PHASE I

So here we are ladies, day three for me, day two for my lovely beauty NATALIA who is bravely venturing into these uncharted ALWAYS HUNGRY SOLUTION waters with me and I am delighted to report it's day one for my equally brave and beautiful MAMMA! 

We've been through it all hey mom? From Jane Fonda to the Thigh Master from Suzanne Somers. And omigod do you remember that twist board? 

The grapefruit diet, the cabbage soup diet, all of it. Maybe this will be our epic solution. In any case it's so fun to have others doing this with me because I am so curious to see if the science behind this method of eating is really true. Only way to know is to delve into it head on. No fear.

So for those of you that are unfamiliar with the book ALWAYS HUNGRY and Dr. David Ludwig, whom I refer to lovingly as Dr. Dave, (unless he makes me fat then god only knows the moniker that will be assigned, likely something along the lines of Fuckingfuckitycockbollocks) but lets not go there, my mom is likely reading this! Yikes. His ALWAYS HUNGRY SOLUTION breaks down into three phases and today I'd like to share an overview of Phase 1 along with some additional practices that we're going to try to implement.

In a nutshell, ripped almost word for word from the book, but giving due credit so I don't get sued, we are not going to be counting calories (for at least the next three weeks anyway). Instead we are going to work on reprogramming our fat cells to release their excess calorie stores by replacing refined carbs with fat and further achieving the right proportions of UNPROCESSED CARBS and proteins at meals and snacks. (we are not eliminating carbs here people, I think that's a very important distinction)

Chances are you already know what these refined carbs are but just as a refresher they include stuff like white flour, white bread, white rice, pastries, sodas, pasta, sweets, breakfast cereals, and added sugars. Bottom line is that refined carbs include mostly sugars and any processed grains, you know, the good stuff that basically makes life worth living. But I digress.

The idea with the whole program is that by feeling nourished, the body will transition out of starvation mode (and stress/inflammation) and begin to lose weight without a struggle thereby achieving it's personal happy weight set point.

In PHASE 1 a whopping 50% of our food intake will come from healthy fats, things like nuts and seeds, nut butters, full fat dairy, avocado and olives. We will lower our carb intake to 25% of our diet and up the protein to slightly more than maybe most of us are used to round out the final 25%. The idea is that this is a temporary place to be this is not permanent. We will stay with this for two weeks, following the menu outlined (and if you're me you'll make some adjustments to suit you), eat only when hungry and stop when satisfied. Way way trickier than it sounds if like most women you are an emotional eater.

How many times did I stuff down tears with a brownie or twelve? And don't we almost always celebrate with cake? This plan is asking us not only to shift the kinds of foods we are eating it's asking us to make some lifestyle shifts and look within.

I know, that's where the hard work really is. You are going to have to look into the dark hidden corners of yourself and rather than stuff down the tears or anger or fear with a bag of chips or a half ton of mashed potatoes, really breathe into those feelings without judgement and ask why? Why am I feeling this way? What do I really want or need? And is there a healthy way to move through this and let it go rather than just shove it down further so that it keeps popping up at the most inconvenient of times?? I want you to take a look at this tracker.

I'm not sure you can read the bottom, if not go HERE to download it.
It is asking you to log specific things like: Did you do your daily 5 minute stress reduction in the morning and at night? Did you take a little stroll after your meal? Did you do your joyful movement? What about your pre-bedtime routine?

This may all seem abstract or silly. You may be thinking, I don't have time for that shit on top of all the prepping and cooking I now have to do in addition to regular daily life. I'm too busy. I'm too stressed. I'm already being pulled in a thousand different directions. Fair enough, but let me ask you this. Are you feeling so stretched thin that you are stuffing down your feelings with a bottle of wine every night, or three very "innocent" protein bars throughout the day because you didn't have time to make something? Or is that handful of chips or bag of gummie bears or twenty three lattes a week serving you well enough that you don't need to think about that stuff?

There is a theme here Noble Reader, so please don't shoot the messenger. If you actually take five quiet minutes to yourself each morning before jumping out of bed and straight onto your mobile device to catch up on emails, texts, IG, FB and all the other bloody initials you've linked into your life, you might actually rediscover some things about yourself. Like maybe you're not hungry first thing in the morning and grabbing that bagel every morning on the way to work no longer serves you. If you eat your meals with mindful intention putting down the fork between bites, you might better be able to determine whether you are actually hungry for the next bite or feel full enough to stop. Dr. Dave is asking you to check in with you. This is a reminder ladies from me to you... You are worth taking care of. Look at yourself in the mirror and say that to yourself. Hear the words and believe them. Go on, do it now. I'll wait - go look into the mirror, look deeply into your own beautifully stunning eyes and and say:

I am worth taking care of.

Did you do it? It's not some silly thing, these words can change your life. I think you're worth it. I'm worth it. The world needs what each of us has to offer, so why not stick around for as long as you're able to and share your gifts and talents from a healthy, radiant body? That's what I want to do. Well of course that and get back into my skinny jeans. Just keepin' it real.

So what about the rest of the month, it's not only going to be us and Dr. Dave. We have a monthly virtue to get to. What would you like to practice this month. Feeling stressed, why not choose PEACE. Been feeling bullied on IG or FB like so many of the lovely ladies in the #tamily have been feeling? Why not choose KINDNESS or COMPASSION as your virtue and show others how to be through your example? If you didn't get up and go to the mirror like I asked you to a second ago, why not select BELIEVE IN MYSELF as your virtue for May? There is no wrong choice here friends. For me? Well I've been working on Belief and faith for a while now and I think that I am finally ready to open up and RECEIVE. Now you might be thinking how is "receive" a virtue? What screwy world are you living in lady? 

You know the expression "it's better to give than to receive?" Now maybe that's true but if the entire world's population was only giving, who would be there to receive? In order for us to know light we must experience dark, to know music there must also exist silence. I have long prided myself on my ability to give to others. Not necessarily gifts or things, but time, friendship, advice, laughter and what have you. I have given freely of myself as a writer. I'm not sure how many of you know of or have seem my tiny film EMPIRE OF DIRT, but that was made from pure love. I did not get paid for that. I do believe I am ready to start receiving. If I go to dinner with a friend and they offer to pay, perhaps I can graciously accept. If some one pays me a compliment I will allow them to rather than deflect it by turning the attention back toward them. I am open to receiving good well-paying work, new friendships, more knowledge, unlimited love and abundance in whatever form that may show up in. So my virtue this month is to RECEIVE.

Lastly I want to add on my May challenge to this post. You know how utterly devoted I am to the phenomenal TRACY ANDERSON, my goal is to continue (obviously) to work out with her Method via streaming but I am also upping/changing my game slightly. If I get a backlash for this I would encourage those folks to read above to the May virtues and choose LOVE. Tracy has a former trainer named Katia Price who has branched out and created a program called Dancebody. I would encourage you to take a look at her website HERE or visit her IG page HERE because like Tracy she has dynamic classes that move you in a unique way that won't create bulk, but she engages the body in a slightly different way that I think for me, after nearly 7 years with Tracy, will be just the additional wake up this old gal needs.

Now you can't do her classes in the virtual world exactly just yet, but each Saturday she offers up a PERISCOPE class for those of us who do not live in New York. So for the month of May I will be working out with both Tracy and Katia and I'm really excited to see what happens.

So there you go folks. A whole lotta links, info and hopefully some inspiration thrown in for good measure. Love you lots and happy to see a few of my ladies from the golden olden days of Mastering the Method. My cup truly runneth over.

xo
Shan