“The Biggest Loser” star Bob Harper serves up healthy recipes and weight loss tips in his new book, Skinny Meals: Everything You Need to Lose Weight-Fast!
Bob said he prefers to eat his biggest meal at lunch, and limit carbs later in the day. However, Harper doesn’t recommend going to extremes with your diet, and said balance is critical for optimal health.
“Your food should look like a well-balanced machine,” Harper told the Today Show. “You want carbs, but you want the right kind of carbs. If you cut them out for dinner, you’ll be on track for losing weight.”
Harper, who has been a trainer on “The Biggest Loser” for the past 15 seasons, said all his recipes are 350 calories or less, and provide a healthy mix of protein, fats and carbs, so you don’t feel hungry or deprived.
“I’ve done all the work for you,” said Harper. “All your protein, fat and carbs are in every single meal that I want you to have.”
To enhance weight loss, Bob recommended reducing carb intake after lunch. Low carb diets like the high-fat Paleo and ketogenic diets have been proven to produce rapid weight loss and prevent diabetes and heart disease, said obesity expert Dr. Eric Westman, co-author of Keto Clarity.
Recently, LeBron James lost 25 pounds on a low carb ketogenic-style Paleo diet that dramatically limited his carb intake. But Bob is not a fan of drastic carb restriction. Harper thinks it’s better to ration carbs throughout the day, so you eat more early in the day, which gives you time to burn them off.
“After lunch is absolutely no carbs, except from your vegetables,” said Harper, who also wrote the bestseller, Jumpstart to Skinny. “If you’re still hungry, you can have more vegetables.”
‘Diet Trumps Exercise For Weight Loss’
Bob, who has helped hundreds “Biggest Loser” contestants lose thousands of pounds, said he prefers to go to bed a little hungry, and suggested not eating three hours before bedtime. That’s better for digestion and weight loss, he said.
“I like for you to go to bed hungry,” he said. “If you’ve stopped eating about three hours before you go to bed, that’s a good rule of thumb. If you feel like you’re just still so starving you need something to eat at night, you can have a nice little snack, like a cheese stick with half an apple.”
Harper, who has more than 100 low-calorie recipes in Skinny Meals, said diet trumps exercise when it comes to weight loss, which is why eating well is critical if you’re trying to slim down.
“It is all about your diet,” he said. “I used to think a long time ago that you can beat everything you eat out of you, and it’s just absolutely not the case.”
Bob Harper’s Apple pie shake recipe
- 1/2 small banana, frozen
- 1/2 apple, sliced
- 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
- Pinch of cinnamon
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 1/2 cup crushed ice
- 1 tbsp almond butter
Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
This article was originally published on Examiner. Copyright©2014.
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