The Fast Metabolism Diet (19 page)

Another thing I warn my clients about for
week one is that this week, you’re going to have to get used to having a lot of a lot. What I mean is that on some days, you’re going to have a lot of fruit. On other days, you’re going to have a lot of protein. On some days, you’ll have a lot of vegetables. On other days, you’ll have a lot of fat. “A lot” is designed to enrich the body, giving it the nutrients it needs so that it can manufacture things like muscle, bone, hair, skin, and nails. Don’t forget our main goal here: to transform the metabolism so we can actually extract the nutrients from our food and use them to create health and hormone stabilization.

That being said, you are likely to see a good chunk of weight loss this week. Most of my clients lose anywhere from half a pound to a pound a day, and sometimes a little more. That can feel scary, too. Some people wonder if it’s happening too fast, if they are burning muscle instead of fat. Others are impatient and think it isn’t happening fast enough, or they fear they aren’t being successful enough.

It’s okay, even a good thing, to be a little bit passive this week. Don’t read too much into what happens. Don’t get all worked up about the numbers right now. Instead, focus your energy and mindset on nailing the rhythm of the phases and getting into and comfortable with your grocery list. Really pay attention to the differences in the foods you are eating during each phase. Take note of the foods you enjoy most, and highlight them on your grocery list. Take notes. Participate in the repair of your own
health. You’re just getting a handle on the flow, so be mentally engaged, but not anxious. If you follow the rules I’ve laid out and trust the diet, the rest will work itself out.

Once we get into the week, I hear a lot more positives coming from my clients, especially about the
food. Things like:

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot how much I love mangos!”

“Don’t ever take my rice crackers away, I can’t believe I can have those.”

“I love this filet mignon phase!”

“That coconut curry was my favorite.”

If you don’t like something, don’t worry about it. You don’t have to eat it again. Don’t get hung up on what you don’t like. So you bought almond butter and you don’t like it, and now you’re fretting about how you paid for a whole jar of almond butter that you aren’t going to eat. You’ve got to let that stuff go. You’re learning. And plenty of people like almond butter, so give it to a friend who does. Everything’s going to be just fine. And remember, stress hormones increase fat storage. So let it go.…

Focus on the things that really stand out to you as delicious—how good the fruit is and how great you feel after eating it compared to your old starchy or refined sugary snacks. Focus on the luxury of a nice cut of meat, or of getting to slather everything on your plate with avocado. Remember those five major players need you and need these foods to repair and heal. You can do this! And I am so proud of you for feeding your metabolism.

This is just the beginning. It’s going to be life changing.

When my clients come into my office we create
meal maps for the week so they know exactly what to eat at any given moment. This planning ahead makes the program a no-brainer and so easy to follow. I’ve created a meal map below for you. All the meals have already been filled out. You can switch meals within phases, or use some of these meals but not others. As long as you are sticking to the phase-specific foods and categories for each meal and snack, and your
portions are correct, you can always adapt this to your own needs. (See “
Personalizing and Building Your Own Meal Maps
,” for step-by-step instruction on crafting your own meal map.)

Notice that each phase is highlighted. I’ve written the meal components above, and in a line below, the foods or recipes that can work for that meal. Foods with recipes in the back of the book are written in bold and have been labeled according to their phase.

Remember, this will involve some cooking, but don’t be afraid! Whenever you make a recipe, pack up additional servings, label them with the appropriate phase, and put them in the freezer. I’ve designed these meal maps so that many of the recipes from this first week pop up again in the “ideal” meal map I give you for week three. So when they do, you’ll already have all the cooking finished! Take advantage of your excitement and momentum this week to get all your cooking done now, in case the novelty wears off in another week or two.

Also a reminder: This is a meal map for someone whose weight loss goal is 20 pounds or less. For every additional 20 pounds you need to lose, increase your portions by one-half serving. (For example, if you need to lose 20 pounds, a serving of chili is 2 cups. If you need to lose 40 pounds, a serving of chili is 3 cups.)

To print these maps go to:
http://rhlink.com/fastmain

Remember, this is
our
plan. My rules, your preferences. You can be as creative as you like, within the guidelines. Follow one of my plans, or a plan entirely your own. You are taking your health into your own hands, so get ready, get set, and go! Think of it as a puzzle, a challenge, and most of all, this week, just trust it. Freefall. The Fast Metabolism Diet will catch you.

Y
ou’ve done a whole week on the Fast Metabolism Diet. You’ve gone through all three phases once, and I know you are feeling different from how you did a week ago. Now, welcome to week two!

This week, we’re going to take your body through all three phases of the Fast Metabolism Diet again, but it won’t be the same as last week because you are in a different week of your own, individual four-week cycle (girls and guys). You’re exposing a
different
body to the three phases this week, and this is where it starts to get exciting! This week you bring to the table a body that has soothed its adrenals and stimulated its liver. A body that has nurtured the production of thyroid and other fat-burning hormones and a body that is beginning to change its composition, converting fat to fuel and fuel to muscle. And just imagine the pituitary being all atwitter as it orchestrates all of these glorious events!

By now, you’ve lost some weight, so you might be starting to see the light. Your inner skeptic may be quieting down. In this chapter, I’m going to talk you through the week again and you’ll get a brand-new meal map (whether you follow the one I provide here or fill out your own, that’s entirely up to you).

I also want to talk to you about what’s going to happen during this week. Last week was the freefall chapter. You had to take a leap of faith and trust in the diet. Now, it’s getting real. I often call this the “Oh Sh*t Week,” but some folks might not like that, so I’ve edited myself a bit (just a bit) …

Week two is always an interesting one. Often, people start to freak out a little about what just happened and what is going to happen next. Week two can be a bit of a roller-coaster ride, both emotionally and organizationally. OMG, you haven’t been on the program long enough for it to feel like second nature and haven’t quite gotten the rhythm of it all down pat, but all you know is that it’s
exciting
! Also, you might be excited or afraid or even confused about how your body is reacting to the program. Have you lost enough weight? Lost too much weight? Finally coming out of your coffee and refined sugar withdrawals only to find you don’t even remember much of last week? Let’s take a collective deep breath and soldier on, letting the program tether us to continuity, consistency, and repair. The momentum will increase this next week, so don’t fight it or get too creative—just stick with the flow. People usually react to this scary feeling of increasing momentum in one of two ways: terrified the weight loss is going to stop if they restrict their portions or they double up on their servings thinking they can go rogue and experience the same weight loss.

A lot of my clients see significant weight loss in
week one, and sometimes they are terrified that it’s going to stop. They think maybe it was just a fluke or sheer luck or not sustainable. They often react by cutting their portions. They pull back their protein servings to 3 ounces and their vegetable servings to ½ cup at dinner, eating nothing but protein and veggies in Phase 1, leaving out the critical grain. Or they skip their fruit at breakfast in Phase 3, thinking that less food will give them even more weight loss. This is exactly the wrong thing to do if you are trying to heat up your metabolism.

The other way they react is to say something like this to themselves, “Oh, my gosh, I’ve lost so much weight, this can’t be healthy, I better eat more.” Or, “Hey, if I can lose that much weight doing exactly what Haylie says, then I should be able to eat even more and it is okay if I don’t lose as much in the second week!” Then they go rogue and start cheating, adding carbs or fats in the wrong places and phases, until they slide back into their old habits.