Is anyone eating as advocated in Master Your Metabolism?

islaybower
islaybower Posts: 57
edited November 12 in Food and Nutrition
I've just been reading this book, and it makes a lot of sense to me. I'm thinking about trying it full on for two weeks as a bit of a kick start to cut all the refined crap I eat, then trying to keep broadly to the principles thereafter.

Is anyone following the eating style/plan she recommends in the book? Do you feel better? I eat a LOT of refined carbs and I know full well that I feel better if I don't. I'm not much of a junk food eater, but cutting out all the white bread/cake/biscuits isn't going to be any fun.

As an aside, I can only assume it would work for weight loss as it must be virtually impossible to over eat while restricting your diet to the foods she lists. I've got about 9lbs left to lose, but I'm not in any mad rush on that score. I'm kind of at the point where I've realised that just dieting isn't the be all and end all - I'm slimmer than I was, but I'm at the stage of quite often eating pudding instead of dinner to save the calories, so my nutrition is all over the place. As I exercise more and get filter, I'm really feeling it if I have a few days of not eating terribly well.

Anyway, any thoughts, anyone finding it hard/easy/pointless/amazing? Oh, and is the cookbook worth it?

Replies

  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    I can only go by this writeup on webmd

    http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/master-your-metabolism
    n a nutshell: "If it didn’t have a mother or it didn’t grow from the ground, don’t eat it," Michaels says.

    Beyond that, the Master Your Metabolism meal plan is centered on 10 "power nutrient" food groups:

    Legumes (peas and beans)
    Alliums (onions, leeks, shallots)
    Berries
    Meat and eggs (this group also includes fatty fish like salmon)
    Colorful fruits and vegetables
    Cruciferous vegetables (such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower)
    Dark green, leafy veggies
    Nuts and seeds
    Organic, low-fat dairy
    Whole grains

    Some items, like meat, dairy, and eggs, should always be organic, the book says. For others, including tough-skinned fruits and vegetables, it's OK to buy conventional sometimes.

    Banned on the diet are foods with "antinutrients" -- chemicals, trans fats, hydrogenated fats, refined grains, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, artificial preservatives and colors, glutamates (like MSG), and other additives.

    I'm not sure I understand, banned are foods with anti nutrients but she says legumes and whole grains are fine but refined grains are not. Also glutamates are out, but says eat dark leafy greens.
  • islaybower
    islaybower Posts: 57
    Yup, that's about the shape of it. It's almost entirely based around hormones and rebalancing them. There's some stuff about how regularly you eat and eg not eating after 9pm, but basically it comes down to limiting food to that master list.

    I've found it fascinating reading, but after a really long time of one diet or another, I'm wondering about jumping on yet another bandwagon. However, I think I need a 'plan' of some sort, and I definitely need to cut the refined stuff from my life, not just cut it down, at least for a little while, as I'm definitely in a bit of a cycle of waaaay too much refined carbs.
  • amberecochran
    amberecochran Posts: 124 Member
    I have just begun reading this book last night and it really does make sence to me, too. I can't tell you how many fad diets I have been on, and nothing has worked permanently. It's only recently I have realized that even though it says sugar free, fat free or low fat, does not mean it's healthy. I have been overweight since I had my first child 15 years ago. I started counting calories and working out 4 1/2 months ago and have lost 32 lbs. However, I know that in order to keep losing and keep it off, I am going to have to do clean eating. The two week trial is a great idea! I may do that too. Someone else said that easing into it would be a good idea, especially if you have a family. We don't want to scare them off of it right away, you know? Subtle changes. But for now, I am going to give it a go. I'm think I need to finish the book first, before I tackle the cookbook. The recipes sound wonderful, though! For me, I think both are worth it, but I purchased both of my books on Amazon.com for a fraction of the price.
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    Foods with chemicals are banned? Chemicals like alpha-tocopherol, hydroxybenzoic acid, ursolic acid, and isorhamnetin?
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Yup, that's about the shape of it. It's almost entirely based around hormones and rebalancing them. There's some stuff about how regularly you eat and eg not eating after 9pm, but basically it comes down to limiting food to that master list.

    I've found it fascinating reading, but after a really long time of one diet or another, I'm wondering about jumping on yet another bandwagon. However, I think I need a 'plan' of some sort, and I definitely need to cut the refined stuff from my life, not just cut it down, at least for a little while, as I'm definitely in a bit of a cycle of waaaay too much refined carbs.

    To be honest, any book that says not to eat after a certain time at night in relation to metabolism should be ignored, as should any book with a a laundry list of do's and don't's with regard to what you should eat.
  • iAMsmiling
    iAMsmiling Posts: 2,394 Member
    Why do we think our hormones are "out of balance?" What does that mean?

    When I read anything like that, I think "Marketing Hype." I may be wrong, but it looks like a way of selling the idea that calories in/calories out (the hard stuff) is secondary in importance to "Hormonal Balancing," or "Enhancing Metabolism," or "Cleansing Toxins," etc....

    If I could just get balanced, enhanced and cleansed, I wouldn't have to watch what I'm eating and sweat my *kitten* off in the gym...yea, I'll take some of that.
  • sarahisme18
    sarahisme18 Posts: 574 Member
    Yup, that's about the shape of it. It's almost entirely based around hormones and rebalancing them. There's some stuff about how regularly you eat and eg not eating after 9pm, but basically it comes down to limiting food to that master list.

    I've found it fascinating reading, but after a really long time of one diet or another, I'm wondering about jumping on yet another bandwagon. However, I think I need a 'plan' of some sort, and I definitely need to cut the refined stuff from my life, not just cut it down, at least for a little while, as I'm definitely in a bit of a cycle of waaaay too much refined carbs.

    To be honest, any book that says not to eat after a certain time at night in relation to metabolism should be ignored, as should any book with a a laundry list of do's and don't's with regard to what you should eat.

    ^ This.


    Also, I read a little of the book, mostly for some good recipes, but what I really took away was in her intro.... she mentioned how she was eating a very low calorie diet in combination with intense cardio to try to lose weight, and really destroyed her metabolism doing so. I wish she had focused more on this in the book, instead of giving the "laundry list" as mentioned above. I think she started out on some good advice....
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    I can only go by this writeup on webmd

    http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/master-your-metabolism
    in a nutshell: "If it didn’t have a mother or it didn’t grow from the ground, don’t eat it," Michaels says.

    No chocolate?
    Screw that.
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    Chocolate grows from the ground. It's all good.
  • MissJanet55
    MissJanet55 Posts: 457 Member
    I just started this book, and am interested to know if it's worked for anyone?

    It makes sense to me, but so do pretty much any diet book ever written, they all make a reasonable sounding argument until you learn theyre unsustainable. However, I do have pretty insane hormonal issues - menopause, and hypothyroid - at the moment so I'm willing to give it a shot. I'm already prone to clean eating anyway, except for my diet coke habit. And I quit drinking the stuff for a week at a time every couple of months, so the extra push to quit is great. Bad for osteoporosis, according to doctors, and the only reason I drink it is for caffeine.
  • mistesh
    mistesh Posts: 243 Member
    Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels is a wonderful book, whose meal plan isn't demanding. Its focus is on healthy, unprocessed foods. It has good advice on toxic metals and vitamin supplements and covers key metabolic hormones in a way that the average reader can understand. She believes in neither low-carb nor low-fat, but in a balanced approach. I like the visual format and the tone of the book.

    I should add that at the reading I had no prior knowledge of Jillian Michaels. The book's co-author is Mariska van Aalst, who also co-wrote The Hunger Fix by Pamela Peeke, a book you may want to read if you find it difficult to eat as advocated in Master Your Metabolism. The Hunger Fix mentions dopamine, the Kim Kardashian of neurotransmitters if you will, the brain's reward center. So enjoy, lol.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    I can only go by this writeup on webmd

    http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/master-your-metabolism
    in a nutshell: "If it didn’t have a mother or it didn’t grow from the ground, don’t eat it," Michaels says.

    No chocolate?
    Screw that.

    Does whey protein have a mother? I iz confuzed :huh:

    http://www.walmart.com/ip/Jillian-Michaels-Natural-Whey-Protein-Powder-Chocolate-14-oz/13284386#Nutrition+Facts
  • akb2006
    akb2006 Posts: 198 Member
    The diet in itself doesn't sound too unrealistic. Basically you are to a point where you should set yourself up eating in a way that you can see doing for the rest of your life otherwise any weight lost is going to come right on back if you can' stick to it. I *know* that eating real unprocessed foods are "best" nutritionally speaking, but I could never cut them out completely of my diet and I think that restricting it to a list of foods I can and cannot eat would lead myself into binge eating the bad foods or giving up. If you can stick to the diet for the most part then go for it. For me measuring and counting everything seems to work best.
  • IrishChik
    IrishChik Posts: 465 Member
    I can only go by this writeup on webmd

    http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/master-your-metabolism
    in a nutshell: "If it didn’t have a mother or it didn’t grow from the ground, don’t eat it," Michaels says.

    No chocolate?
    Screw that.

    Does whey protein have a mother? I iz confuzed :huh:

    http://www.walmart.com/ip/Jillian-Michaels-Natural-Whey-Protein-Powder-Chocolate-14-oz/13284386#Nutrition+Facts

    Whey comes from the production of cheese.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whey_protein

    Cheese is made with milk.
    Milk comes from a cow ( at least for the purpose of whey protein)
    Last time I checked, cows have mothers.
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