Body Confidence Nutrition Program

I mentioned in a previous post that I stay up late watching Chelsea Lately, keeping me from my beauty sleep. Ok, truth is, I'm not a big sleeper, never have been, never will be, and I'm just fine with that, so we won't blame Ms. Handler. ;) 


A couple months ago I was watching Chelsea's show and her guest was Mark MacDonald from Venice Nutrition promoting his nutrition book, "Body Confidence."

Had I ever heard of Venice Nutrition? No. Are there a million healthy eating and diet books on the market? Yes. Am I out of shape? No. Am I overweight? No. 

...AND YET...

I found myself ordering "Body Confidence" on Amazon after the show. Heck, who couldn't use a little extra body confidence, especially as we get closer to bikini season?!


My intentions were really good--I want more energy, I want to eat healthier, I want a slightly slimmer physique. All of these things are promised if you follow the program.

I workout regularly and eat pretty well anyway, so I figured this would be an easy program to follow. 


NOT so much. 
I lasted all of 10 days on Mark's program.

There's nothing revolutionary about the concepts in the book, especially since I spent years long ago as an aerobics instructor and personal trainer: Speed up your metabolism by eating every 3 hours, eat 6 small 250 calorie meals (or 300 for men) every day so your body can metabolize the food and keep your blood sugar regulated, eat 25 grams of protein at every meal, and so on.

The first 10 days were the most restrictive--see above, but on top of that there was no sugar at all, no flour at all, no....well, pretty much nothing but meat, eggs/egg whites, and vegetables and an occasional protein bar or protein drink and a couple other things. Supposedly this was to take me out of my "heavy" weight and bring me down to my "set-point" weight so I could start the "real" nutrition plan that is much like what I already mentioned but with the addition of a little dairy and other items.

Was I hungry? No.
Did I crave sugar? No.
Did I have more energy like the author claims will happen? NO.
Did I lose any weight? NO.
Did my measurements shrink? NO.
Did my bum look any different than it did 10 days earlier? NO.
Was the food so boring that I'd rather not eat than eat it? Yes.

What DID change, however, is the knowledge that I'm not the biggest fan of meat. I'm not a vegetarian at all, but when FORCED to eat chicken or turkey or tuna several times a day, I am just annoyed. Also annoying--eating every 3 hours. I'm not interested in food enough to eat every 3 hours--I even set a little timer on my Blackberry to remind me. By day 3 I wanted to throw my Blackberry out a window anytime it went off to remind me to eat meat, but I ate anyway. 

I don't understand how someone can spend their entire day focused on food and eating hour after hour day after day long term. I think I'd give up the will to live if I were faced with that kind of existence. The book even recommends putting together a kit for your car in case you're stuck in traffic and you need food because you don't want to miss out on eating every 3 hours. Listen, unless I'm snowed in and stuck in my car on Lake Shore Drive, I'm not concerned about a food kit in my car.

On the bright side, I did discover in my taste testing that I like Pure Protein brand protein bars, which have 20 grams of protein, 180-200 calories, and really do keep me full if I eat them for breakfast or a snack, so I'll be incorporating that into my own nutrition plan. I also discovered that there are protein powders out there that are tolerable, but I never found one that I would describe as good.


I'm sure there are people who will enjoy this program.... I'm just not one of them. For me, 10 days felt like an eternity, and it never got any less annoying or any more flavorful. It could never be a lifestyle for me, and that's important.


I do believe Mr. MacDonald has good intentions and a desire to help people get lean and healthy, but this is just not a program for me--I have a life to live and it includes thinking about things other than protein EVERY 3 hours. 


....things like, well, SKINCARE of course. ;)