Diet Rehab: 28 Days to Finally Stop Craving the Foods That Make You Fat (33 page)

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Authors: Mike Dow,Antonia Blyth

BOOK: Diet Rehab: 28 Days to Finally Stop Craving the Foods That Make You Fat

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Beware the Stealth Foods

Finally, beware the pitfall foods in disguise—foods that appear healthy but are really loaded with sugar, starch, fat, or salt. Check out the following list:

Set Yourself Up for Success

Choosing to commit to something
when you’re ready
ensures that this change is coming from the most important place: you. The best predictor for success is your
willingness
to change. When you are truly ready to make a change in your life, then it’s time to manifest the health and happiness you’ve been longing for.

Goals that are made in public are more likely to be kept than goals made in private. So it’s time to go beyond the resolutions you make to yourself in your head—the same resolutions that aren’t likely to be kept. Make your journey public. Tell your significant other, friend, 12-step sponsor, trainer, or health care professional, and have them sign this contract with you. You’ll be making a binding promise to the most important person in this agreement—you—and it’s a simple way to keep yourself accountable and get the support you will need on this journey.

Here’s your Diet Rehab contract:

I’ve identified that my pitfall mantra is: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And the mantra that I’d like to have is: ________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

The best thing about having this new mantra will be: ___________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

I would rate my willingness to make a change on a scale of 0 to 10 (with 0 being not willing to lift a finger and 10 being willing to do whatever it takes): _______________

My current weight: _______________

My goal weight: _______________

(Set yourself an achievable weight-loss goal for the 28-day period of Diet Rehab. This might be anything from two to ten pounds. Remember, setting achievable goals is one of the ways to avoid pitfall styles of thinking.)

I, (
your name
) ________________, am committed to following Diet Rehab for
twenty-eight
days. I will eat booster foods and fill my life with booster activities that will change my mantra. I will actively change any obsessive, emotional, or compulsive eating using the tools I now have. Embarking on this journey means that I am affirming my own self-worth, and I am willing to let my behaviors and choices help support this belief.

Below you’ll find a sample serotonin deficient, dopamine deficient, and dual deficiency food journal for each week.

SAMPLE WEEK 1

Serotonin-Deficient Food Journal

Circle your serotonin booster meal or snack (they are in italics and boldface).

Breakfast:
sugary cereal with milk, croissant, orange juice, coffee with sugar and cream

Lunch:
2 pieces of garlic bread, spaghetti in marinara sauce, 2 sodas

Dinner:
dinner salad made with romaine lettuce, tomatoes in balsamic vinaigrette, 1 cup of brown rice, 1 breast of grilled chicken with fresh rosemary, thyme, and black pepper, 2 glasses of sparkling water

Snack (optional):
king-size candy bar, soda

Snack (optional):
chips, water

Snack (optional):
2 cups of chocolate ice cream

Booster activity:
took a 10-minute walk in the afternoon when I was feeling stressed

SAMPLE WEEK 2

Serotonin-Deficient Food Journal

Circle your serotonin booster meals or snacks (they are in italics and boldface).

Breakfast:
whole milk latte, muffin

Lunch:
brown rice bowl with sliced steamed carrots, broccoli, and grilled black sole with low-sodium soy sauce, green tea

Dinner:
club sandwich, fries, sweetened iced tea

Snack (optional):
candy

Snack (optional):
protein bar, decaf coffee with skim milk

Snack (optional):
pretzels

Booster activity 1:
meditated for five minutes in the morning

Booster activity 2:
challenged myself by saying hello to a stranger in the elevator when I was going to work

SAMPLE WEEK 3

Serotonin-Deficient Food Journal

Circle your maximum of 3 servings of pitfall foods (they are in italics and boldface).

Breakfast:
whole pear, instant oatmeal with stevia, hot white tea

Lunch:
2 pieces of pepperoni pizza (2),
green salad with low-fat Italian dressing, water

Dinner:
high-fiber pasta with marinara sauce, grilled chicken, and red bell peppers, sparkling water

Snack (optional):
baby carrots with hummus, hot water with lemon

Snack (optional):
small bag of chips (1)

Snack (optional):
none

Booster activity 1:
sent a nice e-mail telling a friend how much I appreciate him

Booster activity 2:
prayed and gave thanks for things I was grateful for today

Booster activity 3:
took a nap in the sun for twenty minutes

SAMPLE WEEK 4

Serotonin-Deficient Food Journal

Circle your maximum of 2 servings of pitfall foods (they are in italics and boldface).

Breakfast:
high-fiber granola bar, whole orange, green tea

Lunch:
grilled chicken Caesar salad, no croutons, with low-fat dressing, sparkling water

Dinner:
grilled tilapia, steamed green beans, ½ cup brown rice

Snack (optional):
fruit snacks (1)

Snack (optional):
bowl of low-sodium vegetable soup

Snack (optional):
small bag of chips (1)

Booster activity 1:
cuddled with my dog for ten minutes before work

Booster activity 2:
cleaned my closet

Booster activity 3:
took a thirty-minute walk after dinner

Booster activity 4:
went to my ceramics class

SAMPLE WEEK 1

Dopamine-Deficient Food Journal

Circle your dopamine booster meal or snack (they are in italics and boldface).

Breakfast:
sausage, white toast with peanut butter, orange juice, 2 cups of coffee with nondairy creamer

Lunch:
cheeseburger, fries, diet soda

Dinner:
high-protein pasta with grilled shrimp, asparagus, and broccoli in marinara sauce, green tea, fat-free Greek yogurt with organic frozen blueberries

Snack (optional):
chips, diet soda

Snack (optional):
milk chocolate

Snack (optional):
chocolate muffin

Booster activity:
lifted weights for forty minutes

SAMPLE WEEK 2

Dopamine-Deficient Food Journal

Circle your dopamine booster meals or snacks (they are in italics and boldface).

Breakfast:
low-fat plain Greek yogurt with frozen raspberries, coffee with low-fat milk

Lunch:
shrimp fried rice, 2 egg rolls, white rice with soy sauce, soda

Dinner:
fried chicken, biscuits with gravy, corn on the cob with butter, water

Snack (optional):
protein bar

Snack (optional):
2 candy bars