If you want to know how people like Heidi Klum go from having a baby to getting back on the Victoria's Secret Runway in only a few months, get this book. There are celebrity endorsements from Linda Evangelista, Liv Tyler, and Faith Hill.
The scary part: the workout is challenging for the inshape (I say that having previously completed a marathon) and the diet sounds completely undoable until you try his delicious recipies. It's a no ABCDEF diet: No Alcohol, Bread, starchy Carbs, Dairy, Extra Sweets (including artificial), bad Fats or Fruits. Make no mistake about it, it's very strict.
The bad part: Kirsh doesn't do a great job convincing you of how absolutely yummy the recipes are. He does explain, in detail, that yes, this is a crash diet. And yes, he HATES crash diets too, for you hateful nutrition nuts. But the fact is it's human nature for people to put off treating their body right until about 3 weeks before an event. It's just the way people are. And if he can create a plan that works, that also makes people feel better, and then teach people to slowly transition into a healthier maintenance plan, more's the better.
This diet pushes you to eat small protein-based meals of egg whites, turkey bacon, chicken, or fish and vegetables at 7 am, 10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, and 7 pm. Salt is not restricted. You can have a tablespoon of olive oil mixed as salad dressing once per day. A serving of 7-10 almonds once per day. He recognizes that all of this cooking is painful, and (helpfully?) suggests whey protein shakes to be substituted for two meals a day to ease the burden. Conveniently, they can be purchased directly from his website.
I hate whey protein shakes. I think they taste chalky. Luckily, there are tons of extremely yummy recipes, and I don't mind cooking. From the end of the first day I feel better, but the herbal and green tea he suggests doesn't solve my Diet Coke cravings. I alter the program to 1)include Diet Coke and Crystal Lite, despite all his warnings about the effects of artifical sweetenters on insulin and fat storage; 2)decide I need more salad dressing than that and make mine 2 tablespoons of olive oil; and 3)decide it is a waste of my expensive omega eggs to just throw out the yolks and that I will use one whole egg and two egg whites every morning. Also, I am too lazy to measure meats so I eyeball everything, I use one chicken breast per meal, etc. I also am in the habit of eating until I am full so I often throw extra veggies in the pan. I figure the few extra calories are worth not getting so hungry I will later make a run for ice cream or chocolate. Usually I can't finish half a plate full of the meal anyway and the recipes are fantastic.
I haven't exercised at all except for walking the dog: a medication I am on throws off my balance, and I am feeling lazy. My lazyness is the result of a long-term illness, not this diet.
The miracle: despite all my bending diet rules and not exercising, in just the first 8 days I have so far lost 14 pounds! Woo hoo!
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