The good the bad the ugly

My Story

I have been unhappy about my weight most of my life. Never really your typical idea of fat, but not where I wanted to be. At 23 I was 5'5 and 160 lbs, even though I was distributed well, I wasn't happy. I have done every diet out there. Every workout fad, every machine, I mean everything. I was never able to get the weight off or keep it off. I work out on a normal basis, eat well and I am considered healthy by doctors. I was actually at the gym when I heard the radio ad for NutriMost in Solon (Cleveland Oh area) I'm like 20-40 lbs guaranteed? How do they guarantee this? What do I have to lose? I was very skeptical, but really looking for a change. So I went on their website and scheduled a consultation because, why not? So I left the gym and went to their office.

It Begins

I walked into the office, quiet and eyes wide looking for any sign of a scam. Like I said, I have tried everything, and this seemed a bit too good to be true. I was greeted by the lovely receptionist with a charming British accent who signed me in. Here are a few things I noticed; the office was swarming like a beehive. It was clear that business was doing well. There were practicing Chiropractors in the other side of the office, and all of the staff was thin. (I always look at that, if I'm signing up for a Zumba class/personal training and the instructor could clearly lose a few lbs it's probably not worth my time)

One of the women took me back for my initial scan, that is surprisingly in depth. I was showed my print out that read my weight, BMI, body fat%, Visceral fat, water mass, Metabolic age and multiple other factors. As my doctors had told me I was healthy, my visceral fat (the fat around your organs that causes problems) was very low and frankly they were surprised I weighed 160. As are most people when I tell them. The biggest red flag was my Metabolic Age. In a nutshell this is the age at which your body breaks down foods. Mine was 46. So, at the age of 23, I was breaking down my food like a 46 year old. This explained a lot. Over the many years of yo-yo dieting and jumping on every fad that came along, my metabolism was all screwed up. The Doctors explained to me what the program was all about, and basically for the 40 days you lose the weight you are only eating about 500 calories a day. Now, as a skeptic you’d think ‘well yea if you hardly eat of course you’ll lose weight!’ However, I have been on such starvation diets sometimes only eating an apple a day, and I never lost anything close to the 20 lbs advertised, then as soon as I did eat again, I would gain it all back. So I continued listening. He said I would not be hungry, because I would be out on a series of supplements, and my body would be eating the excess fat. Not hungry? That was interesting to me. He explained that they would do a scan to find the top 6 proteins, fruits and veggies that my body utilizes most. During the 40 days I would only be able to eat 2 proteins, 2 veggies and 2 fruits a day. This scan determines what foods my body likes the most. What I found even more interesting was that the foods I ate daily like eggs, turkey, chicken and tilapia, were at the bottom of the list. Otherwise considered 'healthy' foods. My body does best with crab, bison, cod, grouper and a few others. So the doctors explained their guarantee which, btw is not a money-back guarantee, it is a guarantee that one way or the other they will do whatever it takes to get you to lose at the very least, 20 lbs. Whether that means extending the program, or working with you every day instead of once a week, etc. I was not crazy about this, because it cost’s about 2k. (Yea, I know) But I figured what do I have to lose?

The Program

The program is actually a 90 day program, the advertised 40 days is just the hardest part where you lose the most weight. The remaining 50 days is to prevent you from gaining it back. The program is broken down into 6 phases;

Phase 1: Load Phase(Day 1) -This is where you eat basically anything you want, focusing on eating lots of good fats like avocado, coconut oil, almond butter, etc. All while starting a series of supplements.

Phase 2: Reduce Phase(days 2-40) -Or as I like to call it ‘Hell on Earth”

This is the toughest and longest phase of the entire program, but also where you lose the most weight. During this phase you are allowed 500-600 calories a day. No breakfast, just 1 protein, fruit and veggie for lunch and dinner.

Phase 3: (Days 40-43) Not much changes in this phase except you are now out of weight loss drops, but continue on your food plan.

Phase 4: Reset/Retrain Phase (days 44-64) This phase allows you to not only eat a normal calorie range, but you are also permitted to use oils, (thank god I can use my normal deodorant again!) and introduce your body to 2 new foods per day. Mine is almond butter and Champaign (because I f*cking deserve it!) basically during this phase you try these 2 new foods and watch how your body reacts to them. You cannot gain or lose more than 2 lbs during this phase, as you are establishing a new weight set point for your body. You are free to lose more after this phase if you wish, but not during it.

Phase 5: (days 65-85) Reentry Phase: Congrats you can now eat normally again! If you notice a gain of more than 2 lbs you’ll have a ‘steak day’ which is having 2 Tablespoons of coconut oil, no breakfast or lunch and a big steak for dinner with an apple or tomato. I have no idea how this works but it does.

Phase 6: (days 85+) Remain Thin Phase: This is the end. You have successfully reset your metabolism and can eat normally avoiding foods you have identified as your body’s trigger foods. If you ever gain more than the 2 lbs, you can just have a steak day to remind your body of its new weight set point.

Getting through Phase 2:

***Silver linings***

-You are allowed coffee, tea and even wine. I would not survive without these. -You are encouraged NOT to workout (hallelujah)

-There are some pretty awesome recipes I found online to make this more manageable.

One of the things that got me through this was the scale and the cost. Let me explain; Normal diets, you don't see any results it's tempting to cheat or quit altogether. But when you see the scale move down every single day, its motivating! Another factor was cost. When I REALLY wanted some chocolate I'm like 'I paid 2 grand for this shit, I'll be damned if I waste all that money for a momentary craving. Fuck that.' So yes, cost is high but it acts as that much more of a motivator. This diet is very unforgiving, one cheat can completely ruin you. 

Things I couldn’t stand;

-YOU CAN’T EVEN TOUCH OIL. This includes your deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, face wash, hand soap, toothpaste I mean literally everything. Try finding a good lotion that has no oil in it!

-This was probably my biggest annoyance during this program.

Tips that got me through it:

-Flavored sparkling water. Whether it’s Pierre’s, La Croix (my favorite) or Dasani (I wouldn’t recommend this, it has added sodium) you would not believe how this got me through my toughest days. La Croix comes in a million different flavors and completely natural. Something about the bubbles tricks your mind into thinking you’re having a treat.

-Blending my coffee: Not being able to use creamer, I found different flavors of coffee and blending them stevia, cinnamon and a bit of pink salt not only enhanced the flavor, but blending it actually made it creamier and even will briefly change the color mimicking that of adding creamer.

- A support team. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. Don’t post about this on Facebook, you’re always going to have a negative Nancy chime in about how ‘that’s not healthy’ blah blah blah as they sit down to eat their McDonald’s. In this phase you are so vulnerable you need to surround yourself with only positivity and people who are support you. Tune out the haters. Prove them wrong. I am so lucky to have the people in my life that I do. My Boyfriend and my dad were like my cheerleaders. They make the toughest days possible.

The bad and the ugly

The first 10 days is the worst. Headaches and cravings are enough to drive you crazy, especially being so far from the finish line. The headaches are like withdrawal for your body, which makes sense. I was addicted to splenda, sugar and who knows what else. I was never hungry during this diet. That was true. But I cannot even express to you how much I CRAVED chocolate and peanut butter. I shit you not I would bring my friends and family cookies and candies for me to SMELL before they ate it, and then describe it to me. I was legit crazy for a while. I loved smelling what they were eating. They thought I was torturing myself but in reality it helped. It was enough to imagine I was eating these things. For 2 weeks straight I dreamt every night of binge eating donuts, chocolate, cake, ice cream, basically every little Debbie snack out there. I was a mess. But I never cheated. Not once. And that was will power I never knew I had.

Smooth move tea is your friend. There have been weeks that have gone by without a bowel movement, and it makes a difference to be regular. That’s all I’m guna say.

You are going to cry. There will be days you are sitting on the couch and all of a sudden you cry for like 5 seconds and then you’re like ‘I have absolutely no idea what that was’ and days that you feel so miserable you feel like crying or just going to sleep and waking up when its all over. I read the material they gave me over and over and over and over. Just because it gave me something to look forward to.

For me, this was the toughest thing I have ever had to EMOTIONALLY. I have starved myself, I have worked out to the brink of fainting, I have pushed myself to ACTUALLY fainting and this was still the toughest. It forces you to face your demons with what you actually struggle with. I have always struggled with sweets. And through this program I have realized, yes, I want these things, which is fine, but I don’t NEED them. Not on a daily basis at least.

This has been a truly crazy emotional journey for me, as I’m sure it will be for you. But through the tears, and cravings I am on day 39 and I have lost almost 25 lbs. (24.6 to be exact). All of which is clearly fat. Not water, not muscle, but fat. I look more toned, because I had muscle under that fat because of my daily workouts before beginning the diet. I feel amazing and I can’t wait to see what my life looks like 2 months, 4 months, a year from now. I WILL keep this weight off. And I will move forward with a healthier lifestyle. I will continue to post my progress. My goal is to stay between 130-135 lbs. I enjoy being curvy and having a butt (even though my boobs have completely disappeared)

I will keep you posted, I plan on running this blog for the next year to really get a good measure of if this diet is really keeps the weight off. Whether you’re just starting your journey or just looking for support I’m here!!!