Lose 20LBS in 2 weeks diet plan

Recommended Foods

Egg whites, turkey breast, chicken, salmon, shrimp, cashews, Greek yogurt, walnuts, almond butter, flax seeds, oatmeal, quinoa, whole grain pasta, Ezekiel bread, apples, berries, watermelon, mango, spinach, broccoli, celery, avocado, cucumber, red pepper, extra-virgin olive oil, herbs and spices, coffee.

Additional Tools

Jumpstart to Skinny is designed to make this 3 week diet a “no brainer”. Harper provides dieters with the following:

• Grocery lists of exactly what to buy.
• 3 weeks worth of meal plans that tell dieters exactly what to eat.
• Recipes that show dieters exactly how to make the food.
• Detailed descriptions of which exercises to do.

Sample Jumpstart Meal Plan

Costs and Expenses

Jumpstart to Skinny: The Simple 3-Week Plan for Supercharged Weight Loss retails at $25.

Pros

• Offers rapid results for dieters who want to lose weight for a special occasion.
• Includes a 3-week meal plan with recipes.
• Provides a structured exercise program.

Cons

• Offers a “quick-fix” approach, which usually results in rebound weight gain once normal eating is resumed.
• Advocates the consumption of caffeine-containing beverages, which may result in adverse health effects for some individuals.

Cut Way Back on Calories

Women: 800 calories
Men: 1200 calories

The majority of health experts does not generally recommend diets with such dramatic calorie restriction. They may increase the risk of nutrient deficiencies and have a negative effect on metabolism.

Is Bob Harper a Nutritionist?

No, and Jumpstart to Skinny seems to undermine a healthy approach to weight loss. While some of the principles in the book will promote rapid weight loss, I think the overall message of the book is that it is acceptable to “crash diet”.

Also, some of his scientific rational is pretty flimsy. He claims that fructose causes the body to store fat, but the study that he is referring to involved high fructose corn syrup, not the simple fructose found in whole fruit. It’s a big stretch of that study’s data to say that a woman on an 800 calorie diet would store fat if she ate an apple.

While losing 20 pounds in 21 days may sound appealing, I think Jumpstart to Skinny probably isn’t a very healthy approach to do so.

What do you think?

References

• Harper, B. (2013). Jumpstart to Skinny: The Simple 3-week Plan for Supercharged Weight Loss. Random House LLC.
• Rolland, C., Johnston, K. L., Lula, S., Macdonald, I., & Broom, J. (2014). Long‐term weight loss maintenance and management following a VLCD: a 3‐year outcome. International journal of clinical practice, 68(3), 379-387. link
• Thorogood, A., Mottillo, S., Shimony, A., Filion, K. B., Joseph, L., Genest, J.... & Eisenberg, M. J. (2011). Isolated aerobic exercise and weight loss: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. The American journal of medicine, 124(8), 747-755. link