Hummus and Raw Food Crackers © lynette sheppard

It’s not a diet; it’s a whole new way of eating. How many times have you heard that about the latest weight loss cure? From the Ornish diet to HCG to Jenny Craig to Adkins, the list goes on and on. I’ve tried them all. Last New Year’s Day, I decided that I was over it. Fat and happy? So be it.

Around the first of May, my handsome hubby, Dewitt, said that he’d like to try a new diet. A friend of ours was embarking on the Fast Metabolism Diet and wanted us to do it too.

“Great!” I thought to myself. “Yet another way to lose weight so I can put it back on again when we start traveling or eating out.” After several heavy sighs, I agreed to try it.

A 28 day regimen of no soy, no wheat, no dairy, no corn. Ohhhhkayyyy. No sugar, no alcohol, no caffeine. Less appealing, but in for a penny, in for a pound.

Eat five to six meals a day – I can do that. What? Eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking? And this without caffeine? Sheesh. I’m equal parts irritated and intrigued.

I read Haylie Pomroy’s book on the diet – and speaking as a nurse, I like her reasoning very much. You have to have fuel in order to burn fuel. Eating is not the problem, but what and how we eat.

The hard part for me was figuring out what to eat and serve on the phases of the diet. I kept flipping back and forth through the book to find all the info. The food combining is fairly regimented for cleansing and detoxing. My Menopause brain was working overtime to figure it all out.

And then, drum roll, I discovered that there was an app for that. With the Fast Metabolism Diet app, I could easily keep track of what to buy and how to structure all those many meals. Phase 1: two days of low fat, lots of healthy grains and fruit. Phase 2: two days of low fat, certain veggies in large quantities, and lean protein. (Definitely my least favorite phase but great for detoxification. I complained a lot during those two days every week.) Phase 3: three days of healthy fats, lean protein, some grain and fruit.

Best of all, the app has tons of recipes. Finally, we had to drink LOTS of water every day.

And after 28 days? We lost 12 and 14 pounds respectively. More than being happy with our weight loss, we were thrilled with our energy levels and general well-being.

These days, we continue to eat healthy grains: amaranth, quinoa, kamut, sprouted grain baked goods, and brown rice. BTW, you haven’t lived if you haven’t eaten red quinoa!

We eat lots of fruit and vegetables. We eat sweet potatoes instead of potatoes.

I used to believe that fat was the enemy. No longer. We don’t avoid fat –  we embrace it. Olive oil and coconut oil are our staples for cooking. Almond butter is our spread. We eat lots of raw nuts and seeds. We snack on hummus (here’s a link to the best hummus recipe ever!). We eat corn chips occasionally that are non GMO.

Protein is chicken, beef, pork, and eggs. We avoid hormones, antibiotics, and nitrates. We eat organic as much as possible.

Our sweeteners are stevia and agave nectar in small quantities.

Want a great dessert? Laughing Giraffe Organics makes Snakaroons – chocolate is my favorite flavor although Goji Maca is a close second. They are raw, vegan, and delicious. Ingredients: Organic unsweetened coconut, organic agave nectar, organic cacao, organic coconut sugar, organic vanilla extract, and Himalayan pink salt. That’s it. No weird stuff I can’t pronounce.

Sure, we have a glass of wine now and again and drink some coffee, mostly decaf although it too has some caffeine. And I never met a birthday cake I didn’t like. But we love our new way of eating. It’s January and we remain within a pound or two of our achieved weight at the end of the diet.

I’m not saying this diet is for everyone. But it sure makes all kinds of sense to me. And if I eat something not on the list? I don’t worry about it and continue my mostly good eating habits.

I now travel with almond butter, sprouted bread, and raw nuts. And  it’s becoming much easier to eat out as so many more restaurants serve healthy grains and fats.

Want more info? Check out the Fast Metabolism diet here. Even if you just want a good cleanse or detox, it’s worth doing the 28 days. And it may just change the way you eat. Haylie Pomroy tells us “DIET stands for Did I Eat Today”. And I can say, “Oh, yes I did!”