I admit it. I got desperate. I followed a magazine cover diet promising me a 10 lb loss in 21 days. But guess what – it worked!
My plan to rock Jillian Micheals’ 30 day shred for the 6 weeks prior to my Caribean getaway was abruptly put to a stop. Thanks to a mini van driver oblivious to his/her surroundings, my road to a bikini-acceptable bod (hey, I’m a realist) I was couch bound for 3 days with back pain and an order to avoid any exercise more exerting than walking. I found comfort in Indian food and Haggan Daz. Two steps back.
After exhausting all my DVR and cable options rapidly, my sympathetic hubby ran out to get me an assortment of magazines. He came back with Oxygen, Robert Kennedy's Women's Fitness Magazine – the spring 2009 edition. Screaming at me from the cover: LOSE 10 LBS FAT ASS (ok, so maybe that’s not verbatim).
After losing a week of shredding with Jillian, and no chance to shred further before the trip, I knew I needed something. But did I have 21 days? No, but I had a couple weeks – 16 days or so. What could it hurt to try a little sensationalized diet plan? I went straight to the article, expecting to find a diet of watercress and otter livers or something. What I found was a really clean plan: 5 to 6 meals a day, good carbs, fruit, fish. I’m in.
The Premise
The plan had three weeks of specifically prescribed food. Very low cal (about 1,100 calories), but all good foods. Plus, there were snacks. Each week has a set menu – yup, the same food every day. I had a busy couple of weeks ahead of me, so I figured it I took food choice out of the equation, I had one less thing to deal with.
Week 1 Menu
Breakfast: Oatmeal & Banana or Orange
Mid-Morning Snack: Apple
Lunch: Chicken, rice, squash
Mid-Day Snack: Celery with Almond Butter
Dinner: Fish, squash, asparagus
Evening Snack: Mixed Berries
No added oils, fats, salt
So I cooked up enough squash, rice, and chicken for the week. With the help of some Penzy’s salt free spice mixes, I got some variety in there. I packed some lunches, stocked up on fish for dinner, and I was diet drama baby. Oh, and more organized about food than I’d been in a long long long time.
The Fantastic
The food was good! Stuff I like to eat, and it made life easy. Plus I wasn’t drained like I am when I cut carbs out. The food actually made sense, was enough, and kept me happy.
The Faults
Eating out isn’t exactly easy when you have a set meal plan. But I wasn’t about to hermitize myself entirely. Enjoy the spring weather with a friend or sit inside to eat my asparagus in the corner? I quickly figured out that I could probably stray from the plan if I just kept my food ‘clean’ – lean protein and veggies. Not too tough.
But, stocking up on foods like fish can be costly. Luckily, my grocery store had some affordable frozen options that were not loaded up with preservatives. Almond butter, however, set me back – wait for it - $11.00!!! That’s no typo: eleven dollars. Sure it’s good, but ELEVEN DOLLARS! I think it’s recommended because it’s slightly lower in saturated fat than natural peanut butter, but only by a gram. An $11 gram of saturated fat.
The Bottom Line
This plan is crazy rigid, but yeah, it works. I’ve lost about 5lbs in a week and a half (and still going). It’s crazy low cal/lowish carb. However, it completely taught me how to enjoy clean eating. I didn’t go with Week 2’s plan. I’m just continuing to keep my meals similar. Oatmeal for breakfast, lean protein/good carb/veggie for lunch, and fish and asparagus for dinner. Plus snacks…I love snacks.
Through this one week, I’ve been able to eliminate artificial sweeteners and caffeine. For real. Without killing anyone. It’s a miracle.
Sure I lost weight, but I wasn’t eating well before that. I went immediately from chowing down like a famine was coming, to eating around 1200 calories a day (I had an extra snack, ok?). I’ll probably keep with the clean eating, but up the calories a bit so when I workout I don’t pass out. All-in-all, I think it's reformed my approach to food. Not too shabby!
If you want the plan in it's entirety, you can order a back issue of Oxygen here. I couldn't find the article online. Drama as usual.
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12 comments:
Amazing results! To keep the weight off, may I suggest looking up raw food recipes to include to your diet to stay healthy? I found some great recipes at http://www.rawpeople.com/?utm_source=A&utm_medium=B&utm_campaign=C
That sounds awesome! I am thinking about doing the South Beach... I wonder if they are pretty similar?
Btw, I tried your recipe for Falafels... YUMMY! I had to use my blender which didn't work out so well. Next time I might need to purchase a food processor, but either way yummm...
http://jessisqueen.blogspot.com
Def. similar to SB. I keep thinking that the program is really like Phase 3 of the program. Glad you liked the falafels!
I will be looking into some raw food recipes - looks great!
The nice thing about that is you don't have to eliminate fruits like on South Beach. I need a jumpstart diet plan to drop some weight quickly. I haven't seen any results from the small changes I'm making, so a quickie loss will help me from getting discouraged and keep me motivated to work out.
oooh, I'm trying this! I think I'll just replace the morning oatmeal with a protein shake with blueberries, but I'm doing the rest! Thank you for sharing it!
This is probably the best post I have read all week that I could really use..do you have the full menu? or was that it? could we use this post on our site? I will have to get that magazine-love your site and you go girl!
Nice article and thanks for sharing your diet. You are really having a great figure. One should think about their diet if they really want what you have.
I am four days into the diet and I have had no problem keeping with it, I also have been having full workouts at the gym and though I have yet to get on a scale I can see that it is working. I didn't follow the no oils or salt though, I use Udo's oil two tablespoons and salt my fish and chicken (past two days). I want to lose as much weight as possible but I need some salt as I sweat heavily at the gym and didn't want my hair and skin to suffer from the lack of healthy oils.
I am curious as to why you didn't follow the 2nd week plan? Too few calories maybe? The jump from 1,360 to 1,050 is drastic but I will try it there way for now (I know I will definitely use this again). This diet is a blessing in disguise...really. Thank you Oxygen!
Look for info on Week 2 coming next week!
hey! i just bought a copy today!
i have a question. how many teaspoon of oil u use in one meal? i mean..when you want to grill the chicken... or do u just grill it dry ?
I used this diet and lost 11 pounds in 3 weeks. I also used fat free salad dressing to marinate my fish and chicken. I also added almonds to my oatmeal and used the banana as the sugar and cinnamon for flavor. This diet is from a book called Turn up the Heat Unlock the Fat burning power of your metabolism by Phillip Goglia.
hey,I'm a subscriber to Oxygen, and that Off the Couch! issue is one I will never get rid of, because of that 21 day diet.. I'm currently doing it right now to lose my fatty layer before summer officially starts. its crazy strickt, but the first time I did it I lost 7lbs in the first 9 days! Talk about motivating! I <3 Oxygen magazine!
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