After a while, the Weight Loss 4 Idiots Diet is just a little boring. It's the protein that is dull. After using this diet for over two years now I know that when left to my own devices I don't eat enough protein. As soon as I ignore this very important trick to a fat-burning diet I start to gain weight. If I stick to the principles of the Weight Loss 4 Idiots Diet and eat enough protein at the right time I can maintain my weight at the desired level or lose weight if needed.
I guess the reason we love carbs is that they are far more interesting. There is so much variety and they just taste, on their own, so much better than proteins. Really, how good is a slab of beef compared to say a piece of brown bread toasted with a smattering of peanut butter (no sugar) or a bowl of pesto pasta or a baked potato (ricotta cheese instead of butter, of course!). I'll take all these other goodies over a bleeding piece of meat just about any day. On the odd occasion a good piece of prime rib tastes delicious but I'm talking once every six months. So if you like your beef (or lamb or chicken or eggs) you'll like the Weight Loss 4 Idiots Diet.
Well okay! Nuts are a delicious source of protein and a regular feature of the Weight Loss 4 Idiots Diet but you can only eat so many nuts. The fact that nuts have a high fat content seems irrelevant. And I am not forgetting the high health value of the omega-3 fatty acids contained in nuts. They lower cholesterol, reduce the risk of inflammation and are a good source of dietary fiber. Yes, nuts...so good for you...are certainly allowed, encouraged in fact, by the Weight Loss 4 Idiots Diet.
But truthfully the most difficult eating days for me when I follow the diet are the protein days. I really dread them. All that protein is so boring. I can only eat so much of it. But I can happily eat a bowl full of fruit or vegies or oats or quinoa or lentils or beans.
So I did some research to see if I could get enough and the right kind of protein from plant foods…things like beans, flax seeds, oats, quinoa, buckwheat or lentils… and still lose weight while following the principles of Weight Loss 4 Idiots Diet. You just gotta get the right amount of protein to be successful with the Weight Loss 4 Idiots Diet. Here’s what I learned.
Animal proteins, including fish, are a complete protein providing you with the right combination of essential amino acids all nine of them. The nine essential amino acids enables your body to absorb protein. With the exception of soybeans, plant proteins are not complete and you have to eat a variety of plant proteins every day to get the right mix of amino acids. Plant protein is also generally harder to digest so you have to eat more of it to get the same amount of protein you would get from a complete protein. Animal protein has nearly a 100% ratio of absorption. For every gram of protein you eat, you’ll absorb most of it. Plant protein has only a 50% ratio. That means for every gram of protein you eat, you’ll absorb only about half of it. These are general guidelines.
With the Weight Loss 4 Idiots Diet you are encouraged to eat all of the complete protein sources with the exception of cheese. In the case of vegetarians soy bean in the form of tofu is the go along with plenty of fat-burning-compatible fruits and vegetables. And the only grain allowed is oat in the form of oat bread. Could that be because oats promote weight loss?
Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, milk, cheese, yoghurt, and soybeans are all complete proteins. All of these protein types have all of the 9 amino acids that are needed for protein absorption. Notice soybean is the only plant food that is a source of complete protein. This is not to say that you cannot get enough protein from a vegetarian diet, you can. But you have to eat a lot of variety and a lot more food and you end up eating a lot more carbs in the process.
Plant sources of protein include legumes (dried beans, peas and lentils) nuts and seeds and grains (barley, wheat, millet and rye) and these are incomplete proteins. Many vegetables also have a certain amount of protein. In order to get enough protein from these foods you have to eat a variety and enough calories throughout the day. Soybean is the one plant food that is a complete protein. That means tofu is one of the protein options in the Weight Loss 4 Idiots Diet.
The recommendations for a daily dose of protein vary between 10 and 35 % of your calorie needs. So if you eat 2000 calories per day, 50 grams of protein represents 10%, 100 grams of protein represents 20% and 175 grams represents 35%. So for example, a 3 ounce (85 gram) serving of skinless chicken has 23 grams of protein or the same size serving of firm tofu contains 20 grams. Compare that to a 4-ounce serving of raw carrots with 0.6 grams of protein or the same size serving of black beans with 7.6 grams of protein but with 20.4 grams of carbs. The chicken has no carbs and tofu just 5.4 grams.
When I do an analysis of the foods allowed in the Weight Loss 4 Idiots Diet, this is what I discover….a protein meal consists of a food that has little or no carbs and is very high in protein. And all of the plant foods that are higher in protein, quinoa or oats for example, are also relatively high in carbs compared to the recommended complete protein foods.
The Weight Loss 4 Idiots Diet does not mention legumes at all. And in fact, if I look at the vegetarian version of the Diet, the conclusion that I come to is that when you eat a protein meal, you must eat complete protein foods in order for this fat burning diet to work. The only exception is a nut meal. So if you want to lose 9 lbs in 11 days, you simply have to follow the plan.
This article is written by our Weight Loss Guru. If you would like more information about her success with this diet read her complete review of the Weight Loss 4 Idiots Diet.
The Weight Loss 4 Idiots Diet was once called the Fat Loss 4 Idiots Diet. It still works!
