by Carly Asse
Unsupersize Me was one of the most challenging projects I have ever taken on in my life! It is without a doubt one of the greatest success stories I have ever been a part of! For those of you who are not familiar with the project, Unsupersize Me is the documentary film in which Tracy Ryan loses 200 lbs in one year on a plant based diet and training regimen at Zen Fitness. I will explain in these next 2 blogs how we did it. There will be 2 parts to this topic, the nutrition aspect and training regimen.This article is about the nutrition aspect.
The first step was to clean out Tracy’s fridge. What a project that was! It was no surprise that her fridge was riddled with mostly dairy and meat products, the #1 “No-No” of Unsupersize me. I also found many processed foods, which are basically foods that are not in their whole form and have been tampered with preservatives and other unhealthy additives that cause us to gain weight and get sick. So, we filled up about 3-4 huge trash bags with all the of the foods Tracy could no longer eat. It is not unusual to find these items in the fridge of one who is obese. It takes a lot of food to maintain that mass. There was very little left for Tracy to eat after I ransacked her fridge and we now joke about it, because at the end I was worried that she would not have anything to eat!! We quickly ended that concern by heading to Wards grocery store to load up. Tracy was ready to get healthy and eager to get started!
I still remember the smile on Tracy’s face as we walked into Wards and I told her, “you can have anything you want in the produce section and eat as much as you want.” No portion control, no counting calories, no restrictions! Those rules all lead to ravenous eating and failure. Those who attempt to restrict their calories and portions only succeed for a short period of time, and then usually gain more weight than was lost to begin with! That is the beauty of the plant based diet! You can eat unlimited fruits and vegetables, nuts, whole grains, seeds, and legumes. So we loaded up her cart with plant based foods and began our journey to good health!
The first step was to clean out Tracy’s fridge. What a project that was! It was no surprise that her fridge was riddled with mostly dairy and meat products, the #1 “No-No” of Unsupersize me. I also found many processed foods, which are basically foods that are not in their whole form and have been tampered with preservatives and other unhealthy additives that cause us to gain weight and get sick. So, we filled up about 3-4 huge trash bags with all the of the foods Tracy could no longer eat. It is not unusual to find these items in the fridge of one who is obese. It takes a lot of food to maintain that mass. There was very little left for Tracy to eat after I ransacked her fridge and we now joke about it, because at the end I was worried that she would not have anything to eat!! We quickly ended that concern by heading to Wards grocery store to load up. Tracy was ready to get healthy and eager to get started!
I still remember the smile on Tracy’s face as we walked into Wards and I told her, “you can have anything you want in the produce section and eat as much as you want.” No portion control, no counting calories, no restrictions! Those rules all lead to ravenous eating and failure. Those who attempt to restrict their calories and portions only succeed for a short period of time, and then usually gain more weight than was lost to begin with! That is the beauty of the plant based diet! You can eat unlimited fruits and vegetables, nuts, whole grains, seeds, and legumes. So we loaded up her cart with plant based foods and began our journey to good health!
The final step was teaching Tracy how to prepare all of these bright colored plant based foods! I wanted Tracy be prepared at work and anytime she was wasn’t at home, because that tends to be the biggest challenge to most people.So, I told her to fill a HUGE bowl with all the fruits and veggies and nuts she could fit in it, and try to finish it everyday! She never did finish it, but she got close many times! The next step was dinner. Tracy quickly learned that she could make many different tasty dishes with veggie stir fries, asian dishes, Indian curries, Italian pastas (yes she can eat pasta! It’s Vegan!), salads, and fruit smoothies. Tracy and I started our Iron Chef battles to challenge each other to become better cooks and also to have fun with cooking! The Vegan Iron Chef titles were shared by both of us, and we both won in the end because of the tasty new dishes we got to try!
In the end, the Unsupersize Me nutrition plan ALWAYS WORKS! I have watched it work for many different people over the years, but no example is more clear cut than that of Tracy Ryan. The plant based diet is low in calories but dense in nutrition, so you feel satiated but at the same time can consume lots of food (my favorite part!). You don’t have to count calories, measure carbs or fat, or control portions.You simply eat WHATEVER plant based whole foods you want, WHENEVER you want to! Still having doubts? Tracy lost 17 lbs in the first week,10lbs in the second week, and 100lbs in 3 ½ months!!! And, it’s easy to do!! So what are you waiting for!? Get healthy now!!
In the end, the Unsupersize Me nutrition plan ALWAYS WORKS! I have watched it work for many different people over the years, but no example is more clear cut than that of Tracy Ryan. The plant based diet is low in calories but dense in nutrition, so you feel satiated but at the same time can consume lots of food (my favorite part!). You don’t have to count calories, measure carbs or fat, or control portions.You simply eat WHATEVER plant based whole foods you want, WHENEVER you want to! Still having doubts? Tracy lost 17 lbs in the first week,10lbs in the second week, and 100lbs in 3 ½ months!!! And, it’s easy to do!! So what are you waiting for!? Get healthy now!!
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