Flex Diet
The Flex Diet was created by cardiologist James Beckerman, MD, to get his patients healthy by incorporating lifestyle changes and great-tasting meals, resulting in increased energy and sustained weight loss. This three-part diet emphasizes small yet impactful shifts such as eating dinner at the table, exercising during commercials, and drinking six glasses of water every day. The phases of the diet honor individual choices and needs.
The diet is structured into three phases: Today, Every Day, and Your Way. The Today phase is a two-week plan that begins with small changes to diet and lifestyle. This leads to weight loss and lays the groundwork for a sustainable, healthy life. This approach boasts that small changes yield big results. This phase gives many small solutions that may be done slowly and allows you to choose which ones suit you and your lifestyle.
Some suggestions for the Today phase are taking a “before” photo, joining a support group, finding a weight-loss buddy, blogging, weighing yourself daily, sleeping at least seven hours per night, and keeping a food diary.
The Every Day portion is a three-week phase that introduces breakfast, lunch, and dinner meal options as well as exercises. It emphasizes new healthy habits to create lasting differences such as walking during breaks, bringing leftovers to work, and asking questions at restaurants to facilitate you in making the best choices for yourself.
Every day “solutions” include eating breakfast every day, eggs twice a week, avoiding bagels, abandoning vending machines, eating fish once a week, limiting takeout and delivery, substituting quinoa for white rice, adding in push-ups and chair dips, smart grocery shopping, taking walks after dinner, and wrapping up half your meal at restaurants before diving in.
The final phase, Your Way, allows you to choose what to do next. The Flex Diet is about choices, and in this section there are almost 100 different changes and solutions to choose from that may help you continue your new, healthier lifestyle. It’s recommended that you use these solutions and tools to take things to the next level.
Final implementation recommendations include eating slowly, eating less dairy, eating until you’re only 80% full, shopping at farmers’ markets, exercising in the mornings, practicing tai chi, dancing, organizing your living and working spaces, meditating, laughing every day, and nurturing romantic relationships.
Foods to include:
- Eggs
- Good sources of protein such as fish, tofu, and lean chicken
- Beans
- Good fats such as olive oil
- Salads and vegetables as the main course
Foods to avoid:
- Processed foods
- Restaurant food
- Carbohydrates, bagels, and other pastries
- Sugary beverages
- Fruit juice
- Diet beverages
- Alcohol (limit to weekends)
Pros:
- Easy to follow
- Slowly incorporates sustainable changes
- Honors bio-individuality
- Acknowledges importance of primary food
Cons:
- Volume of recommendations may be overwhelming
- May be hard for some to take initiative with choosing lifestyle changes
- May be restrictive for some
Sources:
Dr. James Beckerman’s The Flex Diet: Design Your Own Weight Loss Plan
The Flex Diet (Links to an external site.)
The Heart Beat www.webmd.com (Links to an external site.)
