Lucy Danziger - The Drop 10 Diet: Add to Your Plate to Lose the Weight

Authors Note: The Drop 10 Diet proposes a program of exercise recommendations for the reader to follow. However, you should consult a qualified medical professional (and, if you are pregnant, your ob/gyn) before starting this or any other fitness program. As with any diet or exercise program, if at any time you experience any discomfort, stop immediately and consult your physician.

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Copyright 2012 by Conde Nast

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Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

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eISBN: 978-0-345-53163-6

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A bout five years ago, I decided to clean up my eating. I wanted to lose 10 pounds, get faster at running, biking, and swimming, and be heart-healthier, too. I didnt dislike my body, but I wanted to look better in jeans, especially after seeing a photo of myself from behindits not a view I usually see, and it wasnt pretty.

I have always hated dietingit feels so contrary to the idea of being a self-empowered woman in a world where we should be able to do anything our brothers and fathers can do. Why not eat out of the same bag of chips as my husband or big bro? Why not share the earned muffin after a run, the dessert at the end of a long, tiring day? And yet I wasnt feeling great. I had low energy, and even with an exercise regimen that included forty-five minutes of cardio a day, I wasnt seeing results.

Then one day I decided to eat healthier. It was that simple. I cut down on sugary carbohydrates and chose foods that paid me back in terms of the amount of nutrients they delivered per calorie. It wasnt a diet in the traditional, restrictive sensenothing was totally off-limits. I began to educate myself and learned that the fiber count in bread and cereal mattersand not just to the elderly, but to me and would-be healthy eaters of all ages. I looked at labels for the first time, checking for more than calories: I wanted to know where they came from and how much saturated fat was in there, and I focused on things like the ratio of protein to carbs in energy bars (something Id never checked before). But mostly, I stopped eating foods that had labels. I bought more whole foods, like fresh vegetables and fruits, nuts, and low-fat yogurt and cheese. I followed the advice of Self magazine: If a packaged food stays fresh on the shelf for weeks or months, theres probably something in there that you dont want in your body.

I established a basic rule when it came to portions: If I could grow a food, I could eat unlimited amounts of it. Now I live in an apartment on a busy street in the middle of New York City. So of course I wasnt literally growing crops. But my aunt and uncle had a farm in Georgia, and although they harvested more hay than crops, I understood the concept. They also raised goats and cattle, and there were chickens in the barn whose eggs were always being poached by sneaky predators. I knew what a farm was all about, and I even had a garden of my own behind my weekend house when I was old enough to have my own babies. There, I grew oversize zucchini, tiny tomatoes, cucumbers, snap peas, and even broccoli and eggplant. My garden always has had more weeds than veggies, but working in it ingrained the idea that food you can grow is the best food for your body. You can enjoy foods from the earth to your hearts content with little risk of calorie overload. Plus, by the time you fill up on ratatouille, my favorite summer vegetable stew, you dont have a lot of room for greasy garbage.

Meal after meal, I filled my plate with what I later learned are superfoods (because they are so full of nutrients), and the weight started to fall off. People would ask me, What diet are you on? And when I answered that it wasnt a diet per se, it was a way of eatingthey didnt like to hear it. Everyone wanted a quick fix, a magic detox, a cleanse that would solve their weight and health problems. They thought that was simpler than being told to choose the right foods. But in fact, eating healthfully for life is the simplest thing to do. I never counted a single calorie, I never measured a single portion, and I certainly didnt go on a restrictive diet. But by shifting my choices, I naturally curtailed my intake of cookies, brownies, cookie dough, and hot-fudge sauce out of the jar in the fridge.

The most amazing thing is how quickly I shed the extra weight. I lost 10 pounds in about five weeks, starting on July Fourth weekend in 2007. By August 15, I was at my race weight from college, when I rowed crew! I kept going, and by back-to-school season in September, I was down another 7 poundsso Id lost 17 pounds in one summer! For the next few months, my rate of loss slowed, but by Christmas I had peeled off 22 to 25 pounds (even with the extra sweets and holiday treats I was enjoying). Ive gone up and down a little since thenonce even getting a bit too thin in my face, so I bumped up my portions and added back more treats. But Ive settled into a zone where I feel healthy and energetic, and I enjoy what Im eating.

People often assume that my exercise level is the reason I can maintain my weight, but I know otherwise. Yes, I trained for two Ironman triathlons, but even with all the swimming, biking, and running, I didnt lose weight. And when I wasnt training (I was sidelined with a stress fracture for months), I didnt gain. I know that it has more to do with what I eatmy exercise fluctuates, but most of the time my diet is consistent. I eat the superfood way about 80 percent of the time and splurge on extras the rest of the time. When I go out to eat Mexican with friends, I help myself to chips (with plenty of salsa) and have a margarita, too. I eat chocolate nearly every day (the dark variety is actually a superfood!), so my diet is far from strict. I couldnt stay on a diet. I can stay heart-healthy, and in a healthy weight zone, eating this way for the rest of my life. Now, thanks to this book, so can you. Happy eating!

Welcome to the Last Weight Loss Program Youll Ever Need

W hat if there were a whole new way of eating that could slim you down, enhance your health, increase your energy, and help you feel full, satisfied, and happy with the food on your plate? Now there isand youre holding the key. By following the diet and advice in this book, you can change your body, your health, and your lifeall without giving up foods you love or ever feeling deprived. Whether you want to lose 10, 20, 50 pounds, or more, these pages contain the easy tools to help you achieve your goal in a way that fits your lifestyle.