Not a sponsored post.
If you read my original Haylie Pomroy Fast Metabolism Diet review, you know I’m pretty serious about this one. And while FMD is probably the most effective diet I’ve ever done, it comes with its own set of challenges, like having to cook pretty much all of your meals. This is not ideal for someone with a very busy lifestyle, but Haylie offers tips on cooking the meals ahead in large batches. In fact, the book includes a meal plan for the entire 28 days of the diet, that is budget and freezer-friendly. I currently have a little more time for cooking several meals a day, so I am using this opportunity to enjoy my food rather than simply eating for sustenance.
Last week the scales showed 145lbs, remember? 🙂
So what is this dreaded Phase 2 that people complain about?
In addition to the products you already can’t have on this diet, which is wheat, corn, soy, dairy, refined sugar, alcohol, dried fruit & fruit juices, fat-free “diet” foods, and caffeine, there are some other exclusions. Phase 2, also called The Protein Phase, lasts only two days – Wednesday and Thursday – and during these two days you are not allowed to have any fruit, except lemons and limes, no grains of any kind, and no added fat [so no olive oil, nuts, avocados, etc]. Additionally, only very specific vegetables are allowed. Basically, you are limited to a very narrow pool of lean proteins and mostly white and green vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, cucumbers, green beans, etc. This is the phase when your food will actually look like bland diet food, when normally that’s not the case with FMD. Good thing is that it lasts only two days, but I always feel like they can’t be over soon enough.
Today I wanted to show you what I typically eat during Phase 2. All of the recipes, except breakfast, are from the Fast Metabolism Book.
Fast Metabolism Diet Phase 2 Breakfast: Eggwhite Omelette with Spinach, Onions, Cucumbers, and Watercress
BREAKFAST:
Eggwhite, spinach, and onion omelette with fresh cucumbers and watercress on the side.
It took me ages to figure out how to make my egg whites stay fluffy, and the secret is to cover them with a lid while cooking. Considering that in this phase you have to cook everything with water or broth instead of oil, that little bit of water steam really helped them keep their fluffy shape. You can serve the eggs with any allowed veggies, so I chose fresh cucumbers and a handful of watercress to add that fresh peppery kick. Who else thinks that watercress tastes like radishes?
Fast Metabolism Diet Phase 2 Lunch: Tuna Salad with Homemade Cucumber Dressing
LUNCH:
Fish, and seafood in general, is my favorite source of animal protein. At one point I even contemplated going pescatarian, because I can easily live eating only fish and plant protein for the rest of my life.
For my Phase 2 lunches I often make this tuna salad, recipe for which you can find on page 199 of the Fast Metabolism Diet book. The ingredients are quite simple, but the final dish is flavorful, with a little zing from mustard and lemon juice, and homemade cucumber dressing. The recipe for the dressing can also be found in the book. Best part is, one recipe makes 2 servings, so when I make one salad, it’s like I’m meal prepping for the next day, too.
Fast Metabolism Diet Phase 2 Dinner: Beef, Kale & Cabbage Soup
DINNER:
Back in Russia where I’m originally from, we ate soup as a meal every single day. Sometimes it was served for lunch, sometimes for dinner, but there was always a big pot of soup to finish, which we happily did. This beef, kale & leek soup reminds me of my mom’s recipe I used to love as a kid. We added sour cream and a large heaping of fresh parsley to each bowl, but even without those it’s still a nostalgic flavor. The recipe can be found on page 204 of the book.
This is my personal hack that I discovered while doing the diet twice: on the days when one of my main meals came as liquid or a puree [think mashed cauliflower, cream of broccoli soup, morning smoothies etc], I always lost some extra weight. But replacing all of the meals with liquids is generally a bad idea and only causes bloating.
Fast Metabolism Diet Phase 2 Snack: Smoked Salmon with Cucumbers and Dill
SNACKS:
Snacks are an important part of Fast Metabolism Diet, but Phase 2 snacks were incredibly difficult to find. You could do it the easy way and eat half a chicken breast, or boil a dozen of eggs in advance, then peel them and remove the yolks, and eat the whites as a snack with a dash of salt. I got sick of those quickly, so to keep things fun I opted in for some smoked salmon with cucumbers on the side. It’s not the cheapest snack out there, but any treat to spice up this otherwise bland phase of the diet is worth it to me personally.
Smoked salmon, no sugar added. Near impossible to find!
Now here’s the problem: the absolute majority – and I mean like 90% of all store-bought smoked salmon – contains sugar. Sugar is one of the main things to avoid on this diet, and until I embarked on this journey, I didn’t realize just how much of it I was unknowingly consuming. It’s in everything these days: sausage, lunch meat, bread, canned soups and sauces, instant oatmeal, salad dressings, yogurt [even the unflavored kinds], you name it… I found two places where I can get my smoked salmon without sugar: Echo Falls Wild Alaska Sockeye Smoked Salmon at Meijer and Specially Selected Cold Smoked Salmon from Aldi. Keep in mind, Aldi salmon is twice cheaper!
Now vs Then: I’m not after a supermodel body. I just want to go back to a leaner body I had 5 years ago in my late 20s.
BOTTOM LINE:
Following the rules in Phase 2 is important, because that’s when the body burns fat at an increased rate. I read a bunch of other blog posts about this diet, and it seems like that was the case for everyone. As for me, I typically lose up to one pound each day during Phase 2. I know this sounds too unbelievable to be true, but unless you tried this diet for yourself, you will never think that’s possible. Since grains are excluded in this phase, sometimes I end up feeling hungry between meals. To avoid this you should really load up on vegetables, eat as many as you can fit during the main meal, and you won’t be hungry til the next one. Veggies can be consumed in unlimited amounts in all phases of the diet, so now I always add an extra helping for bulk.
OTHER REVIEWS:
No two bodies are the same, so the results of this diet will be different for everyone. I read a lot of success stories before attempting it on my own. People lost anywhere from 5lbs total to 35 lbs, but in general the majority of the reviewers found this diet effective. Here are some of those reviews, if you are contemplating the diet and want to check them out, too.
- SanBriego’s FMD Review
- Before & After Success Stories
- Elle Canada Review
- MakeHerUp Blog
- Soup On The Rocks Blog
- Dr. Liz MD Blog
What’s your take on dieting? Have you attempted any diets before? Let me know in the comments!
