The Fast Metabolism Diet (8 page)

Keep in mind that I am not a doctor, so my opinion of what test results indicate a fast metabolism may differ from what your doctor would say. However, I’m not some random person telling you to bug your doctor for pointless tests. These are the numbers I use with my clients at the clinic, and most of them are referred to me by physicians. I request these tests for my patients every day, and
doctors often ask for my input on test results because I look beyond “normal” for ideal metabolism numbers, specifically when wanting to facilitate healthy weight loss.

These are the tests I’d like you to ask your doctor to give you:

THYROID
: Ask your doctor to test your
TSH,
T3,
T4, and
Reverse T3. Don’t forget to ask for the Reverse T3 (
RT3), as it isn’t always part of a typical thyroid panel. These numbers can uncover thyroid issues you might have, but there are a few additional ones such as
TPO or Anti Thyroid Antibody they might want to consider if worried about
Hashimoto’s or
Graves’. If these are off, it can tell you even more about your overall health and how crucial it is to nurture your body and its metabolism. If you have a
fast metabolism,
your numbers should look like this, so this is what we will be aiming for:

ESTROGENS
: For women only. I think it’s a good idea to test your estrogen level at any age. If you are going through perimenopause, that period of up to ten years before menopause, your estrogen levels can reveal if a hormone imbalance can be causing some of your symptoms. Before then, it’s a good idea to get a baseline reading so you know when things are getting out of balance later. Ideally, we look at three different forms of estrogen:
estradiol,
estriol, and
estrone. Estradiol is the one most doctors like to monitor. With excessive midsection weight gain or in postmenopausal women, I look at estrone because estrone production isn’t just limited to the ovaries. It can be stimulated by fat cells and the
adrenal glands, and can be related to stress-related weight gain.

There are many schools of thought on what ideal levels should be for these three estrogens. For metabolism purposes, I want to make sure all three fall into the “normal” ranges, and one or more has not gotten out of control. If you are having a period, make sure to have this test taken as close to day three of your period as possible. This is one of the most accurate times to look at your
hormones.

TESTOSTERONE:
For men only. Normal could be 200 to 800, but men with fast metabolisms can have numbers as high as 800 to 1200. I like to see 600 or higher. Knowing your numbers empowers you to see one important picture of your current health condition and do something about it—and the thing you can do is to
eat
. The Fast Metabolism Diet is designed to provide the fuel needed for a healthy body. Food is the medicine.

When your numbers are off, when your metabolism is suppressed, change your diet first! You can beat a horse until he reaches the finish line, or you can feed and train and care for him. Either scenario might result in winning a race on that one day, but if you beat the horse long enough, he will break down, slow down, crash, and burn—just when you need the prize money the most.

There are no guarantees in life or health, but the better you care for yourself, and the healthier your metabolism, the more reliable your body’s systems will be for detoxifying, eliminating, burning fat, maintaining a healthy body weight, finding healthy hormone balance, and preventing disease.

Nourish and flourish! That’s what I want for you. It all begins with a healthy, optimally functioning metabolism. Are you ready to begin exploring exactly how to get one?

N
ow you know what can go wrong when you chronically diet or eat foods that don’t contain dense nutrition. So what do you do about it? How do you make it right?

When your metabolism has become dysfunctional, it needs the equivalent of a personal trainer to get it back into shape—someone who can take the raw materials of your body and sculpt them into the body of your dreams. Consider me that trainer and Fast Metabolism your guide to cross-training your metabolism.

What do I mean by that? If you do only one kind of exercise, like running or the elliptical trainer, your body gets used to that exercise and you soon stop seeing results. You hit a plateau. You’re using the same muscles in the same way every day and neglecting all the other muscles in your body. In the same way that cross-training shakes up that routine by keeping your body surprised, Fast Metabolism shakes up your dietary patterns by doing two things:

This strategy keeps your body working, surprised, and supported, reversing the biochemical patterns that have slowed down your metabolism. It’s your body’s wake-up call, and it will trigger a burn that will torch calories and fat like never before.

Cross-training your metabolism also means switching up your meal maps (you’ll find out more about those soon!), so the new you will never get in a rut or get bored. Two days eating one way, two days eating another, and then three days eating a whole new, specific nutrient mix. It stimulates the metabolism, it keeps eating interesting, and it works.

It’s not a trick. It’s just the way nature is. It’s a basic principle of physics: a body at rest tends to stay at rest unless something compels it to move. A body in motion tends to stay in motion unless something compels it to stop. This is the same for your metabolism. Once you coax your metabolism into motion, it’s easier to keep it moving. You’re taking that horse by the reins and walking him around the paddock so you can move him into the trailer.

Now all you need to do is learn how to do the coaxing.

Let’s consider how the three phases of the Fast Metabolism Diet coax your body to burn fat, build muscle, balance hormones, and lay the foundation
for a healthier you. Our bodies require variety from our diets in order to get all of the nutrients necessary to perform all biological, physiological, and neurochemical functions. That’s just what the three phases of Fast Metabolism give you. You need complex carbohydrates, natural sugars, protein, fat, and even salt to maintain normal body chemistry. At times you need very high therapeutic levels of these elements, especially when you’ve been depriving yourself for too long. Including these fuels, but not all at the same time, helps you to rebuild, restore, enrich, and replenish your depleted body and your burnt-out metabolism.

Each phase only lasts for a short time so you don’t exhaust any one system or part of yourself. Doing any phase for too long is like asking you to clean your whole house when you didn’t get any sleep the night before; you’ll be exhausted and you won’t do as good a job of it. We’re going to clean
your
house (your body) room by room, a little at a time, until it’s sparkling.

For four weeks, you will follow a three-phase rotation. Each phase is strategically designed to work and rest different body systems, and each has a chance to work during every week of your body’s natural 28-day cycle. By segmenting out the work in this way, your body will get all the attention and support
and
high expectations it needs, one phase, or a couple of days, at a time.

When you move through to the next phase, the systems and organs you engaged in the previous phase get to relax, rest, and restore. A healthy metabolism wants to do three things:

Each of the three phases accomplishes these steps when done in order.

Before you can use your food for energy, you first need to calm your
adrenals. And that’s what the first phase is all about: unwinding.

THE BASICS

This is the
high-glycemic, moderate-protein, low-fat phase.

High in carbohydrate-rich foods such as:

High in natural sugars such as:

High in B and
C
vitamins such as:

Contain moderate amounts of protein

Low in fat

HOW TO EAT

You don’t have to start Phase 1 on a Monday, but I find this is the easiest way to stay organized. From the Master
Food List for this phase, you will eat: