3 Days to Red Carpet Ready!
I wrote an article in June about THE PLAN for Modern Weekly China one of the most read weekly in China (think NYT magazine) ! My interview with Lyn Genet Recitas was SO informative ! Here is my English article and link to the published Chinese article ! More on my journey on The Plan soon.
3 days to Red Carpet Ready! With New York Times Bestseller book, The Plan and its Recipes!
By Regina Szeto aka QueenBWell
OK you have a special event to go and you want to look your best. Starving yourself or going on a juice/soup diet for 2-3 days may flatten your stomach but I get so hungry on the day of the event that I am moody and have very little energy. The worst thing is after the first glass of champagne; I will get so dizzy that I have to sit. NOT FUN!
My friend in New York who recently lost 15 pounds gave me this book called The Plan. Lyn-Genet Recitas, the author and nutritionist, supposedly studied Chinese medicine, acupuncture and developed the Plan based on many Eastern medical theories. My friend followed the Plan lost 7 kgs in 20 days! My friend told me she lost 2 kgs during the first 3 Days with the Cleanse. So I tried the 3 days cleanse and amazingly, I ate 3 meals each day and lost almost 2 kilos in 3 days and with loads of energy. I am Red Carpet ready! Now I really want to find out more…
The Plan, a New York Times Bestselling book, is written by Lyn– Genet Recitas who is a nutrient expert and has been featured on the Dr. Oz Show, Huffington Post and TV shows regularly in US. Lyn believes the secret to weight loss is more about your body’s chemical reaction to foods rather than calories.
Her theory and research has shown that all people react to foods differently and that some “Healthy” foods such as salmon, Greek yogurt, asparagus and hard boiled eggs can cause inflammation which leads to weight gain and hormonal imbalances that leads to other health issues such as gastrointestinal distress, water retention, headaches, depression and fatigue. Through her work with thousands of clients, she has rated a list of common foods that people are likely to react to and those lease reactive.
Sample Reactive Food List:
85% Reactive 50% Reactive 5% Reactive
Eggplant Cow’s milk Chicken
Cooked Salmon Tomatoes Lamb
Shrimp Whole eggs Broccoli Black beans Tuna Raw almonds
Her Plan is to heal your body step by step by identifying food that You are reactive to and help your body heal from the reaction to these “problem” foods. To begin the Plan, you first Cleanse your body of toxin and then start to test your reactive food one by one while your body heals. During the process of healing, your body function better and weight comes off!!
Flush Toxin and Start Healing
Recitas design the 3 days cleanse with non reactive foods and food that promotes detoxication to help elimination inflammation, flush out toxins from the body and slim down.
The result from the 3 day cleanse is not only a flat stomach but all the swelling, bloating in your face are gone, eye bags are gone and I was full of energy!
After my 3 day cleanse, I want to know more and had a quick phone call with Lyn- Genet to ask her how she did she developed The Plan.
QBW: How did started your research and theory for The Plan?
LGR: I was a practicing nutritionist for 7 years and then my whole outlook on nutrition did a 180-degree change when I studied shiatsu with an acupuncturist and was introduced to the Chinese 5 Element Theory.
Chinese 5 Element theory inspired The Plan
It made so much sense to me that we should use food to balance whatever diseases, health issues and also to balance emotions. A diet that is based on your individual health and emotional status made complete sense to me. It is how I started my bio-individual approach to diet.
15 years later, I opened my health clinic and saw how people’s individual response was all different and this make me realize, we have to prescribe food for each individual. I started recording what food was inflammatory for people and it helped me to build my theory for the Plan.
Everyone thought I was insane when the Plan first came out, and said there is no way healthy food can cause inflammation or weight gain. However, I know I am on the right path because I believe in the ancient Chinese medicinal theory, there are certain foods that you avoid if you are suffering from certain illness. And my clients keep getting results.
QBW: Absolutely. In Chinese medicine when the doctor prescribes medicine, he/she always includes a list of food you should not have.
LGR: That was the first thing that Dr. Oz said about The Plan that it included so many ancient beliefs but approaching them from a modern view point. That was the one thing that really fascinated him.
QBW: I agreed because traditional Chinese medicine and diet is always about balance. They understand how food can help balance your body in different season too. So when I read your book, it made sense that everyone has a different reaction to food and there is not one diet fits all.
But when I look at the reactive food list, I was stunned what food is on it. How did you come up with the list?
LGR: I have been creating individual menus for my clients and I was shocked that my clients would sometimes react within minutes of eating healthy foods. They will feel unwell or have anxiety, and when they step on the scale they will gain 1 kg. I started to notice there is a pattern. 85% of clients have reaction to black beans, 50 % will reaction to rice, 70% have reaction to yogurt….etc
I put together a list of foods that universally people have no reaction to and create the 3 day Cleanse as the first step to recovery. I slowly then introduce the lease reactive food one at a time after the 3 day and test each individual response to the food. In about 20 days, you will know what are some of the main reactive foods that you react to and keeping you from losing weight.
I had great results with the 3 day Cleanse, eating “low reactive” food 3 meals a day, drinking a lot of water and herbal teas such dandelion &b peppermint tea. My stomach was flat; skin was clear and full of energy.
This is what you have to do, every morning; you weight yourself before even drinking any water. This is to measure your body reaction towards food. So if you gain weight you know you ate something that you react to the day before. This is extremely important during the testing phrase.
After weighting yourself, you drink some lemon water or dandelion tea to help cleanse your system and detox the liver.
My Day One, was difficult as I am a coffee drinker. But the tasty flaxseeds granola helped me through the morning ! Day Two: I lost ¾ pound thus I was encouraged. However, the same breakfast and almost the same lunch got a little boring but having rice and almonds help!
I had some black coffee on Day 3 and feel like a normal person having Chicken for dinner.
After 3 days, I lost 1.5 kilos, which is not bad considering I am eating avocado, rice and chicken! I feel lighter not bloated and got into my dress for the red carpet event!! I had champagne and dinner at the event and felt normal.
Next time…I will let you know about my Testing Phase, what are the foods that I react too. And Lyn Genet promised to help us adapt menus to more Chinese traditional foods. Hope I will lose more weight! I do believe in sensible eating and eating what is right for YOU!
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