I’m guessing you’re reading this book for one of two reasons. Maybe you’ve tried, like many people I’ve worked with, to get control of your weight and health and have not been as successful as you’d hoped, and you’re looking for a proven solution. Or perhaps you’ve heard about the life-changing and weight loss benefits of a plant-based diet and want to give it a try, but don’t know where to start. Either way, you might be asking yourself questions like: Will it be easy? Will I get plenty to eat? Can I avoid feeling deprived?
The good news is that the answer to all these questions is yes—we’re actually going to make it fun!
Welcome to the 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart! This book is based on a program I launched in August 2009 through the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which I founded in 1985 to change the way we think of medicine and research, and to help people learn how to prevent disease rather than just treat it. For 21 days, participants get to “test-drive” a diet that is as close to perfect as is humanly possible. They experience the weight loss, energy boost, and health improvements that come from truly healthful foods. The response has been overwhelming—well over one hundred thousand people have gotten on board for the Kickstart and have finally been able to break old habits and embark on a whole new way of eating that has changed not just their waistlines, but also their overall health and sense of well-being.
And now you get to jump in and take control of your weight loss and health, like so many others. You’ll discover a whole new way of thinking about food as well as a chance to try a slimmer, healthier, rejuvenated body. And that will bring you a whole new outlook on life. In just three weeks, you’ll break old habits, start new ones, and revolutionize your health.
The program is called the Kickstart because it focuses on a very short-term immersion experience that almost always inspires long-term changes. Once you finish the 21-day challenge and see how easy it is to gain control over your weight and health, you probably won’t want to return to your former habits. Why? Because you’ll be eating delicious meals, you’ll never be hungry, and you’ll look and feel great.
In a recent research study, we tested the Kickstart approach in a group of sixty-four women. All were moderately or severely overweight. They were all past menopause and really felt stuck with their weight. Most had tried many different diets, without lasting success.
We asked everyone to do two simple things: set animal products aside and keep oils to a minimum. That was the whole “diet.” They were free to start their day with pancakes with syrup, veggie sausage, fresh fruit, or other foods, with no calorie limit at all. If they had lasagna or chili for lunch, it would be the meatless versions of these foods. If they stopped by a Mexican restaurant, we asked them to favor the bean burrito (hold the cheese) over the greasy meat taco. At an Italian restaurant, it might be spaghetti with an arabiatta or marinara sauce, pasta e fagioli, garlic-sautéed broccoli rabe or spinach, and roasted vegetables. And they could eat all the warm bread from the oven that they liked.
There were no calorie limits, no carbohydrate restrictions, and no exercise, because this was intended as a study of nutritional changes only. But we were serious about the changes we prescribed, and we helped our participants stick to them.
To their delight, the participants started losing weight. It was gradual at first—with some women faster and some slower. After fourteen weeks, we published the results in the American Journal of Medicine. Even without calorie counting, the weight peeled away at an average rate of about a pound per week, with some of the women losing much more quickly.1
But that was just the beginning. We followed them for the next two years, and, unlike typical weight loss diets that are soon followed by weight regain, these women were, on average, slimmer at one year than at the beginning, and slimmer at two years than at one year.2 In other words, weight loss had become a one-way street.
So we went a step further to try to tease apart the biology of it all. We wanted to discover why it was that, even without exercise or calorie counting, participants were still able to lose weight. In chapters 2 and 3, I’ll show you the secrets we found. As you’ll probably guess, they relate to fundamental changes in their bodies—a new and surprising level of appetite control and calorie-burning speed.
We have tested this approach in men and women, in young people and older people, in healthy people and in those with health problems, in people with massive amounts of weight to lose and in those who only needed to trim a little weight. We have also tested it in people who were already at a healthy weight and just wanted to eat better. Many of these people had little or no time for food preparation or exercise, and yet it still worked well for them.
We have found that people not only slim down, but also see their cholesterol levels plummet and their blood pressure fall. If they have diabetes, it typically improves and sometimes even disappears. Arthritis pains and migraines often vanish, and energy comes racing back. Sluggishness vanishes, and they look and feel radiant.
The most exciting part of this Kickstart program is that it is not a five-year plan, a three-year plan, or even a six-month plan. This is three weeks. Now, it’s certainly true that, to be effective, a change in the way you eat needs to be carried into longer-term good habits. But let me put things in a slightly different light:
Although my academic appointment is currently in the Department of Internal Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine, I began my medical career following a different path.
Initially, I wanted to tackle the issues of why we do the things we do, and how it is that things go off track behaviorally. So, after medical school, I completed a residency in psychiatry and took a position at St. Vincent’s Hospital, a large medical center in downtown New York. I not only ran a psychiatric ward but also had a busy consulting practice, treating people with medical illnesses—diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and others—that were complicated by depression, anxiety, or other problems. In the course of this work, I became concerned that, in American medical practice, we were not very good at prevention. We did nothing to stop a heart attack until it arrived at the emergency room door. We were similarly slow to deal with diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and other serious problems until they became full blown or even life threatening. And doctors then, like doctors today, tended to overlook the power of nutrition. Barely any time in medical school was devoted to it. Even though food is central to so many health issues, we were quick with prescriptions and slow with nutritional information.
I founded the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine to restore the role of nutrition and disease prevention in medical practice. I wanted to also ensure that good research was conducted to improve medical practice, and that this research was done intelligently and ethically. My research team began conducting studies in diabetes, cholesterol, weight problems, and other health issues.
In the course of this work, it became clear to me that biology is only half the issue. In other words, how or why some foods satisfy the appetite or enhance the metabolism is not at all the whole story. The other half is psychological: How do we get the motivation to get started? And how do we stick with a healthful way of eating? How do we avoid temptation? How do we motivate our friends and family members and how do we get them to motivate us? It’s important to have a powerful diet, but it is just as important to make it work in real life.
So we have investigated not only what are the best and most powerful foods for weight loss and health, but also how to make healthful habits stick.
It turns out that one of the most important keys is to focus on the short term. What I have found over and over is that, once we have made short-term changes, they tend to change our long-term habits.
So the first step is to get you out of your dietary rut, onto a better path. And by making that change really enjoyable, and by getting results along the way, you’ll get the motivation you need to stay with it for the longer term. So we are going to focus on quick changes that are fun and effective, and that will make you want to continue with the plan.
If you were to kickstart a motorcycle, it would take just a second or two to make the engine ignite and roar into action. You would then roll out onto the highway and off you’d go. It is the same idea when you kickstart a change in your life. With a quick and easy program, you’ll ignite powerful changes that will help you long into the future.
Here is just some of what you’ll accomplish with the Kickstart program:
There are three things this program does not do:
As a matter of fact, we won’t make you feel guilty about anything. When it comes to food, for some reason, guilt and morality often rear their ugly heads. People sometimes talk about tasty foods as being “sinful” and “decadent.” We are “bad” if we eat something that is less than healthy, and we are “good” if we resist temptation. If we fall ill, we tend to blame ourselves, our parents, our genes, the government, the food industry, or perhaps someone else.
Well, there are some moral issues when it comes to foods and health. But in this book, we are setting all of them aside. Guilt, blame, and moralizing will have no place here. Instead, we are jumping into a program that you will enjoy and that brings results. We will zero in using the power of foods for health. And if you ever eat something that is not the best choice, well, just dust yourself off and get back aboard the program.
As the program begins, your first job, surprisingly enough, is not to change your diet. Rather, we’ll start by checking out the possibilities of healthful foods to see which ones you like the most and which ones work best for you. This takes just a few days. And you’re not changing your diet; you’re just trying new things. I think you will be very surprised to see how easy and delicious a plant-based diet can be!
If you like to cook, you’ll have an abundance of recipes to choose from, created by Jason Wyrick, one of the world’s most remarkable chefs. Jason’s work has influenced many other cooks and chefs who are looking for a new emphasis on health, as well as delights for the palate. He demonstrates his deliciously easy approach to food to standing-room-only crowds, showing how easy it can be to make truly wonderful meals. Page through the menus and recipes in this book and you’ll see what I mean.
If cooking is not your thing, we’ll look at convenience foods and how to make the best choices at restaurants. If you think that restaurants or fast-food places are off limits, you’ll learn that it’s much easier than you think to enjoy a delicious meal while you’re out on the town, without breaking your healthy stride.
I’ll also share tips on how to shop, how to adapt your favorite recipes, and how to turn the volume down on temptation. By the time you’re finished with your exploration, you’ll know exactly which foods will work for you and fit your tastes and your schedule.
Then, once you’re ready and you know which foods you like best, we’ll jump in and put them to work. For 21 days, you’ll enjoy the healthy foods you’ve chosen, and you’ll see what they’ll do for you. I’ll stay by your side every step of the way, with information and support. I’ll check in on how you’re doing and whatever challenges might be ahead of you. I’ll give you new insights on health topics. And I’ll keep you pumped up and motivated.
You’ll also have friends pulling for you day by day. Best-selling author Alicia Silverstone will tell you her secrets for youthful beauty. NBA champion John Salley and ultramarathon athlete Scott Jurek will share their tips for explosive energy. Bob Harper from The Biggest Loser will help you develop the right attitude and mind-set. Marilu Henner, Rory Freedman, Kathy Freston, Kris Carr, and many others will share their insights as experts—and as people who have made the life-changing transition you are about to make.
The book is divided into three parts. In part 1, I’ll share with you the easy ABCs of the program:
A for Appetite Control
B for Burn Enhancement
C for Cardioprotection
You’ll learn how foods affect your body—which ones ramp up your appetite control, help your metabolism, and keep you healthy.
Part 2 is the Kickstart program itself. I’ll give you everything you need to get ready. And then I’ll have a short reading for you each day for 21 days.
Part 3 has the tools to keep you healthy for life, with menus, recipes, cooking tips, and more inspiration to keep exploring your healthy new body and the foods you can enjoy.
So let’s get started. I hope you enjoy every part of this exciting new journey, and that you share what you have learned with others. If you would like to get more involved with our efforts to spread a healthful message far and wide, you will find plenty of resources at www.pcrm.org. I’m looking forward to working with you.