Jump Start Your Weight Loss

I’m not one for crash diets.

No Crash Diet Craziness! Forget about losing 21 pounds in 21 days!

No Crash Diet Craziness! Forget about losing 21 pounds in 21 days!

I write a lot of blogs about the dangers of crash dieting. I’m not changing my advice. I still dissuade people from trying to lose weight as fast as possible. I try to persuade people to take a reasonable and therefore long-lasting approach.

That’s not to say I have a problem with jump starting your weight loss.

This is especially true if you’ve been working towards your goal for six months or more and are starting to feel like your progress has stopped or reversing. Sometimes you need to shake things up a little to get back into the groove!

dreamstime_s_39373499Autumn, the “back to school season” is a great time for a one-week jump start plan. This plan will help you to feel slimmer and less bloated. It will help you to lose some body fat too, but it’s not a “lose 10 pounds in one week” kind of plan. I don’t endorse that kind of a crash diet ever!

DO THIS FOR ONE WEEK ONLY

1) Don’t eat any bread and rolls, tortillas, cereal, chips, crackers, pizza, rice, pasta and potatoes.

2) No sweets as in cookies, cakes, cupcakes, ice cream, candy and granola bars or foods processed with added sugars and fats. You’ll have to read labels or easier, just stay away from all processed foods for the week.

3) No dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt, butter) To ensure you get adequate calcium eat other calcium-rich foods such as dark, green, leafy vegetables (broccoli and kale), egg yolks and sardines or salmon with soft, edible bones or consider a calcium supplement.

4) Drink only water – no other fluids.

5) Eat 2 servings of fresh fruit daily and you can eat all the raw and cooked vegetables you need to keep hunger at bay.

6)  Have 2 teaspoons of olive oil, or 2 tablespoons of flaxseed, or 1/4 avocado daily. Try mixing 2 tsp of olive oil with 2 tsp of balsamic vinegar, a little salt and pepper, and any favorite herbs for an easy salad dressing.

7) Eat three 3-oz servings of lean meat – can be red meat with all visible fat trimmed off, poultry without skin, fish or eggs.

8) Walk at least 60 minutes every day (can be broken into smaller increments of time) at a brisk pace (about 4 mph) in addition to your normal daily activity.

This is only meant to be followed for one week.

It isn’t a sustainable food plan. It’s too restrictive. Although you might think you’re “strong” enough to go the distance restricting your food choices, don’t even try.

It’s an illusion of strength because true strength requires flexibility to enable you to enjoy and live your life while you lose weight. The weight loss period is when you should be learning skills that will enable you to maintain your weight loss.

You’re only “strong” as long as you completely avoid eating the restricted foods. Generally people who restrict certain foods or food groups discover they’re strength is easily shattered – one bite of a “forbidden food and everything falls apart and can’t be put back together again.”

Feeling slimmer and successful is just what you need to jump start your way to goal!

Feeling slimmer and successful is just what you need to jump start your way to goal!

Use this plan to get you jump started by feeling lighter and successful. Then switch to a sustainable food plan that doesn’t forbid certain foods or food groups to support lasting success.

 

Jackie Conn

About Jackie Conn

Jackie Conn is married and has four grown daughters and four grandchildren. She is a Weight Watchers success story. She's a weight loss expert with 25 years of experience guiding women and men to their weight-related goals. Her articles on weight management have been published in health, family and women's magazines. She has been a regular guest on Channel 5 WABI news, FOX network morning program Good Day Maine and 207 on WCSH.