The Wisdom of Chris Powell

Yesterday, celebrity trainer/transformation specialist, Chris Powell was the guest on the Dr. Oz show.  If you are not familiar with who he is, he hosted Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition this summer and is known for moving in with extremely obese individuals and helping them lose hundreds of pounds over the course of a year.  (He does NOT live with them for the entire year!!!)  On the show he shared one of his biggest success secrets, when working with his clients….cycling between high-carb and low-carb days.  I love him for reminding us all that carbs are not an enemy, in fact they are the very fuel we need to live healthfully.  The issue with carbs is that because they ARE the very fuel our bodies need for energy, we burn them before we ever burn our fat.  Powell has found (as have others before him!) that by cycling between the high-carb and low-carb days we can eliminate carb cravings and give our bodies days of low-carbs, forcing us to burn fat as an energy source.

First thing we all have to do is define good carbs, and bad ones and then eliminate the bad ones from the equation–at least 6 days a week.  That means no potato chips, no void of nutrition breads and cereals, no cake, crackers, cookies, etc. He allows for wraps, grainy breads, rice, pasta and potatoes on the high-carb days and to my recollection he did NOT insist they be brown or whole grain, but from a health stand point, I would stick to the grainier, darker ones.  On the high-carb days, fats were minimal, but on the low-carb days, fats were mandatory.  Healthy fats like avocado, salmon, and cottage cheese were included in each meal, but no bread, wraps, etc.  While on a high-carb day, breakfast might be granola with fruit, on a low-carb day, breakfast could be and egg white omelette with a lot of veggies and a slice of avocado.

I’ll give you that there are many roads which all lead to a slimmer body and this one takes a bit of learning, thinking and planning, but it has obviously worked for many once severely obese individuals, so I thought it was worth sharing this morning.  If you google Chris Powell on the Dr. Oz show, you can learn much more about this.  As a vegan, and a many times a day exerciser,  I tend to be an over-carber and this gave me something to think about.  A vegan would have to be very creative to follow this type of plan, but I think it can be done.

Speaking of extreme weight loss, here it is Tuesday–Biggest Loser Day.  It always gets more exciting as we get to know the contestants and watch the survival of the fittest!   First, I’ll be excited to welcome some of my good friends to class tonight at TFC.  I’m so happy that they will be joining our group and the energy of our Tuesday/Saturday morning “family.”

Finally, a big congratulations to Jeff for hitting your mark and becoming a member of the 100 club.  Can’t wait to see you this weekend.Congratulations to BJ as your weight loss journey continues and you are over a quarter of the way there!  Congrats to Carol for staying on track and getting in your exercise even while vacationing and cruising.  Big round of applause for my co-worker Carolina (Carol’s kickboxing instructor) on completing the Chicago marathon…just another notch on her marathon belt.  Congrats to Sheila who, through healthier eating and moderate exercise, continues to see the pounds coming off slowly but very surely, again proving their are many paths.  Thanks for stopping in.  Make it a terrific Tuesday!