The Wagon Plan (Get back on the wagon)

The Wagon Plan This is a plan I am using daily to lose body fat and break stalls. I named it the wagon plan because so many people occasionally fall off the wagon and need a little boost to get back on. The wagon plan is in two parts, first part will tackle the cravings and hunger pains many suffer. The second will address stalls and fat loss.   Part 1: Cravings and Hunger For many years Physicians have known insulin plays a vital role in how the body metabolize foods we consume. Without insulin, our bodies will not receive the proper nutrients it needs in order to work efficiently. The problem with insulin is it has a Jekyll & Hyde behavior when released inside our bodies. Insulin supplies our organs with glucose (Primary fuel), and regulate our blood sugars. When our blood sugars are out of balance, we tend to crave more foods, become cranky, be less active, and last but not least store fat. In otherwards, when we consume too many carbohydrates in one serving, the pancreas releases insulin in order to keep our blood sugar in normal ranges. This release which is called an Insulin Spike sends signals to fat cells to store any glucose that is not used up by the body. Once a spike happens, insulin works too well and drops blood sugars below normal ranges causing low blood sugar, this tells the pancreas to release more insulin in order to bring sugars up to normal ranges. This process happens over and over again, all day, everyday until your body becomes insulin resistance or diabetic. While all this is taking place, excess calories are being stored in fat cells because the body will only take what it needs at the time of feeding and store the rest for later energy use.  Two Hour Window: After eating a large meal of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, the body will break it down to glucose for energy. As stated before, any remaining glucose will be stored for later use. If no activity is done such as exercise, the body will hold on to this energy (fat****il 3500 calories are stored to make 1lb of fat. There is a two hour window you must follow after eating, DO NOT EAT ANYTHING within two hours of eating! Your body is attempting to create glucose and any additional calories will be stored as fat. The body can create fat within two hours with ease because it only requires 9 calories in order to do this. Instead of the many calories it needs in order to break foods down into glucose.  What does this mean?  Controlling insulin and blood sugars can tame hunger and cravings. Hunger and cravings is a sign of abnormal blood sugar and can be treated with 2-3 balanced meals (I will explain balanced meals later).  Part 2: Stalls and Fat Loss Stalls are part of the bodies way of telling us "I have adjusted to your diet and fitness plan.". In order to break a stall, we have to continuously outsmart our bodies until we reach our goal weight. Once we reach our goal, the body can stall and refuse to lose or gain weight. Fat loss is completely different than weight loss. Weight loss details fats, muscles, and water and other things like feces, tissues, etc. Fat loss is simply fats and very little muscle and water. So many people endorse low carbohydrate diets (I have no problem with Ketosis) but they have to understand much of their weight loss is muscle, water, and very little fat. Have you ever notice a dieter in Ketosis look sickly and not defined with lean muscle? Ketosis will cause weight loss but is not a good thing if you want fat loss. The only way to lose fat is by creating a calorie deficit but we are going to do it smartly and enjoy all of our favorite foods doing it! The Rules:  1: Eat 5-6 Meals a day (Every 2-3 Hours) The body can feed itself if you ate 3 meals a day and there is no advantage to eating 3 meals a day or 6 meals. I eat 5-6 meals a day because I feel full and it's easier for me to plan my meals. 2: 15-30g of Carbohydrates a meal (Do not eat over 30g of carbs a meal). Diabetics use something called food exchange. This method helps them regulate blood sugars and keep everything in normal ranges. For every 15g of carbohyrates, they include 7g of protein in order to slow the spike of insulin and keep blood sugars normal 30g of carbohydrates requires 14g of proteins in order to achieve this.  3: 7-14g of Protein a meal (You may eat more protein if you are still hungry). Protein builds muscles, tissues, and other things within our bodies. Protein also slows the rise of blood sugars and tames the hunger and craving pains. Combine with fats, the effects of insulin is very limited.  4: Know your BMR Basal Metabolic Rate is the number of calories your body burns when you are doing absolutely nothing but sitting on your tush. Once you know this number, decrease it by 400 calories. This is your idea calorie target you should focus on in order to lose 1-2 lbs a week.  Putting it all together: A man weighs 200lbs, he requires 2200 calories a day in order to maintain 200lbs. We want for him to lose 1-2lbs a week, so we drop his calories to 1800. Now here is where we outsmart the body. We will do something called "Calorie Cycle". Monday: 1800 Tuesday: 1600 (Drop 200 calories) Wednesday:2200 (BMR) Thursday: 1800  Friday: 1600 (Another drop 200 calories) Saturday: 2000 (Increase 200 calories) Sunday 1800 (BMR) This method prevents the body from adapting to your nutrition plan. As you work out 1-3x a week, the calories deficit is greater and will cause the body to seek additional energy sources other than daily nutrients. It will look for this energy in fat cells. What can I eat on The Wagon Plan? To best answer this question, anything you want. The key is balancing the carbohydrates with proteins (15:7 Ratio). For every 15g of carbs, you must eat no less than 7g of proteins. The maximum grams of carbohydrates a meal can not exceed 30g and 14g of protein needs to accompany this meal. Simple or Complex Carbohydrates?  You can choose simple or complex carbohydrates on The Wagon Plan. The body will break both of these nutrients down for glucose, the only difference is the speed at which it does it (Getting back to insulin). When combining proteins with simple carbs, the insulin release is slow and blood sugars are normal. When combining proteins with complex carbs, the insulin release is slow and the blood sugars are normal. The level of satiety is the deciding factor between the two. By combining proteins and fats with these nutrients, we control how blood sugars are elevated, therefore controlling hunger and cravings.  Calorie Counting: Counting calories is long and a pain in the butt. The formula I use to count calories is very simple. I count Carbs:Proteins:Fats. For every serving of carbs (15g) to protein (7g), I multiply them by 100. So, if I eat lunch and I had two servings of carbs (30g) and two servings of protein (14g), the approximate calories is 400 (200 x 200****ep a mental note or a small journal until I reach my daily requirement.  Sample Meal Plans (3 Meals plus a snack) Breakfast: 1 Serving of Hashbrowns (3oz or 15g Carbs) 1 Slice of toast w/butter (15g Carbs) 2 Eggs scrambled (14g Proteins) Total: (2) Carbs - (2) Proteins = 400 calories Note: Butter is a fat, anything over 10g of fats in a meal, I add an additional 100 calories. So my breakfast is 500 Calories. Lunch: KFC: Original Recipe Breast (40g Protein) Mash potato w/ gravy (20g Carbs) Green beans (Not counted because beans and other veggies are fiber) Total: (3) Proteins - (2) Carbs = 500 calories, The gravy has a little more fat so I added 100 additional calories to 500 making this meal 600.  Dinner: (2) Whole Wheat Bread (24g Carbs) 2-3 oz Shaved Deli Ham (14-18g Protein) Dijon mustard (1) Slice swiss cheese Total: (2) Carbs - (2) Proteins = 400 + additional 100 for the cheese. 500 calories. Snack: 8 oz of Milk (8g Protein) 100 Calorie Grasshopper Cookies (15g Carbs) Total: (1) Carbs - (1) Protein = 200 calories. Total for the day is 1800 calories. Blood sugar is normal and cravings under control. IMPORTANT: When not eating, drink plenty of cold water! Do not drink sugar free drinks between meals (The pancreas will be tricked into releasing insulin, which causes low blood sugar, this will create hunger).  Weigh yourself every two weeks (Stay away from the scale!) Thats it! Good Luck

Thank you.  I appreciate your time and energy in putting this together.

Quote:  Weigh yourself every two weeks (Stay away from the scale!) Hello, my name is Faith and I am a "scale addict."  I am doing much better.  I was weighing every day.  Now most of the time, I only weigh every three to four days.  Thanks for the info.

Thank you James, You always know what to say to a woman!!!

Thank you James.  I always enjoy your posts.  You should really put together a cookbook too.  Could post you recipe for the broccoli pizza crust?

Great info.  Thanks!

James, I have a question about the BMR my weight now is 427lb and I have a calorie intake of about 700 to 1500 calories a day do I need to do a spike like that? Can you help me calculate my BMR?  Get at me b/c I think I want to get on this wagon!

I can definitely help ya there! I need your height, and age. Then I will shoot the numbers at you and how to lose the 1-2lbs a week. I check my BAF hourly!

Thanks I need this plan

Hello everybody. I was a bit down regarding my weight because of CHF I just keep gainning this crazy amout of water. I can gain 60 lbs. in a week and i'm in the hospital. This is why I have to weigh daily. I read this post and it sounds like what I need to get me going again and to gain my motivation back. I looked over some of my old pictures and that gave me a kick in the pants.I could see just how much I have lost. I have a neck now.I can breath better. I just have not reached my goal.I need to lose another 100 lbs. + to get there. I'm in a size 20 and thats a miracle in itself. Just can't wait to go to the 5 7 9 stores.Life has been a bit tough lately and I seem to munch munch munch and on what can get down. I have not lost that fat girl mentality. Well I'm going to start this tomorrow, oh, later today and pray its the jult I've been looking for. Thank You
                                                 With God's love and banding success/Coke