Getting in Shape

While in Philadelphia this weekend, instructing doctors on non-invasive techniques to make the face look younger, I was having breakfast.  Beautiful hotel, beautiful restaurant.  The  breakfast menu had a boldly outlined box at the upper left  corner entitled, “Getting in Shape.” There were four choices, three of which were loaded with calories and carbohydrates!   I get crazy when buzzwords like “whole wheat” are used to disguise a bad choice, one that definitely would not help anyone “get in shape.”

Here it is:  “Wheat Belgian Waffle or Pancake with Cinnamon Apple Compote!”  Does the use of “whole wheat” make this a “Getting in Shape” breakfast?   Since we are using “wheat” as an adjective, is it okay to eat a whole loaf of bread?  Absolutely not!  This supposedly shape-enhancing choice would deliver a whopping dose of calories in the form of carbohydrates.  Insulin would spike, the sugars would be quickly removed from the blood and be stored as yellow fat, and then there would be a rebound effect and you would be very hungry in less than two hours.   All of us have experienced this syndrome after a carb-loaded meal.  Just think of how you feel two hours after Thanksgiving dinner!

In The Brown Fat Diet, I teach women how to keep insulin levels even to avoid the deposition of yellow fat in all of those problem areas:  arms, lower belly, back, flanks.   This hotel’s poor breakfast choice would have set up the fat metabolism for the day and I can assure you, if you ate a “Getting in Shape” breakfast like this too often, you would not be empowered by the shape that you see in the mirror.