The Fast Metabolism Diet (11 page)

Your body is perfectly primed to digest all this protein now, specifically because we’ve already tickled your digestive enzymes during Phase 1, but the digestive enzymes stimulated by all the vegetables in Phase 2 will enhance this digestive effect even more dramatically. Now we can really push the envelope with protein, but because we still keep the fat low, your
digestion is even more challenged than it was in Phase 1. Whew, what a metabolic workout! But remember, it is only for two days, then we will be on to the next phase of healing and repair.

We’re building your body’s capabilities back up gradually, with the help of all the phytonutrients in these low-glycemic vegetables. Green vegetables, in addition to being alkalizing, are rich in nitrogen, which is essential for
muscle building. Nitrogen also helps the body break down all that protein into the amino acids that will be delivered to the muscles to promote muscle retention and development. All the protein you’re eating will be easily incorporated into your body. Phase 2 literally transforms your body’s composition, building muscle where you need it and torching fat where you don’t, taking the raw materials and creating a beautiful temple called you.

My meat-loving clients really enjoy this phase, and former
low-carbers are comfortable here, too. If you love a dinner of steak and salad, or pork loin and broccoli, or filet of sole with asparagus, you’ll enjoy this phase. You probably won’t even miss those carbs because you just had so many of them during Phase 1. And remember, Phase 2 only lasts for two days. Those two days will fly by when you think about how much fat you’re
Unlock
ing and how much metabolism-firing muscle you’re building.

In Phase 2, you are going to wake up in the morning and have breakfast within 30 minutes of waking. You will have a lean protein and a veggie, such as an egg-white omelet with spinach or turkey bacon wrapped in lettuce leaves.

Two or three hours later, you’ll have a protein snack. You can add green veggies to it if you like. You might choose buffalo jerky or roast beef with cucumber slices or a few pieces of nitrate-free deli chicken.

Lunch consists of another protein and vegetable. You might choose
grilled chicken on salad with lettuce and lots of Phase 2 veggies, or
Tuna Salad–Stuffed Red Pepper
. And don’t forget that you can also have leftovers from any Phase 2 dinner.

For your afternoon snack, you get to have more protein—maybe more jerky or three hard-boiled egg whites or tuna in celery.

For dinner, you’ll have another protein and more veggies. Maybe you’ll enjoy
Broiled Halibut with Broccoli
, chicken breast with asparagus, or
Pepperoncini Pork Roast
with steamed spinach. If you aren’t used to eating
low-carb, Phase 2 may seem Spartan, but remember, it’s only for two days and it’s doing great things for you! Also, it might be easier than you think because low-carb meals tend to suppress the appetite, as long as you don’t stay on them for too long.

And if you don’t love this stage? Phase 2 can feel difficult if you love your fruit, your starches, your morning oatmeal, but it’s just for two days, and you’re going to accomplish a lot. Everything you’ve fed your body in Phase 1 is nourishing your building efforts in Phase 2. Like I said, it’s only two days. You don’t have to be over-the-moon about Phase 2. That’s fine. We’re repairing the metabolism here, not sending you to an amusement park. If it really irritates you to eat like this, go take it out on some really heavy weights. Leave it all at the gym and feel the burn as you sculpt your body.

Think of it this way: if you have to go to physical therapy for an injury, you probably love the massage part, but you might hate the 4,000 daily toe flexes. But both are essential for your recovery. Some parts are tough, but it’s all part of the rehabilitation, so if you find yourself whining, here’s what I have to say to you: I am proud of you for existing outside of your comfort zone. You’re more than fine. You are doing the work that needs to be done to heal. So keep it up.

Besides, it’s time for Phase 3, and you’re going to
love
it there.

THE BASICS

This is the high healthy–fat, moderate-carbohydrate, moderate-protein,
low-glycemic fruit phase.

High in healthy fats such as:

Higher-fat proteins in moderate amounts such as:

Lower-glycemic fruits such as:

Lower-glycemic vegetables such as:

Moderate amounts of unrefined carbohydrates such as:

Thyroid-stimulating foods such as:

Foods rich in
inositol and
choline such as:

HOW TO EAT

If you started Phase 1 on Monday, then Phase 3 will always be on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. From the Master Food List for this phase, you will eat:

See the complete food list at the end of this chapter.

Phase 3 is exciting, delectable, and powerful—the phase where we
Unleash
the full power of a stoked metabolism and where we focus on what I like
to call the “
thermogenic three”: hormones, heart, and heat. These three are responsible for cranking up the metabolic heat in the body and really boosting the burn. In this phase, after four days of eating low fat, you’re going to bring the fat back for the next three days. Your body is perfectly primed for it now—your digestive enzymes are firing, your muscles are pumped up, your body is richly fed with nutrient-dense foods, and now, just when you really need it, heart-healthy fats come flooding in, triggering your body’s fat-for-fuel mechanisms. You begin burning the fat you’re eating, as well as all the fat you unlocked in Phase 2.
Phase 3 is a high-fat, moderate-carbohydrate, moderate-protein, low-glycemic fruit phase.

In Phase 3, you’re really going to start seeing some changes. This is the phase that flattens your belly and irons out your
cellulite—that makes you look different, that makes people ask, “Hey, have you lost weight?” (Of course, you’ll be able to reply, “Why, yes. Yes I have.”) This phase is all about heat and it’s the stage of the plan that makes you look
hot!

Phase 3 is different from the first two phases in that it is three days long instead of two. It might just be the most critical phase of Fast Metabolism, and yet it couldn’t exist without Phase 1 and Phase 2 laying the groundwork.

All week, you’ve kept your fat intake very low, as you suffused your body with nutrients from targeted carbohydrate sources, loads of
green vegetables, and quality protein. In the absence of dietary fat and plenty of nutrition, your body has been burning fat. And burning fat. And building muscle. But by the fifth day of the week, your body is beginning to get suspicious.
Wait a minute,
it thinks.
There hasn’t been much fat coming in. Maybe we’d better start storing some?

Au contraire!
says Phase 3.
You don’t have to worry one bit. Here’s some fat for you—lots of delicious, wonderful, healthy dietary fat!

Although this phase is high in fat, it’s not high in just any old fat. No fried foods or hunks of cheese, please. Instead, Phase 3 focuses on healthy fats like avocados, nuts, seeds, as well as olive, sesame seed, and grapeseed oils.

Eat this way and here’s what happens. In Phase 2, the nutrients from all those green vegetables helped restore and replenish the very organs and glands that are responsible for major fat burning. The
gallbladder, in particular, primed by the
pancreas, now knows how to torch fat like nobody’s
business. Just like you need to have money to make money, you need to eat fat to burn fat, and that’s exactly what happens in
Phase 3.

The energy released from breaking down fat cells is truly profound. It’s money hidden in the vault under your bed beneath the concrete, but the Fast Metabolism Diet is your pickax, and when you break through, there are phenomenal health benefits, not only in disease prevention but in how you feel right now. People complain and whine and moan about the fat on their bellies, their hips, under their chins. I say, good for you! You’ve got something to burn, and all the benefits to reap.

When you start providing your body with all that beautiful, rich, good fat, after all the work your body has been doing to find fat to metabolize in your own body, now it gets a rest. You flood your body with dietary fat, and your body goes, “Ahhhh, there it is.” And then it starts burning its own fat, right along with the fat you are eating! The dietary fat that is so
easy to break down helps release a flood of fat-melting enzymes from the gallbladder that then go postal on your own fat stores, rooting them out and tossing them in the metaphorical furnace. Ironically, eating fat
after
not eating it for a few days makes you start burning fat like crazy. This is a classic example of why by
Unwind
ing your
stress hormones,
Unlock
ing stored fat, and
Unleash
ing fat-burning hormones, you keep the metabolism guessing. This is exactly why the “confuse it to lose it” method is so effective.

This phase is intense and powerful. The influx of good, healthy dietary fats feeds your brain and your sex drive, your thyroid, and also your adrenal glands. Everything starts humming along like a well-oiled machine. Because fat contains more energy than carbs or protein, you may notice a surge of energy during
Phase 3. Blood flow increases and your metabolism starts to burn even hotter. In Phase 3, two very interesting things are happening at once: the intensity of the fat burn and the wonderful, relaxing effect of having enough fat intake.

Just like yoga lowers
stress hormones, so does Phase 3 by providing the nutrients the body needs to generate anti-stress hormones.

All this fat burning and hormone production is a big job, though. It feels good, but it’s also intense. Part of the intensity of this phase is due to your body’s purging a lot of toxins stored in your fat that have now been released. So it will be extremely important to drink a lot of
water especially now, and keep your bowels moving. Even consider taking a
sauna during Phase 3 to help sweat out some of the toxins. It’s so important and vital to keep everything moving out. This toxin release contributes to your new thinner, tighter look because, when the toxins come out, so does the swelling and inflammation and even some of those lumpy bumpy spots (aka, cellulite). But if you don’t release the toxins and excess fat, they’re just going to get reabsorbed into your body. You’ll take fat from your right hip and put it on your left hip. You’ll take dimples off your belly and put them on your butt. That’s not what we’re going for here. We want to flush them away. We want them gone.