MAYA’S BIOGRAPHY
DIET & EXERCISE PLANSEAT SMARTER AND BUILD A BETTER BODY
at loss expert Tom Venuto proposed a fun and easy method for others to improve their food choices in a free special report he wrote. He suggested categorizing your food choices into grades. If you want to be healthier and leaner, you need to work on improving your food grades, just as if you were still at school and studying to get higher grades on an exam. Simply label your food with a rating system and constantly work on scoring higher. Let A foods and B foods make up the majority of your daily meals and limit low grade foods to cheat meals.
High grade foods: are non-processed and natural. In other words, the closer a food is to its natural state, the higher the grade. This includes food that is high in calories but still natural, such as nuts, avocado, salmon, etc. Food that is high in calories will only cause weight gain if you don’t pay attention to serving sizes.
Lower grade foods: are processed (manmade) and calorie dense.
It’s always best to eat a mixture of A and B foods, depending on your goals. If you’re looking to bulk up and gain muscle mass, you might have to eat lots of wholegrains. If you want to become leaner, on the other hand, and look like a fitness model, you’ll need to be more restrictive and eat lower calorie dense foods.
A foods
A foods are anything that is 100% natural and nutrient dense. This list includes:
All kinds of fruit and vegetables
Carbs: potatoes, slow-cooked brown rice, natural oatmeal or porridge, beans, lentils, quinoa, sweet potatoes and yam
Fats: flaxseed oil, fish oil, olive oil, coconut, olives, nuts, oily fish and avocado
Protein: skinless chicken breast, turkey breast, egg whites, lean cuts of steak and poultry, seafood and shellfish
Liquids: water, unsweetened tea
B foods
This is considered good food and can still be eaten on a daily basis. If you’re looking to get super lean, you might have to cut out some B foods from your diet. A foods and B foods should make up the bulk of your diet throughout the year. Mixing food varieties keeps a diet interesting and makes it easier to stick to. Wholegrain food that’s processed is still healthy, but does not receive an A grade because it’s not entirely in its natural state. This same rule applies to dairy products. This list includes:
Carbs: wholegrain (unsweetened) cereal, brown pasta and brown bread
Protein: nonfat cheeses, milk, yoghurt, sour cream and lean cuts of pork
Liquids: natural fruit juice, unsweetened coffee
C Foods
C foods are average and with lower nutritional quality. This list includes:
Carbs: white rice, pasta, bread, sweetened wholegrain boxed cereals, bagels, wholegrain snacks and cream of wheat
To quote Tom Venuto: “Most people think bread is fattening. This is largely due to the popularity of low carb diets. The problem is that they’re eating the wrong kind of bread. White bread is treated in the body the same way as white sugar. It is a refined carbohydrate with no nutritional value. Whole grain breads are another story.”
Protein: dark meat, turkey thighs, chicken thighs, red meat that’s high in fat, 2% cheese, milk or yoghurt
D Foods
These foods are high in refined sugar and calories and should not make up the bulk of your diet. This list includes:
Carbs: snacks made from white flour, muffins, boxed cereal that is not whole wheat, anything made with white flour, sugar or oil
Protein: sausages, bacon, full fat sour cream or cheese, hot dogs and butter
F foods:
These are the worst foods on the grading system. They’re almost always bad for your health and should be enjoyed sparingly.
This list includes:
Carbs: candy, sweets, chocolate, sweetened beverages, pies, doughnuts, cakes, croissant, pastries, burgers, chips, fast food, anything fried
Protein: full fat steak, chicken, pork, salami, hot dogs
Fats: palm oil, margarine, hydrogenated vegetable oils, anything fried
Liquids: sweetened beverages and alcohol.
Improve your grades
The goal to getting fitter and building a leaner body is to constantly work on improving your food grades. The better you eat, the higher your grades will be. Work on making better choices starting with your very next meal.