuesday: Carb Day
Wednesday: Protein Day
Thursday: Carb Day
Friday: Protein Day
Saturday: Carb Day
Sunday: Choice Day

Now that you have filled your kitchen with the non-perishable basics we discussed in the last post, all you need to do is buy your fruits, veggies, fish and meat — I recommend doing this on a weekly basis so that these items are absolutely FRESH. Easy recipe directions are on pp. 94-103 of The Brown Fat Revolution book, but for the purposes of your grocery store visit, here’s a simple list:

fruit = blueberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, granny smith apples (a few will do), peach, 1 or 2 bananas, and (if you want) some seasonal fruits like a papaya, a mango, a pineapple OR a tangerine

vegetable = asparagus, yellow (summer) squash, carrots, broccoli, zucchini, onion, tomato, dark leafy lettuce, green beans, cauliflower, sweet potato, edamame

meat = ground turkey (for turkey burger), lean ground beef (for one hamburger patty), pork chops (1 serving), non-fatty steak (1 serving) and also 1 filet mignon cut, chicken cutlet(s)

fish = salmon

dairy = eggs, skim or low-fat milk, Greek yogurt, low-fat or part skim mozzarella

other = kidney beans, whole grain bagel(s), whole grain hamburger bun, multi-grain sliced bread, semi sweet chocolate chips, red wine

This will take you through an entire week of 6 small meals a day (again, refer to the recipes in the book for more details). If your grocery store doesn’t carry some of these things, or if you hate strawberries and would rather just eat blueberries, that is fine too! Feel free to sub out fruits, veggies and other variables — just make sure to stick to the basic framework of the eating plan. Happy eating!

Many of you have been asking for shopping lists. And rightly so! My eating plan is, of course, outlined in the book, including recipes, portion sizes and when to eat throughout the day — but how can you utilize this information when you find yourself pushing an empty cart down the grocery aisle? Good question! In the coming weeks, I’ll be composing Shopping Lists that will help make your visits to the market quick and easy. Let’s start with the basics! For many of my recipes, you will need fresh meat, fish and produce. It is best to purchase those items on a weekly basis. Certain other items, though, you can keep for long periods of time. I recommend stocking your kitchen with these non-perishable basics so that you have them at your fingertips whenever you are whipping up your daily meals.

The first step? Create space. Clear your kitchen of anything that is not on the Brown Fat Revolution eating plan. This includes (but is not limited to):
-white carbs (Wonder bread, white pasta)
-cookies
-potato chips
-packaged cakes
-salty peanuts (or mixed nuts), candied nuts
-high-sugar cereals and fatty granola
-butter
-mayonnaise
-sugary yogurts (or frozen yogurt)
-ice cream
-sugary alcohols, beer and margarita mix, etc.
-pre-made dinners (like the Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice in your freezer aisle)
-honey, maple syrup
-heavy cream
-bars (Balance bars, Nutri Grain bars, granola bars, candy bars)
-canned fruit, dried fruit, pre-packaged trail mix

If it is in the cabinet or the fridge, it is a temptation! We can’t expect ourselves to resist that sort of temptation. If you share your home with others (kids, significant others), feel free to separate food items. Let them keep their food in a separate space, and procure your own space — a place where you will keep ONLY HEALTHY FOODS. Your willpower will get an automatic boost — this is half the battle!

NOW that you have space, fill it with all things GOOD. “The Basics” include:
-all-fruit, sugar-free jam
-almond butter or natural, unsweetened peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
-apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and red wine vinegar
-brown rice
-capers
-chunky, unsweetened applesauce
-coffee and/or tea
-Dijon mustard
-extra virgin olive oil, flax seed oil, and sunflower oil
-grated parmesan
-low-fat, sugar-free granola
-nuts: raw almonds (I also love the 50% salted almonds at Trader Joe’s), raw pistachios, raw pecans, raw walnuts, slivered almonds for garnish
-oat bran, unsweetened multigrain cereal, original Cream of Wheat, unsweetened oatmeal
-raisins
-soy milk or almond milk (unsweetened varieties)
-sugar-free tomato sauce, and sugar-free marinara sauce
-supplements (only if you want): Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Biotin, Chromium, L-glutamine, Fish oil
-stewed tomatoes
-tuna (canned, in water)
-whole wheat crackers
-whole wheat, high fiber tortillas
-whole wheat pasta

You are now ready to stock your new and improved kitchen! Once you have these basics in place, adding the elements to make the recipes will be easy.

The most difficult part about getting started on The Brown Fat Diet or any diet for that matter, is getting the food in your house! We have decided to help you and supply a weekly shopping list. This list will reflect not only good choices for healthy fat management, but choices that are interesting and seasonal. Eating is a sensual experience and should be enjoyed and looked forward to. Start with this list and you will find that very shortly, you will intuitively know what to select for the week.

Yesterday was “Grill Cleaning Day” An annual ritual that has for me since it is filled with anticipation of Summer foods and recipes, good times, friends, family and wondrous weather. Most people think of summer as a difficult time to control weight due to popular grill selections: hamburgers, hot dogs and their accoutrement: relish, french fries, potato salad, macaroni salad…the classic American “cook out.” The grill actually opens up your food repertoire and is the best place to cook fresh fish (no smell in the house for days!) and summer vegetables: squash, asparagus, peppers. Delicious and loaded with anti-oxidants. Grill you chicken, throw it over some grilled vegetables or a mixed green salad. Get out all of those Summer condiments and let the flavors run high. You will notice that it is actually easier to maintain and lose weight in the Summer if you focus on natural foods and clean preparation: grilling.

Images Speak Louder than Words

As the author of The Brown Fat Revolution, a Diet and Exercise program to lose weight and  the sloppy yellow fat, I must say that I take great pride in what I have personally accomplished by living according to my own principles for the last 20years.  The results of  consistent training and healthy eating can be so gradual that the individual who lost the weight and gained lean muscle does not see a dramatic difference in the mirror.   As a plastic surgeon , I am well aware of the disconnect between what is real and what people see in their mirrors!

I have found that the way that I look makes people react to me in a very interesting way.   There is a clear subliminal message that one projects when they look fit.   I know that obese individuals  tell unfortunate stories on how their physical appearance defines the way the world treats them.

In my case,  strangers come up to me and ask me what I eat or how I train.   Commonly, both women and men (none of whom know that I wrote and diet and exercise book) approach me in the gym to ask training questions.   More subtle and interesting  is the way I am treated in restaurants.  When I  order a meal that comes with fries, the waiter will always say, “you do not want the fries, right”  I recently had occasion to order a bagel at a coffee shop and the server said, “you want the “whole wheat” right?”….or…. “Of course, you do not want to see the dessert menu.”

We live an intensely visual world and  appearance definitely affects the way people react to us.   This is a fact!  Beyond the self-gratification and healthiness of being in control of the way you look,  the opportunity to say that you are in control without words is extremely empowering….one of the many benefits of respecting yourself by paying attention to the condition of your body.   It’s all good!

Barbara, the monster snow storm is hitting Connecticut today and my wife and I are pretty much in a welcome lock down at home.   As the author of The Brown Fat Diet , I intuitively know what to eat to stay in shape;  however, this morning,  I found my mind acting differently.  I was thinking about baking a cake/brownies or having pancakes for breakfast!   The power of the brain and memory!   Hmmm how to handle this conflict of food choice that I am sure so many of us feel on days like today?

The brain (specifically, the amygdala) has this incredible ability to connect to past experiences and create cravings for things associated with good times.  In this case, probably,  those  unexpected and welcome days off from school, when my mom would cook all the comfort foods.

Those of you who follow me or have read my book, The Brown Fat Revolution, know that I strongly believe that occasional side steps when you are on a diet are OK and actually work to keep you comfortable with food and not feel deprived.  So, I will have a brownie today and whole wheat pancakes with low sugar syrup/no butter and not feel at all guilty.

Life is about the experience and not to embrace the connections that we have garnered from the past in a positive way and enjoy is nonsense.  After 20 years of eating according to the principles of The Brown Fat Diet, I can firmly testify that this one day of  relaxation combined with visual beauty (the snow) and gustatory coziness will not affect the shape of my body!

American women are obsessed with being thin.  Ironically, as a woman ages, if she becomes too thin, she also looks older.  The face needs fat to look young and the body needs fat to create the curves that define femininity.  Deprivation diets and extreme exercise can produce thinness, but should thinness be the goal? 

A recent Japanese study found that extremely thin people shorten their life span by 5 years.  The study included people between the ages of 40 and 79.  Other possible parameters to account for thinness, such as smoking or illness, were taken into account and the findings were still found to be significant.

I am not at all surprised by this study.  Most extremely thin women have over-dieted and made unhealthy food choices.  As someone who assesses tissue quality every day in the Operating Room, I’ve seen first-hand how their tissues pay a price, appearing physically older than their chronological age.  Ironically, I observe poor quality yellow fat more frequently on very thin women than the preferred resilient brown fat.  So skinny is not good!   Most super-thin patients that I see are not healthy, which supports the findings in this Japanese study.

However, you can be attractively thin and healthy!   To accomplish this goal, you must eat well to supply all tissues with the nutrients necessary for continuous repair and restoration.  This need to consider tissue quality when making food choices is at the heart of The Brown Fat Diet:  Lose weight, but maintain a healthy layer of fat to look good and feel energized all of the time.  

This study does not take into account the fact that extreme thinness is a symptom of poor quality tissue,   It is not the thinness per se that defines lifespan but the tissue quality.  You can be thin, increase your lifespan and be very healthy if your tissues are lean in the sense of “healthy lean”, not “deprived lean.”  The Brown Fat Diet can achieve this goal:  shred yellow fat (become thin) but replace it with a healthy layer of brown fat and a global improvement in the quality of all tissues.

Brown fat  is the key to looking young at any age.  I have interviewed thousands of women in the last 30 years and let’s just get it out there:   They want to look young!  Not younger chronologically, but youthful, energized, attractive, glowing, on the upside of the life curve!

Here is The Secret:  Stop trying to lose ALL of your fat! 

You need fat to look young, to get rid of wrinkles, to be sexy, to literally look like a woman!  But not the loose, greasy yellow fat that you get when you are either overweight or poorly nourished. 

Wait – you can be  poorly nourished and fat?  Yes, you can still have fat when you’re skinny!  And that fat, too, is soft and jiggly.  It doesn’t hug the underlying muscles of your body or support the overlying skin the way brown fat does.  I bet you’ve seen women on deprivation diets who are skinny but who look much older.  This is a typical result of the no carb diets.

Start The Brown Fat Diet today and shed your unattractive yellow fat while you replace it with healthy, toned brown fat to look young at any age.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a little stressed that suddenly I can’t get a parking space and I have to wait for a workout machine at my gym.  Who are all of these strangers?  They’re January resolutionites!

As the author of The Brown Fat Revolution,  where were I present a diet and fitness program to shred yellow fat and build brown fat,  I wish I could get on a megaphone and personally direct all of these newcomers before they fall prey to the typical syndrome of quitting in a month or so.    There are so many people working out feverishly to get rid of that “Holiday Fat!”   I’d tell them this is great, but they’ll need to focus on their diets at the same time if they want results.

Weight training is part of my DNA; however, I am the first to admit that 85% of losing fat is determined by what you put in your mouth (diet), and only 15% of fat loss is determined by what you do with your muscles (exercise – including cardio).  So if you’re a post-holiday cardio-aholic, work out, but don’t expect to achieve your resolutions unless you eat well.

Here are some tips from The Brown Fat Revolution on how to shred that hanging yellow fat and build firm, youthful contours with muscle and brown fat.

1. Eat breakfast within one hour of waking.  You need to refuel a body that’s been without food all night.
2. The Brown Fat Diet, I recommend 6 meals a day, including a pre-workout and a post-workout meal.  If you think of your metabolism as a furnace, it’s like adding kindling wood to a fire.
3. Drink water instead of juice.  Drink green tea instead of coffee.  Juice —even natural juice — is full of sugar, and coffee causes bloating.
4. The Brown Fat Diet cycles a protein day after a carb day in a one-to-one rhythm.    Change the rhythm to two or three protein days in a row after a carb day.  You’ll quickly see yellow fat melting away from your waist and “love handles.”
5. Minimize carbs — even brown carbs — and eat only vegetables as your source of carbs.  Carbs produce weight.
6. Limit alcohol.  Alcohol = liquid calories!  If you want turbo improvement in your shape, no alcohol until you get to your desired shape and weight.

So go to the gym.  Boost your endorphins, sweat, and feel proactive and positive about controlling “Holiday Fat.”  But remember, the real changes will come from how you choose to eat!

There has been recent buzz about juicing in the nutrition/diet world.   As with all trends, the commercial explosion of bottled or canned juice is now “it” and more juices are appearing on the shelves labeled with all the buzzwords.    Fruits and vegetables are the cornerstone of The Brown Fat Revolution eating program and as the author, I highly encourage this commercial focus on vegetables and fruits.    Music to my ears!   However, if given the choice between commercial or fresh juice, I strongly recommend that you choose the latter.  Forget the bottled stuff.

Freshly prepared vegetable and fruit juice is resplendent in healthy Phytochemicals:  anti-oxidants, minerals, and vitamins.  Commercial juice is pasteurized, filled with sodium (some are low sodium) and sugar (high glycemic index fruits).  Get a juicer!  It’s so easy, quick, health-producing and inexpensive to buy fresh veggies and fruit.

From the earth or the tree/vine to your body…directly….without processing, without man adding stuff….Wow!  Fresh juicing provides the ultimate in quality nutrition and your body will show it!  It’s an anti-aging secret to the nth degree; your tissues will be toned, rejuvenated and your fat will move in the brown, young direction.

About 60 years ago, the man whom I consider the father of the “exercise/nutrition culture,” Jack LaLanne, is reported to have said, “If it is made by man, do not eat it!”  He was spot on then as he is today, a genius in understanding how to live a long life and look great at the same time.    Thank you, Mr.LaLanne, for your amazing foresight.

He popularized a “juicer” for vegetables and fruits years ago and his brand stands as the gold standard today.   I have one at home and one in the office.   If you make juicing available and easy, you will have no problem getting those veggies in each day.

Go online and get a juicer.   Then, do me a favor and go to the organic market, buy leafy green and colorful vegetables and your favorite fruits and put together your own, personalized juices.  You will see the difference in clearer skin, a higher energy level, a flatter abdomen, and an improvement in your overall sense of well-being.

Juicing embraces the basic concept behind the The Brown Fat Revolution:  a revolution  to make the quality of food as important as the quantity.  High quality nutrition builds high quality tissues, which make for a healthier and younger looking you.

Fresh veggie or fruit juice will be a daily treat for you and your body!   Go for it!