The Body Reset Diet: Can 15 Days of Smoothies Help me Lose 5 lbs??...Fail

I was watching Steven & Chris http://www.cbc.ca/stevenandchris/2013/04/harley-pasternaks-weight-loss-smoothies.html a couple weeks ago when they featured the trainer for the stars Harley Pasternak. Harley's client list includes everyone from Kim Kardashian, Vanessa Williams and John Mayer to Val Kilmer, Robert Pattinson and Jane Fonda. The list on his website it quite lengthy!! http://harleypasternak.com/

Harley has written and published many books during his career as a fitness and diet specialist, which led to his feature on Steven & Chris and my introduction to his latest diet book "The Body Reset Diet."

Smoothies, juicing and blended drinks have become all the rage over the last few years. Until now I haven't been one to jump on the band-wagon because honestly I like to eat, why waste a perfectly good meal & the digestion involved by blending all the ingredients into a drink that can be chugged back in minutes or even seconds? I belief has always been that you would remain fuller for a longer period of time by eating a meal due to the length of time your stomach is required to work on it before it's digested enough to enter the small intestine. My distaste for juicing is even greater as this process removes all of the fiber & good substance of the food, basically leaving a glass of liquid sugar.

With a cautious ear I listened to Harley describe his book and why it may be the best way to kick-start a weight loss program or lose those last 5 lbs due to the immediate results he promises. As he described the book he spoke of the recipe section devoted to his smoothies and my thoughts went to the gum graft surgery I would be having in June. Having a recipe selection of nutritious and delicious smoothies would be very helpful...and who knows the book may be interesting...

So, I decided to order it from Chapters online, it was a much cheaper option than buying it at the store & I found out how to beat the shipping & handling costs by getting it delivered to a Coles Books close to my house and picking it up from there! http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/product/9780143186977-item.html?ref=google:sayt

Once I had the book and started reading it I made the decision to try the program. "What the heck" I thought, I already had the book anyways and maybe by doing the 15 day Body Reset I would be able to lose the weight I'm hating myself for regaining after my last gum surgery. Maybe if I was 112-114 lbs again I wouldn't be so depressed and hating on myself & my life.

I read the book from cover to cover and it seams really easy...
1. For the 1st 5 days you drink 3 smoothies instead of your regular meals, made of protein from Greek yogurt or Whey protein powder, fiber from fruits and vegetables & healthy fats from nuts/nut butters, ground flax or chia & avocado. Harley Pasternak included a nice mix of smoothie recipes in the book, recommending 1 smoothie per day from each of his 3 categories - White Smoothies, Red Smoothies & Green Smoothies. Along with these smoothies you are required to eat 2 crunchy snacks to appease your natural desire to chew (again my argument again the smoothie). Each snack is 150 calories and must be composed of at least 5g fiber and 5g protein to help with satiety.

2. Days 5-10 you follow the above, except that instead of 3 smoothies you only do 2, plus 1 healthy balanced meal. Harley leaves the meal choice up to the reader, which allows the program fit easier into your lifestyle.

3. The last 5 days include 1 smoothie, 2 crunchy snacks and 2 meals. This is also the format the author suggests to follow for the rest of your life. He has some recipes in the book, but really never dictates what these meals should be composed of nutrient-wise.

I like the fact that you are allowed any sugar-free beverages and caffeine is encouraged for it's metabolism boosting benefits. The exercise part of the cleanse is very minimal, probably because you're eating so few calories you'd be starving if you worked out harder. The author states that intense exercise increases your hunger, so instead in the 1st phase all you do is walk 10,000 steps daily. In phase 2 you do the 10,000 steps plus an extremely basic strength  program for 3 of the 5 days. There are literally only 4 body-weight exercises!! Phase 3 you increase your strength training to 5 days, but still only 4 easy body weight exercises per day. You maintain the 10,000 steps per day. Now for someone who really likes to workout, lift heavy weights and do intense cardio I was unable to follow his exercise plan. This could be why I was hungry a lot of the time...

Needless to say I didn't do very well on this program. 1st it's really time consuming! Who would have thought blending food would be such an effort, but for someone who's used to cooking for the week on Sunday and having all meals basically prepped in advance it was a BIG hassle to constantly be cleaning and organizing food for the blender. Also, since you can't carry a blender with you to work you need to have breakfast and lunch done at the same time. I tried freezing my lunch smoothie so it would stay fresh, but this didn't work out in my favor at all. At lunch time it was still frozen solid and gave me brain-freeze when I tried to eat it like a slushie!! I will say that the smoothies end up being quite large and filling if you add extra water, I just never felt satisfied drinking my meals.

The BIGGEST issue I had was actually constipation!!! A couple of days in I couldn't figure out why my stomach hurt so bad. It felt like a huge gas bubble stuck in my gut, complete with bloating and severe cramping. At first I thought i was going to have diarrhea due to the high amount of fiber. I normally eat a lot of veg, but rarely do I eat 3 pieces of fruit per day, never mind the 6+ you consume on The Body Reset Diet. After a couple days of suffering I realized there was no diarrhea coming...because there was nothing coming! Normally, when I get a little backed up due to my IBS, I take one of my cleanse pills before bed and sometime the next day I have relief. On the rare occasion I need 2, but while on this cleanse it took 2 days of 2 pills twice a day on the 2nd day to get things started!!!! By this time I was so sick of blending, being hungry and really wanting to eat normally again I ditched the cleanse altogether. So much for those 5 lbs I hoped to lose :(

This plan MAY be useful for someone who isn't working, hates to exercise and doesn't mind drinking their calories. For me, I realized how much I prefer chewing ALL of my meals and decided to go back to my regular meal planning. I'll still have the book handy for when I have my gum surgery because the smoothies were quite good, plus I have a better understanding of how to construct a delicious smoothie so I can experiment a bit too.