Pritikin Diet
Introduction
I remember attending an interpretation of Stephen Covey’s book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” workshop which was conducted by one of the training managers at America Online, who proceeded to begin the sessions by emphasizing that one should always “begin with the end in mind”.
Since this principle is all about how one deals with personal change, one will find that these “habits” can be applied to every sphere of their life (the author calls these habits “universal and timeless”) , and in the case of Habit #2, knowing what you want in fitness and health can often help you get there soon enough.
Call it having clear objectives in health with proper timelines or knowing what you want, it’s often that people don’t really understand this… and which is why, it is even more important to have a plan. And once you do this, one stops being unfocused and directionless while all their efforts are towards the goal. In this case, diet and exercise…
Origins of the Pritikin Diet and its current Avatar…
Known as “mankind’s original meal plan”, its creator Nathan Pritikin sold almost 50 million copies of the book, and was a New York Besttime seller for a period of 54 weeks which catapulted him among the likes of Dr. Tarnower of the Scarsdale Diet, Gary Null (Your Guide to Natural Living) and Dr. Robert Atkins of the Atkins Nutritional Approach or Diet.
Now this was all in the 80s and while his son Robert Pritikin worked on improvements to the “Pritikin diet plan”, there have been several diet programs that aim at increasing life expectency, and the Pritikin diet is not any less as it contains a 20-page plan for people to follow when they wish to lose weight, and improve the quality of their lives.
Pritikin Diet – Basics
What is unique about the Pritikin Diet is that it is a low-fat diet, which is not a vegetarian one but consists largely of vegetables, grains and fruit.
The amount of fat in the diet totals up to 10 % with its main objectives to lower cholesterol while also helping diabetics to normalize their blood sugar levels without needing to take insulin.
As a result, one also lost weight as a bonus when they spent time at Pritikin Longevity Centers learning how to eat healthy, preparing low-fat meals and snacks while also inculcating exercise and various stress-reduction techniques into their daily routine.
But as times change, and with more and more knowledge accumulated, the Pritikin approach began to find itself also changing into a form that was relevant to the society of today. And this is Robert Pritikin, Nathan Pritikin’s son, took his father’s life’s work and made what can be otherwise described as an ‘upgrade’ of sorts.
The ‘New’ Pritikin Approach – How it works
Since most folks consider meat and fish to be a part of their staple diet, the only issues is that the number of calories per meal range between 1500 to 2000, and this won’t help you lose any weight.
What Pritikin suggests is that one should mix vegetables with the leanest portions of animal protein in order to keep the calorie value of every full meal to about 400 calories, which has been known to produce results when it comes to weight loss. And so the directive is to eat whole, unprocessed and carbohydrate-rich foods that were mentioned before in his Nathan Pritikin’s program.
Interestingly, Robert’s book, The New Pritikin Program, contains several pages of information of suggested meal and tips on how they can be improved to fall within the under-400 calorie rule.
But, most of all, the emphasis of the dieting plan on exercise is what makes this plan so ‘well-rounded’, as that is the way to go.
In Closing
And that is why if one takes on a SMART and objective approach to dieting and exercise, which is to “begin with the end in mind”, you’ll see the changes.
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