The Catabolic Diet

The basic premise: There are many foods that are considered to be "catabolic".  What that basically means is that it takes more calories for your body to chew and digest the food than there are calories in the food itself.  Theoretically, eating these foods actually removes calories from your body and you lose weight.  Here's an idea of what foods qualify:

Almost all fruits, with the exception of Bananas and certain plums.

Almost all vegetables, definitely all the green and yellow ones.

Boiled potatoes

Certain types of lean white fish

Certain types of shellfish, provided you don't drown them in butter.

Skim Milk.

The rigid form of the diet has you eating 150 calorie meals 3 times a day.  This I cannot handle.  Also, drink lots of water, but NOT during meals.  Water aids digestion and thus reduces catabolism.  Drink it half an hour before or after eating.  In my case, I'm just sticking mainly to these foods and pasta with marinara sauce and vegetables, and of course, my Diet Cokes :), and eating as much of them as I want!  In the morning, I have an orange, strawberries and skim milk for breakfast, and then watch what I eat the rest of the day.  The diet also suggests eating half a grapefruit before bed, but I feel it's not a good idea to eat within 3 hours of bedtime; your body will store most of the energy.

For Information on the Catabolic Diet, call 1-800-358-8834.