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MASTER YOUR
METABOLISM
CALORIE
COUNTER
Jillian Michaels
with Mariska van Aalst
Michaels, Jillian.
The master your metabolism calorie counter / Jillian Michaels
with Mariska van Aalst.—1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Energy metabolism. 2. Food—Caloric content.
3. Weight loss. I. Aalst, Mariska van. II. Title.
QP176.M53 2010
612.3'9—dc22 2009053613
ISBN 978-0-307-71821-1
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First Edition
INFORMATION IS POWER
Aspartame (NutraSweet)
Autolyzed yeast
Benzoic acid
Blue dye 1 and 2
Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA)
Calcium caseinate
Enriched
Fortified
Glutamate
Glutamic acid
Green 3
High fructose corn syrup
Hydrogenated oils of any kind (palm, corn,
soybean)
Hydrolyzed corn gluten
Hydrolyzed protein (wheat, milk, soy, whey—
any protein that is hydrolyzed)
Monopotassium glutamate
Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
Natrium glutamate
Nitrates
Nitrites
Olestra (Olean)
Potassium benzoate
Potassium bromate
Red 3 and 40
Refined
Saccharin (Sweet’N Low)
Sodium benzoate
Sodium bisulfite
Sodium caseinate
Sodium dioxide
Sodium nitrate
Sodium nitrite
Sucralose (Splenda)
Sulfites
Textured protein
Trans fats
Yeast extract
Yeast food
Yeast nutrient
Yellow 6
MASTERING ESTROGEN
Our individual needs for estrogen can be very differ-
ent. Some types of estrogen help us stay lean; some
make us pack on fat. Perimenopausal women may
find a bit of hot flash relief with phytoestrogens, while
in post-menopausal women, the same foods may in-
crease the risk of breast and uterine cancers. In men,
some phytoestrogens can have a cardioprotective
effect but too many can dampen testosterone and
increase the risk of developing prostate cancer. And
we all have to contend with harmful xenoestrogens
that come from toxic substances in the environment,
including our cosmetics, cleaning products, preser-
vatives, pesticides, and plastics.
How to keep it all straight? Thankfully, these Hor-
mone Positive Foods—remember, always organic!—
can help our bodies contend with this chemical
onslaught and optimize our natural levels of estro-
gen. Look for foods with high levels of fiber; the
more fiber in your diet, the better your natural estro-
gen disposal system works.
MASTERING GHRELIN
Ghrelin is our number one hunger hormone. When
it’s your normal mealtime or you smell something re-
ally delicious, ghrelin is released in your belly and
travels up to trigger your brain’s appetite center (and,
unfortunately, simultaneously turns down your calo-
rie burn). Keep ghrelin in check by eating slowly, and
doing so every three to four hours, especially high-
volume foods with lots of fiber and water—hello,
vegetable soup!—because as soon as your stomach
registers it’s full, ghrelin levels fall again.
Apples Lentils
Artichokes Mustard greens
Beans (black, kidney, Oats
navy, pinto) Oranges
Beets Pistachios
Blueberries Raspberries
Buckwheat Romaine lettuce
Bulgur Shiitake mushrooms
Cabbage Split peas
Carrots Strawberries
Cauliflower Swiss chard
Celery Tomatoes
Collard greens Turnip greens
Cranberries Watermelon
Cucumber Whey protein (not
Eggplant hydrolyzed)
Fennel Whole grains
Flaxseed Zucchini
Grapefruit
Green beans
High-fiber cereal
MASTERING THYROID
Thyroid hormones help control how much oxygen
your cells use, how fast your heart beats, how warm
your body gets, not to mention how good your
memory and mood are on any given day. Thyroid
also plays a large role in the rate at which your body
burns calories. Avoiding goitrogenic foods, like raw
cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, kale),
peanuts and peaches, or soy foods, like tofu or “not-
dogs,” is particularly important for people with thy-
roid issues (like me!). (These goitrogens interrupt
the thyroid’s uptake of iodine, the building block
of thyroid hormones.) Everyone can benefit from
eating more of the Hormone Positive Foods listed
here, many of which are high in zinc, which helps
trigger thyroid release, and selenium, a mineral that
helps your body create T4 and convert it into T3, the
metabolism-boosting thyroid hormone.
MASTERING INSULIN
When it comes to insulin, the Master plan is all about
keeping it low. After you eat, insulin is released from
the pancreas to regulate the level of sugar in your
blood. But if you regularly eat foods that cause a
spike in your blood sugar, like overly refined white
pasta, bread, or other “fast” carbs, you can overtax
your body’s insulin production system and pack on
the pounds—not to mention raise your risk of de-
veloping diabetes. Luckily, you can avoid this easily.
Start by making sure you eat some protein at every
meal and snack; protein lowers your blood sugar re-
sponse and lessens your need for insulin. Also, go
crazy for nonstarchy vegetables with plenty of fiber.
The following foods are a good start.
MASTERING CORTISOL
The stress hormone cortisol blocks your efforts to
lose weight by slowing down your metabolism. If
you’re not careful to manage your stress with posi-
tive methods—yoga, meditation, exercise—high cor-
tisol can trigger stress eating by stimulating cravings
for high-fat, high-carb foods. And once you’ve eaten
them, cortisol turns them into belly fat, the worst kind.
Not good. Be sure to avoid alcohol as much as pos-
sible and limit your sodium intake to 1,500 to 2,000
mg a day (unless you are an athlete who sweats a
lot—then you can go up to 3,000 mg a day). Many
of these Hormone Positive Foods are high in vitamin
C and fiber, nutrients that will help you keep cortisol
levels where you want them: low.
Apples Mackerel
Asparagus Mustard and turnip greens
Barley Oat bran
Beans Oatmeal
Beef Oranges
Bell peppers Peas
Broccoli Pork
Brown rice Raspberries
Brussels sprouts Rice bran
Cabbage Snow peas
Cantaloupe Spinach
Cauliflower Strawberries
Celery Sweet potatoes
Chicken Swiss chard
Eel Tomatoes
Grapefruit Tuna
Herring Turnip greens
Kale Watermelon
Kiwi White potatoes
Lemons Whole grains
Limes Zucchini
MASTERING LEPTIN
After you eat a meal, your fat cells produce leptin
and send it to the hypothalamus in your brain, where
it turns off hunger signals. When this satiety hor-
mone works the way it should, not only does it help
you control your appetite but it also increases your
metabolism and taps into your body’s long-term fat
stores. Good-quality protein, especially deep sea
and other foods with omega-3 fatty acids, like wal-
nuts, can improve your body’s sensitivity to leptin so
you’ll automatically reduce your calorie intake. Eat
these foods to help your body optimize leptin levels
for easier weight loss.
MASTERING DHEA
Made in your adrenal glands, DHEA is the precursor
to testosterone and estrogen. Our production of this
youth elixir declines as we get older, which sucks
because DHEA keeps our hearts and brains strong
and may even help us live longer. DHEA is especially
helpful to women, as it’s believed to protect against
breast cancer and osteoporosis. It is tricky to in-
crease DHEA with diet, but some preliminary studies
suggest that foods with chromium, vitamin E, mag-
nesium, and selenium, like many of these Hormone
Positive Foods, can help improve your DHEA levels.
Almonds Oats
Barley Olives
Beans Onions
Blueberries Oysters
Brazil nuts Papaya
Brewer’s yeast Peas
Broccoli Pork
Button mushrooms Potatoes
Canola oil Pumpkin seeds
Carrots Romaine lettuce
Cod Salmon
Crab meat Sardines
Eggs Shrimp
Fortified whole grain Snapper
cereals Spinach
Garlic Sunflower seeds
Green leafy vegetables Swiss chard
Halibut Tuna
Herring Turkey
Kelp Whole grains
Lamb Whole wheat bread
Molasses (100%, with no HFCS!)
Nuts
MASTERING TESTOSTERONE
Whether you’re a girl or a guy, testosterone is your
weight-loss friend. As a catabolic hormone, testos-
terone helps you build calorie-burning lean muscle
and increases energy and strength (better for work-
ing out!). And, as we all know, testosterone increases
your libido—you, too, girls. And testosterone keeps
our thinking sharp. Unfortunately, our average sup-
ply of testosterone can dwindle as we get older. But
luckily for us, foods with high-quality protein and
zinc, such as beef, cashews, oysters, yogurt, and
many other Hormone Positive Foods, will help boost
our body’s natural production of testosterone.
Almonds Lamb
Asparagus Milk
Beans Mustard greens
Beef tenderloin Olive oil
Broccoli Onions
Canola oil Oysters
Cashews Peas
Cheddar cheese Pork
Chicken Pumpkin seeds
Chickpeas Salmon
Coffee Sesame seeds
Collard greens Spinach
Cremini mushrooms Summer squash
Dark meat chicken and Swiss chard
turkey Tuna
Dungeness crab Turkey breast
Eggs Vitamin-B fortified
Fish cereals
Garlic Yogurt
MASTERING hGH
I wish we could all have unlimited amounts of growth
hormone (hGH). What doesn’t this incredible hor-
mone do? When it’s produced naturally, hGH helps
us build muscle, burn fat, and maintain lower levels
of blood sugar as well as keep our skin smooth and
increase our energy levels. Who doesn’t want more
of that! Sadly, it’s a bit tough to naturally increase
your hGH. One sure thing: Steer clear of MSG, which
has been shown to suppress growth hormone lev-
els in lab animals. And add more of the foods that
contain arginine, an amino acid that supports healthy
hGH levels.