Diet! Now Medifast-free

The following is an old email I sent to friends and family that I'm going to start doing.

Here are some notes and tips on a Medifast-free version of my diet. There are a lot of things I had to substitute especially for the jump-start diet.

Regardless of detoxing or being on the jump-start diet, you should do the following all the time.

• Weigh yourself only ONCE a week. It must be at relatively the same time and exactly the same day. This will be your “Start” day. Do not weigh yourself throughout the week as it will be false. Avoid exercising 24-hours before your weigh-in.
• Exercise each week. For the first week start off small and increase in 15 minute increments. Do not start with a number you don’t normally do. So if you don’t exercise at all, I suggest exercising for only 15 minutes for the entire first week. After each week, that you successfully complete your minutes for, add on 15 minutes (15, 30, 45, 1hr, etc.) for the new week. So obviously if you already exercise for 30 minutes each week, start there and add the 15 minutes for each week following. 
• If you are still hungry after recently eating, drink lots of water and continue drinking water until you are satisfied (not bloated!).
• Record your meals whether you cheat or not. You do not have to record times. Just Meal 1, Meal 2, etc.
• Find a friend that will help you. Call them, hang out with them, etc. Ask them to be your councilor and ask questions about your successes and slip-ups. Speaking of both the positives and negatives to someone helps you gain confidence in yourself.

Detox

I suggest detoxing first. Which is the following…

Besides taking 1 “serving” of fiber ‘vitamins’ and omega-3 (fish-oil) do the following…

• Day 1 & 2
• 4 servings of whole grains (not whole wheat)
• 4 servings of fruit (no bananas or grapefruit)
• 4 servings of vegetables (any!)
• 64 ounces of distilled water (not filtered or spring)

• Day 3 & 4
• Detox mixture
• 8 ounces of 100% Grade A pure maple syrup
• 64 ounces of distilled water (not filtered or spring)
• 8 ounces of PURE lemon juice (Minute maid frozen lemon concentrate is your best bet)
• 64 ounces of distilled water (not filtered or spring)

• Day 5 & 6
• 4 servings of fruit (no bananas or grapefruit)
• 4 servings of vegetables (any!)
• 16 ounces of a protein shake (I had to improvise here because you’d have a Medifast shake. Try to find something that has protein and other beneficial stats)
• 64 ounces of distilled water (not filtered or spring)

• Day 7
• 4 servings of fruit (no bananas or grapefruit)
• 4 servings of vegetables (any!)
• 16 ounces of a protein shake (I had to improvise here because you’d have a Medifast shake. Try to find something that has protein and other beneficial stats)
• 4 servings of whole grains (not whole wheat)
• 64 ounces of distilled water (not filtered or spring)

Only detox every 4 months or more. Be prepared for the first time to be somewhat sick and don’t be surprised if your bowel movements are different from normal. If you are having painful ones, lay off the grains and fiber.

The Jump-Start Diet.

I HIGHLY suggest that you start with only one bullet point at a time for each week and work yourself little by little. Baby steps are the key to helping you develop habits. Jumping into the diet head-first will most likely cause you to hit rock-bottom within one month and you'll abandon the diet. If you take more than one bullet point at a time you are being impatient and patience is the key to success for losing weight. Don't look ahead at what you want to lose in terms of weight. Each week consider losing anything a success, because in fact, it is.

Finish up your bottle of fiber tablets. Don’t buy another. You’ll start again with those at the next detox. Continue taking the recommended amount of omega-3 (fish-oil) and I recommend taking acai but it is not a big deal.

• 64 ounces per day of water.
• You may only have up to 24 ounces of zero or low-calorie drinks (soda, tea, etc.) per day.
• You may only have up to 3 servings of condiments/sauces per day. Mainly this refers to salt and salty type sauces such as ketchup and curry sauce. It is best however to just consider any condiment unsafe to have large servings of. Although types of pepper and other spices like cayenne you can have an unlimited amount of.
• Eat hand-sized portions every two-three hours throughout the day. Attempt to have a 2:3 ratio of meats to vegetables by the end of the day.
• No fruit of any kind.
• No grains of any kind.
• Focus on green vegetables, but you still can have other vegetables. Only raw onions. You are only limited in the fact that you cannot have starchy/hi-carb vegetables (potatoes, carrots, beans of any type, peas, grilled onions, etc.).
• You are allowed to have any type of meat but anything less than 95% lean is frowned upon. You may only have 3 egg yolks in a week. Some choices are lean pork, lean beef, chicken, turkey, virtually all seafood, and most game (deer, buffalo, etc.).
• If you are eating out, only have food that is steamed or grilled. If it is stir fried, it must be without fatty oil. Any other cooking type is not suggested especially fried is out of the question. If it comes with condiments or sauces, ask for it on the side so you can control the amount.