The Drop 10 Diet: Add to Your Plate to Lose the Weight

444 Pages·2012·5.11 MB·English

by  Lucy Danziger

Author’s Note: The Drop 10 Diet proposes a program of exercise recommendations for the reader to follow. However, you
should consult a qualified medical professional (and, if you are pregnant, your ob/gyn) before starting this or any other
fitness program. As with any diet or exercise program, if at any time you experience any discomfort, stop immediately
and consult your physician.
As of press time, the URLs displayed in this book link or refer to existing websites on the Internet. Random House, Inc., is
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Random House.
Copyright © 2012 by Conde Nast
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of
Random House, Inc., New York.
BALLANTINE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
eISBN: 978-0-34553163-6
www.ballantinebooks.com
v3.1
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Introduction
Part 1: The Superfoods
1. Welcome to the Last Weight Loss Program You’ll Ever Need
2. Super Fruits
3. Super Vegetables
4. Super Legumes and Grains
5. Super Nuts, Seeds, and Oil
6. Super Fish and Meat
7. Super Eggs and Dairy
8. Super Tasty Extras
Part 2: The Super Plans
9. Thirty-one Days to Slim! The No-Diet Superfood Weight Loss Plan
10. The Drop 10 Menu: Five Weeks of Satisfying, Fat-Melting, Superfood-
Packed Breakfasts, Lunches, Snacks, and Dinners
11. The Drop 10 Recipes: Simple, Fat-Fighting, Superfood-Loaded Meals
and Snacks for the Whole Family
12. Treat Tracking: How Your Favorite Foods Fit into the Drop 10 Diet
13. Superworkouts to Zap Fat Even Faster
14. Superfood Swaps When Dining Out: How to Tap the Fat-Melting
Powers of Superfoods Anywhere
Acknowledgments
Notes
Introduction
A
bout five years ago, I decided to clean up my eating. I wanted to lose 10
pounds, get faster at running, biking, and swimming, and be heart-
healthier, too. I didn’t dislike my body, but I wanted to look better in
jeans, especially after seeing a photo of myself from behind—it’s not a
view I usually see, and it wasn’t pretty.
I have always hated dieting—it feels so contrary to the idea of being a
self-empowered woman in a world where we should be able to do
anything our brothers and fathers can do. Why not eat out of the same
bag of chips as my husband or big bro? Why not share the earned muffin
after a run, the dessert at the end of a long, tiring day? And yet I wasn’t
feeling great. I had low energy, and even with an exercise regimen that
included forty-five minutes of cardio a day, I wasn’t seeing results.
Then one day I decided to eat healthier. It was that simple. I cut down
on sugary carbohydrates and chose foods that “paid me back” in terms of
the amount of nutrients they delivered per calorie. It wasn’t a diet in the
traditional, restrictive sense—nothing was totally off-limits. I began to
educate myself and learned that the fiber count in bread and cereal
matters—and not just to the elderly, but to me and would-be healthy
eaters of all ages. I looked at labels for the first time, checking for more
than calories: I wanted to know where they came from and how much
saturated fat was in there, and I focused on things like the ratio of
protein to carbs in energy bars (something I’d never checked before). But
mostly, I stopped eating foods that had labels. I bought more whole
foods, like fresh vegetables and fruits, nuts, and low-fat yogurt and
cheese. I followed the advice of Self magazine: If a packaged food stays
fresh on the shelf for weeks or months, there’s probably something in
there that you don’t want in your body.
I established a basic rule when it came to portions: If I could grow a
food, I could eat unlimited amounts of it. Now I live in an apartment on
a busy street in the middle of New York City. So of course I wasn’t
literally growing crops. But my aunt and uncle had a farm in Georgia,
and although they harvested more hay than crops, I understood the
concept. They also raised goats and cattle, and there were chickens in
the barn whose eggs were always being poached by sneaky predators. I
knew what a farm was all about, and I even had a garden of my own
behind my weekend house when I was old enough to have my own
babies. There, I grew oversize zucchini, tiny tomatoes, cucumbers, snap
peas, and even broccoli and eggplant. My garden always has had more
weeds than veggies, but working in it ingrained the idea that food you
can grow is the best food for your body. You can enjoy foods from the
earth to your heart’s content with little risk of calorie overload. Plus, by
the time you fill up on ratatouille, my favorite summer vegetable stew,
you don’t have a lot of room for greasy garbage.
Meal after meal, I filled my plate with what I later learned are
superfoods (because they are so full of nutrients), and the weight started
to fall off. People would ask me, “What diet are you on?” And when I
answered that it wasn’t a diet per se, it was a way of eating—they didn’t
like to hear it. Everyone wanted a quick fix, a magic detox, a cleanse
that would solve their weight and health problems. They thought that
was simpler than being told to choose the right foods. But in fact, eating
healthfully for life is the simplest thing to do. I never counted a single
calorie, I never measured a single portion, and I certainly didn’t go on a
restrictive diet. But by shifting my choices, I naturally curtailed my
intake of cookies, brownies, cookie dough, and hot-fudge sauce out of
the jar in the fridge.
The most amazing thing is how quickly I shed the extra weight. I lost
10 pounds in about five weeks, starting on July Fourth weekend in 2007.
By August 15, I was at my race weight from college, when I rowed crew!
I kept going, and by back-to-school season in September, I was down
another 7 pounds—so I’d lost 17 pounds in one summer! For the next
few months, my rate of loss slowed, but by Christmas I had peeled off 22
to 25 pounds (even with the extra sweets and holiday treats I was
enjoying). I’ve gone up and down a little since then—once even getting a
bit too thin in my face, so I bumped up my portions and added back
more treats. But I’ve settled into a zone where I feel healthy and
energetic, and I enjoy what I’m eating.
People often assume that my exercise level is the reason I can
maintain my weight, but I know otherwise. Yes, I trained for two
Ironman triathlons, but even with all the swimming, biking, and
running, I didn’t lose weight. And when I wasn’t training (I was sidelined
with a stress fracture for months), I didn’t gain. I know that it has more
to do with what I eat—my exercise fluctuates, but most of the time my
diet is consistent. I eat the superfood way about 80 percent of the time
and splurge on extras the rest of the time. When I go out to eat Mexican
with friends, I help myself to chips (with plenty of salsa) and have a
margarita, too. I eat chocolate nearly every day (the dark variety is
actually a superfood!), so my diet is far from strict. I couldn’t stay on a
diet. I can stay heart-healthy, and in a healthy weight zone, eating this
way for the rest of my life. Now, thanks to this book, so can you. Happy
eating!

Welcome to the Last Weight
Loss Program You’ll Ever Need
W
hat if there were a whole new way of eating that could slim you down,
enhance your health, increase your energy, and help you feel full,
satisfied, and happy with the food on your plate? Now there is—and
you’re holding the key. By following the diet and advice in this book,
you can change your body, your health, and your life—all without
giving up foods you love or ever feeling deprived. Whether you want to
lose 10, 20, 50 pounds, or more, these pages contain the easy tools to
help you achieve your goal in a way that fits your lifestyle.
Are you in your twenties and establishing your own independent,
adult eating habits? In your thirties and struggling to lose baby weight?
In your forties and wondering when you’ll ever find the time to eat well?
Or are you fifty-plus and looking to achieve your optimal weight in
order to stay healthy? Whatever your age, food preferences, or lifestyle,
the simple solution is to add more superfoods to your plate and watch
the pounds melt off. That’s it. No fads, extreme calorie cutting, or
banned foods—in fact, by continuing to eat your favorite treats, you are
more likely to win at weight loss. All you’ll give up is extra, unwanted
pounds.
Here’s the secret: We’ve identified thirty everyday foods that contain
specific ingredients scientifically proven to help turn on your body’s fat-
burning powers, rev up your metabolism, tame your appetite, and curb
overeating. Eat more of these superfoods, and your body is primed to
drop extra weight. Best of all, you choose how you lose. Add some or all
of the superfoods to your current diet (we’ll give you tons of easy tips)
or follow our step-by-step meal plan (with recipes or no-cook options—
you pick) to shed 10 pounds in five weeks. Have more to lose? Keep
going until you reach your personal target. When you’re done, use our
easy tips to tweak the plan so you can easily maintain your healthy new
habits and weight loss for good.
Ready to get started? Say hello to the first day of your slimmer,