ONE: QUICK GUIDE TO THE 3-HOUR DIET™

The 3-Hour Diet™ is about uncovering the buried concept of timing—the fact that when you eat is critical to weight loss. By eating every 3 hours you'll constantly Set Your Metabolism in Motion™ and lose 2 pounds every week starting with belly fat first. You will never have to count calories or ban any foods, including carbs.

So how does the 3-Hour Diet™ work exactly? The answer is found in what I call Time-Based Nutrition™. It's the future of effective nutrition. No more low-carb dieting. No more fad dieting. Time-Based Nutrition™ is a brand-new category of dieting. It's the power of combining smart eating with smart timing. Yes, timing. You see, the secret to losing weight and keeping it off has to do with much more than what you eat, it's also when you eat.

Why every 3 hours? Countless research studies confirm the power of eating every 3 hours. What specifically happens if you wait more than 3 hours to eat? Well, after 3 hours your body passes a tipping point and launches its natural "starvation protection mechanism," or SPM. When your SPM is switched on, your body preserves the most calorie-rich tissue in the body to ensure your survival. That tissue is body fat. But there's even more bad news. It's critical to know that anytime you allow more than 3 hours to pass between meals, your body preserves body fat and begins to cannibalize precious fat-burning muscle. Yes, by waiting more than 3 hours to eat you lose muscle tissue.

Why is losing lean muscle devastating to your health? Lean muscle tissue is your metabolism. Bottom line: it burns fat and thus sets your metabolism in motion. Lean muscle tissue manages how many calories you burn while doing nothing, whether you're resting on the couch, driving your car, sitting at the computer, or even when sleeping in your bed. Each pound of muscle burns approximately 50 calories every day doing absolutely nothing. Lose just 5 pounds of muscle and your metabolism burns 250 fewer calories a day. In the course of just one year that will equal 26 pounds of new fat—no wonder dieting has been so difficult! Make sure to visit 3hourdiet.net to get a free profile to help you determine how much muscle you've lost.

There is one more devastating consequence of not eating every 3 hours: increased cortisol levels. What exactly is cortisol? It's a stress hormone that is closely associated with abdominal fat. The good news is that medical research has shown that eating every 3 hours helps reduce levels of cortisol, and that is the key to losing belly fat first. For more on this, make sure to read chapter 5 of the original 3-Hour Diet™.

Okay, so what are the smartest foods to eat? The best foods are the foods you love in the proper serving. Yes, the secret is choosing the right amounts of the foods you enjoy. My core philosophy is that there are no bad foods, just bad timing and unhealthy portions. Banning the foods you love will guarantee failure. For this reason I created the 3-Hour Plate™ in the original 3-Hour Diet™. It shows you how to avoid calorie counting and saves your precious time by helping you stay organized with a visual system.

But here's the best news about this little book: since it is for people on the go, you won't even need to use the 3-Hour Plate™ to eat the right foods. My nutrition team and I have done all the work for you! Yes, we have researched your favorite fast-food joints, family restaurants, meal replacement bars, and even a few more special things to bring you the ultimate guidebook to enjoying the 3-Hour Diet™ with no hassles and, best of all, no cooking!

That is why you will love this easy-to-use guide.

Why Do Low-Carb Diets Make You Fat?

In the short term, low-carb diets absolutely lead to weight loss. In the long term, you will end up gaining the weight back and you may find that you have added new pounds, too. The bottom line is this: Anytime you go on a high-protein diet, which is low in carbs, you begin to lose up to 25 percent of your lean muscle. Lean muscle tissue, as I shared with you earlier, is essential for an active fat-burning metabolism.

Specifically, low-carb diets erode muscle in three major ways:

A) Low-carb diets deplete the sugar (glycogen) stored in your muscles.

B) Low-carb diets flush water out of your muscles.

C) Low-carb diets can cause fatigue and/or depression, which leads to a sedentary lifestyle. When you don't move, you lose muscle faster.

Finally, if you deprive yourself of carbs, you will eventually binge on them. I have worked with 3 million online clients at 3hourdiet.net and they've told me about this time and time again. It's practically a fact. Deprivation leads to bingeing and long-term failure.

Basic rules for the 3-Hour Diet™

1. Eat Every 3 Hours

Frequent meals will help keep your metabolism running smoothly for the whole day. The key is eating throughout the day, with 3 hours between meals. In other words, if you eat breakfast at 7 a.m., have a snack at 10 a.m., eat lunch at 1 p.m., have another snack at 4 p.m., and finally eat dinner at 7 p.m., you can finish off the day by having your treat, which may be eaten with dinner or anytime within the next 3 hours before bed. It's up to you! This is a perfect eating schedule, and I strongly recommend you closely follow this time pattern.

2. Bend and Flex

Is your schedule unique? Not a problem! The 3-Hour Diet™ is designed to bend and flex with your daily schedule for stress-free dieting. For ideal results I recommend you stick as closely to the plan as possible, but, more important, stick to these three basic principles:

1. Eat absolutely as close to every 3 hours as possible

2. Eat the 3 recommended meals, 2 snacks, and treat each day

3. Eat breakfast within 1 hour of rising

Here are some sample plans to help you understand how the 3-Hour Diet™ can adapt to your schedule with ease:

Copyright © 2005 by JorgeCruise