Читать книгу The Virgin Diet: The US Bestseller - JJ Virgin - Страница 37

Jenna was a market analyst who routinely worked 12-hour days and rarely took a full day off. She was in her mid-30s, and she was as compulsive about her workout schedule as she was about her diet. She never took a bite she didn’t plan, and she insisted on eating healthy, organic and lean foods. In fact, I would have to say that despite her demanding schedule, Jenna put about as much energy into staying healthy and fit as anybody I’ve ever seen.

Yet, for the past few years, Jenna had been struggling with slow but steady weight gain that didn’t seem to respond to her efforts to step up her workouts or cut back on her occasional treats. By the time I started working with her, she was more than 2 stone 2 pounds over her ideal weight – and just about frantic with frustration.

That was nothing, though, to how she reacted when I told her she would have to cut the 7 high-FI foods out of her diet. She didn’t mind losing the sugar because she had pretty much cut it out anyway, and she was fine with giving up peanuts and corn, which she rarely ate. She could even wrap her mind around cutting out yeast and gluten because she was pretty much avoiding bread, pasta and baked goods already. But when she thought about cutting out her soy-laden protein bars, her low-fat Greek yoghurt, her freshly squeezed juice and her veggie omelettes, I thought she was going to go ballistic. And when I told her that fizzy diet drinks were off-limits, she was literally speechless for 2 minutes.

When she could finally speak, she said just four words: “JJ, are you sure?”

“I am.”

Then she started to bargain with me. “Maybe I could have, like, one protein bar during the day? I don’t think they have much soy – and I really need a high-protein snack I can eat at my desk. And maybe if I’m really good about the other things, I could have yoghurt, like, twice a week? Or maybe three times? Ever since I gained all this weight, yoghurt and berries are just about the only dessert I ever get – and the berries are healthy, right? And maybe as a special treat, I could have, say, one omelette at the weekend, if I don’t use any butter and fry it in a non-stick pan? One omelette – that’s only two eggs a week. I won’t even use the yolks, just the whites! That’s reasonable, right? I mean, moderation in all things, don’t you agree?”

“Look,” I told Jenna, “I know it’s tough to cut out so much, and after 21 days you might be able to add some of these foods, like eggs or dairy, back into your diet. But if you want this diet to work, it’s got to be 100 per cent compliance for the next 21 days. You have to cut out every single one of the top 7 high-FI foods. I’m not talking 99 per cent, I’m talking 100 per cent.”

“But why?” Jenna asked, almost in tears. For a minute, she sounded more like a distressed little girl than the high-powered financial wizard I knew she was.

I explained to Jenna that if she wasn’t struggling with food intolerance, she would certainly have been able to lose her excess weight by now. So I had to assume that she was plagued with leaky gut, inflammation and digestive difficulties and that even small amounts of high-FI foods would make them worse. Jenna’s gastrointestinal tract and her immune system were not functioning properly, and her stubborn weight gain was the result. To heal her body, we had to heal her leaky gut, cool her inflammation and give her immune system a chance to calm down. Even a single bite of egg or a spoonful of yoghurt might be enough to undo all of her efforts.

Jenna reluctantly agreed to follow the Virgin Diet, and for the first 3 or 4 days, it was tough going. Her immune system was used to making antibodies that would zap the dairy, eggs and soy in her system, and now those antibodies were causing her to crave those foods intensely. For those few days, even though she was doing everything right, Jenna actually felt worse.

“Hang in there,” I told her when she called me in despair. “This reaction is a good sign. You wouldn’t be having such a hard time giving up these foods if you weren’t sensitive to them. It’s like with an addict; you know how serious the addiction is based on how tough the withdrawal symptoms are. Your cravings are telling us that we are totally on the right track, so just give it a few more days.”

By the end of week 1, Jenna had started to feel better – especially when she realized that she had lost 7 pounds. By the end of week 2, she surprised herself with how clearheaded and focused she felt. By the end of week 3, she was thrilled to discover that she had lost a total of 10 pounds – and looked younger than she had in years.

Drop the top 7 high-FI foods for 21 days, lose up to 10 pounds or perhaps even more and look 10 years younger. It’s easier than it sounds. And the results are soooo worth it.

The Virgin Diet is a 3-cycle plan. In the first cycle, you cut out all of the top 7 high-FI foods. In the second cycle, you rechallenge your system each week with one of the four most reactive high-FI foods: soy, dairy, eggs or gluten. You might be able to tolerate some or all of these once your system has had a chance to heal, or you might have to let them go, at least for now. Finally, for the third cycle, I’ll show you how to experience these benefits for life. Maintaining your weight and losing weight require different strategies, and I’ll set you up to maintain your healthy diet while you also incorporate the exercise routine and lifestyle habits that are most effective for long-term success. You’ll learn how to periodically check in with your body for food intolerances and why it’s important for your health to eliminate the top 7 high-FI foods once a year.