The Fast Metabolism Diet (17 page)

And take note that vegetables are unlimited for everyone but, if your long tem goal is to lose more than 40 pounds, you need to eat at double the recommended portion of veggies with each meals and snack. Still, no matter how much you have to lose, you can eat as many vegetables as you want. When it comes to vegetables, the more the merrier. They contain all those important enzymes and phytochemicals that encourage fat metabolism, so have at it.

When I tell people the portion sizes for the Fast Metabolism Diet, they tend to get nervous, especially if they have been on extremely calorie-restricted diets in the past. I have to keep reminding them that it takes energy to lose weight, and energy comes from food. So don’t be afraid of these portions. This is your medicine. This is your fuel. As long as it’s phase-specific, and you eat according to the meal map, the food you are eating will increase your metabolism so much that your body will combust all that food and more. Remember, starvation diets conserve fat. Diets that include eating enough real food
burn fat
.

A lot of my clients are more likely to know their goal weights than to know their inches, but I like to take baseline
measurements before my clients begin the Fast Metabolism Diet because measurements are much more about what you are building structurally than a number on a scale. This is why I’m not a fan of the
BMI system of monitoring weight. You can weigh what looks like normal but not have a healthy
body composition—for instance, you might have too much belly fat, even if the rest of you looks thin. Or, you can have a healthy distribution of weight even if you are above the “normal” range on the BMI chart.

That’s why I suggest taking your measurements now, and recording them here. Take four:

As you go through the 28 days of the Fast Metabolism Diet, monitor changes in these measurements, which I think are more exciting than any changes on the scale.

If you have dietary restrictions, the Fast Metabolism Diet can look challenging. What if you are
vegetarian, or vegan, or you must eat gluten-free? No problem! There are so many options on this diet that you can easily adapt it to your dietary deal-breakers. Let’s talk about each one individually:

Any of the phases can easily be adapted to a
vegetarian diet, especially if you are willing to eat eggs and fish while you are on the Fast Metabolism Diet. (I know that fish isn’t technically vegetarian, but there are those who will make an exception and maybe you are one of them.) If not, though, for any Phase 1 and Phase 3 recipes that include meat, you can substitute ½ cup cooked
legumes, like lentils, black beans, white beans, or any other phase-specific bean (or instead substitute in any phase-specific fish).

Phase 2 is the most challenging for vegetarians because it is the low-carb phase, and we aren’t eating
soy or soy-based products on this diet; but as long as you are willing to eat eggs and fish, you should be fine for those two Phase 2 days. Your food choices will be more limited, but it’s only for two days. If you aren’t willing to eat fish or eggs, see the section that follows on following the plan if you’re vegan.

It’s easy to be vegan during Phases 1 and 3 because you can always substitute legumes for meat in any recipe. However, Phase 2 is more challenging. Protein-rich legumes and grains are just too high in carbohydrates for Phase 2. That’s why, as vegans, you get to break
one rule.
Just one. The soy rule.

Normally, I forbid
soy on the Fast Metabolism Diet because of its plant estrogens and also because of how processed and genetically modified it tends to be. However, if you are
vegan, I don’t want you to feel like you can’t do this diet. Therefore, during Phase 2, you may replace any meat with any of the following (but no other soy products):

Cook the tofu without fat and grill or bake it yourself, rather than buying pre-baked tofu, which is more processed. Your weight loss might slow down somewhat, but you can still eat low-carb for those two Phase 2 days if you stick to these three options. But remember, during Phase 1 and Phase 3, you have to follow the rules just like everybody else: and that means
no soy.

Gluten-free is easy on the Fast Metabolism Diet because wheat, the main source of gluten in most people’s diets, is already off the menu. However, there are a few gluten-containing products in the recipes and on the shopping lists. Don’t eat them.
Sprouted-grain bread and products containing spelt, barley, kamut, farro, durum, bulgur, rye, triticale, or semolina
all contain gluten
, so avoid those. Conventional oatmeal also contains gluten.

Instead, use gluten-free oatmeal (check the package—it must be processed differently to avoid contamination from wheat) and any of the gluten-free grains. These include:

And when using the recipes, simply substitute a gluten-free grain for whatever grain is off the meal map for you. For example, if a recipe includes barley, replace it with brown rice or quinoa. All of the gluten-free grains above are on the food list for Phase 1.

What kind of eater are you? Picky eaters may not like every recipe in this book, and they might not like every item on the grocery lists, but as long as you follow the phase-specific meal map and eat from the phase-specific list (even if you only like a few things), you’ll be fine. Just be sure you eat the designated number of grains, proteins, fruits, vegetables, and fats for each meal in each phase, and never skip a meal or snack. Other than that, the food choices are up to you.

Maybe you like to eat exactly the same thing every day. No problem! Even if you have the same breakfast every day during Phase 1, that’s still only eight breakfasts in a month that are the same. You’re still getting plenty of variety. Or maybe you get bored easily and you like to change it up. No problem. Make something new every day, if that’s what you prefer.

You don’t like any of my recipes? (I don’t really believe you because I think they’re fantastic.) So use your own recipes, if you prefer. I promise not to be offended. As long as you adhere to the meal map and your current phase list, the diet will still work.

Some of my clients have
families and have to cook for a spouse, partner, and/or children. One of the great things about Fast Metabolism is that it’s
full of real food most people like, so chances are your family will eat what you are eating. Many of the recipes in this book serve four or six, so if you have a family to feed, share your delicious meal. It’s a healthy way to eat for anyone—man, woman, or child. My children love the recipes in this book and were eager taste-testers while I was perfecting them.

However, if you know your family won’t like the foods you are eating, you don’t have to be a short-order cook. Just do what many of my clients (and I) do: spend a day cooking for the weeks ahead. Because of the way the diet is set up, it’s easy to cook four weeks’ worth of meals at a time. Portion out chili, stews, rice bowls, and oatmeal into individually sized
freezer containers, mark with the appropriate phase, and stack them in your freezer. Then, you can make dinner for your family and if it doesn’t conform to your phase, all you have to do is defrost an appropriate meal for yourself.

Some people love to cook and some people avoid the kitchen at all costs. The Fast Metabolism Diet is an ideal diet for foodies and people who love to cook because the recipes are interesting (but easy), flavorful, and fun to make. If you don’t like to cook, dread cooking, fear any diet that requires it, then we need to talk.

One of the most important ways to get your metabolism back on track and burning fat again is to get back to real food. You remember food—that stuff in the produce aisle, behind the meat counter, and
not
partitioned and packaged up in a frozen box? Eating real food is
so important
for the repair process we have to accomplish. I really want you to take a leap of faith with me and try cooking.

The great news is that you don’t have to cook very much. The recipes in this book make a lot of food, and they are specifically designed so you can make a meal and then pack up and freeze multiple additional meals (label them by phase and put them in the freezer and you’re ready to go). Then, when that phase comes around again, all you have to do is take your container out of the freezer, heat it up, and voilà! Convenience food that
just happens to be home-cooked and full of the intense nutrition this program requires.

Foodie or not, cooking savvy or not, cooking ahead like this will save you a lot of time and aggravation. In fact, I rely heavily on my
freezer, as well as my three slow cookers and my stockpot. Sometimes I’ll have four different recipes going at the same time. It’s a nice way to spend a Sunday, if you like to cook the way I do. But even if you don’t, let me assure you again that these recipes are easy. No fancy techniques. They mostly involve chopping some things and putting everything together in a pot or slow cooker, then letting it cook until it’s done. Plus, you can console yourself, knowing you won’t have to cook anything else for weeks.

Week One requires the most cooking, but again, you’ll make enough to carry you through future weeks. Some of my clients like to cook for the whole 28 days at once, and this is not so hard to do. Or, just cook when you have time, and pack up the leftovers. Then, all you have to do is deal out your meals like a deck of cards (unless family members pilfer your frozen meals because they taste so good—that happens to me all the time).

Worth noting is that, of course, you don’t have to cook ahead. If you love to cook and you have time to prepare all your meals from scratch before
you eat them, then go for it! But time can be a problem, even for those of us who like to cook. Cooking ahead helps with the time factor, too. But again, work to your preferences and needs; if you don’t want to, you don’t have to cook a bunch of meals at once. Maybe you have time to make dinner one evening, so you make chicken stew. Make extra, enjoy it, and freeze the rest. Always keep thinking about how you can make future meals easier. Do it the way it works in your life. But please don’t fear cooking. It’s crucial to your health and the metabolic changes we’re instigating. You can do this!

Cooking is a small price to pay for restored health and the body of your dreams. Home-cooked food is the most nutritious, so it feeds your body with what it needs to work better. It also has the pleasant side effect of making you, and your family, feel nurtured and healthy. So get cooking, crocking, simmering, baking, no matter what your style!

Finally, let’s talk about
exercise. The Fast Metabolism Diet is designed to include three days of exercise per week:

That means you can do the treadmill or spin class during
Phase 1, a Body Pump class during Phase 2, and your Vinyasa or Bikram yoga class during Phase 3. If you don’t belong to a gym, you can take a brisk walk or run around the neighborhood during Phase 1. During Phase 2, you can lift
weights at home, even if you just have a set of dumbbells. During Phase 3, do a yoga or stretching DVD, or check out some of the great deep-breathing
exercises on YouTube. Just remember: Don’t mix and match your exercises. They are phase-specific, too, like your food lists.

If you haven’t been exercising at all, the three days is all you have to do.

What if you are an exercise fanatic? I’ve had clients tell me, “But I go to spin class
every day!
” or “I do Boot Camp class five days a week!”