Daily Archives: July 10, 2009

Now available on Kindle.

The list below is extracted from my book “Help! My Diet Isn’t Working: Identify & Banish Your Weight Loss Monsters”. If there are some tips that you find difficult then just start with the ones that are easier for you. If this takes care of the problem then you’re home free. If not, then begin eliminating others one by one. When you’re satisfied with your progress you can stop eliminating things or keep going to speed up your weight loss and facilitate a healthier lifestyle.

You’re welcome to ask questions in the Comments about any of the items below. In the book I provide a full explanation for why a certain technique or suggestion is given.

1. Check your diet for hidden refined sugars and ruthlessly eliminate them.
2. Check labels for corn syrup products such as high fructose corn syrup and toss out any that contain these.
3. Caffeinated drinks kick up your blood sugar, switch to decaf.
4. If you’re not exercising at all, or exercising very little, you may need to add some physical activity to your routine to continue losing weight. To raise your metabolism so that you’re burning calories all day long you need to exercise at least 20-30 minutes at an intensity that has you sweating within 7-12 minutes into your workout.
5. Once you reach your goal weight you’ll find it easier to hold at that weight if you consume no more than one 12 ounce beer or one to two 4 ounce glasses of dry wine a day. During weight loss, consuming alcohol on a daily basis can be a huge saboteur. It depresses your metabolism, stimulates your appetite and it’s loaded with high glycemic index calories.
6. Cut back on carrots, potatoes and corn (including popcorn) until you begin to lose again or until you reach your goal weight. These foods all metabolize as sugar.
7. Switch UnDiet plans: try switching to Produce Power for one to two weeks or make it a regular part of your lifestyle by eating Produce Power for one or two days a week.
8. If you’re already doing Produce Power you may be consuming too few calories, so try switching to Protein Blast .
9. If you’re on Protein Blast and have hit a plateau it often helps to switch to eating Fruit in the morning and Veggies and Starches for the rest of the day, completely eliminating Proteins for 3-5 days. When you start losing again go back to your plan of choice.
10. Most chewing gum contains either sugar or aspartame. Eliminate it during weight loss.
11. Re-read all labels looking for hidden refined sugars, aspartame, Nutrasweet and other items.
12. Double check your daily intake to be sure you haven’t strayed from your calorie count, carb count, portion size or whatever measure you’re using for your weight loss.
13. You may be deficient in at least one vitamin or mineral. You should be taking a multivitamin with minerals twice a day, essential fatty acids (especially Omega-3) twice a day, and a daily supplement of Chromium.
14. Be sure that you’ve eliminated trans-fats (margarine and foods with partially hydrogenated oils).
15. Some medications especially heavy duty tranquilizers, many diet pills, long term use of anti-depressants, diuretics, birth control, estrogen, and antibiotics can interfere with your metabolism, thus halting or slowing weight loss.  Check with your doctor to see if any medication(s) you’re taking could be the problem and if there is something else you could take. If you’ve been UnDieting for two or more weeks you might want to ask your doctor to retest you to see if you still need the medication(s) or if you need the same dosage.
16. A thyroid condition can slow or stop weight loss. A simple at home test for a thyroid condition is to take your temperature under your arm within ten minutes of waking up in the morning. An underarm temperature below 97.8 suggests hypothyroidism or hypometabolism. Of course whether you test negative or positive, make sure you check with your doctor.
17. Cut back on, bread, rice, pasta and other Starches until you begin to lose again or until you reach your goal weight.
18. If you’re on the Protein Blast make sure that you’re counting  your carbohydrates correctly. Read labels, write down everything you eat in a day for several days and have a friend check your list for hidden carbohydrates.
19. Diet sodas, diet gelatins, powdered diet drinks and many other prepackaged diet and “sugar free” foods contain aspartame or sucrose which slows or halts weight loss in many people. Substitute non-alcoholic beer which is  a Starch, Arrowhead Fruit-flavored mineral waters (many other mineral waters contain sweeteners & Starches) work with all meal plans, or distilled water with a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice.
20. Don’t use more than 6 tablespoons of heavy cream in your coffee in a day. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but if you’re having trouble losing  weight this could be the culprit.
21. If nothing is working, you may be metabolically resistant. This can occur for many reasons, especially if you are severely overweight and/or have yo-yo dieted in the past. The Fat Blast can be the ticket to kicking you into a downward spiral. The Fat Blast gives you even faster results than total fasting. Isn’t that incredible – you can eat and lose weight faster than when you’re not eating at all! Note: DO NOT stay on the Fat Blast for more than five days.
22. Even “good” sugars like Rapadura, Sucanat, raw unfiltered honey, real maple syrup, date sugar, Sweet ‘N Low … when consumed in too high a quantity can halt weight loss. Try cutting them out for a few days and see if your weight loss resumes. If you still want to use these sugars use them occasionally, not daily.
23. If you do eat sugar try to eat it 30 minutes before or after a meal. Sugar, yes even good sugar, inhibits digestion and we all know what that means – EXTRA POUNDS! This doesn’t include sweeteners that don’t spike your insulin level such as aspartame, Sweet ‘N Low, Somersweet, and others.
24. If you’re having trouble with indigestion try not eating acid Fruits (oranges, tomatoes, lemons, pineapples …) with Proteins. Acid Fruits can hamper Protein digestion and result in putrefaction. Milk and orange juice, while by no means an indigestible combination, is far from a good combination. Orange juice and eggs however are an even worse combination.
25. If you’re having trouble with indigestion try not eating Starches and sugars in the same meal. This combination will produce fermentation in most people.
26. If you’re having trouble with gas and/or upset stomach when eating Fruit try eating melons by themselves, not combining them with other Fruits and foods. This guideline is based on the ease and speed in which melons decompose in the digestive system.
27. Milk is best taken alone or not at all. Milk is the natural food of young mammals; each species producing milk adapted to the needs of its young. The young of each species, including our own, take the milk alone, not in combination with other foods. Milk doesn’t digest in the stomach, but in the duodenum, the result being that when milk is taken the stomach does not secrete digestive enzymes.
28. You may be using too much soy with your Starch meals. Try cutting back or eliminating it from Starch meals.
29. If you’ve been mixing Protein with Starches in small amounts and you’re weight loss has stopped you may be using too much of one food group with the other. Cut down on how much Protein you mix with Starches and vice versa.
30. Make sure you’re eating at least 50% raw foods each day and preferably 80% when trying to lose weight. Also make sure that at least one meal, preferably breakfast is completely live.
31. If you’re eating too many peanut products, which are acid forming and difficult to digest this may have slowed your weight loss.
32. Pre-digest nuts, beans, and grains by soaking in water for thirty minutes before cooking or eating them raw. Discard the soaking water.
33. Make sure dried Fruits and vegetables are sulfur free.
34. Some people find they lose weight easier if they eat Fruit only in the mornings and not any other time of the day unless it’s a Living Foods day.
35. Giving yourself a Living Foods day once a week will jump start your weight loss. Better yet, treat yourself to a Living Foods day 2-3 days a week until you reach your end or mid-weight goal.