Q:  Can I play the Game and do my Jenny Craig/Weight Watchers/South Beach Diet plan instead of The Game ON! Diet plan?

A: Absolutely.  Obviously, we like our meal plan best, but we’re not snobs.  If you want to apply our rules to your favorite diet/meal plan, be our guest.  Just let your teammates and opponents know that that’s how you intend to play. AND make sure you eat five times a day. That piece is really important.

Q: Why can’t I have diet soda?? It’s calorie free!

A: Because we are trying to break you of the habit of drinking any soda at all. It’s either full of sugar or full of chemicals or full of both. It’s also loaded with sodium and has recently been linked to higher incidences of certain kinds of cancer. Calorie-free or not, it messes with your body’s ability to function at maximum capacity.

Q: Give up diet soda! Are you crazy? I can cut down, but I need the caffeine to get through my day. Can I at least drink one and use it as my 100 calories of whatever?

A: No. But you can have a little coffee or some green tea or black tea, iced or hot for a little caffeine blast. I suggest you sweeten it with a few drops of STEVIA which you’ll find at your local health food store. Or, you can stir in a spoonful of honey or maple syrup.

Q: Is it okay to skip the fat in my meal? Won't that help me lose weight quicker?

A: No!! Healthy fats are an absolutely essential nutrient for weightloss!  A new study shows that dieters who decreased calories while concentrating on healthy fats and carbohydrates had higher metabolisms after 10 weeks of dieting and reported less hunger than dieters taking in the same number of calories who ate only low-fat foods.

Q: I'm a teacher and I'm finding it really hard to eat 5 meals a day. I can't really be eating while I'm teaching.

A: Believe me, after a few days of eating this way, you’ll be really hungry every few hours and eager to find ways to get your sustenance (even if it means giving your students a “pop quiz” so you can turn your back to them and eat your protein bar or drink your smoothie while they cheat!)

Q:  Do I have to have a protein, carb/veggie and fat in EVERY meal? Like I can't just have salad?

A: You can just have salad. Just throw some eggwhites or tuna on top, sprinkle some chopped apples and use a teaspoon of an olive oil based dressing and you’ve got a perfect meal!  There are so many salads you can make – and combining the foods is really easy after a few days. Do your best to follow the meal plan as closely as you can – because I’m telling you, it works!