The Plan

These guidelines are adapted from recommendations from a licensed nutritionist, but are NOT medical advice. Consult a medical professional prior to making any drastic change in your diet or activity level. 

This plan is supposed to help instill better eating habits and jump start the metabolism. The idea is to follow these guidelines strictly for 42 days. After that time, you can use what you’ve learned during the 42 days to help make better food and exercise choices. I have counted calories/points with several different plans, and, while I sometimes saw results at first, they weren't permanent and they didn't TEACH me anything. This plan is as much of an education as it is a weight-loss plan.

THE PLAN

Do not consume: 

• Sugar (honey and agave syrup are ok, but be reasonable!) - be very careful to avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup (aka Corn Sugar) 
• Food/beverages with sugar added*. 
• Butter - Cook only with olive oil (or other vegetable oil) 
• Cream-based things (such as creamy salad dressings, sour cream, half-and-half, mayo, soft cheeses like Brie and cream cheese, etc) –yogurt is OK because the active cultures aid digestion, and harder cheeses (swiss, parmesan, etc) or pungent cheeses (gorgonzola, etc) are ok because the fat content is lower and you don’t tend to eat as much. 
• Wheat (not necessary to go entirely "gluten free," unless you have a gluten intolerance/sensitivity
• Alcohol 

*the nutritionist said fake sweeteners are ok, but we don’t eat them because they are synthetic and can trick your brain into craving more sweets. 

Limit:

• Saturated fats 
• Salt 

Activity:


Exercise in some way every day, first thing in the morning whenever possible.
The nutritionist recommended an hour, but we’ve been doing about 30-50 minutes, and missing about 1 day a week. We started with a Tai Chi video because it wasn’t as intimidating for us. Now, my husband tends to do dance workouts (workout videos and Just Dance for the Wii) and I tend to do Yoga and Pilates (the weight loss ones are the best because they take heavier bodies into account). The Goddess Workout bellydancing videos are amazing (and FUN!) workouts, but I won’t do them if anyone can see me. ;) I learned recently that there are a lot of workout videos on netflix


Results: 
The nutritionist recommended not weighing yourself at all, or just once when you start and once after the 6 weeks is over. She said to take your measurements instead –waist, hips, chest, upper arms, and thighs –every 2 weeks. She also recommended to record a short video of how you are honestly feeling about the plan right when you start and at the end of every week, then watch them all together at the end of the 42 days. We haven’t been doing that, but I’ve been writing my thoughts down.


Some lessons and tips: 

• I have a ton more energy! 
• The above “do not consume” list cuts out most processed foods, which is GREAT! 
• A teaspoon of honey in coffee is richer than a tablespoon of sugar 
• Sweetened soy milk has less calories per ounce than regular 2% cow milk and is great in coffee or tea 
• Bob’s Red Mill’s “Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal” is delicious, especially with a little honey and raisins 
• Morning workouts = more energy and lower appetite throughout the day, though for the first few days it was HARD to get up that early! 
• Scales are not as accurate as they’d like to think – the number can fluctuate by just moving the scale or stepping on a slightly different part of the scale! If you must weight yourself, don’t do it more often than once/week. 
• Download a free weight tracker on your smart phone, if you have one (I use Libra, though Noom and MyFitnessPal are great if you want to track your food and exercise, too). 
• Drink lots of water (add a little lemon juice, if you prefer) or tea (which you can sweeten with a little honey, if you like,though if you get sweeter herbal teas, you don’t have to add anything!) 
• Ready-made polenta (in tubes), sliced and sautéed in a little olive oil until the edges are crispy are DELICIOUS, especially with an egg for breakfast! Just don’t eat a whole tube at once. ;) 
• We made a big calendar chart for our fridge to write our measurements and exercise on. It’s a good reminder when we go to the fridge out of habit instead of hunger. 
• Reducing sugar intake reduced my sugar cravings dramatically! 
• To soften the drastic change in our diet, we instituted “Bacon Day” –we get a 0.8 pound package of uncured bacon for our 5 person family to share every two weeks –it’s about 2-3 pieces each, depending on how much the kids eat. And it's enough! 
• Get all of the stuff on the “do not consume” list out of the house as much as possible. 

Around day 2 or 3, I realized I had ZERO perspective on what I was eating and my lack of exercise. I honestly didn’t think I was doing that bad when I ate treats every day (often more than once a day!), and exercised MAYBE a few times a month. And I just “couldn’t understand” my weight. My justification was that I wanted to enjoy life, not be restricted. I have come to the realization (as many have) that this is not how I want to enjoy life. I want to be around longer for my kids and family. I want to have the energy to do the things I want to do, like travel after the kids are out of the house. And I don’t want to be stuck shopping at plus size stores anymore.