Tuesday, December 17, 2013

The Diet That Changed My Life

Here is the diet plan for the 2-Week Rapid Weight Loss Plan that I just completed. It is easy and should work for anyone. I lost 12 pounds and 5 inches on my waist in the 2 weeks! 

Here are all the details:

NOTE: PEOPLE WITH UNDERLYING GI CONDITIONS, PREGNANT WOMEN, AND PEOPLE ALREADY ON A DIET RECOMMENDED BY A PHYSICIAN SHOULD NOT DO THIS DIET

WHAT YOU CAN EAT
-WAKEUP: Start day with cup hot water ½ lemon
-BREAKFAST SMOOTHIE: (see recipe)
-GREEN TEA
-MEAT: only one serving of meat (3-6 oz of chicken, turkey or fish) per day
-CARBS: ½ cup of cooked brown rice a day (otherwise no carbs/starches)
-FATS: good fats in moderation (olive oil, avocado okay)
-DAIRY: 1 cup of Greek yogurt per day as an afternoon snack (otherwise no dairy)
-VEGETABLES: unlimited low-glycemic vegetables (see list)
-DETOX VEGETABLE SOUP: drink all day long as much as you want (see recipe)
-OPTIONAL SNACK: 100% organic whey protein (1 teaspoon diluted in 16 ounces of water)

OTHER THINGS TO DO
-Take probiotic in the morning
-Take a multivitamin (preferably ½ in the morning & ½ at night)
-Detox bath every night (soak with 2 cups Epsom salt & 1 cup baking soda) 

WHAT YOU NEED TO ELIMINATE
-No meals between 8pm-8am
-No caffeine (ONLY green tea)
-No alcohol
-No white foods, corn or potatoes
-No artificial sweeteners
-No additional exercise

LOW-GI VEGETABLES
Artichokes
Artichoke hearts
Asparagus
Bamboo shoots
Bean sprouts
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cauliflower
Celery
Cucumber
Daikon
Eggplant
Leeks
Lentils
Beans (green, kidney, garbanzo)
Greens (collard, kale, mustard, turnip)
Mushrooms
Okra
Onions
Pea pods
Peppers
Radishes
Rutabaga
Squash
Sugar snap peas
Swiss chard
Tomato
Water chestnuts
Watercress
Zucchini
Cabbage (green, bok choy, Chinese)
Salad greens (chicory, endive, escarole, iceberg lettuce, romaine, spinach, arugula, radicchio, watercress)

SHOPPING LIST (TO START)
-Rice protein powder (package with at least 28 servings—28 tablespoons)
-Whey protein powder (small container)
-1 ¾ cups ground flaxseeds
-3 ½ cups brown rice
-1 bottle olive oil (about1L)
-Balsamic vinegar (or other preferred vinegar) for salad dressing
-Green tea
-Epsom salt
-Baking soda

SHOPPING LIST (EACH WEEK BUY)
-4 lemons4 lemons
-56 oz frozen berries
-4 bananas
-2 quarts unsweetened vanilla almond milk
-4 avocados
-7 plain 2% Greek yogurts (6oz serving size)
-1 ½ lbs chicken, turkey, or fish combined

SHOPPING LIST (DETOX VEGETABLE BROTH)
4 large onions                       8 carrots
4 cups winter squash           8 celery stalks
2 cups cabbage                  Dried ginger
8 cloves whole garlic          Sea salt, to taste
4 cups root vegetable (any of the following: turnips, parsnips, rutabagas)
8 cups chopped greens (any of the following: kale, parsley, beet greens, collard greens, chard, dandelion)
(Or you can buy boxed broth from the grocery (5 quarts of low-sodium, organic vegetable broth)


RECIPES
Breakfast Smoothie
·         2 tablespoons rice protein powder
·         2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
·         ½ cup frozen berries
·         ½ banana
·         1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk 


Vegetable Broth
For every three quarts of water add:
·         1 large onion, chopped
·         2 carrots, sliced
·         1 cup of winter squash cut into large cubes
·         1 cup of root vegetables: any of the following:  turnips, parsnips, and rutabagas for sweetness
·         2 cups of chopped greens:   any of the following:  kale, parsley, beet greens, collard greens, chard, dandelion,
·         2 celery stalks
·         ½ cup of cabbage
·         4 ½-inch slices of fresh ginger
·         2 cloves of whole garlic (not chopped or crushed)
·         Sea salt, to taste
Add all the ingredients at once and place on a low boil for approximately 60 minutes. It may take a little longer. Simply continue to boil to taste.
Cool, strain (throw out the cooked vegetables), and store in a large, tightly-sealed glass container in the fridge.
Heat gently and drink up to 3–4 cups a day.
Makes: 2 quarts or 8 cups
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes
The Vegetable Broth - I bought the Pacific brand low-sodium, organic vegetable broth. It was not so great, but I forced it down. If you can make your own vegetable broth, it will be better. But it's cheaper to buy the broth. When I had a hard time drinking the broth, I added the brown rice and some veggies to it and made a soup. Slightly better, but not my favorite thing.

The Detox Bath - Ok, if you are a bath person, you will have a better time with this than I did. I hate baths and had to force myself to do this. If you google detox baths, it says you need to stay in the tub for 40 minutes. But A) who has the time; B) there is no hot water after about 5 minutes; C) who wants to sit in tepid dirty water with nothing to do; and D) why...just why! If you can do it, more power to you and kudos.

The No Additional Exercise - That doesn't really make sense, although it shows you that you can lose the weight without exercise. Of course, exercise is a key to a healthy life. And if you exercise while doing this, you will lose more weight.

I have to say, I am not hungry eating this way at all. It is a huge change from the fast food, take-out, diet soda addicted life I was living just 3 weeks ago! Since starting this, I sleep better, have better concentration, and all around feel great! I am no longer looking at this as a diet, but as a lifestyle change. That is what will keep me on the right path. Let me know how you do and any questions you may have. 

I will post some recipes as I make them. Having support is another key to living a healthy life. I believe you can do this and I will help you in any way I can! 

3 comments:

Catherine said...

Thanks for typing all this out. I've been following your progress was very interested to know the exact diet :) I have incorporated many of these things in my own diet in the past, so this makes a lot of sense. I did want to tell you what I know about the "no additional exercise" bit. This diet is set up to help your body detox, so that frequently exhausts people. So you are supposed to take it easy and relax. If/when you are feeling energetic, I imagine it would be OK to exercise, but I would suggest taking it easy and laying off if exhaustion hits or you don't feel good while/after exercising.

cathyj said...

Thank you so much for sharing this. Once I can get out of the house (snow---ugh!), I"m going grocery shopping!

Leala said...

Thanks Catherine! That makes a lot of sense!

Cathy - I'm restarting tomorrow. With the snow & ice here, a little bout of depression, and emotional eating, I derailed for 2 weeks. I'm back on track now & looking forward to feeling awesome again!

Let me know if you have any questions about it. I will get back to blogging about it this week. I've lost 18 pounds & 6 inches off my waist & look forward to losing more. It works!