• Before starting, take your preliminary waist measurement. Suck in your stomach and measure around your belly button. To determine your maximum healthy waist measurement, take your height and divide it in half. I am 6' tall (72") so I am aiming for a waist measurement of less than 36". Go to TheBellyFatCure.com to watch Dr. Oz demonstrate exactly how to obtain an accurate measure.
• Understand that no item on the menu is allowed in “unlimited” amounts, as even healthy foods need to be eaten in moderation.
• For those foods listed that do not have a serving size indicated, consider an amount equal to the size of your palm as a serving; eat no more than 2 servings of any one item in a sitting. Also, a palm-size serving and a heaping handful are not the same thing!
• Try to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water per day (48 to 64 oz.), but also allow your urine to guide you. If you need to urinate every 20 minutes, you may be overhydrated. If it is dark in color and/or cloudy, you are dehydrated. Balance your hydration according to your thirst and the appearance of your urine, taking comfort in the fact that the foods I recommend are made mostly of water!
• Protein and meal-replacement shakes can be mixed in water, unsweetened almond milk, unsweetened coconut milk, or unsweetened hemp milk. Blender Ball bottles are
inexpensive and make blending shakes quick, easy, and clean.
• If you experience difficulty moving your bowels, please see my “Digestion Perfection Checklist”. You can also print a copy of this checklist at TheBellyFatCure.com.
• Ask yourself, “Am I hungry for the next bite?” about halfway through each meal. As soon as you’re no longer physically hungry for the next bite, wrap up the leftovers and save them for later.
• If you feel “full,” you have overeaten!
• Yes, you may skip snacks or even meals if you’re not physically hungry.
• Never skip a snack or a meal if you do feel physically hungry.
• Dressings and sauces can make or break your weight loss. For the first 14 days, simply mix three parts extra-virgin olive oil with one part red wine or apple cider vinegar for a tangy and versatile Greek-style dressing.
• If you’d like to have both chocolate and wine as your treat, I recommend 1 glass of red wine with 1 serving (2.5 sugar grams or less) of dark chocolate.
• For adult treats, you may have other sugar-free alcohol (white wine, tequila, and so forth), but I do not recommend them. My clients experience the best results when they limit their adult treat to red wine or vodka. Beer is not approved while on the Fast Track program.
• When you feel hungry between meals, having a snack is helpful as a source of energy and nutrients to get you safely from one meal to the next, without falling victim to some food that will reverse your weight loss. Snacking on good fats and what I call Restorative Proteins™ will ease the transition to your new metabolism.
• Neither sweet treats nor alcohol will help you lose weight, but they may very well keep you sane and satisfied. The sweet treats I recommend, when eaten in moderation, are the smartest way to satisfy your sweet tooth with as little impact on your weight loss as possible. If you do not have cravings for these treats and drinks, simply skip these options and your weight loss will be accelerated.
• When an option is listed as ideal (uncured, organic, and the like), for optimal health you should choose that option whenever it is available to you. If the ideal option is not available, you may choose a conventional option and your weight loss will not be compromised. The best example of this is bacon: while it is one of my favorite foods, it can be overly processed and contain nitrates and other preservatives that aren’t ideal for total health. Look for uncured, less-processed bacon whenever it is available, but know that even processed bacon is better for weight loss than sugars and starches.
Snack:
A source of energy and nutrients that is designed to get you safely from one meal to the next, without falling victim to some food
that will reverse your weight loss.
Restorative Proteins:
Natural protein from animals and plants that repairs and replaces damaged tissue in your body.
I’d again like to offer my encouragement in sticking to the program through the first 14 days, because the payoff is tremendous. If you’re like most people, you may experience cravings for sugar, grains, and starches as your fat-storing metabolism dies and your new fat-burning metabolism replaces it. Patience is crucial here; most likely you’ve been riding a blood-sugar roller coaster for years now, and it will take a minimum of two weeks to bring balance and your new metabolism to life.
Treats:
Foods that will not directly help you lose weight, but may keep you sane and on course while satisfying your sweet tooth.
Ideal:
An option that is most beneficial to your weight loss and overall health, but not essential if it is unavailable or unaffordable.