Team;

I've got an issue that I hope someone can help me with. I have a
40-something female client who is at least 100 lb over desired weight.
I put her on the attached diet, and she gained a pound. Normally, I
would not be concerned about a pound one way or the other, but I'm
dealing with an emotional issue with this client.

My first reaction would be to say that she's not sticking religiously
to the diet, and she's said as much to me. There are some days when
she does not eat after breakfast only to have a high fat meal late in
the afternoon, i.e. a grilled panini at Cozi's. She won't eat eggs,
so she's limited to a high protein, dry cereal in the morning. She's
also limited in her eating later in the day as she doesn't eat fish.
The only options she has are chicken and beef. I added, against my
better judgment, lean pork to her diet solely to give her some
variety; though I don't think shes' eaten any in the week or two she's
been on the diet.

I'm training her 5 times over the course of every two weeks; three
days one week, and two the next. She does not like to exercise, and
frankly, who would at her size as all movement is a chore for this
woman. I'm getting her to move, but only as much as she can given her
weight. My sense is, despite what she tells me, that she's not
training at any time except when she's with me; clearly not enough for
a person whose metabolism is as slow as hers.

I've only had one other person fail on this diet, and it was a young
guy, 33, who cut corners consistently. As soon as he sticked to this
diet religiously, he began to lose weight. Having said that, I want
any and all observations and suggestions.

Thanks,
Nick

PS: Here's the diet she's on exactly as I presented it to her:
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

This is a high intensity diet that get you to lose a lot of body fat
quickly while saving lean body mass [muscle.] It may look like
you're eating a lot, but your meals are low fat, low carbohydrate, and
high in protein. It will get your metabolism fired up so that you
start burring calories even while resting. To keep your metabolism
fired, every third or fourth day, double the amount of food you are
eating only when your weight loss has slowed or stopped and you are
sticking to the diet, i.e. a slowing of your weight loss slows because
you're not staying on the diet is NOT an indication to eat more. If
you can't double your food intake, just eat more. What happens over
time on a diet is that the metabolism drops, and weight loss, as a
consequence, slows down. That is the reason you'll hear so many say
"I lost 10 lbs in the first week, and then my weight loss stopped."
They usually attribute that to water loss, but it's not water loss at
all.

Follow these instructions exactly as described here for the next 12
weeks. The program is apt to become a bit boring after awhile, but
it's only for 3 months. If you are invited to a party or go out to
dinner, you can cheat a little, but remember you are cheating
yourself, so cheat moderately. In particular, alcohol is very
fattening—it's all sugar. When you're prompted to throw in the towel,
just ask yourself how badly you want to get rid of the unwanted weight
you're carrying around, and its deleterious health effects. If the
desire is still strong, then you will stay on this diet; the 3 months
will be over before you know it. You are to eat 5 times daily even if
you just eat a little of what I suggest in each `meal.' If you have
hunger pangs which are expected, eat some more but stick to the diet.
Other than at a party, you are only allowed 1 "cheat" meal a week.
If you don't need a cheat meal, don't take it; reward yourself in
other ways for staying on the program—buy a new pair of jeans with a
smaller waist size for example.

Breakfast:
Two packages of instant oatmeal [plain] or ¾ cup of regular oatmeal,
or grits in the same amount. Sweeten lightly with honey if need be,
otherwise use artificial sweetener
Find for yourself a low or no sugar high protein and low carbohydrate
cereal. Post Carbwell, Kellogg's Nutri-Grain cereals come to mind.
If you do a search on the web, or visit a health food store, you'll
find other alternatives. I have used others though their names escape
me now. South Beach Diet has a number of low carbohydrate protein
bars that you can have for breakfast. Be prepared to eat two of these
as one may not satisfy you. Don't starve yourself! You'll never stay
on the program if you do, nor is my goal to make this painful as this
is intended to be a change in life-style.
Use skim milk only for the first twelve weeks then you can switch to
1% or 2%.

Meal 2
1 Bottle of ISO Pure [or some other] Protein Drink or 1 package of the
ISO Pure mix. [You can get these at reduced cost {as low as
$2.30/bottle] at the GNC in Hackensack. Just tell Kumar, Nick Merolla
sent you.]
½ cup of almonds or other nuts, lightly salted or not salted and dry
roasted
Or one roasted, broiled, or bar-b-qued chicken breast on a cup of
white or brown rice or in a mixed green salad. If on the rice, you
can garnish with pimentos, olives, etc. You can also have protein
from a food source if you like. Check Meal 5 below for your options.

Meal 3
6 oz [after cooked] of grilled chicken breast or any other protein
listed in Meal 5, below. This can be in the form of a wrap or
something you prepared at home.
1 cup cooked white or brown rice, a small eastern or red potato, or yam
Salsa to season
Any vegetables you want and in any quantity

Meal 4
8 oz cooked lean ground beef [93% lean] or equal amount of flank steak
or any other protein listed in Meal 5, below. I often take ground
beef or beef round for stew found in the meat case, and sautéè it with
some onions and peppers, and mix it with a seasoning packet like
Fajita mix, and eat it in a wrap. It's tasty and low fat and low
carbohydrate.
1 medium sized red potato
Salad if you want it.
Dressing: One tsp olive oil, ¼ cup of balsamic vinegar, 1 package of
Equal©, 1 tablespoon of mustard. Often, I just mix with a little
olive oil and balsamic vinegar, some crushed oregano, ground garlic,
and I'm good to go.
2 cups of any vegetable [season with lemon] or you can repeat meal 2
1 Bottle of ISO Pure [or some other] Protein Drink or 1 package of the
ISO Pure mix. [You can get these at reduced cost at the GNC in
Hackensack. Just tell Kumar, Nick Merolla sent you.]
½ cup of almonds or other nuts, lightly salted or not salted and dry
roasted

Meal 5
8 oz of any of the following protein [these protein sources can be
used at meal 1, 2, 3 or 4 as well]
Beef
Chicken
LEAN, did I say LEAN pork if you like it. As with all your meats, all
visible fat must be removed before it hits your plate.
1 medium sweet potato or yam
Salad
Dressing: One tsp olive oil, ¼ cup of balsamic vinegar, 1 package of
Equal©, 1 tablespoon of mustard
Eat any vegetables you want [season only with lemon] and in any
quantity so long as you season them lightly, lemon, lightly sautéed,
steamed, etc.

Keep things like nuts and dried fruit around for those hunger periods
during the day, but if you're like me and most, you should be getting
those hunger pangs just around the time it is for your next meal.

I also keep plain pop corn around the house and air pop it. If you
don't have an air popper, you can get one cheaply; they're less than
$20. I think mine, which I have for some time now, was about $10.

As you and your husband are both busy during the week, my
recommendation is to prepare as much as you can on the weekend, and
eat it during the week. I do that and it works well with me, because,
like you, when I get home late at night, the last thing I want to do
is prepare a nutritious meal. Left with other choices, we usually end
up making a high fat / high carbohydrate choice.

Drink 1 glass of water with every meal. Drink one glass of water in
between each meal.