Stage 1 – Getting Started

Updated 01-28-2013

HEY NEW KID! 

Come sit with us.  I’ll be your friend.  So, new to The Perfect 10 Diet School, eh?

Well, I won’t ask what brings you here, I know.  And I know you’re probably thinking about all the other diets you’ve been on that lasted a week, a month, most of year, etc.  This one is different, I promise you.  When I started P10 I did a lot of online research and could not find one bad thing anyone said about it.  It really DOES work.  And you really can do it.  Believe you me, if I can do it, anyone can.   

The Perfect 10 Diet is not really a ‘diet’ – it’s a learning process, a lifestyle, a new beginning.  Once you start you’ll wonder where it’s been all your life.   

You’ve read the book.  I don’t need to repeat it back to you.  But, I highly recommend that you read it more than once.  The parts you need to know and the parts you’ve forgotten.  It’s a lot to take in but you’ll learn something new each time. 

DOWNLOAD THE BONUS CHAPTER.  It’s provided on The Perfect 10 Diet’s official website and I have a copy of it here.  It’s a more basic boiled down version of the book and it gets specific about portions.   

And remember folks, I’m not a doctor, nor do I want to sleep with one on TV, but I think sharing experiences helps us all learn.  This advice is based on my and others’ experiences on Stage 1.  Feel free to comment with questions or experiences.

Getting Started

Here is your chant, your mantra, your reason to get through this:

THREE WEEKS. 

Say it – THREE WEEKS.  You can do anything for three weeks.  Every time I missed a soda or candy bar or drove past Subway during their grilled cheesy hot pastrami promotion I told myself ‘get through three weeks, and then we’ll see’. 

Day 1 – weigh and measure yourself, write it down, take a photo/mugshot of yourself and then stay off the scale – and don’t get back on until Day 7.  Your body will be getting used to the new exercise routine and your weight might go up and down a little the first week and it’ll freak you out.  You’ll just wig out and think you’re doing it wrong.  If you wait, you will be happily surprised on Day 7. 

Keep a food diary – writing in a journal or using an app can help you keep track of what you ate and what worked for you and what doesn’t. 

The first week – you’ll feel the difference almost right away, a surge of energy, feeling great and then BAM you hit a wall right around Day 5-ish.  Do not panic.  This is normal.  This is your body saying ‘time to detox-yay!’ and you’ll feel yucky for about a day or so and then all better again. 

Drink your water and don’t forget.  Your body will be offloading all the stuff in your system and the water will help it do that.  Get some sleep, at least 7-8 hours a night.  If you don’t sleep you won’t lose the weight.   

But I miss bread-rice-pasta…three weeks, remember?  Just do without for three weeks.  At the end of three weeks, you really won’t miss them.  Again, you’ll be surprised. 

Whining for wine!  I’m not much of a drinker myself so I can’t really identify with this but wine is sort of liquid bread so let’s just give it three weeks and then see how you feel about it.

What can I eat?   I recommend searching out vegetarian or low-carb recipes and adapting them to P10.  The Whole Foods website, vegetarian recipes and most of the Paleo diet recipes are P10 compatible.  Click on the Stage 1 category on this blog and it will bring up all of the Stage 1 recipes for you.  At the end of this blogpost I’ll list some random things that I ate during Stage 1 just to give you some ideas.  And I can do this because I wrote it all down in my food diary! 

What else can I drink?  zero water, seltzer water, green tea, lemonade made with stevia/truvia, sparkling mineral water with fresh lemon or lime juice squeezed into it, herbal tea.  And you’ve got to try coconut water, make sure it doesn’t have added sugar.  This stuff is miracle fluid – in WWII they actually used coconut water on wounded soldiers who needed plasma – by injecting it directly into their bloodstream.  I think that’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard. 

But…fat?  You want me to eat real live natural fat and whole dairy products?  Yes, just do it.  I know it goes against all you’ve been taught but you won’t be sorry.  P10 is the most delicious eating program I’ve ever tried. 

Hunger – most people aren’t hungry after the first few days.  I had to remember to eat.  If you have a large breakfast, a medium lunch and a small dinner you’ll do fine.  I think a breakfast with plenty of protein and fat holds me most of the day.  Your tummy might growl a little when you go to bed, but you’ll feel better for it.    

Exercise – okay, I was 100% sure that I was not gonna exercise and I’d have to force myself - but I’d wake up and have to work out.  I had all this energy I’d never had before.  When you first start working out intensively, your body tends to hold on to water and even fat stores. After your body learns that it will still get plenty, it will start letting go of those things. Increasing the water will help.  Try to do your workout before dinnertime though.  If you exercise too late you won’t be able to sleep.  

LAST BUT NOT LEAST – do your best.  It’s hard to find perfectly organic, magically preservative free, completely healthy food all the time.  You may have to compromise a little.  Don’t beat yourself up.  It’s still so much better than what you were doing before. 

Come ask for help.  P10 has a hotline number and their Facebook page has many members who can help with your questions. 

Here are some random entries from my food journal during Stage 1: 

Breakfast:

Eggs and veggies scrambled in butter topped with avocado and salsa 

Refried beans topped with runny or scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese and avocado 

Smoothies made from almond milk, protein powder, almond butter and banana

Whole fat yogurt with chopped strawberries, bananas and truvia 

Lunch:

Salads dressed with olive or coconut oil and with some of the following various things added: turkey, sashimi, scallops, shrimp, salmon, goat cheese, avocado, mushrooms, veggies, tomatoes, strawberries, apples, watermelon 

One apple, sliced, topped with cheddar cheese and zapped in micro to melt the cheese and a squeeze of lemon 

Nori rollups with some of the following various things:  beans, eggs, tuna, greens, cream cheese, cucumber, turkey, apple, avocado

For a sweet version try strawberries and cream cheese 

Shrimp cocktail and a few oysters (yeah, it was a business lunch)

Dinner:  

Grilled fish or chicken with roasted vegetables and mashed cauliflower 

No Noodle Veggie lasagna – recipe

Lettuce wraps with black beans, shrimp or fish, cabbage, avocado and salsa 

Lean steak marinated in olive oil and lemon, thinly sliced, with roasted veggies 

Mushroom Swiss burger wrapped in lettuce 

Tropical Shrimp – sauté shrimp in coconut oil with green onion, garlic, walnuts and banana or pineapple, served over greens 

Sliced tomato topped with veggies sautéed in butter and a light grating of cheese 

Cauliflower soup, butternut squash soup, sweet potato soup 

Grilled Portobello mushrooms

YOU ARE WORTH IT!  YOU CAN DO THIS!