2014 Plan (Part 1): Modified Virgin Diet

Well the 2014 plan I've been promising is developing nicely, but a bit behind schedule. My goal is always to do this kind of introspection in December and get a formal plan for the new year out the first week of January. However, even with setbacks and delays I'm accomplishing more than I have in years past and I'm more excited than ever to begin implementation.

I realize that this is more than one post's worth of information so I'm going to try to break it in logical places and begin posting it over the course of this week. I'm beginning with health.

If you've been reading this blog for awhile you're aware that last year I auditioned a number of diet's and theories on health based on research I'd been compiling for the previous two years. Fortunately, the health industry is getting quite savvy and you can now find diet guru's like J.J. Virgin, Dr. Amen, and Dr. Mercola who've compiled some great research and strategies in this field. My own personal digging lead me to pretty much the same horrifying conclusions as J.J. Virgin does in her book, "The Virgin Diet." I completed all three cycles of that along with my fiance at the time. We both spent a fortune on food, lost hours to meal planning and preparation, felt hugely deprived, lost a lot of weight, and felt great. We have both sworn to return to it soon in a modified form that we hope is sustainable long term. Below is the short version of the conclusions I came to as a result of that and my other experiments last year. The soft start date to implement this plan is February 1st. (Should be a hard date by the end of this week.

Basic Method:

1.       Remove or reduce toxins and allergens

2.       Improve digestion

3.       Increase macro nutrients while evening out glycemic cycle

4.       Train my body to stop depending on sugar and carbs and start burning fat

1. Remove or reduce Toxins & Allergens

Don’t eat soy, or anything that has been fed soy, or the produce (milk/eggs) of something fed soy.

Don’t eat gluten.

Do eat grass fed beef, free range chicken and eggs, raw or almond milk (coconut)

2. Improve Digestion

Drink 2 liters of water a day

Take Fiber and Probiotics

Do eat veggies (fermented, raw, cooked or in smoothies) with 2 meals daily

3. Macro nutrients and glycemic cycle

Do eat quinoa, kale, chia seeds daily

Do eat tree nuts,

Eat a healthy food bar or protean shake/smoothie twice a day to add a 4^th and/or 5^th meal.

4. Train Body to Burn Fat Instead of Carbs

No artificial sweeteners, High fructose corn syrup, or white sugar

Limit Carbs to a couple meals a week (bread is the hard part need a plan) for minimum of 8 weeks.

Do eat salmon and avocado (one or the other every day)

Supplements

Take Vitamin D3 & K2 (magnesium & zinc to lesser extent)

Make your own turmeric capsules and take daily, recipe below:

Turmeric, Cinimomum casia, berberine, pterocarpus marsupium, 4HI, R-ALA

Exercise

Active every 90 mins (sitting is the enemy) & eventually short intense workouts

For more on the original diet click the links below: