Revew of The Plan - Lyn-Genet Recitas

So I'm a woman of a certain age.  ok!  I'm over 50.  But I look pretty good if I must say so myself and on my better days you'd think I was 35.  Ok enough with my ego.  Here we go!  I was gaining weight hand over fist.  I mean I was eating like the smallest portions possible and was still gaining weight.  I'd make a smoothie in the morning filled with great ingredients:  wheatgrass, coconut milk, blue berries, etc.... you get the point.  I mean super healthy breakfast.  and oh yeah, I was exercising.  Up at 5:00am, dressed and in the garage working it out!  Treadmill, push ups, sit ups, squats, jumping jacks, the whole 9.  And what kind of weight loss was I experiencing as a result?  Zip, zilch, zero, yep! NADA!  I was gaining weight.  WHY, WHY, WHY?  I was desperate.  So I started eating one lowly sweet potato or yam for lunch.  I heard these were really, really good for you and that they're filled with  blah blah for blah blah.  Did that for a few weeks and still I was gaining like a pound a day.  I'd have the teeniest dinner you can imagain and STILL I WAS GAINING WEIGHT.  Someone tried to tell me it was because I was getting older - that I could expect to gain weight that I couldn't get off ever again in life.  That beiing a fat old lady is just part of life.  Birth, taxes, fat old lady, then death!  Are you F-in kidding me?  "BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSHEEEET!"  That's what I was thinking.  I didn't want to be rude or get in an argument so I just held my anger in.  and yes, I was really angry at someone telling me I was doomed to be a fat old lady.  Whatever!

Then along came The Plan.  Yeah, I saw it too on Dr. Oz.  I have to go back and watch it again because I don't know what was said but whatever was said resonated with me.  I picked up the book, started giving it a read and immediately it made sense!  I didn't even start 'The Plan' diet and dropped about 2 stubborn pounds.  And with that I started the 3 day detox.  It was sort of difficult at first because I had to do a lot of figuring out what food went with what and when.  But I got the food thing down, as described in the book, and was able to get through the three days.  I was dropping just about a pound every 2 days.  So yes, in a sense it was and maybe still is slow for me, but I do believe Lyn-Genet has crack the code to my weight lose.  Like a friggin miracle, I'm dropping weight now.

Ok, so after the 3 days, I'll confess, I was worn out at trying to figure out what food went with what and when, Arrrrrgh!  I was just maybe a litte confused and daze at all of the daily menu changes.  So I vered off, but I kept trying to stick to the rules of what foods are reactive, inflammartory or just cause plain old weight gain.  I continued to weigh in everyday, but started weighing in on 3 scales.  The two I already had that were surly broken and then the new one (as suggested in The Plan) that when I got on for the first time, welll that must have been broken too because surly I wasn't THAT DAMN FAT!!!  "Blasted scales! - 3 pieces of junk", I thought.  Anyway, I digress.  I stuck to her list of foods in order to maybe avoid the most inflammatory, which surprisingly were foods I was eating 90% of the time, and I continued to weigh in everyday.  Well one day I got down to 135.  I mean from 141.9 to 135 in about 2 weeks!!! Whaaaaaat!!!!  Cool.  Very friggin cool.  And let me remind you, I could not drop any weight prior to this for all the tea in China.  When I say none of my old tricks were working, I mean it.  But this was proving to be a useful tool. 

So one day I decided to test with cooked Swiss Chard.  That's healthy, right?  Yeah, Swiss Chard, a  very tasty, deep, dark colored green veg filled with all kinds of minerals and what not.  Chopped some up, season and sauteed with onion.  The next day I weighed in at, ready?...  138!!!!  I gained 3 f-in pounds!!!  That's almost a whole English stone!! (Don't know why I'm saying that, but..) A WHOLE 3 POUNDS?!  FROM SWISSH CHARD???? Are you kidding me?  Swiss Chard can do that to you?  "NO WAY", you say?  and I say, YES, WAY! 

So I srambled to get back on track.  I professed that I'd start back on day 4 and bow-down to The Plan goddess.  Which I did.  But after a few days I started getting confused again as to what food went with what and when and, "Ahhhhh"!  But I kept trying. 

So one day Lyn-genet sent me a Word doc with all of food menus in The Plan for 20 days.  I started going through it and noticed that she had a pattern of what to eat and when, and "Walla"! Like magic, I got it!   Breakfast everyday for the fist 10 or so days is pretty much her Flax granola and then she suggest the Compote after a few days of the Flax granola.  Then lunch is pretty much some kind of anti-inflammatory soup with a salad or a cooked vegatable and there is only one day in The Plan for lunch where some kind of animal protein is suggested, and then just about every dinner includes some kind of animal protein.  And that's pretty much what I've been sticking too and ITS WORKING!!!  I finally got the scale back down to 135.  It felt like climbing up hill to drop the Swiss Chard pounds.  So anyone offering me Swiss Chard is getting slapped!

I emailed her one time to tell her what I was eating and her reply back was a little short as she said "YOUR NOT DOING THE PLAN!  Please don't waste my time, I have other people with real Plan issues!"  Well, EXcuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me!  Humph!  'The nerve', I thought, but she was probably right... in a way..., because I was still (in my mind) sticking to the principals or methodology of The Plan, and again, it was working.  I just wasn't 'lock-step' with the daily Plan menu.  But I forgave her and then started communicating via Twitter. (wink).

I wasn't sticking hard and fast to The Plan but I still I continued and continue to eat from the menu or from the cookbook that she sent, for free.  Nice lady.   They give out a lot of free information and 'The Plan' stuff from the website too, sooo...

1	1 cup Flax granola with ½ cup blueberries Silk Coconut milk	Carrot ginger soup – with chia seeds or sunflower seeds Sautéed or steamed broccoli drizzle with orange oil and lemon juice (orange oil- p. 5) Mixed greens with ½ pear and pumpkin seeds	Sautéed Kale, 3-4 carrots, onion, zucchini, shiitakes, and broccoli with spicy coco sauce (p. 10) Grated Carrot and raw grated beet salad with pumpkin seeds
2	Flax with ½ cup blueberries	Carrot Soup with chia seeds or sunflower seeds Mixed greens with ½ diced apple, ¼ avocado  Leftover broccoli	Leftover sautéed Kale and veggies with 1 cup brown or basmati rice with pumpkin seeds beet/carrot salad with sunflower seeds
3	Flax with choice of ½ cup blueberries or ½ pear	Mixed greens with  ¼ avocado, carrots and pumpkin seeds Cream of broccoli soup (p. 15) with chia seeds or sunflower seeds 1 apple	½ portion chicken (2-3 oz) with Italian herbs and orange zest on a bed of Mixed greens Oven roasted zucchini, broccoli, carrots, onions, garlic and Italian herb blend- finish with orange oil and fresh black pepper (orange oil- p. 5)
4	Flax Granola with ½ cup berries, ½ apple or ½ pear	Leftover roasted vegetables (reheat) on a bed of Mixed greens with pumpkin seeds and goat cheese (hard or soft)	Chicken with apple bourbon sauce (p. 4) Baby Romaine with carrots and ¼ avocado Steamed or sautéed broccoli with orange oil and fresh black pepper (orange oil- p. 5)
5	Flax with choice of ½ cup berries or ½ pear	Leftover dinner salad with pumpkin seeds Cream of broccoli soup (p. 15) Or Carrot ginger soup with chia seeds (p. 14)	Chicken with spicy apricot glaze on a bed of Mixed greens (p. 4) Sautéed zucchini with onion and basil finish with lemon and ½ oz manchego
6	Flax with choice of ½ cup berries, ½ apple or ½ pear ( Or Blueberry pear compote (p. 28)	Mixed greens or baby Romaine with avocado, pumpkin seeds Cream of broccoli soup (p. 15)	choose your proteins to test Grilled wild white fish, steak, lamb, venison, duck, chickpeas or egg white on a bed of Mixed greens Grilled or sautéed squash with sautéed  Kale and manchego (p.22)
7	Flax Granola with ½ cup berries, ½ apple or ½ pear	2 cups leftover Kale and squash salad (reheated) on a bed of Mixed greens with pumpkin seeds 4 Orange Poppyseed Crackers with 4-5 tbsp hummus (p. 25) or raw almond butter if not testing chickpeas	Chicken with lemon garlic sauce (p. 9) on a bed of Mixed greens Sautéed vegetables- broccoli, carrots, zucchini, onions with garlic
8	1 slice white or wheat bread with almond butter and ½ piece approved fruit	Cream of broccoli soup with chia seeds (p. 15) Mixed greens with sunflower seeds	Protein that has been tested on a bed of Mixed greens Leftover sautéed vegetables from day 7
9	Blueberry pear compote Or Pumpkin Chia Pudding- top with sunflower seeds	Baby Romaine with goat cheese, ¼ avocado and sunflower seeds Spicy Vegetarian Soup (p. 24) Or Cream of broccoli (p. 15) Or steamed broccoli ith evo	Any approved protein  Chopped Salad (p. 22)- please omit chickpeas Sauteed zucchini with garlic, basil and lemon (can use zucchini pasta recipe, p. 45)
10	Flax Granola with approved fruit Or Blueberry pear compote	Leftover chopped salad with pumpkin seeds Carrot Soup (p. 14) Or Spicy Vegetarian Soup (p. 24)	Test New Protein (Grilled wild white fish, steak, lamb, venison, duck scallops, lentils, tempeh or pinto beans) on a bed of baby Romaine Lightly sautéed Kale with sunflower seeds, avocado
11	Blueberry Pear Compote Or Bread with almond butter and ½ piece of fruit Or Pumpkin Chia Pudding top with sunflower seeds	Leftover sautéed Kale (heated) with pumpkin seeds and ½  apple diced Steamed broccoli with evo 1 oz Salt Free potato chips or 4 Orange Poppyseed crackers	Any approved protein on a bed of baby Romaine 2 cups Vegetable timbale (p. 35)
12	Blueberry pear compote (p. 28) Or ¼ cup Flax and  ¾  cup cereal with approved fruit	1 cup Leftover veg. timbale (reheated) on a bed of Mixed greens with pumpkin seeds ½ apple or pear	Approved protein on a bed of Mixed greens Test new vegetable sautéed, steamed, or grilled and mixed with other approved vegetables- use herbs of choice
13	Flax granola with fruit Or Cereal with 2 tbsp chia seeds and sunflower seeds with tested fruit Or Blueberry Pear Compote	Open-faced vegetable sandwich with leftover mixed vegetables topped with goat cheese Mixed greens with avocado and sunflower seeds OR Salad with leftover vegetables and goat cheese and carrots with hummus (p. 25) Spicy Vegetarian Soup (p. 24) Or Cream of broccoli soup (p. 15)	Approved protein Approved vegetable of choice- steamed, sautéed, or grilled - herbs of choice Chopped salad (p. 25)- please omit chickpeas
14	Test new breakfast item or test whole or lactose free milk	Leftover chopped salad mixed with 1 cup leftover cooked vegetables (heated up), ½ cup low sodium chickpeas, sunflower seeds	Approved protein on a bed of Mixed greens Roasted Vegetables that have been approved
15	Flax granola and fruit OR Cereal/Chia and sunflower seeds with approved fruit	Approved Salad with 15-25 grams of vegetarian protein 1 cup leftover Roasted vegetables	Chicken with Indian Spice rub (p. 8) Warm Kale Salad (p. 19) Mixed greens with grated carrot
16	Blueberry Pear Compote Or Bread with nut butter and ½ piece of fruit Or Cereal/Chia and sunflower seeds with approved fruit Or Approved new breakfast	Leftover Kale with 2 oz Indian spice chicken ½  apple	Approved protein on a bed of Mixed greens Steamed or sautéed approved vegetables
17	Flax granola Or Cereal/Chia and sunflower seeds with approved fruit	Leftover dinner vegetables on a bed of Mixed greens with chickpeas, sunflower and pumpkin seeds Choice of soup	Approved protein 1 cup Vegetable Timbale (p. 35) Mixed greens
18	Cereal/chia with fruit Or Approved Breakfast	Leftover mixed green salad with 1 cup vegetable timbale (reheated) and pumpkin seeds ½ apple or pear	Test restaurant