It’s January, the time of year when many of us reach for the latest diet book, in an attempt to shed excess pounds and get back in shape.
But the issue with many such publications, notes Dr. Joey Shulman, D.C., author of the newly-released The Metabolism Boosting Diet, is that they tend to offer quick-fix solutions rather than long-term, substantial changes.
“I think there are two problems. Problem number one is that they’re one-dimensional, in a magic bullet kind of way. That’s why I pose the question: ‘Can you see yourself following it in five years?,’” Shulman explains to CityLine.ca. “Problem number two is that we’re all different. Everyone has a different metabolism. That’s why the book is me trying to sit down one-on-one with my readers, and say, ‘Are you post-menopausal? Are you peri-menopausal? Are you a yo-yo dieter? Are you an emotional eater? When you get all the factors together that slow down your metabolism, you can boost it again. Everybody has the potential to boost their metabolism, there’s not one metabolism I’ve met that I couldn’t work with. But you have to address it properly.”
There are two phases to The Metabolism Boosting Diet: The Balance Phase and The Boost Phase. Shulman likens the Balance Phase to a clean-up – you’re eating foods that will help to lose weight and also to eliminate cravings. Whether you’re on the Balance Phase for 5, 10, or 15 days depends on your metabolic ID, which you determine by completing a quiz in the book (there’s one for women and one for men) that asks about eating and exercise habits, stage in life, hormonal health, and your emotional relationship to food.
Shulman offers a 7-day meal plan to follow in the Balance Phase, and it includes recipes for filling and healthy meals such as Turkey Tacos, Herb-Roasted Salmon, Apple Pancakes and Chocolate Peanut Butter and Banana Dream Smoothies.
Once the Balance Phase is completed, you move into the Boost Phase, which is about revving up your metabolism to function at peak performance.
“This is where we are going to be losing about 2-3 pounds per week together. I’m not a rapid weight loss gal, I don’t want my readers to lose 8 pounds a week,” Shulman says. “Readers will find that the Boost Phase is not restrictive. It’s doable enough that they can be travelling, they can be at home, they can be at work, and it will still get them into the hormonal balance and blood sugar control, but the whole goal is for me to keep their metabolic engine running at high speed. They’re going to burn fat, they’re going to lose the belly area, but it’s going to be from pure weight loss, not caloric restriction.”
Shulman says this book, her fifth, is her most personal to date as she was able to share some of her clients’ touching stories, as well as really delving into the subject of emotional eating.
“The typical amount of weight that people become upset and uncomfortable about and end up in my office? It starts at about 10-15 pounds. Unfortunately sometimes people land here with 60 pounds to lose, and I can assure you, every day I have people cry here. If you are 60 pounds overweight, you’re not fitting into any of your clothes, you just feel so far from yourself,” she relates.
“But the best thing is, when they start losing the weight we can all tell here because all of a sudden their hair starts to be straightened, they start wearing their jeans again, they’re going for manicures, they’re working out. Their shoulders are back, they’re so shiny when they walk in. It’s fantastic, watching those transformations.”
The Metabolism Boosting Diet is now available in stores.
Related links:
To read an excerpt from the book, click here.
Dr. Joey has generously shared her 7-day meal plan with CityLine.ca as part of The CityLine Shape-Up. Download it here.