The Virgin Diet Read Free Page A

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    Like I said, high-FI foods are sneaky. They work slowly, subtly and after long delays. The only way to find out how they’re affecting you is to cut them out for at least 21 days. If your skin clears up, your hair perks up and your energy levels rise, maybe we’re onto something here. And if you drop up to 7 pounds in 7 days, I think you might say that we’ve figured out your problem.
    Allergy specialists are quite familiar with elimination diets: food regimens in which a possibly offending food is removed from your diet and then gradually reintroduced a few weeks later. If you can introduce the problem food easily, then you either weren’t allergic to it or you’ve gotten past the allergy. If reintroduction causes symptoms to flareup, then you’ve found a food that your body can’t handle, at least not right now.
    The Virgin Diet works the same way. We take out the foods that might be causing you problems. We will then reintroduce some high-FI foods—eggs, dairy, soy and gluten—back into your diet. If you tolerate them well, terrific! If you show symptoms, out they go. You can give them another try in 3, 6 or 12 months when your system has had more time to heal and recover. I am going to encourage you to keep the sugar, artificial sweeteners, corn and peanuts out of your diet for the long haul (or at least 95 percent of the time), but let’s deal with that once you recognize how amazing you feel without them! Right now, just focus on the fact that this is only for 21 days. And you can do just about anything for 21 days.
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    You can do just about anything for 21 days.
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    For our first step, the key is to avoid moderation. We need literally zero quantities of gluten, soy, dairy, eggs, corn, peanuts, sugar and artificial sweeteners. That’s the only way to stop stressing your system.
    What are the benefits of temporarily eliminating high-FI foods?
Relief of symptoms. Many of my clients never even realized they had symptoms until they cut out the high-FI foods. Perhaps your “normal” is to feel exhausted, stressed out, cranky and hungry, and you think it’s because you’re scrambling to meet deadlines, stressing over your parents and fighting with your boyfriend. Maybe…or maybe your life feels so out of control because high-FI foods are undermining your ability to sleep deeply, concentrate well and handle difficulties with good, calm energy. I’m betting that cutting out the high-FI foods will bring you to a whole new normal: energized, cheerful, calm and satisfied. If dropping high-FI foods made you feel that good,would you do it? What if you could finally lose that extra weight and look 10 years younger as well?
Rapid weight loss and antiaging benefits. Even if you’re not experiencing symptoms, high-FI foods are almost certainly behind your struggles with weight loss. And if you feel that you’re looking older and more tired than you’d like, there’s a strong possibility that high-FI foods are the culprit. Drop the high-FI foods, drop up to 7 pounds in 7 days and look years younger. That’s my promise, and I can’t wait for you to take me up on it.
    If you eliminate a high-FI food and then reintroduce it, you’ll know instantly if it’s been causing you trouble because any symptoms you have will be through the roof. I had a client who had never realized that she’d been struggling with egg intolerance. When she cut out eggs, she lost 10 pounds in 3 weeks without even trying. Then, when she ate an experimental plate of scrambled eggs, she got so sleepy that she almost passed out. Eggs had been making her tired, fat and old before her time. It was only when she gave them up that she figured it out.
    Have you ever heard the story of the lobster who didn’t realize it was being cooked because the water just kept on getting warmer and warmer? That’s how a lot of my clients are about eating high-FI foods. That’s how I was, too. One day I woke up and realized that I had gained 10 pounds,