The Doctor On Demand Diet

The Doctor on Demand Diet

Melina B. Jampolis, MD

with Alice Lesch Kelly

Copyright 2015 by Ghost Mountain Books, Inc.

Medical Disclaimer

This publication is intended to provide helpful and informative material. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical, health, mental, physical, or psychological problem or condition, nor is it intended to replace the advice of a physician or other qualified professional. No action should be taken solely on the contents of this book. Always consult your physician or qualified health-care professional on any matters regarding your health and before adopting any suggestions in this book or drawing inferences from it. Health information changes rapidly. Therefore, some information within this book may be out of date, inaccurate, or erroneous.

Be sure to see your own health-care provider before starting the Doctor on Demand Diet or initiating an exercise program, especially if you have cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or any other health condition. The Doctor on Demand Diet is not designed for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Consult with your obstetrician, your baby’s pediatrician, or other qualified health-care professionals on the best nutrition and exercise choices during pregnancy and lactation. This book may also contain suggested menu items. The inclusion of any menu items or references to any restaurants shall not be deemed, and are not intended in any way to be, an endorsement of the menu items or restaurants. The reader should always consult with the restaurant when ordering menu items.

The author and publisher specifically disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, that is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, from the use or application of any contents of this book. Any and all product names referenced within this book are the trademarks of their respective owners. None of these owners have sponsored, authorized, endorsed, or approved this book in any way. Always read all information provided by the manufacturers’ product labels before using their products. The author and publisher are not responsible for claims made by manufacturers. The statements made in this book have not been evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration.

To Max and Beau, for my daily dose of happiness.

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I want to thank my patients for trusting me and allowing me to share in their weight-loss journeys. I learn something new every day from them, and that makes me a better physician.

Thanks to Alice Lesch Kelly, my cowriter, for being incredibly patient, understanding, and supportive throughout the writing of this book (which wasn’t easy due to the fact that I was pregnant and then had a newborn!). Thanks also to Lisa Clark from Ghost Mountain Books not only for her helpful edits but also for her cheerful support (as a new mom herself!) and to the Doctor on Demand team for giving me the opportunity to write this book.

I also would like to express my gratitude to the following people:

My friend and colleague Dr. Jennifer Warren, for being a wonderful cross-country sounding board and advisor throughout the writing of this book.

Carly Stratton, for her cheerful enthusiasm and wonderful recipe-tasting feedback; Jon Ford, for his wonderfully thorough copyediting skills; and Ingrid Lopez, for helping me make many of the recipes during testing.

Registered dietitians Jennifer Doll White and Jessica Ehrentraut, for their assistance; my fellow physician nutrition specialists Dr. Mike Rothkopf and Dr. Gerald Mullin, for their valued input; and my good friend Dr. Cindy Woods, for her reassurance and guidance.

My pal, celebrity trainer Harley Pasternak, for his feedback on the interval training programs.

Chef Michael Schley, for the tasty recipes that make this diet plan even better.

Rebecca Raphael, for her editing insight, and my agent, Shannon Marven, for her continued support over the years.

My friends Summer McKeivier, Brian San Marco, and Jennifer Herren, for helping brainstorm menus during playdates with our kids, and my wonderful sister-in-law Jordana Oberman, for helping so much with my newborn son when I was finishing up the manuscript.

My sister Ami Jampolis, for always being a great sounding board and supporting me throughout my career.

My amazing mother, Barbara, for her unconditional love and support on so many different levels, and my father, Sam, for being a great physician role model and always pushing me to excel.

Finally, an extra big thank-you to my sweet and supportive husband, Benjamin, who did his best to keep me sane while I was going through a rough pregnancy and then giving birth while writing the book.

About the Author

Dr. Melina Jampolis is an internist and board-certified physician nutrition specialist (one of only several hundred practicing in the United States). Dr. Melina specializes exclusively in nutrition for weight loss, as well as disease prevention and treatment.

A graduate of Tufts University and Tufts University School of Medicine, she completed her residency in internal medicine at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, a Stanford University teaching hospital. In 2005, Dr. Melina hosted a program on the Discovery Network’s FitTV, FitTV’s Diet Doctor, and for the past six years she has served as the diet and fitness expert for CNN Health.

She is currently the president of the National Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists and serves as the medical nutrition director for the advanced heart failure medical nutrition program for American Outcomes Management LLP.

Dr. Melina is the author of two previous books: The No Time to Lose Diet (in paperback as The Busy Person’s Guide to Permanent Weight Loss), and (with Karen Ansel and Ami Jampolis) The Calendar Diet: A Month by Month Guide to Losing Weight While Living Your Life.

She believes wholeheartedly in the role of nutrition in preventing disease and achieving optimal health. Using balanced, sustainable eating, exercise, and behavior modification programs, she has helped thousands of clients over the past decade and a half to improve their health and well-being.

Dr. Melina is dedicated to the treatment and prevention of childhood obesity, particularly in the low-income, minority population. Her volunteer work includes helping to launch a healthy food pantry in the Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco, and biweekly family nutrition and obesity counseling sessions at the Los Angeles–based Bresee Foundation, a center for low-income, minority, at-risk youth.

She maintains a small private practice in Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband and two sons.

Contents

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Introduction: Weight Loss YOUR Way

What to Expect: Highlights of the Doctor on Demand Diet

A Strong Foundation: Before You Get Started

Chapter 1 |  Phase 1: The CleanStart Plan

Chapter 2 |  Phase 2: The Customize Your Carbs Plan

Chapter 3 |  Phase 3: The Cycle for Success Plan

Chapter 4 |  Fire Up Your Future with Goals That Deliver

Chapter 5 |  The Doctor on Demand Fitness Quiz: What’s Your Exercise Style?

Chapter 6 |  Get Moving: Exercise and Activity Strategies That Really Work

Chapter 7 |  Get Your Head in the Game: Understanding the Psychological Side of Weight Loss

Chapter 8 |  Create an Environment That Supports Success

Chapter 9 |  Eating in the Real World

Chapter 10 |  Maintaining Your Weight Loss: Seven Steps to Lifelong Success

Doctor on Demand Sample Menus

Phase 1: CleanStart Sample Menu

Phase 2: Customize Your Carbs Sample Menu

Phase 3: Cycle for Success Sample Menu

Doctor on Demand Grocery Essentials

Doctor on Demand Recipes

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

Weight Loss YOUR Way

During my years as a medical doctor specializing in weight loss and nutrition, one of the most important lessons I’ve learned from my patients is that one size does not fit all. People succeed at weight loss when they follow a diet plan that is customized specifically for them. The eating plan that works fantastically for a young parent may fail miserably for a busy executive; the recipes that satisfy a middle-aged man may leave a postmenopausal woman tired and moody; and the exercise program that galvanizes a couch potato may leave an athletic type feeling bored and uninspired.

My work with hundreds of patients has taught me that there is not a single best way to lose weight. But there are plenty of strategies that will work for you. The trick is to figure out what they are—and that’s where I come in. My job as a board-certified physician nutrition specialist is to help patients improve their health and lose weight—not by following a one-size-fits-all plan, but by determining exactly what will work for them and their lifestyles. And as the author of the The Doctor on Demand Diet, my job is to show you how to create a just-for-you weight-loss program that can bring you a lifetime of success.

When I meet with patients one-on-one, I work with them to create custom-designed eating, exercise, and behavioral plans that help them meet their weight-loss goals. It’s great doing this in person, but don’t worry—you don’t need weekly face-to-face doctor visits in order to succeed at weight loss. I’m not a psychologist, but I realize that there are often psychological issues that need to be addressed for any weight loss program to succeed long term (I discuss these in detail in Chapter 7). With the Doctor on Demand app, you can schedule a virtual visit any time with a Doctor on Demand psychologist who can help you gain control over your eating behaviors, support your weight-loss efforts and provide you with even more tools to succeed. (And the Doctor on Demand physicians can even help you if you come down with a cold or flu or suffer a sports injury.)

I know the strategies, tools, and advice in the Doctor on Demand Diet work. That’s because I interact on a daily basis with patients who are trying to lose weight, and I witness firsthand their struggles and successes. I understand that life is full of challenges, but I also have seen people overcome huge roadblocks that have prevented them from losing weight in the past. It all comes down to figuring out what will work best for them.

No matter what kind of life you lead, the Doctor on Demand Diet can bring you success. Whether you have a busy social life, a demanding job, a hectic household, or an erratic schedule, I can help you create a program that will work for you. Even if you hate to cook and have little time for exercise, you can still succeed at weight loss—provided your program is custom-tailored to your needs, your challenges, and your schedule, as it is with the Doctor on Demand Diet.

A Personalized Plan

Many factors contribute to weight-loss success. Your age, gender, size, activity level, health, and even your food preferences play a part. To be successful over time, a weight-loss program must take individual factors into consideration. That’s exactly what the Doctor on Demand Diet does.

With the Doctor on Demand Diet, we’ll start with a basic plan. Then, we’ll work together—using quizzes, worksheets, checklists, and other interactive tools—to customize it to fit your goals, body type, personality, and preferences.

Along the way, we’ll talk about more than just what you eat. In order to bring about long-term weight loss, we’ll look at ways to make changes in behaviors that have contributed to excess weight gain. We’ll also collaborate on creating an exercise plan that you can truly enjoy, fit into your schedule, and stick with for the rest of your life.

A Reality-Based Plan

In addition to being a physician nutrition specialist, I’m a mom with a very busy life. But I’m also someone who understands what it’s like to always have to keep an eye on my weight. I’m not a naturally thin person, and in my teens and 20s—in high school, college, and medical school—I sometimes struggled with my weight. Over the years I figured out what works for me, and these days I do a pretty good job of keeping my weight in the right place. But it’s something I always have to watch—if I’m not mindful of what I eat and how much I exercise, my weight starts inching up. And like many other women, I’ve faced the challenge of losing pregnancy weight after the births of each of my children.

Designed for You

Your own Doctor on Demand Diet plan will focus on your needs, goals, and choices. For example:

If you’re in a hurry to see results, I’ll show you how to customize a plan that will bring about accelerated weight loss. But if you’re more of a tortoise than a hare, we’ll work together to design a slower-but-steady approach.

If you are insulin-resistant, we’ll design an eating plan that focuses specifically on stabilizing blood sugar levels. (Insulin resistance is a condition in which your body doesn’t use insulin effectively to deliver blood sugar to your cells—I’ll explain it in detail later in the book.) Everyone can benefit from blood sugar stabilization, so it’s an important part of any weight-loss plan. I’ll help you determine your insulin status, and together we’ll design a program that best supports your health.

If feeling hungry is a major challenge for you, you can create meals and snacks for optimal fullness and satiety.

If you like to splurge a bit on weekends, you can use my Diet-Cycling strategies to enjoy wine, desserts, or other treats on the weekends without setting yourself back and regaining weight.

Because maintaining a healthy weight is a personal commitment as well as a professional passion, I promise you that, above all, the Doctor on Demand Diet is realistic. I don’t ask you to make huge, dramatic changes in your diet or to give up entire food groups for the rest of your life—unless of course you are a total junk food junkie, in which case I will definitely nudge you to make some big changes. But I don’t expect you to follow ridiculous advice that I couldn’t adhere to myself—in fact, I put all my recommendations to the Could I do it? test, and if the answer is Absolutely not! I don’t suggest them.

And I don’t expect you to make every change I recommend. You don’t have to be a trained seal following a long list of orders. Successful weight loss is not about me telling you what to do—it’s about us working together to build a program that will be just right for you and the life you lead. Some of my strategies will work well for you; others may send you running in the other direction. That’s fine—this plan is all about customization. My job is to give you lots of options; your job is to use the information and concepts in this book to find the best approach for you, and to stick with that approach most (but not all) of the time.

You can lose weight. Even if you’ve tried and failed many times before, you can succeed at shedding excess pounds that weigh down your spirit and your health. All you need is a plan that really, truly works for you, one that is built around your life and that understands your needs. In the pages that follow, I’ll work with you to devise your perfect weight-loss program. I’ll be with you, every step of the way—as will the Doctor on Demand app if you need a little extra advice or support to succeed.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Highlights of the Doctor on Demand Diet

The Doctor on Demand Diet is not like other weight-loss plans. It is a flexible, customizable, reality-based program that meets you where you are now and leads you through a series of steps that allow you to personalize your own best weight-loss game plan. I’ll explain the Doctor on Demand Diet in detail as we go along, but for now, here are some of the highlights you can look forward to:

A Truly Realistic, Personalized Eating Plan

The Doctor on Demand Diet builds on everyday foods that you already eat—there’s no need to throw out everything in your kitchen and replace all of your favorite foods with expensive, unfamiliar substitutes, as some diet books recommend. Sure, I’ll be suggesting that you occasionally try a nutritious new food or recipe, and if you like it, you can add it to your repertoire. But overall, you’ll be focusing on foods that you already enjoy and can buy in your local grocery store—no need to run from one expensive store to the next for hard-to-find ingredients and overpriced specialty items.

Strategies Customized for You

I don’t believe in one-size-fits-all recommendations for calories, protein, carbohydrates, or fat. For example, a middle-aged five-foot-two woman has very different dietary needs than a young six-foot-two man. An obese person needs a different approach than someone who’s just trying to go down a dress size. A physically active person can eat more than someone who does no exercise—although I encourage everyone to be as active as they are able.

With the Doctor on Demand Diet, I’ll show you how to customize your eating plan based on a range of factors, including how much weight you want to lose, how much you like to cook, what foods you like to eat, and what kind of life you lead. You’ll know exactly how much of each kind of food you should eat to achieve the weight loss you desire.

Tried-and-True Advice from My Clinical Practice

Many popular diet books are written by celebrities, trainers, and sometimes just people who have succeeded at losing weight. Few of these experts interact directly with real people who are struggling with weight loss on a daily basis. But I do. As a physician nutrition specialist, I help people just like you to lose weight, not with the use of pills and surgery, but through behavior and nutritional changes.

All of my patients are trying to lose weight, and in the process of working with them for many years, I have learned a lot about how to succeed at it. The suggestions, strategies, and tips in this book are based on my clinical experience with all kinds of patients. When I offer advice, you can be sure it’s the real deal.

A Program Built on Science

I’m a physician, so my first priority is always to give patients a weight-loss program that makes their health a top priority. That’s why the Doctor on Demand Diet is based on the science of smart weight loss. It’s not a crazy fad diet that slashes calories by asking you to eliminate entire food groups.

Yes, I’ll ask you to make some short-term sacrifices—for example, I’ll make a case for avoiding several kinds of dry carbohydrates during your first 10 days of the plan. (Dry carbs are breads, crackers, waffles, certain snacks, and other foods that are made with refined carbohydrates and that do a poor job of satiating hunger—I’ll explain more about them later.) But after that, you’ll use a variety of research-based strategies to incorporate all kinds of foods into your weight-loss plan, which will allow you to lose weight while improving your overall health. And you’ll learn some simple, easy-to-schedule strategies to make fitness activities a permanent part of your life.

Quizzes and Questionnaires That Pinpoint Your Needs

When I meet with patients one-on-one, I spend a lot of time asking questions about what they like to eat, when they’re hungriest, which foods fill them up, and how their moods are impacted by food, to name just a few. We use the answers to those kinds of questions to customize patients’ weight-loss plans.

In the Doctor on Demand Diet, we use quizzes, questionnaires, and other tools to gather information that will allow you to personalize a plan that best fits your personal weight-loss style. For example, one of my quizzes will help you determine whether you are engaging in binge eating. Another quiz will help you understand what kind of exerciser you are, so you can choose activities that groove with your personal fitness style. Using the results of these tools, you can customize a plan that will be tailor-made for you.

Inspiring, Informative SOAP Notes from My Practice

These sound like something from a bubble bath, but they’re actually an incredibly beneficial tool that will help you design your Doctor on Demand eating plan so that it will meet your specific needs. SOAP stands for Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan, and a SOAP Note is a tool that all physicians and other health-care providers use to document information in a patient’s record.

After meeting a patient each week, I write SOAP Notes that delineate the patient’s successes, challenges, achievements, and goals, as well as the specific tips, strategies, and advice that helped or hindered them since the last visit. In the pages that follow I’ll share some of my most compelling SOAP Notes (with my patients’ privacy and identities fully protected, of course). The patients whose SOAP Notes I share are real people just like you—people with busy schedules who don’t have time to make weight loss a full-time job. They represent a very diverse group of individuals, with equally diverse eating, exercise, and behavioral issues. Reading about the various ways my patients and I worked together to personalize their diets, behavior choices, and exercise programs will inspire you, and it will help us devise strategies that work for you.

Worksheets That Work

My patients love to use interactive worksheets like the ones I include in this book to better understand what drives their eating behaviors. Filling them out will help you identify challenges, brainstorm solutions, recognize successes, and pinpoint strategies that work and don’t work for you. They’ll also come in handy if you choose to connect with a health-care provider through the Doctor on Demand app.

Enlightening Research on Demand Summaries

Because weight loss and dietary health are so crucial, researchers around the world are devoting an amazing amount of time and energy to the study of optimizing nutrition and losing weight. The findings from some of these studies can often provide really helpful insights that can guide us as we create winning weight-loss plans.

Don’t worry: I’m not going to ask you to pore over medical journals—that’s a fun way for me as a doctor to pass an evening, but I don’t expect it of you. Instead, I’ll include quick, easy-to-read Research on Demand summaries that will keep you abreast of some of the exciting findings in the world of weight-loss research. Just look for the Research on Demand icon. And for those who want to find out more about the studies, I’ll provide links to the original research abstracts in the bibliography at the end of the book.

No-Cook, Low-Cook, and Slow-Cook Recipes

I always laugh when I hear about diets that required hours at the stove every day. Sure, some people have the time and the interest to cook elaborate meals. But in my experience—personally and professionally—recipes with dozens of ingredients and long cooking times just don’t fit into most people’s lives. That’s why most of the Doctor on Demand recipes are quick and easy.

If you, like me, barely have the knowledge or energy to boil water, you’ll love having a choice of recipes that respect your time and interest level (or lack thereof). Whenever possible, I’ve included quick-fix, timesaving options. Many of the recipes I include in this book require little or no cooking. So if you’re not an in-the-kitchen gal or guy, you’ll have plenty of options that fit your lifestyle. And most of my slow-cook and soup recipes freeze well, so when you’re in the mood you can cook them up and put them