HOW TO GET THIN?

TRIGLYCERIDES 

Remember those fatty acids we talked about? Guess what happens when they are not used up for energy? Well, what happens is that they head back into the fat cells, where they “hook up” with two other fatty acids and a glycerol molecule, to form what is known as a triglyceride (triglyceride = 3 fatty acids +1 glycerol molecule). 

And this is not a good thing… Triglycerides are problematic because they are much larger than a fatty acid. In fact, they are so large that they cannot leave the fat cells like “free flowing” fatty acids could.Because of this, they remain stuck inside the fat cells and become the stubborn, stored body fat that we want to get rid of. 


Triglycerides cannot be burned for energy until they are broken down back into those smaller “free flowing” fatty acids and released back into the bloodstream. This is why so many people have so many problems with stubborn body fat. 

They can reduce their calorie intake all they want but as long as they are consuming carbohydrates, those triglycerides are going to remain intact! So…the question becomes, “how do we break these triglycerides apart, so that that they can be used for energy?” The answer is simple: significant carbohydrate restriction I know it probably sounds like I’m beating a dead horse here, but it is imperative that you understand this: carbohydrates cause insulin to be secreted into the bloodstream.

 Insulin causes your body to store excess calories as fat AND prevents fat from being released from your fat cells to be burned for energy. To put is simply, carbohydrates = excess body weight and fat storage. The 2 Week Diet - Launch Handbook | 33 Remember, nothing causes us to burn fat faster than starvation. But…starvation has negative consequences on our lean body mass. So, ideally, we want the body to “think” we are starving so that it is breaking down triglycerides and burning that fat for our energy needs. 

Since the body relies primarily on carbohydrates for its energy, when we remove those carbohydrates, the body will be forced to get its fuel elsewhere. Now, in the case of starvation, the body would normally begin to break down lean body mass for glucose (energy) via a process known as glucogenesis. 

However, since we are “sneaking” small amounts of protein to the body, we end up getting all the “benefits” of starvation without the loss of our precious lean body mass. Now, glucogenesis will be completed by using the protein we are getting from our diet which spares our lean body mass. And, consuming less carbohydrates increases glucogenic activity. 

The presence of glucogenic activity means we cannot store fat because that glucogenic activity needs all the fat it can get to be able to fuel the glucogenic process. In other words, glucogenesis requires a lot of energy…and it will burn even more fat to supply that energy. 

This results in the ability to turn our bodies into a 24/7 fat burning machine. And needless to say, maximizing the hours that your body is burning fat in a day is the ultimate key to a sexy, lean body. Again, your body NEEDS energy on a 24/7 basis. 

Without carbohydrates, your body is forced to turn to an alternate fuel source to keep you running all day long. So, let’s get now get our bodies revved up to burn body fat on a 24/7 basis.


As I’ve pointed out, the fastest and easiest way to lose weight is to stop using dietary carbohydrates for energy and to start burning our own body fat instead.

 Once you restrict carbohydrates from your diet (and keep protein intake up), your body has absolutely no choice but to break down and burn body fat for the fuel it needs. 


When your fat cells begin breaking down those stubborn triglycerides (the stored, stubborn body fat that is stuck inside the fat cells) and releases those fatty acids back into the bloodstream to be used for energy, your fat cells get smaller…and so do you! You will be truly amazed at just how much fat you will burn once you restrict carbohydrates from your diet. 

Remember, your body needs fuel all day long… It needs fuel to blink, think, talk and walk… It needs fuel for everything you do.

 On The 2 Week Diet, we will use nothing but stored, gooey body fat to keep us going. Losing weight on The 2 Week Diet is a matter of strategic eating—it’s a combination of reduced carbohydrates and eating very specific types of proteins and fats that are consumed in the appropriate amounts at just the right time. 

This diet alone will produce amazing weight loss. However, by following The 2 Week Diet exercise program, we can nearly double our weight loss goals, while obtaining some very favorable body composition changes.


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A “fast” metabolism is the true secret to maintaining a lean body.

FIBER


Fiber is actually a carbohydrate but I felt the need to devote a specific section to fiber because of the misinformation surrounding it. In most low-carb diets, fiber carbohydrates are not counted as “dangerous” weight-gaining carbohydrates. 

This is because fiber cannot be digested by the human body. Since fiber is not digested by the body, it does not create a rapid rise in blood sugar like other carbohydrates. But beware! There are two schools of thoughts on fiber. 

While modern medicine encourages a diet high in fiber, there are other medical researchers that state too much fiber is the cause of numerous diseases and irregularities such as constipation, IBS, Chron’s disease, colon cancer and others. If you’d like to see some of the latest research on fiber and how it may be causing irreparable damage to your body, I strongly encourage you to visit www.GutSense.org. Now, after that’s being said about fiber, fiber is not going to create any complications for you in normal portions. 


However, you should be sure to get your fiber from vegetables and salad greens rather than forcing yourself to get 30 grams per day as recommended by the mainstream medical community. If you are concerned about constipation, some researchers believe that constipation itself is caused by too much fiber in the diet. Increasing your water intake during this diet is essential to good health, proper kidney functioning and it has remarkable effects on relieving constipation.


METABOLISM


The primary function of our metabolism is simply to provide the right amount of fuel (at the right time) to keep our bodies alive and functioning. It accomplishes this through a complex series of chemical reactions whereby food is converted to the energy we need. 


When we eat, the food we swallow enters our digestive tract and is broken down by digestive enzymes. Carbohydrates are converted to glucose, fats to fatty acids and protein to amino acids. Once these nutrients are broken down, they are absorbed by the bloodstream and carried into the cells of the body. 

Our metabolism then works to either release these nutrients as energy, use them to build and repair lean tissue or store them for later use. There are two basic metabolic processes—one is constructive and is responsible for building and storing energy for the body. 

The other is destructive, though in a positive sense, as it breaks down nutrient molecules to release energy. The constructive metabolic process is called anabolism, whereas the destructive process is called catabolism. Anabolism: promotes the growth of new cells, the maintenance and repair of tissues, and the storage of energy—usually through body fat—for future use.


 Small nutrient molecules are converted into larger molecules of protein, carbohydrates and fat. Catabolism: is responsible for immediately providing the body energy to use. Instead of building up, it breaks down the nutrient molecules to release energy. 

These two processes do not occur simultaneously but are balanced by the body based on several factors. Catabolism, in particular—though some attribute this to overall metabolism—has three components: 1. Basal metabolism: sometimes called resting metabolism, this is the metabolism component responsible for keeping you alive by ensuring normal body functions. Even if you were bedridden the whole day, basal metabolism is still at work. 

Basal metabolism is metabolism’s main component, as 60 to 70 percent of the calories from the food you eat The 2 Week Diet - Launch Handbook | 26 are used for this. People who want to lose weight usually aim for a higher basal metabolic rate (BMR). 2. Physical movement: this can range from a simple moving of your fingers to strenuous exercise. Usually 25 percent of the calories you consume are for this purpose. 3. Thermic effect of food: this indicates the digestion and processing of the food you take in.

 Depending on the type of nutrient you consume, approximately 10% of the calories of the food you eat are burned through this. As you will see, the digestion of certain foods will require much more calorie expenditure than others. 

Protein takes a lot of calories to digest while carbohydrates take far less. Thus, taking all this into account, here is our metabolism formula: Calories From Food = Calories Expended From Basal Metabolism (60-70%) + Calories Expended By Physical Movement (25%) + Calories Expended Digesting Food (10%) What Affects Metabolism? Your metabolic rate, or how fast or slow your metabolism works, is influenced by a number of factors: • Genetics: yes, metabolic rate is also inherited. 

Sometimes this makes an entire world of difference between a person who can eat almost everything and not gain an ounce and a person who easily balloons after indulging just once. • Age: the younger you are, the faster your metabolism is. Metabolism slows down as you age. 


Women’s metabolic rate starts falling at the age of 30; for men, decline starts later at the age of 40. • Gender: men have a faster metabolic rate—usually 10-15 percent faster—than women because their bodies have a larger muscle mass. Muscle plays a key role in a fast metabolism, as will be discussed in exercise portion of The 2 Week Diet. • Amount of lean body mass: as already mentioned above, more muscle = faster metabolism. • Diet: some foods will help you, some will only harm you. While timing is not everything, meal frequency greatly affects your metabolism. The 2 Week Diet - Launch Handbook | 27 • Stress level: stress is inversely proportional to metabolism. The more stressed you are subjected to, the lower your metabolism will be. • Hormones: specific hormones metabolize specific nutrients. 

How well the hormones work, then, directly affects metabolism. To a certain extent, diet and stress levels affect the hormones involved in metabolism, as you will find out later. Hormonal disorders or imbalances can affect metabolism as well. 

Looking at all these factors that influence metabolism, you now probably have a general idea of what you need to do to increase your metabolism—accept the things you cannot change, and work on those that you can!


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PROTEIN, FAT, CARBOHYDRATES

The primary nutrients humans consume are protein, fat and carbohydrates. Understanding the role each of these primary nutrients play on our health and on our ability to gain or lose weight is an important feature of The 2 Week Diet. I strongly encourage you to familiarize yourself with this portion of The 2 Week Diet, as it will have long lasting ramifications on your daily life. 

Protein Proteins are the foundation of your body’s cells, tissues and organs. They are essential to your muscles, hair, skin, hair, organs and hormones. 


While the body can survive without eating another carbohydrate and last for extended periods without eating fat, a lack of protein in your diet will cause degeneration of your muscle tissue and organs, which will eventually lead to death.

 Knowing how important protein is to the body, it is unbelievable to see how many people still get most of their calories from high-carbohydrate diets. 

Several studies have shown that the recommended daily allowance for protein consumption is far lower than it should be...especially for those engaged in regular exercise. What this research has shown is that people following the “recommended daily allowance” of protein consumption while engaging in regular physical activity, were actually losing valuable muscle tissue because there was not enough protein in the body to repair and rebuild their muscles after their workouts. 

Proteins are made up of amino acids and there are just 20 amino acids that make up ALL human proteins. Of these 20 amino acids, the body can only produce 12 of these itself. This means the other eight amino acids must be obtained through the foods you eat. The 2 Week Diet - Launch Handbook | 19 Lysine, leucine, isoleucine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine are the essential amino acids that are not made by the body (there are two others necessary for infants and small children). 

We get these amino acids when we consume protein sources like meat, fish, poultry and legumes. Protein sources that contain adequate amounts of all of the amino acids are called “complete proteins.” Those food items that do not contain all or adequate amounts of amino acids are known as “incomplete proteins.” In general, animal proteins (meat, fish, poultry, cheese, eggs) are considered “complete proteins.” The “incomplete proteins” are those that are vegetable based, usually in the form of grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. 

To get enough essential amino acids through vegetable protein, one usually has to combine several different food groups together in a strategic combination. Breaking down and processing protein takes a lot more energy and much more time than it does to break down other nutrients. In other words, the body has to work a lot harder to digest protein than it does with carbohydrates and fat. 

The extra energy it takes to break down and process protein reduces the amount of energy your body receives from that food it consumed. Also, because it takes longer to break down and to assimilate protein, the process of emptying the stomach takes longer as well, which causes us to feel full longer, which reduces hunger pangs. It is believed that the body can only use about 50% of the protein we eat. 

This means the other 50% is eliminated from the body as waste because protein is not stored in the body the same way that fat and carbohydrates are. So, when you eat calories primarily from protein, you can rest assured that these protein calories are repairing and rebuilding your body with the excess being eliminated as waste. The extra protein will not be stored as body fat. 

As you will see, this is in stark contrast to excess carbohydrates and fat we eat, which are stored on our bodies in our fat cells instead of being eliminated. Adding protein to your meals causes your body to release a hormone called glucagon. Glucagon works to slow down the harmful effect of excess carbohydrates from being deposited into our fat cells. It does so by slowing the rate of absorption of those carbohydrates. 

Additionally, there are new studies that have shown that when the body releases glucagon (by consuming protein in your diet), it also works to stimulate fat-burning by freeing up your stored body fat, so that it can be used to fuel your body. As you will see, when we increase protein consumption and significantly decrease the amount of carbohydrates we consume, we benefit from a dual fat-burning effect. 

On one hand, when the body does not have carbohydrates to turn to, to fuel the The 2 Week Diet - Launch Handbook | 20 body, it begins to use stored body fat. Secondly, the release of glucagon into the body appears to have the added effect of attacking the fat stores that the insulin has worked to preserve. 

The 2 Week Diet is strategically designed to take advantage of both of these events. Fat Unfortunately, fat has received a bad rap for decades. So much so, that it has become ingrained in our minds to intuitively reach for anything that says “low fat” even when we know better! 

The notion that fat makes us fat makes perfect sense at face value, especially when you considered how calorically dense fat actually is. A gram of fat contains 9 calories while the same gram of protein or carbohydrates are only 4 calories. Fat doesn’t have anywhere near the thermic effect that protein does (only 3% vs 30%), so consuming fat is not necessarily going to “turbo charge” our metabolism. 

On the same token, it is important to note that fat by itself also does not make us fat. In fact, fat plays an important role in many parts of the body. While we can go for long periods of time without fat, we cannot live without it completely. 

Those fats that we cannot live without are known as essential fatty acids (EFAs). Research has shown that these EFAs actually help us burn the stubborn, stored body fat that we want to get rid of, in addition to numerous other health benefits. In The 2 Week Diet, we will focus on getting an optimal amount of these good fats to enhance our ability to lose weight fast, while becoming healthier. 


Fat Cells Recently, research has shown that once a fat cell is created, it never goes away. Fat cells get larger and larger until they can no longer hold stored fat. When this happens, your body creates new fat cells to hold the excess. And again, once those new fat cells are created, they are yours for life. 

While we cannot totally eliminate fat cells from the body, we can get rid of the gooey fatty acids and dangerous triglycerides that those fat cells are holding which will make us thinner. Understand that fat is actually the perfect fuel for your body. 

When we can switch your body to using this “better” fuel, we can effectively turn your body into a 24/7 fat-burning machine. The 2 Week Diet - Launch Handbook | 21 Carbohydrates Although carbohydrates are the most common source of energy in humans, the simple fact is, there is not a single carbohydrate that is essential to human life. Carbohydrates are classified into two types: Simple & Complex. 

Simple carbohydrates are also known as simple sugars. Simple sugars are those found in refined sugars (and the foods they are made with like cookies, candies, etc) but also in food like fruit and milk. Complex carbohydrates are known as starches. Starches include grain products such as cereals, bread, pasta, crackers and rice. 

Like simple carbohydrates, complex carbohydrates can be refined or left unrefined. Refined carbohydrates are considered to be less healthy as the refining process strips away much of the vitamins, protein and fiber. Unrefined carbohydrates cause less insulin spike and because of that, they are considered to be the healthiest of the carbohydrates. 

Regardless of whether the carbohydrates are simple or complex, both of them cause spikes in blood sugar. As you will see shortly, these spikes in blood sugar are the #1 cause of unwanted body fat.

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14 DAYS TO MAKE A HABIT The 2 Week Diet

Research has shown that it takes approximately 14 days for us to develop a new habit. This means 14 days of eating healthy... 14 days of going to the gym... 14 days of doing whatever it is that you want to implement as a habit into your life. Too often, when we try to implement a new habit into our lives, we look at it in unmanageable light. 

Because of this, these new healthy habits never get off the ground because instead of focusing on just 14 days, we sabotage our goals with the mindset that we will have to sacrifice forever. So, instead of starting with thoughts of making a new habit for life, you can make it a lot easier by simply telling yourself that you are just going to “try” this diet for 14 days. 

We can all do 14 days, right? Let your brain “know” that once this “trial period” is over, you can go back to your old eating habits.

 Then, while your brain lets you participate in this “trial,” it will also be working to form new neural pathways once it realizes that the new habit has benefited you positively in some way. 

This is the science behind habit developing and research has shown that it takes approximately 14 days to develop new habits or to break old ones. In the case of The 2 Week Diet, your brain will noticed that it now takes less work to move your body throughout the day because it has shed so many pounds. It will notice the increased energy you have as a result of your daily walks, weekly resistance training and other exercise components of this diet. 

Your  will also take note of your physical appearance, your muscle tone and how your clothes are now much looser. Basically, your brain will see remarkable benefits that will stick with you and cause you to follow along the path of good eating and exercise habits Now, understand that research has shown neural pathways to any habit (even the bad ones) can be life-long, which means bad habits can resurface when triggered to do so. 

This means that you constantly have to be aware of your thoughts and you need to make conscious efforts to avoid engaging in your bad habits of the past. Believe me, after 14 days, it’s relatively simple to convince yourself to avoid the bad habits. You will be able to indulge in your favorite food without them taking over your life. 

My intention of The 2 Week Diet is to not only burn fat away fast, but to also enforce new, good habits of eating and regular exercise that will stay with you forever. This will ensure that you get the body you’ve always wanted and keep it for life.