One evening, I was fascinated to hear what my grown son was saying about eating and food. He and my husband were having dinner at our dining room table, had chosen take out, and were enjoying a rare meal of Mexican food. I listened as they explained their so-called “diet rules.”
I thought, as a health and nutrition editor, writer and someone who had read just about every study on healthy eating, that this would be amateur hour. I was wrong. They had very common-sense clean eating rules. It was eye-opening to me how simple they rules were. Following them may be another story, but essentially the rules were what I call this the Guy Diet.
It was fascinating to hear them talk about food with no emotionality. One thing I have noticed is that guys generally eat when they’re hungry and stop when they’re full. They don’t talk about foods as “good” or “bad” and rarely ascribe any kind of guilt or recrimination to eating too much or extra dessert, or even cookies and ice cream. “I guess I needed it” is the most I’ve heard any guy in my household reflect on a large serving of extra ice cream. That’s it. Just needed it. No biggie.
I try to think this way too, but more often I find myself feeling bad about any chips or cookies, ice cream or hot chocolate (my winter sweet treat) that I indulge in, and rarely chalk it up to my body “needing” the extra calories. This is why I wanted to try this Guy Diet, as I began to think of it. To see if by adopting this mindset I could also shed some weight and get leaner without trying.
So what is the Guy Diet? Basically it comes down to these three simple rules:
- Rule 1. No drinking on weeknights
- Rule 2. No snacking between meals (Candy is okay as a treat.)
- Rule 3. No junk food or stupid carbs at lunch
Along with these simple common sense rules you also have to exercise every day and not stress out if you break any of these rules. You can have sweets, but as an occasional treat.
And no guilt is attached to food ever. So don’t need to recriminate or feel bad if you have a beer on a weeknight or a junk food burger for lunch. Food holds no emotional sway over your mood or self-worth. There are no “bad” foods or “good” foods. Just ones that are better for you and fuel the system, such as lean protein, whole grains, fruits, vegetables and such.
And because the Guy Diet also allows you to be flexible, and swap days, if you end up drinking on a Tuesday (perhaps at a work dinner or client event) you just have to not imbibe on a weekend evening, either skip boozing it up on a Friday or a Saturday. Are you following here? The rules are simple but the trades are elaborate, like a team leading up to the draft. You can make trades as long as the overall benefit means you come out on top.
Not all guys are fit or healthy eaters
Okay so the guy I am basing this on is a fit guy, and always has been. In high school and college he was a rower, and now, he is all of 30, and goes biking, running or does strength training most days of the week. But sitting at dinner with my grown son and husband over burritos and quesadillas I was amazed to hear them trade “rules” they live by. Like this was some secret that no one had bothered to tell me.
I hate diets and the whole idea of rules has never appealed to me, since for the most part I see myself as a femminist and diets feel like a form of restricting my choice, something I won’t tolerate. My thought process has always been: If my brother can eat a bag of Doritos, why can’t I? But what I hadn’t noticed is that the guys in my life had stopped eating garbage years ago. No chips, no sweets, no junk food, at least not between meals.
Trying These Common Sense Rules
I decided to give the Guy Diet a try. I started calling it the Common Sense Rules. Since after all, this is hardly a strict diet, more like a reminder to follow some healthy-eating guidelines, and clean up my act. I also wanted to add more fruits and vegetables, clean protein and less salty chips.
The last time I tried any kind of diet it was intermittent fasting and it worked. I lost some weight (I don’t actually ever step on a scale but I can see it in my face and how my clothes fit.) We were skiing and it was easy to head out to the slopes without breakfast, then eat a healthy salad at lunch and ski hard, which meant losing weight effortlessly.
The latest research tells us that total calories matters more than timing of meals, so it doesn’t matter whether you eat early or late: Fewer calories in, more calories burned (through exercise) is the best way to lose weight and keep it off. And so, in the hopes of getting leaner by summer, I decided to try what I affectionately am calling the Guy Diet. Here is how it went.
Note that most guys is they love to trade, barter, bet and have fun with any games you put in front of them. So the very first thing I did was to “trade” a weekend (Friday or Saturday) for a Thursday when it came to wine o’clock.
I enjoyed my vino on Thursday and promised to trade it for Saturday. I followed through on that and was sober on Saturday. (It felt like the guy thing to do.) Here is how it went. Spoiler alert: I am still doing it.
How Hard Could It be? I Decided to Try it Out
Essentially the Guy Diet is this: No snacking, no garbage or junk at lunch, no drinking at all, other than on a weekend. Then you can have fun on Friday and Saturday nights (but don’t day drink since it prevents you from being active, which is part of the Guy Diet.)
You simply eat three small meals a day (with protein at each meal) and that’s it. I thought about those three rules and decided to give this a try. Already after just a few days of following The Guy Diet, my body feels better, more energetic, a bit lighter and my jeans fit better.
Day 1. No Drinking
Like the wise man Ben Franklin said: Bad habits can’t be thrown out the window. they need to be coaxed down the stairs,, one step at a time. I took that to mean that on day 1, I should start with one easy rule, so I chose the no-weekday-drinking rule and it was actually easy.
After over-soaking my liver in Pinot Grigio on Saturday night, being stone-cold sober Sunday and dry again on Monday felt like the responsible and healthy thing to do. Plus I didn’t want a glass of wine. Easy-peasy.
This was the day I started to think, let’s see what happens if I cleaned up my act in earnest? I want to feel spritely and toned for summer, and I have about 6 to 8 weeks by my calculation, before I take the boat to the beach and dive into the water, I would like to have my choice of bathing suits in the drawer that fit me.
Day 2. No Sweets, Bummer!
Okay so not wanting to admit to ever having the drunk munchies (because in my case I dont get drunk but more like buzzed and happy or relaxed), I do seem to have a habit of drinking, then allowing myself some cookies or ice cream at night.
This happens way more often after a glass (or two) of vino. This was the biggest benefit of skipping the wine: No interest in sweets, and not hard to tell myself, “not tonight.” Something about sweets after dinner feels baked in to my brain since childhood, and when I treat myself to a small dessert. it feels normal, deserved, and like NBD.
That said I have woken up the past several days feeling more energetic after not treating myself at night. Carbs or sugar before bedtime is just not a great idea and does not help me bound out of bed and head to the park for my morning run. Easy-peasy, again.
Day 3. Finally, Snacks Are Banished
Did I mention I have a weakness for Salt & Vinegar chips, one that I gave into on day two? No? Well you didn’t ask. I did, and felt totally gross for hours afterward. I even considered grabbing some wine to wash them down, as if that would cut through the greasy salty coating in the back of my throat. Well, today is day three and I have not even looked at a chip. It’s early, but writing this is helping burnish my resolve.
Day 4. Everything Falls Apart, OR DOES IT?
Last night I went a little over the top, on a Thursday. The occasion was a business dinner so of course I had to join in enthusiastically: Many glasses of wine, also bread, and potatoes, as well as joyful spoon fulls of dessert. I ate every morsel on my plate. Sounds like a diet disaster, right? Trying to lose weight does not really allow for this much wiggle room in the middle of the week. However…. time to make a trade!
Since The Guy Diet allows for flexibility, and not an ounce of guilt,, I simply chalked this up as a Saturday and decided to give up my drinking and indulging privileges over the coming weekend and count this as a “treat day.” Done.
Of course, now I have to follow through, but knowing I have spent my Saturday allotment means that this coming weekend. I shouldn’t have to think about it. Just eat healthy and skip the wine and move on. That’s the plan. Wish me luck. I will update you after the fact. So the Guy Diet works for me, since for every rule there is a way around it.
Being Active Daily Is Important
Active days are a must. That isn’t a major problem for me, though I do need to add in strength training to the mix. I love to wake up, take the dog out for her walk (about 30 minutes) and then do my own cardio or strength workout. Okay so now I need to confess that I love biking on my trainer stand in a class with music and other riders and a coach to keep me focused, and do it several times a week. But I’m not so into the strength part.
The guys I know who are super fit do lots of strength training, to build muscle and burn fat. This thinking is correct: Build a bigger engine and you burn more fuel, even at rest. Cardio burns calories, while you’re doing it, but strength builds muscles which burns calories all day long. Strength has to take a front seat, at least twice a week, if this is going to work. The Guy Diet combined with strength training will help us get lean and strong, and build muscle, while losing fat.
Diet Drugs Are Off the Table
While others may be happy with the results they have seen on Ozempic or other GLP-1 receptor agonists, I am determined to not try the latest drugs, for several personal reasons:
One, the risk of thyroid cancer. Thyroid problems run in my family (both my aunts had issues with their thyroids) and these drugs impact thyroid function. I would hate myself if one day I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer for the sake of fitting into my skinny jeans. (Read the label, tumors and thyroid cancer are mentioned on the box.)
Two, you may not be able to come off the drugs without weight gain. I hate the idea that I would be on a medication for the rest of my life to do something I should be able to do without medication. While those with diabetes and obesity and actually need these meds and hose health benefits from these glucose controlling drugs, my “need” is to feel more fit, lose some weight, and get back to my best running shape – something I desire, but definitely not an illness.
Three, the risk of depression. While I consider myself mentally healthy, the idea that a weight loss drug could mess with your head is a big “No Thank You.” Right now, the FDA. is leaving it to doctors to monitor patients taking these drugs but in Europe and the UK, government agencies are reviewing safety data following reports of suicidal ideation among a small handful of patients.
In the US, the FDA requires that weight loss drugs that work on the central nervous system (like Wegovy) carry a warning about suicidal thoughts. In what may sound like a technicality to some, Ozempic is FDA-approved to treat diabetes, and using it for weight loss is considered “off label” so it does not come with that warning, though there is now some discussion that it should.
Add suicidal thoughts to the list of side effects on the label: the potential for gall bladder problems, inflammation of the pancreas, blurred vision, nausea, diarrhea, thyroid tumors and other possible side effects.
So while I am somewhat envious of all the shrinking, slimming and svelting or newly fit people all around me, I am not going that route. Instead I am doing the Guy Diet, which you could also call the Common Sense Diet, of eating healthy, not too much, mostly vegetables and no junk food and only occasional sweets. Add to that the stopping drinking during the week, which also makes it easier to not scarf down cookies, ice cream and candy at night, and that’s about all it takes.
Bottom line: Quit the daily drinking, the junk food options, the snacking (on chips or any other packaged items such as crackers, cookies and such) and only eat three healthy meals a day. If you need a sweet consider it a treat. Otherwise, just eat healthy and don’t worry about it if you mess up. You can swap for another day.
For more helpful advice on Wellbeing, Health and Fitness, check out The Advice Pages Wellbeing content. Have a question? DM us on Instagram @advicepages.
Leave a Reply