Q: I need to lose 50 pounds. I’ve tried everything! Nothing seems to work well enough (or fast enough) to keep me on the right path. Can you help?— Kelly G., San Francisco
A: We feel your frustration. To get on the path to a lifelong healthy weight, you’ll need to learn how to change your eating habits while you’re losing weight and how to keep them up afterward in order to maintain the weight loss. So to help you reach your goal, we’ve developed a jump-start program for weight loss, and we had it road-tested by more than 2.5 million folks.
You can find details and recipes for the program by searching for “Total 10 Rapid Weight Loss Plan” at . Here are the basic principles.
1. Every morning, drink a cup of hot water with lemon. It’ll kick start your digestive process and help detoxify your system (lemon activates bile flow).
2. For breakfast, try a smoothie or enjoy tasty recipes, like quinoa egg muffins.
3. The rest of the day, focus on protein-rich foods. Go for 12 ounces of lean protein daily from fish and skinless chicken.
4. Don’t go hungry! Enjoy as much veggie broth as you want. Still hungry? Try quinoa with non-starchy veggies and two snacks daily — unsalted nuts (try 12 walnut halves), 2 percent Greek yogurt or an apple with nut butter.
5. Enjoy 1 cup of coffee daily; use unsweetened vanilla almond milk or coconut milk.
6. Ditch these foods: wheat; refined sugar; artificial sweeteners; dairy; alcohol; and processed foods.
7. Add these bonus boosters: Take 1,000 IU vitamin D daily and enjoy a nightly soak in a warm tub with 2 cups of Epsom salts and 1 cup of baking soda.
E-mail your health and wellness questions to Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen at youdocsdaily @sharecare.com.
