The Body Reset Diet Explained
Whether you’re starting from Day 1 on the fifteen-day Body Reset or just enhancing your everyday diet with these recipes, I want to go over the fundamentals of how this diet works so that you can get the most out of the recipes in this book regardless of your goals.
Firstly, as with my 5-Factor diet, I recommend eating five times a day to rev up your metabolism. Eating frequent small meals is far better for the body than the feast-and-famine cycles so many dieters endure. In the Body Reset, you’ll be eating three meals a day (some combination of smoothies and S-meals) along with two simple snacks, which I call C-snacks, for reasons I’ll explain shortly.
It’s important to bear in mind that not all calories are created equal. While every meal in this book has roughly the same calorie count (about 300), what you’re eating matters just as much as its calorie content: a 300-calorie scoop of ice cream, for example, is just not nutritionally equivalent to a filling 300-calorie egg white, veggie, and ham scramble with a side of whole wheat toast. The first gives you a sugar high that leaves you tired and hungry half an hour later; the second fills you up and fuels you for hours afterward. Make every calorie work for you.
Researchers at the University of Toronto found that men who ate three large meals a day had higher insulin levels than those who “nibbled,” or grazed, on seventeen small meals. This study and similar ones demonstrated that “grazing” on smaller amounts of food more frequently does a better job of priming our bodies to burn fat more effectively than “gorging” on larger quantities of food two or three times a day.
One way to do this is to ensure that everything you eat—every single meal and snack—contains both
• fiber, and
• protein.
I’ll explain later why getting these two elements in at every meal is crucial for controlling your appetite (and, not so coincidentally, your weight).
“Having smoothies twice a day, two snacks, and a meal at dinner has become a lifestyle for me. Finally, after trying just about every diet there is (which all state that “it needs to be a lifestyle change”), the Body Reset Diet is a lifestyle change for me. Thank you, Harley, for your help in making me a healthier person.”
Darlene P. (Calgary, Alberta)
The Body Reset Diet in Three Easy Phases
The Body Reset Diet consists of three distinct five-day phases lasting a total of fifteen days. You’ll be eating five—yes, five!—times a day, alternating nutritious, delicious, and filling smoothies with snacks and S-meals, all of which you will be able to prepare yourself in remarkably little time.
Throughout the Body Reset Diet (and for the rest of your life), you’ll be moving constantly, logging a total of at least 10,000 steps, or about five miles (8 km), every single day. The Body Reset Diet also contains detailed instructions on some quick, simple strength-training exercises for you to incorporate into your daily routine. But first and foremost, we need to change the sedentary lifestyle that is responsible for so many of our health problems these days.
Think of these recipes as a template. Feel free to improvise with your own favorite ingredients and flavors, as long as you’re sticking to the basic nutritional profile. I encourage you to tweak some of the smoothie recipes to suit your tastes, subbing in kale for spinach, or pears for apples—whatever works for you.
Is Sitting the New Smoking?
An Australian study published in 2012 compared sitting to smoking, with some truly scary results. The study found that for every hour of TV people watch (presumably while seated), their life span is shortened by 22 minutes. Every cigarette people smoke, by contrast, shortens their life by about 11 minutes.
Get moving! Even if, like so many of us, you have a desk job, you should make a concerted effort to simply get up and move whenever you can. You’ll be shocked by how good you look and feel.
If you’re new to the Body Reset Diet and embarking on the fifteen-day kick start to this plan, here’s how it works.
Phase I
In Phase I, between Days 1 and 5, you’ll be drinking three smoothies a day and eating two snacks. This sounds intense, but remember that these fiber-packed smoothies are as filling as they are delicious. From the very first day of the plan, you need to start walking 10,000 steps a day, using a pedometer to track your steps.
PHASE I DIET
3 smoothies
2 C-snacks
PHASE I EXERCISE
Walk 10,000 steps a day
Phase II
In Phase II, Days 6 through 10, you will continue to eat five times a day, but instead of three smoothies you’ll have two smoothies and one S-meal, plus two C-snacks.
PHASE II DIET
2 smoothies
1 S-meal (at the meal of your choosing)
2 C-snacks
Twice a day, every day for fifteen days, you’ll eat C-snacks, so called because they tend to be crunchy, such as cut veggies (like celery, carrots, or broccoli) or crackers with a high fiber content (which I define as at least 5 grams of fiber per 100 calories). Like everything you eat, the fiber in C-snacks must always be paired with a protein. A good C-snack might be
• Crunchy cut veggies with nut butter
• Crackers with hummus
Most C-snacks take no time to make. See page 28 for a list of suggested snacks, which should all be approximately 150 calories.
PHASE II EXERCISE
Walk 10,000 steps a day
Five-minute strength-training circuit, three days a week
For more detail on the types of strength-training exercises you need to be doing, please refer to The Body Reset Diet, which contains illustrated step-by-step descriptions of the exercises that you can do in any room in your house, with little or no equipment.
Phase III
You’re almost there! Phase III covers the last five days of the kick-start plan, when you’ll go down to one smoothie a day, plus two S-meals and your usual two C-snacks.
1 smoothie
2 S-meals (at the meals of your choosing)
2 C-snacks
PHASE III EXERCISE
Walk 10,000 steps a day
Five-minute strength-training circuit, five days a week
The Rest of Your Life
Once you’ve completed the fifteen-day Body Reset, you should continue walking 10,000 steps a day—yep, every day for the rest of your life. You should also continue alternating two five-minute exercise circuits five days a week. You can gradually increase this to three circuits at every session.
The Free Meal
At your twice-weekly free meal (only for the “Rest of Your Life” phase), you can eat or drink whatever you want. Do you have a special date night planned, or a Saturday lunch with old friends? Then indulge to your heart’s content. Or stick to the basic outlines of your usual diet, but enjoy a dessert, or a few drinks with your meal—it’s up to you. These two weekly meals are “free” because they consist of whatever you want them to.
As for your diet, just keep going! One smoothie, two S-meals, and two C-snacks every day, with one big difference: now you get two “free meals” a week where you break all the rules … as long as you return to your good habits by the next meal.
You can stick with this “maintenance phase” of the plan for weeks or even years. The two free meals mean you never feel deprived—and the delicious smoothies and S-meals mean you’re always satisfied.
“I got back to the gym in December, hit it really hard, and tried a bunch of different diets: Weight Watchers, calorie counting, and many others. Nothing worked, and I was tired and frustrated. I picked up The Body Reset Diet and I felt like the light came on. Everything you said about the crazy gym classes, working out so hard and then sitting on the couch all afternoon, the food obsessions about what to eat and not to eat—it all just made sense to me. I have so much more time not being at the gym for two hours a day, and my family is so happy! I feel so positive about this change. Thank you for helping me!”
Susan O. (Hinesburg, Vermont)
Regardless of whether you’re planning to make the recipes in this book consistently or just occasionally, you will need a blender. You can’t make smoothies without one.
Blending is a fantastic way to prepare food, for many reasons. First off, it’s easy. You don’t need an oven or a timer or any culinary expertise. No matter how crunched for time you are, you can throw some ingredients in a blender and switch it on. Voila, in ninety seconds max, you have a delicious and balanced meal.
If you invest in a high-end blender like my Harley Pasternak Power Blender by Salton (which I recommend if you plan on making these smoothies regularly), prep work is even more minimal. You can throw whole apples or almonds right into the blender and within seconds they’ll be transformed into hearty, filling smoothies. Blending is also super convenient for those who are constantly on the go: you can make blended drinks in advance and take them to work with you—just refrigerate them and shake well before serving.
The Body Reset Diet Every Day
You can always return to Phase I of the diet if you want to lose weight fast. Or, if you wish to maintain your weight, you could drink a smoothie every morning, or take your favorite S-meal sandwich to work once a week. Whether you use these recipes for every meal or just every once in a while, this cookbook will play a big role in helping you look and feel your best for the rest of your life. Your energy levels will increase, your mood will improve, and you will watch in awe as the pounds melt right off.
Perhaps most important of all for our purposes, a blender makes it easy to get more healthy ingredients into your diet. Once you start drinking these smoothies, you’ll find that you’re consuming far more fruits and vegetables than ever before (often without even noticing they’re there). And unlike sugar-filled juices, blended drinks contain a ton of fiber, which is essential for
• losing weight
• maintaining bowel health
• satisfying your appetite
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of a fiber-rich diet when it comes to healthy living, which is why I recommend that everyone consume at least 40 grams of fiber a day. You need fiber in every meal, and the Body Reset smoothies are packed with it.
“Originally, I was going to do the Body Reset Diet by myself, but as I was reading the first few chapters of the book, I knew this was something that could work for both me and my husband. Jason was skeptical at first, but the more I told him about it, the more he was on board.
He started the plan at 499.8 pounds and has lost 14.
I started at 276 and have lost 7 pounds.
“We have obviously tried other plans and they just didn’t work for us. We have both been having some health problems—high blood pressure, for example—and knew we had to make a change. Both of us are 32 and are too young to be having health issues like this. Finding The Body Reset Diet when we did was perfect timing. We were ready for a change, a major one, but it had to be healthy and something that would teach us how to eat and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
“Staying on plan has helped our wallet, too! No restaurant food for fifteen days is saving us money and showing us how easy it can be to eat at home. While my husband is excellent in the kitchen, I am not, so having easy-to-prepare meals really helps me out!”
Nahtanha K. (Erie, Pennsylvania)