Daniela Jakubowicz MD - The Big Breakfast Diet: Eat Big Before 9 A.M. and Lose Big for Life

Eat Big Before 9AM, and Lose Big For Life

DANIELA JAKUBOWICZ, M.D.

WORKMAN PUBLISHING, NEW YORK

Copyright 2009 by Daniela Jakubowicz

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproducedmechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopyingwithout written permission of the publisher. Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Limited.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
eISBN 9780761158264

Book cover by Janet Vicario
Cover illustration by Laurie Rosenwald

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Do you skip breakfast and eat almost nothing all day, only to go on an ice-cream bender at night? Do you eat constantly, unable to satisfy your hunger? Or maybe you try each new diet that comes along, do fine for a while, then get blindsided by cravings for sweets or starches.

If youre nodding in recognition, I know how you feelI hear this over and over from the men and women who come to my office, desperate to lose weight. The hunger and cravings are common and frustrating scenariosbut they can be prevented. And I can help.

Fifteen years ago, while treating patients with metabolic conditions that often cause weight gain, including type 2 diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS, a common cause of female infertility), I made a discovery: When I tweaked their diets so that they ate certain types of foods at certain timesin effect, syncing food choices to the daily rhythm of specific hormonesthey lost weight more quickly and easily.

Since then, Ive successfully prescribed this program to many of my patients, as well as to new patients referred to me by their physiciansand I follow the program myself.

Youre probably thinking, Come on. Losing weight is about eating less and moving more. Calories in and calories out.

But it isntand the science is there. In 2008, at the 90th annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, I stood in front of hundreds of my fellow endocrinologists and presented a clinical study of overweight women that demonstrated the effectiveness of my plan. Specifically, the study found that the women who followed it lost almost five times as much weight as women who followed a typical restrictive low-carbohydrate diet.

Yes, you read that right. This is a weight-loss plan that:

revs up your metabolism,

helps you burn more calories by day and more fat at night,

allows you to enjoy your favorite foodsice cream, cookies, pastaand still lose weight,

satisfies your hunger all day,

crushes those diet-derailing cravings for sweets,

gives you energy to burn,

allows you to feel alert and refreshed, rather than sluggish and foggy, when you wake up,

reduces your risk for serious health conditions such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and

has reduced migraine occurrences among migraine sufferers.

The news gets better. You can have chocolate for breakfast. Or a dish of ice cream. Or a doughnutplain, glazed, jelly, it doesnt matter, because you dont count calories on this plan.

But thats not all. You can also enjoy a cheese omelette with buttered toast and bacon, or a deli sandwich with mayo. On top of that, a fruit smoothie or a chocolate protein shake rounds out your meal.

On my plan, its all about breakfast. A big breakfast. A breakfast similar to the one you might enjoy on a Sunday morning at your local diner. In fact, you can have a Sunday breakfast every day.

I know what you must be thinking. You dont have time to fix a huge meal before work. (Ill show you how.) You cant face food until lunchtime. (Youll soon get used to it.) Theres no way you can lose weight on a 600-calorie breakfast that includes chocolate. (I promise, you can.)

In fact, many of my patients lose 25 pounds in 30 days on this plan, but better yet, they keep those pounds off. (If you have just 10 pounds to lose, you may reach your goal weight sooner; every body is different and loses weight at its own pace.) On my program, you dont get hungry. Best of all, you dont crave sweets and starches, because youre allowedno, requiredto eat them.

I know youre skeptical. Because youve probably starved and deprived yourself on countless diets with little to show for it. But stick with me here. As I said before, my plan is based on science, and I follow it myself. (Hey, I love chocolate, too!)

My program works because it accomplishes a feat that few other diets can: It allows you to control the addictive forces that compel you to binge on sweets and starches, simply by enjoying them early in the day. You can eat foods that are forbidden on other diets and still lose weight. Youll avoid the hunger that accompanies low-calorie diets, and youll short-circuit carbohydrate attacks. Your energy will soar, your mood will brighten, and your skin will glow. Best of all, food will never rule your life again.

The science is basic. Its guiding principle is

Eat in sync with your bodys natural rhythms.

The Big Breakfast Diet program works because it controls hunger and satisfies cravings for sweets and starches. Its also healthier than your typical low-carb diet because it allows you to eat more fiber- and vitamin-rich fruit. Ultimately, it works because rather than eating what youve been conditioned to expect to nosh on at certain times of the day (cereal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, lasagna for dinner, with snacks in between), youre giving your body what it needs when it needs it.

Natural rhythms, called circadian rhythms, influence your metabolism, body weight, hunger, and cravings. These rhythms dictate the bodys hormonal environment. Some hormones rule the body during the daylight hours, whereas others rule the night.

These hormones influence how the body uses carbohydrates and protein for fuel and how efficiently it burns body fat. It makes sense, then, that eating the right foods at the right times can diminish hunger and cravings for carbohydrates. No starving yourself, no cutting out certain foods. In fact, youll eat quite well.

A hearty breakfast that includes plenty of protein speeds up your metabolism and controls your hunger for up to 14 hours. And its satisfying portion of carbohydrates, including sweets, boosts a hormone that regulates mood and cravings, addressing and controlling those afternoon and evening sugar and starch cravings before they kick in.

After this large, protein-packed breakfast, you probably wont be hungry for lunch, but please, eat anyway. This meala moderate amount of protein, fruit, and veggiesis tailored to your bodys waning ability to use blood glucose for fuel as the day progresses, replacing high-sugar carbs with calorie-burning protein and fiber-packed, low-sugar vegetables and fruit.