Brian Flatt's The 3-Week Diet Program Review
THE 3 WEEK DIET
A Foolproof, Science-Based Diet Guaranteed to Melt Away 12 to 23 Pounds of Stubborn Body Fat in Just 21-Days
INTRODUCTION MANUAL The information in this manual is not intended to replace medical advice.No action or inaction should be taken based solely on the contents of this information. Before beginning this or any other nutritional or exercise regimen, consult your physician to be sure it is appropriate for you. The information and opinions expressed here are believed to be accurate, based on the best judgement available to the author. Readers who fail to consult with appropriate health authorities assume the risk of any injuries.
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL TABLE OF CONTENTS
Rapid Weight Loss 4 How This System Works 6 Why This Diet 8 Why 3-Weeks? 9 21-Days to Make a Habit 10 Fat Loss vs. Weight Loss 11 Nutrients 14 Protein, Fat, Carbohydrates 15 The Food Pyramid And Obesity 19 Fiber 21 Metabolism 22 How We Get Fat 25 Triglycerides 29 How To Get Thin 31 Diet Overview 32 Meal Frequency 33 Water 34 Diet Essentials 35 Let’s Get Started 41 1
This is Not a Review Or a Free Report! This Introduction Manual is just a ”small part” of the actual Brian Flatt's 3-Week Diet program, so that you know
THE FACTS and THE TRUTH of what you will get if you decide to make a purchase. If after reading this guide, you feel that the whole information within The 3-Week Diet program is suitable for you and helpful to achieve your goals... Click here to get the complete package. (or use the download button on the last page of this document)
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
Many of us are paralyzed by the conflicting information being given out in the health and nutrition field. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of diets and nutritional plans, quick fix pills and powders, gadgets and gizmos, infomercials and gurus who are all giving us confusing and very often, conflicting information on how to lose weight. Who’s right? Who’s wrong...how do we know? The fact is, the weight loss industry is a multi-billion dollar marketplace that thrives on keeping us guessing. It seems like we can’t go a month these days without something “bigger & better” to come along that can help us lose weight “faster & easier.” It’s the constant barrage of new products and methods that keep us so confused… But here’s the thing… The real, true “secret” of how we get fat and how we lose weight has been discovered decades ago. And since then, that “secret” has been used to help millions of people to lose weight. Unfortunately, mainstream medicine and the multi-billion dollar diet industry want to keep this a secret. The problem is that although we know how to lose weight, most people don’t know how to take full advantage of these weight loss methods to really make the pounds come off fast. When the weight doesn’t come off as fast as we want, we are more susceptible to those products that promise “faster & better.” But in reality, those products never live up to their promises. The fact is the diet & fitness industry does not want you to learn the true secrets to ultra-fast weight loss because once you learn it—they know that you’ll never need to buy another one of their bogus products again. And when you don’t need their products, the multi-billion dollar diet industry takes a great big financial hit. 2
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
Enter the 3-Week Diet… The 3 Week Diet is based on medical science, rational thought and proven, real-life results. As of right now, you can rest assured that you will never need to buy another diet book, fancy gizmo or magic pill to lose weight ever again. Quite simply, the 3 Week Diet cuts through the bull and gives you a time-tested, proven and effective blueprint for rapid fat loss. This isn’t one of those diets that work for some but not others. The fact is, the 3-Week Diet is based on the science involved with the human body and how different nutrients affect our hormones resulting in either weight loss or weight gain. 3
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL RAPID WEIGHT LOSS
In all my years in the diet & fitness industry, I don’t think anyone has ever told me that they were looking for a way to lose weight slowly. In fact, most people that come to me about losing weight are looking for something that will produce results as fast as humanly possible. And I truly believe that the #1 reason that most diets fail is because they don’t produce results fast enough. Let’s face it…it’s no fun to spend hours at the gym, followed by small portions of food we can’t stand, day after day, only to see the scale drop just one pound during the week. For a diet to be successful, I truly believe that the diet must produce visible and significant results FAST. When the dieter sees real results quickly, he/she becomes more engaged. And when I can get the dieter engaged in the diet, it produces a “snowball effect” causing the results get better and better as the dieter gets leaner and leaner because of the results they are seeing on an everyday basis. On the 3 Week diet, you WILL see real results daily. Your scale will move, your clothes will fit better, you’ll feel lighter (because you’ll actually be lighter) and you will look and feel better than you have in years. This is why the 3 Week Diet is so ultra-effective. It produces extremely fast, visible results. These fast results keep the dieter motivated. And that motivation keeps them going until they reach levels of fat loss that they never imagined were possible. Once you finish this book, you’re going to know more about how we gain and lose weight than most doctors do. And, using the methods you’ll learn in the 3 Week Diet, you’re going to be fully equipped to lose weight virtually on command. This is not another “fad” diet. This diet is based on science and it has been proven to be extremely effective for millions of people for the past several decades. This diet takes into account your own biology and hormones and how the body processes, utilizes, stores and burns body fat. This book will show you how and why you have gained the excess weight you now want to get rid of, so that you can stop the weight from ever coming back. 4
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
This is the diet that puts you in control. One of the first questions I’m always asked is: “Isn’t losing weight this fast dangerous?” Well, I’m not sure where the idea that losing weight quickly is dangerous. In my opinion, it’s just the opposite. The longer you’re walking around with excess fat on your body, the harder it is for your body to function. Your heart needs to work harder and harder to move your body, which puts a deadly strain on one of your most vital organs. And research has shown that the longer you’re walking around with excess weight, the more susceptible you are to a host of diseases and medical problems. Because of all the health problems associated with excess weight, doesn’t it make perfect sense to get rid of that weight as fast as possible? I think so. I’m not really sure where the idea came from that says losing weight at a rate of just 1-2 pounds per week is the “safest” or “best” way to lose weight. In reality, there is little medical safety data out there with regards to how fast we can safely lose weight. Most weight loss “safety data” deals with how the weight is lost—rather than the rate at which it is lost. Yes, there are ways to lose weight quickly that are extremely dangerous. And this is an important point because losing weight on the 3 Week Diet is about losing weight quickly and safely without depriving your body of the nutrients it needs. Dr. Michael Dansinger, the doctor who consults with the producers of the NBC hit show The Biggest Loser, states that people can lose 20-pounds of weight in a week if they do it right. The 3-Week Diet shows you how to do it right. 5
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL HOW THIS SYSTEM WORKS
The 3 Week Diet is divided up into several distinct parts. 1. The Diet: the diet portion of the 3 Week Diet is just that—diet. It consists of three phases (each phase being 1-week long). During your first week on the diet, you will likely see a drop of weight in the neighborhood of 10-pounds. It will give you all the information on how you can lose up to one pound of body fat (or more) per day, simply by the foods you eat and don’t eat. The diet requires some motivation and short-term changes to your eating habits but I promise you that if you can make it past the first week of this diet, you will be in total control of your weight for the rest of your life. In fact, many people have said that after finishing Phase #1 of the 3 Week Diet, they felt like they could accomplish anything. 2. The Workouts: one of the reasons people fail in their diets is because the workouts required to succeed are just too much for most people to handle. This is not the case with the 3 Week Diet. The 3 Week Diet workouts are designed to burn fat and get you into great shape in about 20-minutes just a few times each week. While you can lose weight quickly on the diet alone, a quality workout like the one in the 3-week diet, can nearly double your fat loss results. The 3 Week Diet workout is broken down into two separate workouts. One is for those who would rather workout at their local gym and the other is a home workout using just body weight and the one single most valuable piece of equipment. No matter which of the workouts you choose, you’ll find that they are, by far, the best fat-blasting workouts you will ever see! 3. Supplements: The supplement report provides a look at some of the most popular diet supplements being used today. These will include a review of the supplements not included in the 3 Week Diet itself 4. Motivation & Mindset: the motivation report contains valuable information that I have used on my clients in the past. It will show you how to focus your energy on achieving your goals. There are some really great tips, tricks and secrets to losing weight and keeping the weight off. 6
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
To Summarize So Far… The purpose of this book is to simply cut to the chase—to help reduce the confusion...to eliminate the nonsense and to help you burn stubborn body fat as fast as possible. On the diet alone, you should see weight loss in the range of around 1-pound of body fat per day. Losing weight is simply a matter of science. How we gain and lose weight is controlled, in large, by our biological makeup. You will gain a better understanding of the body’s hormones and how they react positively or negatively with the nutrients you eat with regards to weight loss and weight gain. You’ll learn how to get off the weight loss carousel and instead of taking a “roundabout” approach you’ll deal with weight loss straight on. It is my intention that this diet book is the very last one you’ll ever purchase. It promises to be an absolute goldmine of information that cuts right to the heart of rapid fat loss. There is really just one set of instructions that we all can follow to achieve rapid weight loss and body transformations in record time. That information is contained in this book. 7
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL WHY THIS DIET
This diet is going to have several benefits on your life outside of the rapid weight loss it produces. By the end of the diet, you’re going to have a new outlook on how weight is lost and you’re going to have complete control over your weight for the rest of your life. You’ll have the tools and knowledge on what you’ll need to drop pounds quickly, virtually anytime you stray from healthy eating. One of the biggest problems with dieting is that the weight comes off very slowly. In this respect, the 3 Week Diet is an absolute game changer. No more will you lose weight at a snail’s pace. Instead, by following this diet, you can expect to lose ¾ to 1-pound of fat every single day. And, if you want to nearly double those results, I have included the 3 Week Workout, which will help you do exactly that. There’s several reason why people turn to the 3-Week Diet to lose fat quickly. A large percentage of my readers are seeking to lose weight for an upcoming special event, such as a wedding, class reunion or an upcoming vacation that usually involves the pool or the beach. Others are actors and models that need their body weight and body fat percentages at low levels to earn their living. And many use the 3 Week Diet as a jumpstart to starting a new diet, workout program or healthy lifestyle. Whatever your goals are, the 3 Week Diet will help you reach them! 8
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL WHY 3-WEEKS?
Research has shown that most overweight people are carrying around 10-20 pounds of unwanted body fat. Research has also shown that most diets fail. From my experience, most diets fail because they take the long, slow, boring approach to weight loss. When weight loss comes off at 1-2 pounds a week, the rewards for the sacrifices it takes to get there really aren’t worth it. The 3-Week Diet accomplishes in 3 weeks what most diets take 4-5 months to do. The 3 Week Diet was specifically designed to be an extremely rapid method for burning between10-20 pounds of body fat. I understand that for a diet to be ultra-successful, it absolutely must produce very rapid results. When results come quickly, the dieter receives the necessary feedback that the diet is working and that it’s worth doing. This results in the dieter sticking with the diet. When the dieter sticks with the diet, the results snowball and the outcome is successful weight loss and a brand new body. This is why the 3-Week Diet works! You will soon see that you will notice favorable body composition changes in the very fist couple of days on the diet. In the very first week alone, you will likely see in the neighborhood of 10 pounds of fat stripped away from your body. Your clothes will be loser…you’ll feel lighter…and you’ll look and feel 10x better than you did just a week before. 9
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL 21 DAYS TO MAKE A HABIT
Research has shown that it takes approximately 21-days for us to develop a new habit. This means 21-days of eating healthy...21-days of going to the gym...21-days of doing what ever it is that you want to implement as a habit into your life. Far too often, when we try to implement a new habit into our lives, we look at it in unmanageable light. Because of this, these new healthy habits never get off the ground because instead of focusing on just 21—days, we sabotage our goals with the mindset that we will have to sacrifice forever. So, Instead of starting out with thoughts of making a new habit for life, make you can make it a lot easier simply by telling yourself that you are just going to “try” this diet for just 21-days. We can all do 21-days, right? Let your brain “know” that once this “trial period” is over, you can go back to your old eating habits. Then, while your brain lets you participate in this “trial,” it will also be working to form new neural pathways once it realizes that the new habit has benefited you positively in some way. This is the science behind how we develop habits and research has shown that it takes approximately 21-days to develop new habits or to break old ones. In the case of the 3 Week Diet, your brain will have noticed that it now takes less work to move your body throughout the day because it has shed so many pounds. It will notice the increased energy you have as a result of your daily walks, weekly resistance training and other exercise components of this diet. Your body will also take note of your physical appearance, your muscle tone and how your clothes now fit much looser. Basically, your brain will see remarkable benefits that will stick with you and cause you to follow along the path of good eating and exercise habits Now, understand that research has shown neural pathways to any habit (even those bad ones) can be life-long, which means bad habits can resurface when triggered to do so. This means that you constantly have to be aware of your thoughts and you need to make conscious efforts to avoid engaging in those bad habits of the past. Believe me, after 21-days, it’s relatively simple to convince yourself to avoid those bad habits of the past. While you will be able to indulge in your favorite foods, they will not be able to take over your life. My intention of the 3 Week Diet is not only to burn fat away fast but to also force new, good habits of eating and regular exercise that will stay with you forever. This will ensure that you get the body you’ve always wanted and keep it for life. 10
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL FAT LOSS VS. WEIGHT LOSS
We tend to use the term “weight loss” generally when we go on a diet. And while some are content with simply watching the numbers of the scale go down, it is important that you focus solely on losing fat rather than precious, lean body mass. If you want to simply lose weight…and you don’t care where the weight comes from (body fat, bones, muscle, organs, etc) then the fastest way to accomplish that is through dietary fasting (not eating anything). Fasting is the fastest way to lose weight…but it comes with a hefty price, up to and including death. After about a day of fasting, your body is getting 80-90% of its energy from its own body fat, which is a very good thing. However, when the body goes several hours without protein (amino acids it needs to sustain life), it begins to attack its own protein stores. Sooner or later, lean body mass is attacked to a point that you are unable to move and your organs cannot function properly, which results in death. The fact is, there are certain diets out there that have great success in helping people achieve weight loss—with studies to prove it—however, by the way those diets are structured, a large portion of the weight that is lost is not body fat, but instead, lean body mass. Lean body mass is basically everything that is not body fat. This includes skeletal muscle, organs and bones. Remember, a decrease in lean body mass equates to a slower running metabolism. A slow metabolism will make it harder to lose weight and easy for you to put weight back on once it’s lost. The 3-Week Diet is designed to not only keep your metabolism churning along, but also works to reset and increase its ability so that you are constantly running at your body’s maximum potential. Those diets that focus solely on the numbers of the scale do more harm to your body than good. These types of diets actually slow your body’s ability to lose body fat and they force your body to attack itself for the essential nutrients it needs. You can spot these diets from a mile away...if you know what you’re looking for. The red flag to look for on these diets (often called fasts) are those that have an obvious lack protein as their primary food source. Diets like the Hollywood Juice Diet, the Cabbage Soup Diet, the Lemonade 11
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
Diet, etc can definitely help you lose weight...but trust me when I say this: the weight you lose on these types of diets is not the weight you want to lose. In fact, these diets do more bad than good because you will unfortunately lose precious lean body mass in the process of losing weight. And again, when you lose that precious lean body mass, you slow your metabolism and you slow your ability to lose weight. The more lean body mass you have, the more calories your body needs to keep that mass functioning properly. Again when the body goes without protein for a length of time, it is going to get its protein needs by eating your skin for lunch and your hair for dinner. The hair and skin are the first protein stores to be attacked and if you look closely at people on those protein-deficient types of diets, you will notice a lack of glow and sheen to the hair and skin. This is because the protein that keeps the skin and hair healthy and vibrant will be missing. People on these types of diets are noticeably haggard, wrinkly and dull looking. But it won’t stop there. Think about it. Can you really afford to lose part of your heart, liver, brain, kidneys and other vital organs? Do you really want to sacrifice your precious skeletal muscle that actually helps you burn fat all day long? I know none of this sounds too pleasant but it is a fact. When looking to lose weight, it is imperative that the weight you lose is laser-focused on body fat, rather than lean body mass. Certain diets and misinformation about nutrients can lead to protein deficiency. If you have any of the following symptoms, chances are you are not getting enough protein in your diet: thin, brittle hair hair loss reduced pigmentation in the hair ridges in fingernails and toenails skin rashes, flaky skin, dry skin weakness and cramps in your muscles difficulty sleeping nausea slow healing in wounds, cuts, scrapes 12
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, you should take a good look at how much protein you’re getting on a daily basis. Sometimes these unexplainable conditions come down to an easy fix—more protein in your diet. Protein deficiency can be even more serious than you think. Long term or frequent protein deficiency can result in even more serious health risks, such as: gallstones arthritis heart problems organ failure muscle deterioration death As you can see, a lack of protein in your diet can be very serious—even life threatening. If you take nothing else from this book, be absolutely certain that you are getting adequate amounts of protein every day. In the diet portion of the 3 Week Diet, you’ll learn how to calculate your true daily protein requirements. On the 3 Week Diet, we attempt to emulate “starvation” and all the fat-burning qualities it produces—but without all the negative side effects (hunger, lean body mass loss, etc). To do this, we will focus on depleting the body of carbohydrates to trigger the starvation response. Again, this starvation response forces the body to switch over to burning incredible amounts of fat for our daily energy needs. Meanwhile, we will “sneak” adequate amounts of protein to the body every few hours. Instead of attacking our own lean body mass, the body will use this “easy” protein (the protein we eat) and turn it into glucose, which requires even more fuel (body fat) to accomplish. Basically, we are going to throw all kinds of things at the body to force it to burn more and more body fat, which will result in ultra-fast weight loss. 13
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL NUTRIENTS
What the Body Needs and What it Doesn’t Our bodies need nutrients, vitamins, minerals and water for good health and proper functioning. Amazingly, the human body is capable of producing thousands of nutrients that it needs to sustain its own life. The nutrients that the body manufactures itself are known as “nonessential” nutrients because the body is able to actually produce those nutrients itself and it’s not essential that you go out and get them from the food you eat. Nonessential nutrients: the nutrients manufactured by your body that you do not need to get from the food you eat. Conversely, “essential nutrients” are those nutrients that you must get from the food you eat. To sustain life, it is essential that you get these nutrients from your dietary intake. Essential nutrients: the nutrients you must get from your diet because they are not being made in the body. Some examples of essential nutrients include water, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. One very common nutrient that has been purposely omitted here are carbohydrates. The biological fact of the matter is that there is not a single carbohydrate that is essential to the human diet…not sugar…not starch…not fiber. The fact is, carbohydrates do not provide any nutritional benefit to the human body—none whatsoever. You will learn a lot more about this in the coming sections. The 3 Week Diet is about maximizing the nutrients that we do need while restricting those that we do not. Really, it is all about eating the right foods in the right quantities at the right time. When done correctly, we are able to put our body into a 24/7 fat burning mode. 14
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL PROTEIN, FAT, CARBOHYDRATES
The primary nutrients humans consume are protein, fat and carbohydrates. Understanding the role each of these primary nutrients plays on our health and on our ability to gain or lose weight is an important feature of the 3 Week Diet. I strongly encourage you to familiarize yourself with this portion of the 3-Week Diet, as it will have long lasting ramifications on your daily life. Protein Proteins are the foundation of your body’s cells, tissues and organs. They are essential to your muscles, hair, skin, hair, organs and hormones. While the body can survive without eating another carbohydrate and while it can last for extended periods without eating fat, a lack of protein in your diet will cause degeneration of your muscle tissue and organs, which will eventually lead to death. Knowing how important protein is to the body, it is unbelievable to see how many people still get most of their calories from high-carbohydrate diets. Several studies have shown that the recommended daily allowance for protein consumption is far lower than it should be...especially for those engaged in regular exercise. What this research has shown is that people following the “recommended daily allowance” of protein consumption while engaging in regular physical activity, were actually losing valuable muscle tissue because there was not enough protein in the body to repair and rebuild their muscles after their workouts. Proteins are made up of amino acids and there are just 20 amino acids that make up ALL human proteins. Of these 20 amino acids, the body can only produce 12 of these itself. This means the other eight amino acids must be obtained through the foods you eat. Lysine, leucine, isoleucine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine are the essential amino acids that are not made by the body (there are two others necessary for infants and small children). We get these amino acids when we consume protein sources like meat, fish, poultry and legumes. Protein sources that contain adequate amounts of all of the amino acids are called “complete proteins.” Those food items that do not contain all or adequate amounts of amino acids are know as “incomplete proteins.” 15
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
In general, animal proteins (meat, fish, poultry, cheese, eggs) are considered “complete proteins.” The “incomplete proteins” are those that are vegetable based, usually in the form of grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. To get enough essential amino acids through vegetable protein, one usually has to combine several different food groups together in a strategic combination. Breaking down and processing protein takes a lot more energy and much more time than it does to break down other nutrients. In other words, the body has to work a lot harder to digest protein than it does with carbohydrates and fat. The extra energy it takes to break down and process protein reduces the amount of energy your body receives from that food it consumed. Also, because it takes longer to break down and to assimilate protein, the process of emptying the stomach takes longer as well, which causes us to feel full longer, which reduces hunger pangs. It is believed that the body can only use about 50% of the protein we eat. This means the other 50% is eliminated from the body as waste because protein is not stored in the body the same way that fat and carbohydrates are. So, when you eat calories primarily from protein, you can rest assured that these protein calories are repairing and rebuilding your body with the excess being eliminated as waste. The extra protein will not be stored as body fat. As you will see, this is in stark contrast to excess carbohydrates and fat we eat, which are stored on our bodies in our fat cells instead of being eliminated. Adding protein to your meals causes your body to release a hormone called glucagon. Glucagon works to slow down the harmful effect of excess carbohydrates from being deposited into our fat cells. It does so by slowing the rate of absorption of those carbohydrates. Additionally, there are new studies that have shown that when the body releases glucagon (by consuming protein in your diet), it also works to stimulate fat-burning by freeing up your stored body fat, so that it can be used to fuel your body. As you will see, when we increase protein consumption and significantly decrease the amount of carbohydrates we consume, we benefit from a dual fat-burning effect. On one hand, when the body does not have carbohydrates to turn to, to fuel the body, it begins to use stored body fat. Secondly, the release of glucagon into the body appears to have the added effect of attacking the fat stores that the insulin has worked to preserve. The 3 Week Diet is strategically designed to take advantage of both these events. 16
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
Fat Unfortunately, fat has received a bad rap for decades. So much so, that it has become ingrained in our minds to intuitively reach for anything that says “low fat” even when we know better! The notion that fat makes us fat makes perfect sense at face value, especially when you considered how calorically dense fat actually is. A gram of fat contains 9 calories while the same gram of protein or carbohydrates are only 4 calories. Fat doesn’t have anywhere near the thermic effect that protein does (only 3% vs 30%), so consuming fat is not necessarily going to “turbo charge” our metabolism. On the same token, it is important to note that fat by itself also does not make us fat. In fact, fat plays an important role in many parts of the body. While we can go for long periods of time without fat, we cannot live without it completely. Those fats that we cannot live without are known as essential fatty acids (EFAs). Research has shown that these EFAs actually help us burn the stubborn, stored body fat that we want to get rid of, in addition to numerous other health benefits. In the 3 Week Diet, we will focus on getting an optimal amount of these good fats, to enhance our ability to lose weight fast, while, becoming more healthy. Fat Cells Recently, research has shown that once a fat cell is created, it never goes away. Fat cells get larger and larger until they can no longer hold stored fat. When this happens, your body creates new fat cells to hold the excess. And again, once those new fat cells are created, they are yours for life. While we cannot totally eliminate fat cells from the body, we can get rid of the gooey fatty acids and dangerous triglycerides that those fat cells are holding which will make us thinner. Understand that fat is actually the perfect fuel for your body. When we can switch your body to using this “better” fuel, we can effectively turn your body into a 24/7 fat-burning machine. 17
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
Carbohydrates Although carbohydrates are the most common source of energy in humans, the simple fact is, there is not a single carbohydrate that is essential to human life. Carbohydrates are classified into two types: Simple & Complex. Simple carbohydrates are also known as simple sugars. Simple sugars are those found in refined sugars (and the foods they are made with like cookies, candies, etc) but also in food like fruit and milk. Complex carbohydrates are known as starches. Starches include grain products such as cereals, bread, pasta, crackers and rice. Like simple carbohydrates, complex carbohydrates can be refined or left unrefined. Refined carbohydrates are considered to be less healthy as the refining process strips away much of the vitamins, protein and fiber. Unrefined carbohydrates cause less insulin spike and because of that, they are considered to be the most healthy of the carbohydrates. Regardless of whether the carbohydrates are simple or complex, they both cause spikes in blood sugar. As you will see shortly, these spikes in blood sugar are the #1 cause of unwanted body fat. 18
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL THE FOOD PYRAMID AND OBESITY
Now, the last thing I could ever be called is a “conspiracy theorist” but you might think otherwise after reading what I have to say about the USDA Food Pyramid. I’m certainly not trying to turn this diet into a political debate, but the fact is, the USDA plays an important roll in the economy of our country. And what goes into the food pyramid will, in turn, dictate how much money we spend on certain food products. Take a look at the USDA Food Pyramid that has shaped the way most American eat over the past few decades. As you can see, our own government recommends we get over 2/3 of our daily nutrition from carbohydrate laden foods (bread, rice, pasta, fruits and vegetables) and only about 20% of our food from protein sources—the primary nutrient that keeps us alive! It’s no wonder that nearly 50% of the US population is considered to be overweight! 19
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
I think the Harvard School of Public Health said it best in their famed article, What Should You Really Eat? Here’s an interesting excerpt: In the children’s book Who Built the Pyramid? different people take credit for building the once-grand pyramid of Senwosret. King Senwosret, of course, claims the honor. But so does his architect, the quarry master, the stonecutters, slaves, and the boys who carried water to the workers. The USDA’s MyPyramid also had many builders. Some are obvious—USDA scientists, nutrition experts, staff members, and consultants. Others aren’t. Intense lobbying efforts from a variety of food industries also helped shape the pyramid. According to federal regulations, the panel that writes the dietary guidelines must include nutrition experts who are leaders in pediatrics, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and public health. Selecting the panelists is no easy task, and is subject to intense lobbying from organizations such as the National Dairy Council, United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association, Soft Drink Association, American Meat Institute, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and Wheat Foods Council. 20
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL FIBER
Fiber is actually a carbohydrate but I felt the need to devote a specific section to fiber because of the misinformation surrounding it. In most low-carb diets, fiber carbohydrates are not counted as “dangerous” weight-gaining carbohydrates. This is because fiber cannot be digested by the human body. Since fiber is not digested by the body, it does not create a rapid rise in blood sugar like other carbohydrates. But beware. There are two schools of though on fiber. While modern medicine encourages a diet high in fiber, there are other medical researchers that state too much fiber is the cause of numerous diseases and irregularities such as constipation, IBS, Chron’s disease, colon cancer and others. If you’d like to see some of the latest research on fiber and how it may be causing irreparable damage to your body, I strongly encourage you to visit www.GutSense.org. Now, that being said about fiber…in normal does, fiber is not going to create any complications for you. However, you should be sure to get your fiber from vegetables and salad greens rather than forcing yourself to get 30 grams per day as recommended by the mainstream medical community. If you are concerned about constipation, some researchers believe that constipation itself is caused by too much fiber in the diet. Increasing your water intake during this diet is essential to good health, proper kidney functioning…and it has remarkable effects on relieving constipation. 21
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL METABOLISM
The primary function of our metabolism is simply to provide the right amount of fuel (at the right time) to keep our bodies alive and functioning properly. It accomplishes this through a complex series of chemical reactions whereby food is converted to the energy we need. When we eat, the food we swallow enters our digestive tract and is broken down by digestive enzymes. Carbohydrates are converted to glucose, fats to fatty acids and protein to amino acids. Once these nutrients are broken down, they are absorbed by the bloodstream and carried into the cells of the body. Our metabolism then works to either release these nutrients as energy, use them to build and repair lean tissue or store them for later use. There are two basic metabolic processes—one is constructive and is responsible for building and storing energy for the body. The other is destructive, though in a positive sense, as it breaks down nutrient molecules to release energy. The constructive metabolic process is called anabolism, while the destructive process is called catabolism. Anabolism: promotes the growth of new cells, the maintenance and repair of tissues, and the storage of energy—usually through body fat—for future use. Small nutrient molecules are converted into larger molecules of protein, carbohydrates and fat. Catabolism: is responsible for immediately providing the body energy to use. Instead of building up, it breaks down the nutrient molecules to release energy. These two processes do not occur simultaneously but are balanced by the body based on several factors. Catabolism, in particular—though some attribute this to overall metabolism—has three components: 1. Basal metabolism: sometimes called resting metabolism, this is the metabolism component responsible for keeping you alive by ensuring normal body functions. Even if you were bedridden the whole day, basal metabolism is still at work. Basal metabolism is metabolism’s main component, as 60 to 70 percent of the calories from the food you eat are used for this. People who want to lose weight usually aim for a higher basal metabolic rate (BMR). 22
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
2. Physical movement: this can range from a simple moving of your fingers to strenuous exercise. Usually 25 percent of the calories you consume are for this purpose. 3. Thermic effect of food: this indicates the digestion and processing of the food you take in. Depending on the type of nutrient you consume, approximately 10% of the calories of the food you eat are burned through this. As you will see, the digestion of certain foods will require much more calorie expenditure than others. Protein takes a lot of calories to digest while carbohydrates take far less. Thus, taking all this into account, here is our metabolism formula: Calories From Food = Calories Expended From Basal Metabolism (60-70%) + Calories Expended By Physical Movement (25%) + Calories Expended Digesting Food (10%) What Affects Metabolism? Your metabolic rate, or how fast or slow your metabolism works, is influenced by a number of factors: Genetics: yes, metabolic rate is also inherited. Sometimes this makes an entire world of difference between a person who can eat almost everything and not gain an ounce and a person who easily balloons after indulging just once. Age: the younger you are, the faster your metabolism is. Metabolism slows down as you age. Women’s metabolic rate starts falling at the age of 30; for men, decline starts later at the age of 40. Gender: men have a faster metabolic rate—usually 10-15 percent faster—than women because their bodies have a larger muscle mass. Muscle plays a key role in a fast metabolism, as will be discussed in exercise portion of the 3 Week Diet. Amount of lean body mass: as already mentioned above, more muscle = faster metabolism. Diet: some foods will help you-some will only harm you. While timing is not everything, meal frequency greatly affects your metabolism. 23
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
Stress level: stress is inversely proportional to metabolism. The more stress you are subjected to, the lower your metabolism will be. Hormones: specific hormones metabolize specific nutrients. How well the hormones work, then, directly affects metabolism. To a certain extent, diet and stress levels affect the hormones involved in metabolism, as you will find out later. Hormonal disorders or imbalances can affect metabolism as well. Looking at all these factors that influence metabolism, you now probably have a general idea of what you need to do to increase your metabolism—accept the things you cannot change, and work on those that you can! A “fast” metabolism is the true secret to maintaining a lean body. 24
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL HOW WE GET FAT
Modern medicine, weight loss “gurus” and so-call fitness “experts” have been telling us the same ol’ outdated, bogus advice for years: “Losing weight is just a matter of eating less and exercising more” or “We get fat because we eat too much fat These ideologies are better known as the “Calories In/Calories Out” and the “Fat Makes us Fat” theories that have been proven time and time again to be complete nonsense. These diets fail to take in to account our bodies and how food is metabolized and take the easy way out by implying that anyone who is overweight is either eating too much fat or they’re just plain lazy. It points the finger at us and it refuses to acknowledge what science has already proven… Carbohydrates Make Us Fat I know…I know…you’ve probably heard that one before. Perhaps you even gave it some credence for a while. Maybe you’ve even tried a low-carb diet or the Atkins Diet (or something similar) but found it just wasn’t for you. Unfortunately…if you truly desire to lose weight fast, drastically reducing carbohydrates is an absolute must. If you don’t want to…or just feel like you just can’t give up carbohydrates for the next 3 weeks, then truthfully, there is nothing that can be done for you to lose weight except for hours and hours in the gym and severe calorie restriction over a period of 5-6 months. However, if you truly want to burn 10-20+ pounds of body fat in the next 21-days and if you’re willing to follow this diet without deviation—then I personally guarantee that you will lose weight. If you continue reading, you’re going to learn exactly why carbohydrates cause us to get fat…and you’ll learn exactly what to do about it. CONTROL YOUR BLOOD SUGAR
AND YOU CAN CONTROL YOUR WEIGHT FOREVER 25THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
We get fat because of the carbohydrates we eat. If you want to burn fat and become lean, you must accept this fact right now and you must hold this truth sacred. When you restrict carbohydrates in your diet, you will become leaner. This is an absolute fact. When you increase your carbohydrate consumption, you will get fatter. This is not disputed. This is simply a matter of the human body’s response to your hormones and how they are affected by the foods we eat. Here’s how it works… When we eat carbohydrates, particularly those that are sweet or starchy, our blood sugar increases rapidly. When our blood sugar increases, our pancreas secretes insulin into the bloodstream. Insulin’s job is to bring our blood sugar back to normal levels. It does this by moving the sugar out of the blood and into the muscles, liver and fat cells. If not for insulin, this high blood sugar (aka glucose) would be toxic. As you may know, diabetics need to add insulin to their bodies to keep them alive and functioning. So, insulin is a good thing with regards to keeping us alive by alleviating high blood sugar levels that are triggered by carbohydrate consumption. BUT…insulin is also very, very problematic with regards to our ability to lose weight. As mentioned, when blood sugar is high, insulin’s job is to move that sugar out of the blood stream and into the liver and muscles to be used for energy. But there’s more to it. Insulin is also a storage hormone. What this means is that when insulin is present in the bloodstream, as it is when we consume carbohydrates (sugar, starch), the excess carbohydrates (those that are not needed right away for energy) are broken down and stored in our fat cells as fat. When this happens, our fat cells get larger...and so do we! And not only does insulin force those excess carbohydrates and fat into our fat cells, it also slams the brakes on our body’s ability to burn the fat that is already stored in our fat cells. So, as long as there is high levels of insulin is flowing through your bloodstream (which is only caused by carbohydrate consumption), your body will be working to store fat rather than working to burn it. 26
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
You simply cannot consume a carbohydrate-rich meal and burn fat at the same time. Your body is either storing fat or burning it, depending on the food you eat. Now that you know this, you can put yourself in control using the methods you’ll learn in the 3-Week Diet. A good thing to keep in mind is this: For every gram of carbohydrates you eat, your body is unable to burn at least that many grams of fat. And…so long as you are eating carbohydrates, your body is storing everything it doesn’t need…right into your fat cells (making you fatter). At the same time, those carbohydrates are making it impossible for you to burn stored body fat. Keep in mind that our body is in constant need of energy—it needs energy whether we are out for a morning jog, cooking dinner, sitting on the sofa watching television or laying in bed sleeping. While we tend to think we only need energy when we are physically exerting ourselves, you need to keep in mind that there is a lot your body is doing “behind the scenes” even while you sleep. The fact is, our bodies are at work 24/7 to keep us healthy and functioning. And because of that, the body needs to fuel its work on a non-stop basis for as long as we live. Another thing to keep in mind is that YOU can make a decision to have your body running on carbohydrates or have it running on fat. On the 3 Week Diet, we will shift from carbohydrate burning to high-octane fat burning instead. Contrary to popular belief, fat flows in an out of your fat cells (in the form of fatty acids), on a continuous basis throughout the day, making itself available to be used for energy. The problem is…this fat cannot and will not be used for energy unless your insulin levels are way down. Insulin, however, will not be down so long as you’re eating carbohydrates. Now, when we eat three meals per day and everything is working properly, your body will become fatter after eating a carbohydrate-rich meal and leaner in between meals after all the carbohydrates have been burned and the body begins to burn fat because it has run out of carbohydrates. The problem, however, is that when blood sugar spikes and insulin is secreted, blood sugar is normalized in a matter of minutes, while insulin remains “on guard” in the bloodstream for the next couple of hours—preventing fat to be burned during that time. Understand that various cells in the body have a need for fat. However, when those cells that need fat to function properly are not getting the fat they need (because of insulin present in the 27
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(bloodstream), your blood sugar drops. Low blood sugar level is what tells your brain that you’re hungry…and because you are hungry, you begin to eat again before those fatty acids can ever be burned up. When you follow up with another carbohydrate-rich meal, those fatty acids will need to be stored away because your body is going to have to secrete insulin to lower blood sugar again…and to use that blood sugar—instead of fat—for its energy for the next few hours. And this starts the vicious cycle all over again—constantly prohibiting your body from burning fat. 28
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL TRIGLYCERIDES
Remember those fatty acids we talked about? Guess what happens when they are not used up for energy? Well, what happens is they head back into the fat cells, where they “hook up” with two other fatty acids and a glycerol molecule, to form what is known as a triglyceride (triglyceride = 3 fatty acids +1 glycerol molecule). And this is not a good thing… Triglycerides are problematic because they are much larger than a fatty acid. In fact, they are so large that they cannot leave the fat cells like those “free flowing” fatty acids could. Because of this, they remain stuck inside the fat cells and become the stubborn, stored body fat that we want to get rid of. Triglycerides cannot be burned for energy until they are broken down back into those smaller “free flowing” fatty acids and released back into the bloodstream. This is why so many people have so many problems with stubborn body fat. They can reduce their calorie intake all they want but as long as they are consuming carbohydrates, those triglycerides are going to remain intact! So…the question becomes, “how do we break these triglycerides apart, so that that they can be used for energy?” The answer is simple: significant carbohydrate restriction I know it probably sounds like I’m beating a dead horse here, but it is imperative that you understand this: carbohydrates cause insulin to be secreted into the bloodstream. Insulin causes your body to store excess calories as fat AND prevents fat from being released from your fat cells to be burned for energy. To put is simply, carbohydrates = excess body weight and fat storage. Remember, nothing causes us to burn fat faster than starvation. But…starvation has negative consequences on our lean body mass. So, ideally, we want the body to “think” we are starving so that it is breaking down triglycerides and burning that fat for our energy needs. 29
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
Since the body relies primarily on carbohydrates for its energy, when we remove those carbohydrates, the body will be forced to get its fuel elsewhere. Now, in the case of starvation, the body would normally begin to break down lean body mass for glucose (energy) via a process known as glucogenesis. However, since we are “sneaking” small amounts of protein to the body, we end up getting all the “benefits” of starvation without the loss of our precious lean body mass. Now, glucogenesis will be completed by using the protein we are getting from our diet which spares our lean body mass. And, consuming less carbohydrates increases glucogenic activity. The presence of glucogenic activity means we cannot store fat because that glucogenic activity needs all the fat it can get to be able to fuel the glucogenic process. In other words, glucogenesis requires a lot of energy…and it will burn even more fat to supply that energy. This results in the ability to turn our bodies into a 24/7 fat burning machine. And needless to say, maximizing the hours in a day that you body is burning fat is the ultimate key to a sexy, lean body. Again, your body NEEDS energy on a 24/7 basis. Without carbohydrates, your body is forced to turn to an alternate fuel source to keep you running all day long. So, let’s get now get our bodies revved up to burn body fat on a 24/7 basis. 30
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL HOW TO GET THIN
As I’ve pointed out, the fastest and easiest way to lose weight is to stop using dietary carbohydrates for energy and to start burning our own body fat instead. Once you restrict carbohydrates from your diet (and keep protein intake up), your body has absolutely no choice but to break down and burn body fat for the fuel it needs. When your fat cells begin breaking down those stubborn triglycerides (the stored, stubborn body fat that is stuck inside the fat cells) and releases those fatty acids back into the bloodstream to be used for energy, your fat cells get smaller…and so do you! You will be truly amazed at just how much fat you will burn once you restrict carbohydrates from your diet. Remember, your body needs fuel all day long…it needs fuel to blink, think, talk and walk…it needs fuel for everything you do. On the 3 Week Diet, we will use nothing but stored, gooey body fat to keep us going. Losing weight on the 3 Week Diet is a matter of strategic eating—it’s a combination of reduced carbohydrates and eating very specific types of proteins and fats that are consumed in the appropriate amounts at just the right time. This diet alone will produce amazing weight loss. However, by following the 3 Week Diet exercise program, we can nearly double our weight loss goals, while obtaining some very favorable body composition changes. 31
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL DIET OVERVIEW
Following the 3 Week Diet typically results in body fat losses of ¾ to 1-pound of fat every day. When you add the 3 Week Workout to the diet, fat loss is typically over 1-pound per day. Because of this, you will start to see some nice progress in just a couple of days after starting. In following this diet without deviation, I have yet to find anyone not being able to lose at least 10 pounds in the 21-day period. During my trial of this diet—before ever releasing it publicly—I lost 23 lbs in 21-days. It truly was nothing short of miraculous…and I have been excited to share this breakthrough ever since. The 3 Week Diet is similar to a Protein Sparing Modified Fast, in that we will “trick” the body into entering a 24/7 fat-burning “starvation” mode, while we provide it with the appropriate amount of protein that it needs so that lean body mass is spared…not to mention the added thermic effect of digesting that protein. In addition to carbohydrate restriction and strategic protein consumption, we will add quality, healthy fats to enhance our fat-burning goals. While carbohydrates are NOT essential to the human body, we cannot live without protein and fat. Interestingly, we could eat all the carbohydrates we wanted and could still die of starvation if we did not have fat and protein in our diet. We restrict carbohydrates in this diet because it immediately stops adding to the fat cells we already have AND it forces our bodies to burn fat for all of our daily energy needs. We limit the fat in this diet to EFAs (essential fatty acids) and the trace amounts of fat in the allowed foods. Limiting (but not completely eliminating) fat will force our bodies to burn stored fat rather than to use dietary fat (the fat we eat) for our energy needs. Keep in mind that our bodies do need a certain amount of fat every day for proper functioning. However, your body doesn’t care if it gets the fat from your diet or from the fat stored on your hips, thighs, belly and butt. So, we will give your body the kind of fat it loves and needs in the form of EFAs. We will increase our protein consumption because it helps preserve lean body mass and it keeps our metabolisms cranked up. Also, digesting protein burns a ton of calories due to its chemical structure that makes it far more difficult to digest than fat and carbohydrates. Protein keeps you full for hours and the amino acids in protein are an absolute requirement to sustain your life and to keep you healthy. Keep in mind that this diet is about maximizing what we need while reducing/restricting what we don’t. 32
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL MEAL FREQUENCY
Understand that your body does not store protein like it does with fat and carbohydrates. The protein you eat will either be used to repair and rebuild or eliminated as waste—it is not stored as fat. After about three hours, the amino acids taken from your last protein-based meal are no longer in your bloodstream. At this point, your body begins to seek out the amino acids it needs from your lean body mass. Eating every three hours prevents this from happening. Eating frequently ensures your lean body mass stays intact and that your muscles are not being broken down and used for energy. Remember, the more lean mass you have, the faster your metabolism will be. Frequent meals also help to control cravings and binge eating. When blood sugar drops and tells you that you’re hungry, it’s usually too late to eat a smart meal. By this time, you just want food and you go after what ever it is that you crave. When you eat strategically, you will never get to this point and you can always have a plan for your next meal. Frequent meals keep blood sugar levels normalized, which keeps insulin levels at bay. This means you will be burning fat rather than storing it. Missing a meal is a cardinal sin on the 3-Week Diet. The simple fact of the matter is that when you skip a meal, your metabolism slows down and puts your body into a catabolic state. Never, ever skip a meal! I know it will be difficult to eat 5-6 times at first but you must understand that your body needs amino acids…even when you skip a meal. The key to pulling this off successfully is to have preplanned meals for every day. In the diet portion of the 3-Week Diet, you’ll learn some “secrets” on how to do this effectively. Meal frequency is a key component to losing weight on the 3 Week Diet. By eating five meals a day as prescribed in the 3 Week Diet, you will significantly increase your metabolism, effectively build lean muscle and increase the amount of fat you burn on a daily basis. 33
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL WATER
Most people I know are guilty of not drinking enough water. Drinking adequate amounts of every day is absolutely essential for weight loss. If you don’t drink enough water, you simply will not get the full weight loss benefits that you’re after. Water helps your kidneys work at full capacity. When your kidneys aren’t working at full capacity, the liver needs to help out. The problem with this is that the liver is responsible for metabolizing fat in your body. When your liver is helping out the kidneys, it can’t do its job at full capacity as far as metabolizing the fat we need to burn. When on the 3 Week Diet, you will lose water weight along with body fat. Remember, water weight is still weight and partly responsible for bloat and tight fitting clothes. The fact is, carbohydrates are hydrophilic (which means they cause water retention) and water retention is not something we want. Protein, on the other hand, encourages water to be released from the body. Once you restrict your carbohydrate intake, you will begin to let loose of that stagnant water that is being stored in your body. Because of this, it is essential that you consume enough water every day to avoid dehydration. Further, water acts your body’s filter, flushing our dead cells and waste. Because you are burning a great deal of fat during the 3 Week Diet, you will need ample water to help flush out the by-product waste of fat burning. You will find that when you restrict the amount of carbohydrates you eat and increase the amount of water you drink, your body stop storing water and will use it more effectively. This results in a lighter and “cleaner” body. My advice is to drink 8-10 glasses of water every single day. This amounts to about a half gallon or water. This may seem like a lot of water at first and you may have to actually force yourself to drink that much. However, once you do this for a while, you will regain your natural thirst and actually be thirsty for this much water every single day. And again, once you begin drinking this much water, you will find that your body will not retain water, but will instead use it to flush your system keeping it clean and functioning right. 34
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL DIET ESSENTIALS
The 3 Week Diet requires some essential supplements for maximum effectiveness and ultra-fast, significant fat loss. The following supplements are required during the 3 Week Diet. They will help your body run efficiently, help burn fat at maximum potential and will provide many healthy benefits. Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s) Your health, good or bad, is driven in large part by the level of inflammation in your body and the amount of lean muscle mass you have. In fact, there are several diseases (including obesity) that are linked to inflammation and the lack of muscle mass. When you control the inflammation in your body, you can effectively control the onset of numerous diseases, including type II diabetes, heart disease, depression, arthritis and obesity. Muscle mass decreases over time, especially when we are not eating enough protein and not engaging in exercise. The less muscle mass we have, the more weight we will gain. Lean muscle mass is crucial to keeping body fat at bay. A healthy body is one that has low levels of inflammation and higher levels of muscle mass. While many attribute high levels of inflammation and loss of muscle mass to aging, the fact is, we can keep our bodies young through proper nutrition and exercise. We get old from the inside out. So, it is important to keep inflammation down and exercise up. Essential fatty acids are exactly that: essential. EFA’s are mainly polyunsaturated fats. Humans must ingest them because our bodies are unable to create them. Once broken down, EFA’s contribute to vital organ function. EFA’s regulate body functions and are essential to cardiac cells. Other functions impacted by EFA’s are heart rate, blood pressure, clotting, fertility and conception and immune system functions. You may have heard EFA’s referred to as Omega-3’s or linolenic acid and Omega-6’s linoleic acid. The American Heart Association recommends a diet that has EFA’s included at least two times weekly, and they say that you should eat oily fish to get the benefit. Fish oil capsules are a great way 35
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
To get your essential fatty acid needs. To maximize your effectiveness on How to Lose Weight Fast, essential fatty acid intake is imperative. The two major forms of omega-3 fats used by the body are (EPA) eicosapentaenoic acid and (DHA) docosahexaenoic acid. Research has shown that a person who keeps a diet high in Omega-3’s is at low risk for cardiovascular diseases. Other research has also suggested that EFA’s may reduce depression and feelings of suicide. You may be wondering, how will this help my diet? Well, the key to this fatty acid is that during the metabolism of these acids, energy is generated in the cells. During your diet, your energy sources from protein and essential fatty acids will help your metabolism to continue running and burning those extra carbohydrates (or stored fat) for fuel. Fish oil also has other benefits, such as: Reduces inflammation Eliminates joint pain Improves vision Increases mental focus Treats ulcers, Chron’s Disease, and colitis Provides healthier gums Gives you smoother skin, hair and nails Decreases triglyceride levels Increases daily calorie burn After 30-days taking EPA/DHA supplements, you will really see and feel these benefits. EPA/DHA balance should be 2:1. Based on the research I’ve read, the appropriate amount is around 2g EPA to 1g DHA each day. For most “regular” strength fish oils on the market, this comes out to about 10 EPA/DHA capsules each day or 5 teaspoons of straight fish oil. This may sound like a lot but it will get your EPA/DHA levels up to where they need to be for optimum health and ease of fat burning. 36
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
Whey Protein Whey protein is considered a “complete protein” in that it has all of the amino acids you need to sustain life. In the past, whey protein shakes were awful and gritty. Science has come a long way, however, in making these shakes a lot more tolerable. Do they taste like your favorite milkshake topped with whipped cream and a cherry? Hardly…but depending on the brand and the flavor, there are some really good choices out there that are actually pretty good. And, by adding some sugar-free flavored syrups (like they use in coffee shops), you can incorporate some good variety and really make some very tasty shakes. When choosing a Whey Protein to use in this diet, be sure to choose a brand that allows you to keep carbohydrates as low as possible (no more than 2 grams per scoop). Additionally, during this diet, you will want to keep fat as low as possible as well (no more than 2 grams per scoop). This will ensure the best possible conditions for your weight loss goals. Depending on your weight, you may need more than one scoop. If you were to take two scoops, just be sure that you are not exceeding 4 grams of carbohydrates. 4 grams of carbohydrates will not have much of an impact on your blood sugar. As you will see, whey protein will make up a large component of the 3-Week Diet. For some, purchasing whey protein powder to make up many of their meals for the over the next 21-days may seem expensive, but when you consider that you can get all your meals for the day for about $10, this is actually pretty cheap. Plus, you’ll find that a lot of time is freed up that is normally spent on cooking and eating meals, which gives you more time to take a walk or engage in other exercise. CLA Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has excited many researchers over the past few years. The fact is, numerous studies have shown CLA to provide a host of benefits including combating diabetes, building lean muscle mass, thwarting cancer, keeping fat cells from becoming larger and dramatically reducing body fat. CLA helps to move the fat you eat into your muscle cells instead of being stored as body fat. It then activates certain enzymes in your body to force your muscles to burn that fat—especially during exercise. 37
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
As mentioned, CLA has also been shown to prevent fat cells from getting fatter, so even when you’ve finished the 3 Week Diet, CLA can help keep the fat from ever coming back. When combined with the 3 Week Diet, CLA can nearly double your fat loss when taken in the range of 6-8 grams per day. Leucine As you may recall, Leucine is an essential amino acid that is found in dietary protein. While researchers have known about Leucine for decades, only recently have they determined the amazing benefits that Leucine has on the body. Leucine is an extremely valuable BCAA (branched chain amino acid) due to its ability to switch on the body’s muscle building process as well as to preserve lean muscle mass when dieting. Leucine has been proven to be the most important amino acid to muscle building. Researchers at the University of Illinois conducted studies that examined weight loss diets containing 10 grams of leucine per day with 125 grams total of protein per day with a minimum of 2.5 grams of leucine at each meal. In two separate studies, the groups consuming high leucine diets had greater weight loss, greater fat loss and better preservation of lean body mass. Understand that whey protein is a complete protein which is a great source of Leucine. To ensure that we are getting enough Leucine, however, we will add additional Leucine to our diet every day. Greens+ Greens+ is full of vitamins and minerals and it is loaded with free radical absorbing antioxidants. It contains electrolytes (magnesium, potassium, sodium) that are extremely important on a low-carb diet. Greens+ is also packed with base producing compounds that neutralize dietary acids and it is rich with healthy bacteria that will help to detoxify the body as we rapidly release toxins from the fat cells as they are used up for energy. Greens+ is a brand name that gets rave reviews. You can definitely find something similar, but this product does get my personal recommendation. 38
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
Fat Burner (Optional) Ok, fat burners are a controversial subject—especially with me. Most people who buy fat burners look to them as a “magic pill” that will cause weight loss without dieting and exercise. We all wish this was the case, but sadly, it is not. Most fat burners provide very little benefits in terms of weight loss, but with a proper diet and exercise program, they can add significant results. I’m going to share my “ultimate fat burning” combo with you in a minute. As far as fat burners go, the most effective one to ever hit the market was Ephedra. Ephedra is both a thermogenic and a stimulant…and it worked extremely well. Unfortunately, Ephedra was used irresponsibly by a few, which resulted in untimely deaths that were linked to Ephedra. Because of this, over-the-counter Ephedra based diet pills were banned in 2006. Since the Ephedra ban, many manufacturers began trying to find something to compare to Ephedra. Unfortunately, most of these fall short. Fat Burners are definitely not required on the 3 Week Diet. The reason I have listed them as optional is because they do have advantages in keeping the metabolism high as your body starts to slow down when switching over from carbohydrate-burning to fat-burning and they provide some extra, focused energy that helps with your workouts. Personally, I like the added effect that a good fat burner provides. The problem, again, is that most fat burners are worthless. In all my trials, the very best, legal fat burner on the market is a ECY Stack: Ephedrine (not Ephedra), Caffeine, Yohimbe. Ephedrine works much like Ephedra in weight loss/fat loss Caffeine improves energy and alertness Yohimbe is a proven fat burner The great thing about this is that the ingredients are relatively cheap. The bad thing is that I haven’t found anything that combines everything into one, so you would need to purchase these separately and combine them yourself. 39
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL
Here’s my suggestion for those new to this fat burning combo: Ephedrine HCL: 25mg Caffeine: 200mg Yohimbine HCL: 5mg To start, I recommend this combo be taken about 30 minutes before a meal and/or 30-minutes prior to your workout. To start, I suggest taking this combo two times a day (once before your first meal and once before your workout). On non-workout days, you can take with any other meal, as long as there are 4-hours in between doses). Depending on your tolerance level, you can increase to three doses per day and/or increase dosage amounts (no more than 100mg of Ehpedrine in 24 hours!). Be aware of any changes in blood pressure, heart palpitations, increased body temperature, etc Again, while this is a very effective fat burner, it is not a “magic pill.” This is optional on the 3-Week Diet and caution should be taken. Listen to your body and listen to your doctor. If you’re looking for a good quality all-in-one fat burning product (without combining three ingredients), the best one I have found is Lipo-6. This particular product is a favorite amongst bodybuilders who are seeking to lose fat. 40
THE 3 WEEK DIET INTRODUCTION MANUAL LET’S GET STARTED
Now that you understand the reason behind the 3-Week Diet, we can jump into the specifics on how to set up and make this diet work for you. In the 3-Week Diet “Diet” manual, you’ll learn how to calculate body fat and learn how much protein you need every day to ensure you are burning fat and maintaining lean body mass. You’ll also learn the “secret” method for maintaining your ideal body weight forever. In the 3-Week Diet Exercise manual, you’ll get some incredibly effective, fat-burning exercises that combine with the diet portion of the 3-Week Diet, to produce unbelievable amounts of body fat loss. In the Motivation & Mindset manual, you’ll learn some very effective ways to make weight loss easier and more enjoyable. I truly believe that if you follow the 3-Week Diet, you will quickly achieve your weight loss goals. I wish you all the best in your efforts and I do look forward to hearing about your body-transformation success! 41
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