What is The Metabolic Diet and Why It Works So Well?
So what is the metabolic diet? You’ve probably heard about it but not sure exactly what is and how it can help you achieve your weight loss goals. Today we’re here to answer these questions and provide you some real nuggets you can start working it.
We all know that our metabolism significantly affects our weight, but how can we actually take advantage of it without losing weight and gaining it all back a couple of weeks later, (usually with added interest in the form of more weight)? Easy! Just stick to the metabolic diet.
We will answer questions including: what can you eat on a metabolic diet, what are the 3 metabolic types and how to keep you metabolism up while dieting?
If want to know more, keep reading…
What is the metabolic diet?
The metabolic diet is a highly effective dieting method that will help you lose the excess weight and keep you healthy for the rest of your life.
There are multiple diets and tips on how to lose weight. But Diane Kress, a certified nutritionist in the United States developed a new nutritional system. In 2009, she wrote a book called The Metabolism Miracle. The book is based on her personal experience, scientific data and research and medical facts.
It was so successful that the Daily Mail gave it the “Dietary Book of the Year” award in 2010. So what is Diane Kress’ method all about?
1. How does the metabolism diet work?
If you have ever been on a diet before you can probably confirm that it doesn’t help you lose weight in the long run. That is because of the scientifically proven phenomenon called the “Plateau Effect.”
When dieting your body functions in survival mode trying to save every single calorie. Its main goal is to try to prevent you from dying from hunger at any cost. That’s why it considers fat reserves a benefit. To put it simply, when we reduce the amount of food we consume, our body reduces our metabolism to save energy.
The main goal of the metabolic diet is to reset some organs like the pancreas and liver. It might sound scary but don’t worry. Afterwards they will star working in a new way which even out your metabolism and bring it into a normal state. And that means saying goodbye to all the unwanted fats that have been bothering you.
However, this is not the only thing you should know before following the metabolic diet.
2. There Are Two Types of Metabolism
In her book, the Metabolism Miracle, Diane Kress distinguishes two types of metabolism.
Metabolism Type A, also known as “Regular metabolism” is the one the slim and fit people have.
Metabolism Type B, also called “Lazy metabolism” is the one overweight people have.
The body of a person with excess weight is unable to properly dispose of glucose. As a result their fat cells accumulates fat stores with increased intensity. This can lead to a whole of lot of health disorders including hypertension and impaired glucose tolerance.
How insulin affects our metabolism
It seems that reducing calories should lead to reducing weight. But unfortunately this is not true. The principal cause of it is that the hormone insulin also influences our metabolism. Insulin is responsible for decreasing the concentration of glucose in our bloodstream. An excessive amount of insulin on the other hand makes us eat more sugar and takes glycogen out of the liver.
This leads to an increase of glucose in the blood causing fat cells to store fat. All this makes it truly a vicious cycle. We eat sweets to increase the level of insulin which results in an even bigger desire to eat more sweets. At the same time if we refuse to consume sweets or glucose, the excess of unspent insulin causes a strong feeling of hunger.
Here’s why it’s impossible to lose weight
So it becomes almost impossible to lose weight. So perhaps you find it impossible to lose weight and keep it off in spite of the fact that you’ve given it your all?
There may be people around you such as friends and family who eat more of everything and yet never seem to put on so much weight but rather end up slimmer? You’re always craving carbs and no matter what you do, you just can’t get that tummy flab to go away?
And here is where the Metabolic diet comes in handy, by resetting your malfunctioning mechanism through a unique approach to nutrition.
The Stages of the Metabolic Diet.
The Metabolic Diet includes three main stages with each its own specific regimen.
It’s important to state that you need to consult your doctor before following the diet. We’re all different and you never how your system will perform with the diet or any other diet for that matter. So a consultation with a specialist is obligatory.
Completing all the 3 stages of the metabolic diet will take quite a while but the result is worth all the effort.
Stage 1: Adaptation stage
The first stage is the most difficult. It’s aimed at making the pancreas stop producing an incredible amount of insulin. In fact, it’s the low carbohydrate stage of the metabolic diet.
The first state is divided into 8 weeks. Everyday you should consume no more than 0.8 ounces of carbohydrates.
Diane Kress recommends diving them into 5 equal parts which makes it about 0.2 oz of carbohydrate for each meal. The author essentially opposes long term low carb diets. But short term carbohydrate abstinence is the only non-medical way to normalize the process of insulin production.
You can also cut out fats and slow carbs bread and pasta for better results.
Here is a list of basic products for the first stage of the metabolic diet:
Proteins:
Include:
- skinless lean meat,
- seafood
- low-fat cheese
- cottage cheese
- eggs and unsweetened soy products.
Fats:
Include:
- the light versions of butter
- sour cream
- mayonnaise
- vegetable oils
- olives
- avocados
- nuts and seeds.
Vegetables:
These include
- artichokes
- asparagus
- green beans
- brussel sprouts
- cabbage
- cauliflower
- celery
- cucumber
- mushrooms
- varieties of peppers
- radishes and tomatoes.
Allowed carbohydrates include:
- yogurts
- milkshakes
- juices
- sugarless desserts
- portions of other products that contain no more than .02 oz of carbohydrates.
Remember to take things in moderation and be sure to control the portions sizes of allowed products as well.
Don’t expect the process to be easy though. Kress confesses that if you get on with it, you’ll feel tired, broken and irritated during the first three days of the diet. It may even escalate to weakness and vertigo but that just the adaptation process for a new diet goes.
On the 4th day your mood and state of health will improve.
Stage 2 – The weight loss stage
Once you’re done with the first stage of the diet, it’s time for a more pleasant period of Stage 2.
The best thing about this stage is that you will be losing weight that’s why you should allow it to last as long as possible to get rid of all the extra pounds.
There’s only one rule for this time interval. You shouldn’t consume more than 2.1 oz of carbohydrates per day, diving them into about 0.4-0.7 oz per meal. This is how your rested pancreas will slowly start working in a new and efficient way.
Conveniently, the second stage allows all the products from the first stage. You can enrich the diet by adding some recipes from low-carbs baking from Diane Kress. These recipes can be found online.
Stage 3:
Lastly when you have achieved your perfect weight, start stage 3 of the metabolic diet. This stage should be followed for the rest of your life. But they should be nothing to be concerned about. The rules you have follow aren’t strict. It’s just basic nutrition. If you want to maintain your perfect figure for the rest of your life, calculate the number of calories needed for your weight.
Don’t forget that your gender, age, physical activity and the fact your body is prone to the wrong type of metabolism which we talked about at the beginning should be taken into consideration.
Consuming unlimited portions of carbohydrates with each meal and eating 5 times a day are also included in the new set of rules. You should try to refuse foods from the cookies family at all cost. But you can make little exceptions presuming you’re taking in zero calorie deserts or sweet fruits every so often.
In any case the amount of consumed carbohydrates should be strictly controlled. It shouldn’t be a problem though as this stage of the diet, it will already be a habit.
Once again before starting this diet, please consult your doctor and they will tell you if it’s advisable for you considering your systems peculiarities. Other than that follow the rules and the metabolic diet will transform your body for the better!
What is the best and worst diet you’ve ever tried? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.
