The Fast Metabolism Diet (15 page)

Also, you should know that
decaffeinated coffee is not truly caffeine free. Depending on the brand, it can still contain 13 to 37 percent of the caffeine of regular coffee. If you absolutely cannot see giving up coffee right now, your best bet is organic decaffeinated coffee. Just know that you are still getting a dose of adrenal-stressing caffeine.

And if you’re going to push my buttons and insist on your morning coffee, you
must
eat before you drink it. If you ingest coffee with no food on board, your body will begin to pull sugar from your muscles in order to sustain the adrenal hormones being stimulated by the caffeine. Caffeine before breakfast is a metabolism-killer, and that includes noncoffee choices like black tea, green tea, and white tea.

The bottom line is that nobody is caffeine deficient. This is not a mineral required for your body. You may beg to differ, but you should know that ingesting caffeine is a fabulous way to screw up the metabolism.

I know this is hard. Caffeine is emotionally and physiologically addictive, and the withdrawal can be tough. But the good news is that after about three or four days of harsh symptoms, it’ll be over. No more afternoon slump. No more obsessive need for a buzz. It’s an incredible feeling to escape the caffeine monkey on your back.

Some of the tricks I use for helping people deal with caffeine withdrawal are:

I know. You like your glass of wine, or your margarita, or whatever. I would never tell you that you can never have another drink. But here’s the bottom line: Alcohol has to be processed through the liver. Again, that means it’s also monopolizing a major organ that we’re trying to heal. Telling you to avoid it is not a judgment about alcohol. It’s not about the empty calories. It’s about the metabolism.

Beyond the toll it takes on your liver, there are even more reasons to avoid alcohol for the next 28 days. Alcohol is very high in sugar, in that it converts to sugar rapidly in the
bloodstream. That’s exactly what we’re trying
not
to do. I’ll tell you how to incorporate alcohol safely into your Fast Metabolism life in
Chapter Ten
. For the next four weeks, though, your weight loss will happen more quickly and your metabolism will heat up more effectively if you stick to club soda with lemon or lime.

Raisins, dried cranberries, dried apricots—these can be good snacks once in a while. But not during this process. The sugar concentration is too high and the fiber is too easy to break down. When you eat dried fruit, or drink fruit juice, just as with the refined sugars we discussed earlier, the sugar in these foods gets delivered too rapidly into your bloodstream. This forces your body to store the excess in fat cells. Juice in particular increases the rate of sugar delivery because, while you might get the same grams of sugar from an orange as you would get from orange juice, the fiber in the whole orange slows down the rate of sugar delivery into the bloodstream. You can have your raisins in your oatmeal and your occasional small glass of orange juice again. Just not for the next four weeks.

I always tell my clients, “If it’s fake, take a break.” If it says “Diet Something” or “Zero-Calorie Something” or “
Fat-Free Something,” put it back and step away from the shelf. No frozen diet dinners, no packaged junk food. No prepackaged 100-calorie snacks.

Convenience is not a bad thing, and many companies are creating healthy quick alternatives to “on the go” foods. But on this diet you’ll be making your own prepackaged snacks and frozen dinners from real food, or finding fresh, real-food alternatives in delis and restaurants. It’s easy and convenient and delicious, and you can do it.

And please, throw away the pink, yellow, and blue fake sugar packets. They are like poison for your body and your metabolism. If you must use a sweetener, use
natural ones like Truvia, Stevia, or Xylitol instead.

And there you have it.

These rules are simple and easier to follow than you may think. And if you need further incentive, know that following them makes you feel amazing. Many of my clients have loved how they felt so much that they incorporated these rules into their permanent lifestyles and never looked back. If you remember nothing else, remember this: eat five times a day, and only the foods on the list for your phase.

And above all, remember to think back to the acronym DIET: Did I Eat Today?

I
’ve been pretty bossy with you. It’s been my way or the highway. I had good reason—you need tough love at a time like this. But just in case you were beginning to think that I wasn’t going to let you have your way about
anything,
this chapter will convince you otherwise. In fact, I
want
you to customize the
Fast Metabolism Diet so it fits
your
life. It’s your body, it’s your food, it’s your health, and it’s your diet. You have to follow my rules—I’m not budging on that—but you can also shape the Fast Metabolism Diet to your individual circumstances, so you can actually do it successfully in your real life, in the real world.

I had a client once who came into my office, and even before he sat down, he started lecturing me: “Okay, I’m going to do this diet thing. And I’m willing to hear you out, but you should know that I can’t eat this, and I can’t eat that, and I can’t eat this …”

“Whoa, wait a minute,” I said, holding up my hand. “Sit down. Let’s talk about this. Together we’ll work out what you can eat and what you can’t eat. What you are and aren’t willing to do. Then we’ll come to a compromise we can both live with, and I’ll spit in my hand and you’ll spit in your hand and we’ll shake on it. Okay?”

There are so many variables that go into successful weight loss, and if you don’t consider these, you set yourself up for failure. I want my plan to become
our
plan. I want us to customize this together so we can negotiate
a deal that will not compromise your individuality, but also won’t compromise your successful weight loss.

Clients come into my office all the time almost in a state of panic. They know they’re about to “start a diet,” and they get themselves all psyched out for what they think the reality of that diet is going to be. Sometimes they say things to me like, “I know this is going to be hell,” or “I know this is really going to suck,” or “I realize this is going to be the hardest thing I have ever done.” Or they’re more fatalistic, saying things like, “Well, I can’t lose weight, but I’ll try,” or “I bet I’m going to be the one client that this diet doesn’t work for,” or “If I just lose five pounds, I’ll still be grateful.”

These moments break my heart. I know from my very long history with people trying to lose weight how difficult and painful it can be, and how often all the hard-won weight comes back.

But I promise this is going to be different. Yes, I have a strict program that I insist you follow. Plenty of aspects of the Fast Metabolism Diet are nonnegotiable. But this diet isn’t painful. And there are plenty of negotiable, customizable aspects of Fast Metabolism. You can make it yours, not some prison sentence someone has imposed on you for your own supposed good.

I
want
to know what you like. What foods you love. I want to know, with no judgment, the good, bad, and ugly of your eating past. What are your obsessions? Mine are sour cream, butter, ice cream, avocados, and mayonnaise (obviously I like my rich, creamy foods!). I hate hard candies, but I love chilies and soups. I can eat pineapple until my lips fall off, but apples aren’t my favorite.

I’m also an idealist. Every Monday morning, I start strong—but then all hell breaks loose at one of my clinics, or at one of the kids’ schools. Or I have to jump on a plane or sit down for an interview. Or I have to interview a new chef and taste a boatload of food. So I plan for the worst and I have a Crash Stash snack in every car and office, and even in the front of my suitcase. I restock it every time I get home. But my weeks are always a challenge, so I try to make sure that my food isn’t.

What about you? What foods do you find hard to resist? Which ones aren’t your favorites? Are you a picky eater, or will you eat anything? And how does your week usually play out? When do you tend to succeed, and where do you tend to make mistakes?

This is the “think about your life” chapter. The “let’s spit in our hands and shake” chapter. I’m going to help you look at all the ways your life might not necessarily conform to a generic version of this diet, and then I’m going to help you make it work for you, the way I’ve made it work for hundreds of others.

Deal?

Before you can customize the Fast Metabolism Diet effectively, you’re going to have to get real about exactly who you are, what you do, what you like, and what you are probably not willing to do.

How much weight do you want to lose?

When do you get up in the morning?

Do you like to eat breakfast right away, or not until you get to work?

Do you have to cook for a family, or is it just you, eating whatever and whenever you want?

Do you avoid the kitchen at all costs, or are you constantly planning what to cook next?

Are you a vegetarian?

Do you have to eat gluten-free?

Are you an exercise fanatic, or has it been a while since you last hit the gym?

It’s time to check in with yourself. Think about your habits and what happens when you have gone on diets before.

Do you love routine or hate it?

Does your job require an atypical schedule?

Are you a carb fanatic or a big meat eater?

Do you get hungriest in the afternoon, or at night?

Do you usually eat on purpose, or do you find yourself eating when you didn’t intend to eat?

A lot of these questions are easy to answer if you do a simple exercise for me. I would like you to write in a
diet
diary for the next three days, to get a handle on the reality of your life, the timing of your days, and how we can fit Fast Metabolism into your schedule.

Here is an example of how you might make a diet diary. In addition to first answering the above questions, include every single bite you put in your mouth for three days. Think about whether it was an intentional meal or snack, or “accidental” noshing. Remember that honesty is the best policy here. We want to look at your reality so we can see any potential stumbling blocks and prevent disasters at all cost. You’re doing this so the diet will
work.
So please: full disclosure.