How can eating whole foods help me lose weight?

Processed, fatty foods may be delicious, but they're nutritional boobytraps. Fitness expert Tony Horton, creator of the P90X fitness program, explains how whole foods can help you lose weight without counting a single calorie.

Transcript

00:00

If you feel deprived because all you're eating is whole grains and healthy fats, then you're going to cheat. The more you cheat, the worse it'll get. The pendulum will swing in the other direction.

00:07

[GASPS] Don't let that happen. So have a small piece of cake. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:17

Well, whole foods, that's the magic. If you're eating whole foods, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats,

00:25

the stuff that your great, great, great grandmother and grandfather used to eat, before there was all this processed factory food, things

00:31

that come from boxes and bags and cookies and crackers and chips-- and they're really tasty. And they're yummy. And you're addicted to them. And you have to stop eating them.

00:38

And you have to start figuring out how to make those whole foods taste good. So I'm on the 90/10 plan.

00:45

And what that means is that 90% of the time my breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the high calorie meals are whole foods, eggs and kale and carrots and peas and corn

00:54

and salmon and chicken, and you name it. The list is very long. Blueberries and strawberries. And I can keep going on. And so you figure out how to eat those foods

01:01

as much as possible. And then the 10% are reward foods, foods that you get to give yourself so you don't feel deprived.

01:07

If you feel deprived because all you're eating is whole grains and healthy fats, then you're going to cheat. The more you cheat, the worse it'll get. The pendulum will swing in the other direction.

01:15

[GASPS] Don't let that happen. So have a small piece of cake. Have a chocolate chip cookie. Have a lollipop. Have some key lime pie because it's so yummy.

01:23

But don't eat it all day all the time. And get away from the fast food. And get away from the processed foods. And get away from foods that are made in factories.

01:30

Look at your plate. If you can pronounce what you're eating-- I know you can pronounce corn dog. But can you pronounce what's inside?

01:36

All right, eat the stuff that the great, great, great grandparents ate, and you're going to lose weight naturally. And you won't have to count a single calorie.