My January was spent losing weight I’d already lost at the end of last year. Depressing! Oh well, onto February.
In other news, I’m working my way through this book, The Plan, by Lyn-Genet Recitas. I’m going to start outlining some interesting things from the book that I have read, in hopes to not only arrange my thoughts in order but also share with you guys.
So far, here are the interesting points I’ve read:
· Drink your water! (Duh.) – However, she says that you need to drink ½ your body weight in water, no less or more. Deviating either way can show a gain on the scale the next day.
· Stop drinking your water by 7:30! – This was interesting. She claims that any beverage consumed after 7:30 will also show up on the scale the next day.
· There is no real need for snacking.- The body does not need 6+ meals a day. If you eat that many meals, your body will spend its energy on digestion all day instead of focusing on repair and restore. She advocates 3 meals a day with 1 snack. (However she also says eat an ounce of dark chocolate after dinner, which I count as a “snack.” So there is room for argument in her logic here.)
· Sodium is the devil. (Duh.)- Most of us get a lot of our salt from breads.
· Do not exercise more than 4 times a week, and only for 30 minutes a day. – This is quite controversial. Per the book, exercise doesn’t burn most of our calories – it is when we are sleeping or sitting around that our body expends most of its calories repairing. Excess exercise puts strain and stress on the body, which will likely lead to inflammation.
I’ll admit – I’m a little interested in this book. It has a STRICT 20 day plan that you have to follow to discover your “reactive” foods. I am still on the fence about starting it – it takes a lot of prep, a lot of time, and a lot of patience. All of which I am slim on these days.
I'll go into her lengthy theory about inflammation (all kinds) and weight gain later. Happy Weekend!
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ReplyDeleteGonna disagree with several points. Mainly : sodium *is* a necessary nutrient. It is true that many of us put salt on way too many things and eat a ton of processed foods that are high in sodium, but trying to eliminate it altogether is not a good idea. The link between sodium and high blood pressure/heart disease has been all but refuted as well. Yes, if you're a sedentary fattie, you don't need salt on your fries. If you're a gym rat who puts in 90 minutes of weights and cardio and sweats out all your electrolytes, you do need to replenish sodiu. On that subject: Two hours of moderate exercise a week is useless. I do stop drinking by 8PM but that's because I don't want to wake up to pee at 2AM. ;) I lost my weight and maintain my loss eating every 3-4 hours. The main thing is that every body is really different; for instance, I totally appreciate the science behind Intermittent Fasting, but my body does not...I perform like shit trying to work out on an empty stomach, and low blood sugar leads to a growling stomach, stupid cravings, and a desire to gorge...for ME. An across-the-board generalization of how every person regardless of sex, age, size, medical conditions, hormones, etc. "should" schedule their eating is really not warranted.
ReplyDeleteMy 25 cents... ;)
That is what I found interesting, here she is touting the fact that foods react different to each person's chemistry and you can't generalize it - yet she goes on to generalize that everyone needs to eat 3 square meals a day. At one spot she claims broccoli is a reactive food, yet it is included in the 3 day "detox" portion.
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DeleteI just don't do well following other people's plans. I am the worst at challenges so have quit signing up for them. There is something in me that rebels I guess. As in your last post I do love reading books like this because I usually do get something out of them. I will be looking forward to reading about inflammation. Take care.
ReplyDeleteYeah I don't know that I agree with some of her stuff either.
ReplyDeleteThe stop drinking at 7:30pm or else it will show up on the scale? So stinking what?! It's water...it will be peed out eventually. That makes no sense unless you are putting way too much power in the scale number every.single.day. Over time the scale will go down.
Exercise doesn't help with weight loss. Bullchit. I can eat 1,600 cals a day, and only walk for 30 minutes 4 days a week and lose next to nothing. If I eat 1,600 cals a day and do a high intensity workout 6 days a week, burning atleast 600 cals on those days I will always see a much larger loss. I've seen this over and over in my own experiments.
And I'm with Norma...if I hike for 6+ hours, or workout for 2 hours on some days I have to replace my sodium or else I feel awful.
We each find what works for us, and girl you already know what works, but if you want to experiment with her methods that is totally up to you. You may find a few things she says that work wonders for you. Goodluck!
I want to see what she has to say about inflammation. I keep reading it's responsible for most of the diseases we get. I totally agree re the eating every few hours. Norma is a different person, never deviates from good food no junk, but I believe most people who eat every few hours are eating three good meals plus a ton of calories in snacks and it's just too much food unless you work out for several hours seven days a week.
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing about what this book says. It has further convinced me that there are so many different theories and so many different ways to address them. I have been reading about inflammation and the damage that it does...but the recommendation of what to do has been different. (It is much closer to what Norma said above.)
ReplyDeleteI find it so maddening that there is so much contradictory information out there. But then I am reminded that people are so different. My sister released weight by eating almost all carbs. When I followed her lead I gained weight (and I had more to release).
When I became a "student of me" I started to see that protein and fats are ok. Carbs not so much. I have read the research about why that works for me and it seems to also explain the health conditions that I had. (PCOS, insulin resistance, etc.)
I think you have said it often...but bears repeating...each person has to figure out what works for him or her and then do it. ;-)
I'm looking forward to reading about the inflammation and the resulting damage...
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of what Norma said in her comment. I think when it comes to figuring out a plan for yourself, I think the bottom line is that you've got to figure out what works best for you.
ReplyDelete1. Lyn Genet never said to cut out salt completely!
Delete2. This is a fabulous way to 'figure out a plan for yourself'.
3. Much thought and understanding have to go into the results on a daily basis; only then can you realize 'your own plan'.
4. I am 64, was somewhat plump, fatigued and achy. I went on The Plan, lost 15 lbs in 18 days and felt 10 years younger. And this was before she published her book.
5. I would .recommend this way of developing 'your own plan'
*Sodium is necessary and Recitas does not demonize it...each day has 1200mg or less.
ReplyDelete*Raw Broccoli is highly reactive, cooked broccoli is not for the majority of people
*Water before 7:30 only applies to the duration of The Plan. The reasoning? It is indeed water weight showing up in the morning. If you drink after 7:30 (or whatever 4hrs before your bedtime happens to be) on a day that you are testing a new food for reactivity you could cause your reaction to the foodt o be unclear.
Some signs of reactivy are weight gain and bloating... Which you will experience if you overhydrate or drink too late in the day. It would suck to test your favorite food and eliminate it from your diet because you mistook water weight for a negative reaction
I've been following The Plan and blogging about it for the last week. I am a believer so far. My insomnia and subsequent chronic napping have disappeared along with other health issues.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post. You should do more book reviews.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking about trying the water thing for my Friday weigh-in to see if it makes a difference.
4 workouts a week? That's sort of a tall order. I don't workout daily but close to it. I'm interested to know some of the science behind that.
I just started yesterday (2/17) and am very excited. Really flavorful food!!! Regarding "strict 20 days", I found this on her website (on the tips for book readers section)...
ReplyDelete"Can’t do all 20 days at once?
You don’t NEED to do all 20 days at once- this is something you can do your whole life! Remember this is gathering data. The more data you have, the healthier and leaner you are.
If you can get through the first six days THAT would be incredible. You’ll reduce inflammation and gather some really important info that can inform you every day decisions!
After that try to take 2-3 days a week to “plan’. Want to concentrate on testing? Use the even numbers after day 6 to test the foods you love- days 8 bread,10 a new protein, 12 a new vegetable etc.
Want to lose inflammation, let your body heal (and oh yes lose weight too!)? Great, stay with the odd numbered days after day 6 and you’ll start to get healthier and leaner- you would use days 7,9,11 etc."
This info helped lower my stress level about keeping up with "the plan."
I am starting The Plan tomorrow. Thanks for sharing your thoughts...similar to mine. And I loved reading through the comments.
ReplyDeleteI started the plan 3 weeks ago, and although it is a challenge, it is absolutely worth it. I have lost 9 pounds so far, just by changing the foods I eat, with no exercise. I will incorporate exercise soon but I wanted to get through the first 20 days first. There is sodium in the plan, but not the amounts that most people are used to eating on a daily basis. I have more energy now, have little to no cravings, and I feel GREAT. I'm looking to lose 15 more pounds, and hopefully it will be as easy as the first 9. The first week was very hard for me, you just have to get through it and think of your goals. It helps that my boyfriend was doing this with me as well. It does take a lot of prepping and planning, so not sure how strict I will follow the book's recipes after 25 days (the other 5 are for your own testing) but I will not go back to eating all the other junk I have been eating, especially since I see the scale go down every day. Good luck to all of you!
ReplyDeleteYou really do need to read the book a few times. The Plan is actually you figuring out you. Talk to any allergist and they will tell you that food does affect people. And different foods affect different people. This makes you find out wha works for you.
ReplyDeleteI started the Plan this last weekend, just to lose 10-12 lbs, that I gained last fall, recovering from surgery. I've always eaten pretty well, and much of what the book says, I've followed for years. Eat the real food, avoid anything in a bag, a box, or a can. Anyway, I've been on the first 3-days, but today I had to go out with co-workers to Panera Bread. I had the most innocuous item, All-Natural Chicken Soup (150 calories) & bottled water. Within the hour afterwards, my stomach was churning, bloated, and has continued throughout the afternoon. I just checked the Panera site for nutritional numbers & that damn soup was over 1300 mg. sodium! Lesson learned...
ReplyDeleteA co-worker and I started the plan almost a month ago .WE feel AMAZING!! I have struggled with eating foods for many years. The thought of eating had become something that wasn't enjoyable any more. After reading the above posts I had to comment. For all of you that are trully in a bad way this plan will work for you. Some of you like to talk about doing it but never really like to put the work in to it. You will look for any little reason why not to try something, instead of just doing it!! If you stick to the plan 100% it can change your life. It has changed my life.I enjoy all kinds of foods for the first time in many years!!!!
ReplyDeleteI've finish 15 days on The Plan and have lost 5 lbs (with 6 more to lose). Six of those days I've gained between .1 to .4 lb,and the rest I've lost weight. I keep a detailed daily spreadsheet with morning weigh-in, temperature, plan menu day, test foods, reaction, exercise, deviation from menu, etc. When I go back and check, on 4 of those 6 weight gain days I exercised. I now know that exercise causes slight inflammation, skewing the morning weight which I'm counting on to judge if I'm reactive to a food. Another of those days, I powered down my last 16 oz of water at 7:30pm. So it's very possible I've only had one reactive day. It doesn't go as smoothly as the book says; you need to do some detective work which is why it's important to keep a very detailed daily log so that you can try to figure out what is going on and see patterns. Even the size of portion of animal protein makes a difference. I'm following The Plan, 50% for stubborn weight loss and 50% for heath benefits. I'm already off of my nightly muscle relaxers previously needed to get any sleep because of back and neck pain. I have suspected inflammation to be the route of most of my health issues for awhile now. I actually feel fantastic, have lots of energy, and am never hungry between meals. I've decided not to do any more exercising other than walking until I have 30 days completed. By then I should have lost the weight and have a fairly good list of friendly foods to work with. I hope this post helps someone else.
ReplyDelete..as a post-script on the March 17th posting above:
ReplyDeleteI have been stuck within a one pound range for the last 6 days (in which time I exercised twice and drank a ton of water late once, so 3 gain days, 3 loss days). As frustrating as this is, I still lost inches.
I finished The Plan about a week ago. I feel great and lost 20lbs in 24 days... I didn't exercise the whole time- and I wasn't hungry. I have started to lightly exercise recently, and I have noticed a stall in weight lose, but I think it will continue once my body gets used to the Pilates and Weight training. I highly recommend The Plan. People shouldn't criticize it if they haven't done it.
ReplyDeleteToday is Day 13 for me and I am down 9lbs. I am so excited. It has been difficult cooking separate meals for me and my family. You really have to love vegetables and be open minded about this Plan. The other night I didn't want to eat dinner. I was still full from lunch and snack but I forced in the remaining food. I felt sooo full, like I had gorged. And with all the water I could hardly move! But... my weight was down a pound the next day! Also, I have not been working out.
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ReplyDeleteYou understand a whole lot its almost hard to argue with you (not that I really would want to…HaHa).
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Like others have said, the plan is different for each individual. I've lost 12# so far, I discovered eggs and almonds are not my friends. Neither is wheat--which I already knew and have been on GF diet for 4 years, but I was game for the challenge. I'm sure I could lose another 10 lbs if I could go past day 10, but too many spring functions on weekends...
ReplyDeleteMy hubby and I both have lost combined 24#. I've discovered that wine and steak make me lose weight :)