A post especially for apple shapes! Dr Mailyn Glenville diet plan

This post is about my latest diet book, Fat Around The Middle by Dr Marilyn Glenville, a hormone specialist.


Apparently my body looks kind of like this - heavy on top and thick around the middle, with Kate Upton as the human model:

Kate's weight has fluctuated over the years, and while she owns it whatever her weight, she does look lovely a little lighter, proving that even a dramatic apple shape can look slim and toned.

(Of course, not all apples have such big boobs and such thin legs. However I am one of the apples that do have these attributes and it gets quite annoying as my body looks so uneven).

I was really happy to find a book especially for apples. There is a lot of scientific information in the first part of the book about why the body clings onto tummy fat - it's largely to do with 'stress' on the body and the hormone cortisol, as well as the importance of stabilising blood sugar.

The book is an interesting read, and it boils down to a few key elements for a 3 month plan. Firstly some diet rules:

• no alcohol
• no caffeine
• no white/processed carbs
• no sugar
• (no fun)
• protein at every meal (to slow digestion)
• snacks between meals to keep blood sugar steady
• avoid milk, red meat and chicken while eating more eggs, fish and nuts

In addition there's

• exercise - we need to build muscle to raise metabolism
• a programme of supplements

I have ordered the supplements formulated by the author from the Natural Pharmacy. Caffeine and alcohol are the hardest thing for me to give up so I'm going to consciously reduce them but can't cut them out for 3 months, nope. One coffee a day surely can't hurt!

Juice cleanse - soulmate food perfect cleanse

I have attempted two juice cleanses before. The first was a DIY attempt with my juicer - that didn't last long. The second attempt, a three day cleanse, I went and collected from a health store and lugged home 18 bottles of juice. I ended up hating this one - too many flavours, too much beetroot (my juicing nemesis), too much juice! By the end I was hungry and miserable.

But Soulmatefood was different. Maybe it's a case of third time lucky; perhaps after two unsatisfactory attempts my body has got used to the juicing idea. Either way, despite being super sweet and fruity (so probably not as alkaline as a juice cleanse could or should be), this worked for me. I decided to give it a go after seeing a great value voucher for a three day cleanse on Groupon. Annoyingly the juices were delivered at 5pm on the day I had planned to start, so I ended up beginning the next day. I drank my juices every 2.5 hours starting at 8am. I drank green tea throughout which meant I didn't get the usual pounding caffeine withdrawal headache which probably helped. I took psyllium husks each night because while the cleanse doesn't give you anything or even advice on this front, I feel better using them in a cleanse, and drank hot water with lemon in the mornings.

The juices were the same each day and there were only 5 a day which was great as any more than 5 and it becomes a bit overwhelming and unbearable - in my experience of forcing green sludge between my lips while feeling nauseous. Carrot, ginger and apple was the first zingy morning juice, followed by the mid-morning snack green juice. Luckily the apple juice base made it palatable, and the lunchtime spicy lemon juice (again with a strong apple base - very sweet) was yummy. Then came the afternoon snack juice, which I tended to drink on my commute home, beetroot and berries. I hate beetroot, but I forced my way through and focussed on the berry flavours. Here the repetetiveness of the cleanse helped s having conquered the beetroot on Day 1, I was happy to try again on day 2 and 3. The final juice of the day was a simiar green to the 2nd, this time with a strong mint flavour and overall less sweet taste - it was fine.

I didn't feel hungry, sick, dizzy, headachey at all on this cleanse - none of the usual symptoms. I actually felt light and great. I lost 5-6 lb, but have probably put lots on as my first day of freedom after the cleanse I went to Ascot for the kind of corporate hospitality day where afternoon tea is being laid out within half an hour of finishing your four course lunch, and champagne is flowing throughout. I literally had to sit on the floor of the train on the way back. But I have managed to correct some bad habits I had slipped into before the cleanse.

Next time I'll try a 5 day...

Day 2: Clean and Lean 6 Day Tummy Transformer

Day 2 is done! Calories come to 1,033. Today my eating schedule looked like this...and again, there was no temptation for treats.

7.15 egg white + spinach (sadly I only had one egg; I should have used two)
10.15 1/2 pack of Quorn 'chicken' slices and 1/4 of a cucumber
1.30 viana vegetarian schnitzel and steamed spinach and asparagus
4.30 1/2 pack of Quorn 'chicken' slices and 1/4 of a cucumber
6.45 2 Taifun tofu frankfurters, stir fried (with a teaspoon of vegetable stock - no oil) broccoli, spinach, red cabbage and bean sprouts
9.30 almond milk + cooled camomile tea + cacao + maca powder

I also took psyllium husks, l-glutamine and omega 3 supplements in the evening.

James Duigan Clean and Lean: 6 Day Tummy Transformer - introduction

Always in search of quick results, I've decided to try out the most extreme of James's plans. He says he gives this diet plans to models before a shoot. He admits that it's boring and repetitive but highly effective.

James gives specific options for each meal in the programme but they all look interchangeable as they are various forms of lean protein (white meat) and green vegetables.

Two key criticisms for the Clean and Lean programme emerge here:

• Not (really) suitable for vegetarians: Nearly every meal on this plan includes chicken or turkey. I have bought tofu and Quorn products to substitute, but these aren't technically 'clean.' Quorn is a mycoprotein (cultured fungus) that is high protein, low fat and has a chickeny texture. I have chosen the simplest Quorn products and the tofu is from health store brands so they are the closest to clean foods. This complaint applies to James's 2 intensive plans; there are a few nice vegetarian recipes in his books for his long-term programme.

• Plugging own products: On this plan I am told I need Bodyism (James's brand) fibre supplements in the morning, his brand of fish oil supplements during the day, and his Bofy Serenity shake at night. His products are outrageously expensive IMO - the Serenity powder alone is £50 for 240g! In contrast with my most recent example, the Perricone plan, where while Dr Perricone's products are recommended he explains the key ingredients or other brands that work, James offers no details on the ingredients that work or alternatives. Luckily I have some supplements on hand to substitute them with: psyllium husks as the fibre supplement, my own preferred brand of omega 3 supplements, and maca (or similar calming supplement - thats what I have to hand) and cacao powder to replace the serenity shake. It may not be quite the same but I'm not paying £50 for a small bag of powder!

Without further ado let's see the plan! The version given in the book is more specific; this is my summary and this formula is followed every day.

• Boiled water with fresh lemon or lime + fibre supplement
• 2 egg white omelette with steamed greens eg spinach/broccoli/kale
• 100g lean white meat + quarter of a cucumber
• Portion of white meat (chicken or baked white fish) with steamed greens
• 100g lean white meat + quarter of a cucumber
• Portion of white fish or chicken with steamed greens
• Serenity shake with fibre supplement

So much protein! So much bland greens! Argh! We are banned from oil which I find weird. James says this is the healthy way to lose a lot of weight but I've always believed healthy fat from olive oil, nuts and avocados help you lose weight. I won't knock this till I've tried it, though.

Then we have the exercise plan...

Days 1, 3 and 5: 

Morning cardio - 25 minutes of running intervals. I'm going to do this in the evening because I can't handle morning exercise

Circuits - 3 circuits of 8 standard exercises: push-ups, lunges, squats, tricep dips etc

Day 2 and 4:

Resistance training with dumbbells - 5 circuits of 8 exercises

I had better lose a few pounds by the end of this!!! In fact I'm hoping to look something like this...

James Duigan's client Elle Macpherson

Celebrity diet and fitness tip of the day: Michelle Keegan - abs workout

Michelle Keegan is a UK celeb - one of those people who seem to appear from nowhere and pop up all over all the trashy women's magazines, lad's magazines and Femail. Her fame is definitely helped by the fact that she has a great body - particularly her super-toned midsection.

So I'm glad that my Michelle Keegan fitness tip is all about the abs! Alongside her regular gym routine of moderate impact cardio, Michelle uses this 8 Minute Abs video on Youtube. By the looks of it, it's a real 90s classic!

I will definitely be using this video in future!

This fitness tip comes from an interview in this week's Now Magazine, which also reveals Michelle's  typical daily diet:

Breakfast: omelette made with two eggs

Mid-morning: toast with cream cheese

Lunch: salmon and green salad

Dinner: chicken salad

Day 2: Dr Perricone 3 day programme

I woke up without my caffeine withdrawal headache feeling refreshed after 10 hours' sleep. I went and looked in the mirror and was surprised and thrilled to see that my skin already looked significantly better - after one day! It looked smooth and glowing. I put on some sunscreen and strolled off to get a Starbucks spearmint green tea before returning home to cook my epic 3 course breakfast (the meal plan is identical for all three days, so see yesterday's post for details).  Throughout the day I drank the essential still spring water, with extra sparkling water and fresh mint tea.

As I had struggled with the salmon yesterday, I decided to make salmon tartare today. I used the ingredients of Dr P's salad dressing: a tbsp of olive oil and fresh lemon juice, to marinate it plus the usual diced shallot/pickled cucumber/capers. As olives are allowed on the plan (as an alternative to almonds in the evening snack) I figured these salty/preserved items aren't too far off the programme.

Again I merged lunch and dinner due to the fact that I'm a bum on weekends and had breakfast at 11.30, but I made sure I ate an extra large portion of salmon and incorporated the green vegetables from dinner. I treated myself to an antoxidant-rich glass of red wine. It's the Sicilian red Nero d'Avola which is a full-bodied red bursting with antioxidants! I appreciated it to wash down my bland veggies and oily salmon.

I've skipped the afternoon snack and will shortly be munching on my green apple + 4 almonds + 50g of quorn before bed! Back to work tomorrow so will be interesting to see how this plan fits into my work routine.

Here's a no-makeup pic of my noticeably smoother and radiant skin at the end of day 2:

I took it on my Camera+ app and it looks like I've used a filter, but I haven't! My skin actually looks this nice :)

Day 1: Dr Perricone 3 day programme

I have very mixed feelings as to how this diet is going. It's easy in that I have found the food very filling and haven't been tempted to eat anything else, and hard in that I haven't been able to eat all the meals on the plan - aaand I have a banging detox headache right now, I often get it when I give up caffeine. I allowed myself some green tea (antioxidants!) but it's still really painful. Of the three meals and two snacks, I've only managed two meals and one snack - partly because I overslept till 11am, and partly because my hunger is totally gone.

Breakfast

Breakfast was an omelette made with one whole egg plus two whites, oatmeal (which I made with water and a splash of almond milk), cantaloupe melon and blueberries. It was kind of bland but yummy. It definitely kept me full and satisfied.

Lunch

I ended up eating lunch at 4pm due to my late breakfast. The romaine lettuce is dressed with extra virgin olive oil and fresh lemon juice. I added a little bit of soy for dipping the salmon, it isn't in the prescribed plan probably because of the salt content, so I used it very minimally. I found the meal with the salad dressing and the fatty salmon very oily; my mouth felt oily towards the end of the meal. Again I felt very full after this meal. I usually like regular snacks but I didn't want anything for hours after this.

Dinner

I wasn't hungry for dinner but it SHOULD have been the same as lunch with the addition of steamed green veg. I've probably committed the ultimate Perricone sin by skipping a serving of salmon, I just can't face it tonight!

Evening Snack

As I couldn't face dinner I merged the two snacks in the diet plan. I had a green apple, 4 hazelnuts, 4 almonds and 100g of quorn (my preferred substitute for chicken). I felt a little nuts (hehe) counting out the tiny servings of nuts, 4 is quite specific. I enjoyed this meal a lot more than the lunch and felt extremely full after. Also pictured is the spearmint green tea I grabbed from Starbucks to combat my splitting headache when I was on the way home.

Exercise

In addition to the diet plan I did about 45 minutes of brisk walking.

If I have any readers yet, or if anyone reading about the Perricone diet finds this page, please say hi! Let me know if you have any questions or anything you'd like to know about the plan, and let me know how it went for you!