Table of Contents
Chapter 1: The Old Me (98kgs)
Chapter 2: Mental Resilience
Chapter 3: Beer Facts
Chapter 4: What I ate
Chapter 5: What I drank
Chapter 6: Wrapping it all up
DISCLAIMER
I’m not a doctor or dietician (far from it) and have no health qualifications to advise anyone on what to eat and drink. I’m here to share what worked for me, and you need to work out what’s right for you. If that means you decide to give what I did a try then you should seek a professional’s advice to see if it’s ok for you.
Chapter 1: The Old Me (98kgs)
20 kilos in 4 months, WOW I didn’t expect to lose that and I also didn’t think I’d write a book either, but I wanted to tick the “being an author published and sold globally” off the bucket list. As a result of this hindsight action you’re lucky to be spared the typical professional photos showing my gut before and after. I’m also 50 and have some respect for you (and me), so I don’t plan to put you off colour for the day with a shirt off, underpants featured pose.
If you’re reading this, some of the following might sound familiar..
Before my beer diet, I used to ride my bike to work once or twice a week and surf a couple of times a month. The riding would mean I’d do between 30 and 60 kilometers a week. I was never a sloth, but this level of exercise never really helped me to lose weight.
My typical day would start with four Weetbix with two tablespoons of sugar and low fat milk. I’d have a coffee in the morning with two teaspoons of sugar. For lunch I’d have a 6 or 12-inch salad Subway sandwich. In the afternoon I’d have another coffee with two sugars. My wife is a fantastic cook so we’d always eat really well at dinner. Whatever she cooked up I’d always have a full dinner plate meal and then I’d finish our children’s left overs as I did not like seeing it go to waste! After dinner we’d have a cup of tea with another sugar in it. Two or three times a week I have ice cream with chocolate topping.
Once or twice a week I’d eat ‘junk food’…. fried chicken, hot chips, pizza, cheeseburgers etc.
We love beer and wine and would drink most nights with a few beers to start and then sharing a bottle of wine.
I also have to disclose that I had one of the best jobs in the World at the time as I worked for a beer company, and used to enjoy the wonder and variety of beers regularly. It’s through this experience that I came to be educated on the facts of beer and how it can fit into a balanced lifestyle.
Every now and then I’d have a ‘cleanse month’ where I’d give up alcohol and try to eat well. I’d feel better for a while, lose some weight and start getting some complements on my appearance. The problem is that I enjoy beer, and being away from it for prolonged periods of time would start to affect my sense of wellbeing. Let’s be clear though, I’m not an alcoholic as I can go for long periods of time without it, and I couldn’t be an alcoholic as part of my past jobs anyway. What I am saying is that I LOVE beer and think it can form part of balanced life. Let’s face it, EVERYTHING taken to excess is bad for you, moderation is key. So as I’d finish the ‘health kick’ I’d start to slip on everything….food, drink and exercise as an extreme and unrealistic plan reverted to what I was doing before.
Without beer, it wasn't sustainable.
Chapter 2: Mental Resilience
I do think it’s important to pick a realistic time to start your plan. Look at your diary, embrace the food events that you’re looking forward to and pick a time that you can commit to. For me it was after a family holiday to Fiji where there was going to be a lot of good food. I picked the date and anything that dropped into my diary post that time I was mentally prepared for as an event that I wasn’t going to feast on.
The biggest KEY to my plan was eating less. This idea came from a training program where my company was showing us how to develop mental resilience through a balanced lifestyle. I couldn’t believe that a portion of steak shouldn’t be any bigger than the palm of your hand, and that a total portion of food shouldn’t be bigger than a bread plate. When you step back and think about it though, look at the cultures of the World that have low levels of obesity and they generally have smaller portion sizes of food. Generally in the western World we eat FAR too much and our stomachs stretch to accommodate it.
I don’t think eating better is the biggest part of the plan as losing weight is mostly a function of putting in less energy into your body than it uses, but it obviously doesn't hurt to eat better. By having to focus on a great main meal, and not eating a starter and desert, this meant I did cut out allot of fat and sugar anyway. The less saturated fat and processed sugar you eat the better. As an example of portions and quality, I cut down my Weetbix in the morning from four to two, and instead of two tablespoons of sugar, I added a cut up banana…. sensational!
It’s not easy changing your eating plan, especially when it involves hunger through eating less. But you need to be STRONG, do not break your plan. Be a resilient person that others draw strength from. Be proud of your own strength in this respect as it will carry onto other parts of your life as you and your peers see you carrying through on your commitment. Since I decided to eat less, I’ve been to some of the most tempting restaurants in Australia, but pick what you want to eat and don’t allow the extras like pre dinner bread etc. take up your allocated amount
I didn’t stop myself from eating what was in front of me or available, I just choose the best tasting and quality food that was there. A key part of eating less is tricking your body into thinking it’s eating just as much. I read an article that said we don’t chew our food enough for our digestive system and that this also had the effect of too much food making its way into our stomachs before our system being able to react and tell our brains that we were full. So as part of eating less, it’s critical that you chew more. Try chewing each mouthful at least 20 times. Before you know it, you’ll be enjoying every mouthful more, digest your food better and be able to feel fuller by the end of your meal.
Early on you’ll feel really hungry by eating less, and sometimes that plays on your mind, especially early on as your body gets used to eating less and your stomach is adjusting by shrinking, or when you’re bored. In those times it’s important to tell your body that you’ve stored heaps of food for it to go and eat. I’m a big believer in the power of your mind. As an example, when my kids are sick I tell them to tell their internal soldiers (white blood cells) to go and attack the sickness as I truly believe we can mobilize our bodies via our minds. I believe that when I’d tell my body to go and eat itself that it went off and did it. I’ve read that when people eat less that sometimes their bodies try to hold onto reserves of fat as it doesn't trust that there’s more food on the way. It’s important to let your body know that it’s ok to GO EAT ITSELF!
Once your stomach adjusts to your new portions your hunger pains stop and you’ll be surprised how full you feel when you try to eat too much if you slip.
Chapter 3: Beer Facts
99.7% SUGAR FREE!
It’s a shame that allot of our favorite beers don’t put nutritional panels on them, if they did it would show that contrary to popular opinion, most beers contain very little sugar. To put a nutritional panel on a beer, breweries have to do allot of testing over a long period of time so it’s not easy, but even though natural sugar is present in the brewing process, what most people don’t know is that almost ALL of it is EATEN by the yeast and turned into alcohol. Contact the brewer of your favorite beers and ask them how much is in their beer. For a fact, I know that most of my favorites are 99.7% sugar free! This is much lower than people think, and MUCH lower than most other drinks
0% FAT
This should be stating the obvious, but beer does not contain fat. I don’t think the so-called beer gut isn’t caused by beer, it’s caused by the food most people eat whilst drinking beer. It should be called a FOOD gut
Less carbs than you think
Most beers have LESS THAN 3% carbohydrates. Go online and compare that to other drinks e.g. juices. Beer is surprisingly low in carbs.
ALL NATURAL
Unlike other drinks, most beer is all natural and only uses four natural ingredients: yeast, water, malted barley and hops. That’s it. No preservatives, no artificial flavorings, no chemicals
MODERATE alcohol
Unlike most other alcoholic drinks, beer is also in the main, the most moderate alcoholic choice. Beers are generally between 2-6% ABV. Compare that to wine +10% and spirits +30% and it’s easy to see which has the most balanced and moderate amount of alcohol.
Chapter 4: What I ate
I’m quite regular in what I eat and that was the case before and during my plan. In the main, I like having the same breakfast and lunch so for some that might be a bit mundane but below is what I’d typically eat.
Breakfast
Two Weetbix with a banana and milk
Mid morning
An apple
Lunch
Two avocado and salmon sushi rolls….yum (4 inches long each)
Afternoon tea
A banana
Dinner
Whatever was typically served but put onto a small bread plate. This was very important as it restricted ‘slippage’ to bigger serve sizes. This was great for my family as we didn’t have to change the shopping list or family meals which made it easier for all of us.
Chapter 5: What I drank
Water
At work I carry around a 750ml water bottle and would fill it four times a day. On weekends I try to keep drinking water too, but carrying the water bottle to meetings etc. at work really helps keep me feeling fuller and hydrated
Beer
I LOVE beer. During the week I’d have 2-4 beers a night and might share a bottle of wine with my wife if she’s drinking. I can’t remember having too many nights when I didn’t drink beer. On a weekend I’d drink 4-8 beers a day depending on the occasion. I’ve probably drunk more as I leant that beer wasn't as bad for my weight as I thought.
Chapter 6: Wrapping it all up
Remember:
Choose a START DATE you can commit too
EAT LESS
Try to eat BETTER
NO excuses
Great food, CHEWED well
“Go eat YOURSELF”
Beer is 99.7% SUGAR FREE
Beer has 0% FAT
Beer has less than 3% CARBS
Beer is all NATURAL
Beer is MODERATE in alcohol
I really hope this has helped you understand more about beer and there’s something in here that could work for you. Now it’s up to you...
CHEERS!
First published as an eBook in 2015
(Purchased on every continent, sometimes for free... 😉)
Second Publication 2018
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