Eating For Maximum Metabolism

Food, glorious food!! You love it . . . and you hate it. Counting calories, figuring out protein, carbohydrates and fat, crunching the numbers, it's no fun!

But, if you are interested in losing weight, it's necessary! In Chalene Johnson's recently released "PUSH," she compares not keeping track of your calorie intake and output to just going out and shopping and purchasing a bunch of stuff without knowing how much money you have available in your account. Great analogy!

Here's what you've got to master to maximize your metabolism:

• 5 to 6 meals a day of between 150 - 300 calories per day
• Set an alarm on your phone to eat every 2.5 to 3 hours
• 1 oz. of water per pound that you weigh, per day
• Minimum 30 minutes of increased heart rate activity every day
• Make your main food item in as close to natural state as possible
• Shoot for 35 g of fiber per day
• Eat similar foods for each meal for caloric predictability

I know the experts will say to eat a variety of foods, but when you are starting out and trying to "memorize" caloric values, it's helpful to just follow the same general meal plan for a few weeks to get used to this new style of eating, and you can always get fancy, substitute and vary things up as you go. But initially when you will be looking up caloric values for every food you are eating, you can see how it is much simpler to follow a meal plan something like the following:

1. Kashi Go Lean or Fiber One cereal with almond juice and blueberries (200 calories)
2. Vi Protein shake with milk or a substitute (190 calories)
3. Fage single serve Greek yogurt (140 calories)
4. 4 oz. salmon on a bed of 4 cups fresh spinach, splash of olive oil, splash of red wine vinegar (230 calories)
5. Vi Protein Shake with milk or a substitute (190 calories)
6. 1 cup raw carrots + hummus (150 calories)

I always round up, so this meal plan puts you at 1,200 calories per day, which is a great place to start for an average female looking to lose 2 to 3 pounds per week. Men need more calories and if you are engaged in a rigorous workout program, you will also need more calories and the best way to get those additional calories is through additional fruits and vegetables. If you need more carbohydrates to fuel workouts, additions of quinoa, couscous, sweet potatoes, nuts and beans or lentils are a great way to add in complex carbohydrates and additional protein as well.


Once you become accustomed to caloric counts, portion sizes and this frequency of eating, add in more variety of fruits, vegetables, protein sources and mix and match to come up with delicious and creative recipes!

If you need help with figuring out how to meal plan AND keep your favorite foods, or at least great substitutes for them, let me know! I love to help people create the perfect metabolism-maximizing meal plan, and doing this with an accountability partner is a great way to stay on track!