The Fast Metabolism Diet (14 page)

You must do this
religiously.
If you are in Phase 1 and it’s not on the
food or meal map for Phase 1 days, don’t eat it. The same goes for all three phases.

There are also foods left off the lists and maps, and that’s not a mistake or a typo. These things are intentionally left off. In the Don’ts section after, I’ll explain why certain foods are left off. For now, know that if it’s not on any of the lists or the maps, you’re not going to eat it for the next 28 days.

That means two days of Phase 1 followed by two days of Phase 2 followed by three days of Phase 3. And it is easiest to follow if you start the plan on a Monday.

As you know from the last chapter, each of the phases is designed with a particular goal (
Unwind
—calming the body to facilitate the absorption of nutrients from
food,
Unlock
—building muscle and releasing stored fat, and
Unleash
—burning fat) and in a specific order for a reason.

For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, that’s 100 fluid ounces of water every day. If you weigh 180 pounds, that’s 90 fluid ounces of water each day. Once you’ve met that required amount, you can have noncaffeinated herbal
tea, or make
lemonade with fresh lemons and limes sweetened with a natural sweetener like Stevia or Xylitol (but
not
with sugar, honey, maple syrup, or agave nectar). However, tea and lemonade do not count toward your required water ounces.

Limit any naturally
sweetened drink to no more than two per day. I don’t want your taste buds to get too accustomed to the taste of sweet beverages, even if they don’t have any glycemic value. And remember—the water comes first!

I understand that at times
organic food can be more expensive, and not everybody believes that organic food is better or healthier. I’m not going to argue that point either way, but it’s a fact that any synthetic chemical products you put into the body—including additives,
preservatives, pesticides, insecticides, and hormones—have to be processed through the
liver. This monopolizes time and energy that could be used to repair your metabolism. Remember, I’m trying to be greedy with the liver’s energy here. So eat as cleanly as possible. Also, try to keep your environment as clean as possible. This is not a time to paint the inside of your house or recarpet. These kinds of environmental chemicals have to be processed through your liver, too, and that will keep your liver distracted from the job we want it to do: burn fat.

Nitrates are substances that are typically added to cured meat products—like bacon, turkey bacon, sausages, jerky, and packaged deli meats (including the stuff behind the meat counter)—to impede bacterial growth, so the
food doesn’t spoil as quickly. Because nitrates do this by slowing down the breakdown of fat in the meat, they also slow down the breakdown of fat in the body, just when we’re trying to do the opposite: melt the
fat faster!

Instead, eat meat that is cured and preserved naturally, with foods like celery juice and sea salt. These are perfectly safe and easy to find. Most supermarkets and all natural foods stores carry them, and several major food brands now make them, too. If you aren’t sure about a product, look at the ingredients label for words like “nitrate-free” and “naturally cured,” or ask the butcher if the meat is preserved with nitrates. Local organic meat producers also often have nitrate-free options. Just remember that these meats don’t last quite as long, so keep them frozen until the day before you are ready to eat.

The Fast Metabolism Diet is about food, but it isn’t
only
about food.

PHASE 1
: Do at least one day of vigorous
cardio, like running, the elliptical trainer, or an upbeat aerobic-based exercise class.

PHASE 2
: Do at least one day of
strength-training with
weights.

PHASE 3
: Do at least one day of
stress-reducing activity like
yoga or
deep breathing, or enjoy a
massage. It’s not an “activity” per se, but it increases blood flow to the fatty areas of your body, reduces cortisol, and does the work we want for you during this phase.

If you’ve already flipped ahead to check out the recipes, meal maps, and food lists, you might have noticed that a few things you’re used to eating aren’t on any of the lists. But I have very good reasons for why I’m temporarily taking them off the menu. These foods make it
harder,
if not impossible, to reset and repair the metabolism.

We’ve come together for a common goal, so let’s stick with it. You won’t be giving up these foods forever. For now, though, they’re out. But so you’re totally with me on this, let’s talk about why.

Wheat is a billion-dollar agricultural business. To increase the crop yield, and thus profits, farmers have hybridized wheat to make it sturdy enough to withstand the most extreme weather conditions (remember, I’m an aggie and I took many courses on this). As a result, it has become not just indestructible in the field but also nearly indestructible in your body—in other words, it’s very hard for your body to digest and extract its nutrients.

Think about it this way: If wheat can withstand a hailstorm and bug infestations, what chance has your body got to break it down? Among other things, it creates inflammation, gas, bloating, water retention, and fatigue. Going wheat-free might sound intimidating, but I promise you won’t miss it. You can eat so many better, healthier carbs on this diet, like brown and wild rice, barley and quinoa, or breads and pastas made with
sprouted
grains or spelt.

You may not be used to eating these grains, but you can find any of them (or any other foods on the food list, for that matter) at any well-stocked supermarket or health food store.
Wheat in a sprouted form
is the
exception to the no-wheat rule
and sprouted wheat or wheat-free baked products like bread, bagels, and tortillas are usually found in the freezer section (so they stay fresh). Enlist your store manager if you would like
more options. They are often willing to order a product for you if they know you’re going to buy it.

Corn is one of your metabolism’s worst enemies. That’s because farmers, as with wheat, have drastically modified corn to increase yields. But there’s another reason. Vegetarians might want to skip this next sentence: when farmers want to increase the marbling (or white tissue
fat for flavoring) in beef to increase the grade of the meat, they feed the cows lots of corn right before slaughter. In other words, corn equals quick fat. They also feed corn to horses before a show when they’ve dropped too much weight. Essentially, the corn kernel has become, through the miracles of genetic engineering, a big reservoir for
sugar that ramps up white fat production. If you eat lots of corn, you might bring more money if sold at market, but you will not be a metabolic marvel.

I have many actor clients, and occasionally one will ask me to help him or her
gain
weight for a part in a movie when they need to look chubby. Corn is one of my best tricks. If you want to look pregnant or have a poochy belly, round cheeks, and plump arms, eat corn. If you want a fast metabolism, do not.

“But I just looooove cheeeese!” my clients whine. I hear you.
Cheese tastes good. But cheeses, and all other dairy products, have a sugar-fat-protein ratio that wreaks havoc when repairing your metabolism. The rate of sugar delivery from the
lactose (milk sugar) in dairy is way too fast, and the animal-based fat is too high.

I know what you seasoned dieters are thinking: what about low-fat cottage cheese and Greek yogurt? These
foods do have health benefits, like protein, and they can have a place in your life … but not for the next 28 days. Contrary to what you might think, the worst form of dairy is any nonorganic,
fat-free
variety. When it comes to dairy, repeat after me, “If it says free, it’s not for me.” Fat-free dairy aggressively slows fat metabolism.

The other problem with dairy is that it stimulates the
sex hormones in metabolism-stalling ways. Even organic products contain
amino acid
ratios that alter the balance of the sex hormones. I use full-fat dairy in my fertility diet, and encourage many women trying to get pregnant to drink organic whole
milk. But it isn’t appropriate on this program.

Don’t worry; I won’t leave you without any options. You can use unsweetened
rice milk during Phase 1, and you can use unsweetened
almond milk or unsweetened
coconut milk during Phase 3. No milks of any kind are allowed during Phase 2, but it’s only two days out of the week. You can handle it.

Sorry, soy lovers. It’s true that non-
GMO tofu, edamame, and tempeh can be healthy foods, especially if you don’t eat animal protein, but not when you are trying to heal your metabolism. Soy is estrogenic in nature, meaning it contains plant
estrogens that are close to the estrogens your own body manufactures, and I know no other substance more perfectly suited to increase belly fat. Plus, most soy is genetically modified, which makes it harder for your body to break down.

In conventional cattle raising, soy is used as filler in livestock feed to increase the protein ratios cheaply, much the way fast-food restaurants sometimes add soy protein to their hamburgers. The estrogenic effect of soy also causes rapid weight gain: good for livestock bad for you.

I had a client, an actor, who was extremely fit, thin, and healthy. He needed to look like a chronic alcoholic—like he’d been drinking for a week straight, his whole life going out of control. I had 14 days to make him look the part. No problem! I knew just what to do. I fed him a bunch of soy, and in 14 days he looked like he’d been hitting it hard and heavy for years. Soy slows the metabolism, and it doesn’t have a place in your life, at least not for the next 28 days. (Although if you never ate it again, I wouldn’t be upset.)

And don’t worry,
vegetarians—there are plenty of other high-protein, meat-free foods you can eat on the Fast Metabolism Diet. All the meal maps in this book come with
vegetarian options.

There are two exceptions to the no-soy rule:
tamari and
Bragg Liquid Aminos. That’s because these are both extracts from a fermented soy product that doesn’t contain the same estrogenic or bloating factor.

Refined
sugar is a very concentrated source of quick energy, and when the body has too much, when it becomes too readily available, the body has to work extremely hard just to maintain a stable, normal
blood sugar level so you stay conscious and on your feet and alive. This becomes almost impossible in the presence of too much refined sugar because it’s delivered into the bloodstream so rapidly and readily. To get rid of it, the body quickly shuttles it away to the fat cells, where it won’t ramp up the blood sugar any further. It’s a survival mechanism. So when you eat refined sugar, you are basically mainlining the stuff right into your fat cells.

Just 2 teaspoons of refined sugar can inhibit your weight loss for three to four days.
Say you go out to a party and have just one soda or a piece of cake. Say good-bye to weight loss until next week. Even worse, you’ll
crave more
sugar, and you’ll want it
bad.
The most difficult time to avoid sugar is the next few days after eating sugar. There are many animal studies suggesting that sugar is as addictive to the brain and the body as cocaine.

Refined sugar also has a suppressive effect on your
immune system.
Just 2 teaspoons of refined sugar will cut your T-cell count
(the white blood cells that are instrumental in keeping your immune system strong and functioning)
by 50 percent for two full hours after eating,
leaving you more vulnerable to infection and illness.

You might also be interested to know that refined sugar is highly impure. Many
refined sugars are combined with a
glycoprotein, which stimulates sugar to come through the gut wall even faster. What’s more, and vegetarians should take note, they get that glycoprotein from pig’s blood or bone char. The animal ingredients used in the process don’t have to be disclosed, but they are there nonetheless. Yuck. Just get off the stuff … at least for the next 28 days.

It’s important to understand how much caffeine stresses your adrenal glands. Your adrenal glands are very important in regulating blood sugar, keeping your
cortisol (
stress hormone) levels steady, and regulating
epinephrine and
norepinephrine, the so-called fight-or-flight hormones. The
adrenals also help regulate
aldosterone, which controls fat metabolism, and regulate sugar storage and
muscle development.

Caffeine pushes the body past its healthy state of energy, constantly s
tealing from your reserves, leaving you depleted and without resources for when you really need energy. Yes, I realize that
coffee and caffeine have a reputation for decreasing appetite and contributing to weight loss, but the reality is that they only do this for people who are on an extremely low-carbohydrate, low-calorie diet—the kind of diet you’d better stay on forever if you want to achieve your weight loss this way because the minute you start eating normally again, you’ll gain it all back, and more. Those who want to be able to live their lives and eat food are best off ditching the caffeine habit for the next 28 days … and maybe even forever.