Table Of ContentFor women everywhere
who are tired of
the annual winter 15
CONTENTS
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
CHAPTER 1
Get Ready to Slim Down!
CHAPTER 2
The Slimming Magic of Vitamin D
CHAPTER 3
How You’ll Slim Down
CHAPTER 4
How You’ll Beat Hunger
CHAPTER 5
How You’ll Stay Motivated
CHAPTER 6
The Top Eight Slimming Foods
CHAPTER 7
How You’ll Achieve Success
CHAPTER 8
Determine Your D Profile
CHAPTER 9
The 7 Day Slim Down
CHAPTER 10
The 4 - Week Slim Down
CHAPTER 11
Winter Warming Menus
CHAPTER 12
Summer Light Menus
CHAPTER 13
The Slim Down Recipes
CHAPTER 14
Speed Slimming Moves
CHAPTER 15
How to Stay Slim for Life
APPENDIX
The Resource List
Endnotes
Index
FOREWORD
n 2007, when I became medical director of the integrative medicine
program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, I followed the lifestyle I
promoted to my patients. I exercised diligently, ate lots of fruits and
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vegetables, kept my weight where it should be, and managed stress well.
Vitamin D deficiency was getting buzz, particularly in the holistic health
world. During my annual visit to my doctor, I requested a vitamin D test. I’m not
sure who was more surprised—my doctor or me—when the test result was 17
ng/mL, significantly deficient, since the normal range is 30 to 100 ng/mL (the
ideal is between 40 to 60 ng/mL or more). But really, why was I surprised? I live
in Chicago, known as the windy city, not the sunny city, and work indoors all
day. But when my D level eventually rose, I noticed a significant increase in my
energy, so I am now as vigilant about monitoring my own D level and intake as I
was about my old lifestyle.
I began checking the vitamin D levels of my patients, and the vast majority
—more than 85 percent—were below 30 ng/mL. I then witnessed dramatic
changes in my patients as their vitamin D levels rose into the optimal range.
Women who had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia for years suddenly became
pain-free; women with depression felt more hopeful; and, overall, women noted
greater energy, healthier weight, stronger nails, and thicker hair
As this book points out, whole foods are the best way to maximize digestion,
absorption, and utilization of key nutrients. The 7-Day Slim Down provides a
core, balanced menu plan, and a flexible approach to exercise
Vitamin D deficiency and obesity are both epidemic in our country. The 7-
Day Slim Down provides a plan that can help people feel better, lose weight, and
prevent disease. I know I will be sharing the information in this book and
recommending the diet to my own patients.
—Melinda Ring, MD
Medical director of Northwestern Integrative Medicine at Northwestern
Memorial Hospital in Chicago and coauthor of The Natural Menopause
Solution
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
’m indebted to Bridget Doherty, a former senior editor at Women’s Health
magazine. Several years ago, she called, told me that vitamin D was the
next wonder vitamin, and assigned me the story that eventually led to this
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book. I’m just as indebted to Ursula Cary, my editor at Rodale, who saw
the need for this book long before I did. Ursula is a rare gem, the kind of editor
every writer needs. Not only did she help to polish the manuscript, she
consistently alerted me to research that I might want to include She’s much more
than an editor and a wordsmith. She’s also a strategic thinker and trend spotter. I
consider myself blessed to have written under her guidance.
To the dozens of women who agreed to test this diet before it went to print:
thank you. It was through your feedback that I was able to see which recipes
worked and which ones did not. Your feedback also helped me to see that dieters
would need some modifications and even some cheats. I’m especially thankful to
Andrea Lynn, Nichelle Colley Rothrock, and Stefanie Pascetti who have allowed
me to quote them in the book.
If it weren’t for nutritionist Leslie Dantchik, the menu plans in this book
would resemble the truly boring concoctions I make for myself day after day.
Leslie breathed life into this plan by designing menus that were just as
mouthwatering as they were quick, easy, satisfying and slimming. Jennifer
Iserloh, the Skinny Chef, developed several recipes that undoubtedly will
become favorites for many dieters. When I told her that no dieter can live
without a martini every now and then, she didn’t flinch. Her Orangetini is
brilliant.
Finally, I would not be where I am today if it were not for Michael Harriot,
my literary agent. Much like Ursula, Michael is a rare gem. Not only does he
make sure I get paid top dollar for every word I write, he also serves as my
therapist, career coach and friend. I am blessed that he continues to represent me
and be a part of my life.
INTRODUCTION
y life used to follow a predictable pattern. Each year, as fall turned
into winter, my body slowly but surely expanded. This weight gain
often escaped my notice because, among other things, I’m pretty
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good at that coping mechanism known as denial. Sure, I got on the
scale each morning. Yes, I continually saw a higher and higher number. But
rather than tell myself, “Oops, I’m gaining weight,” I thought any or all of the
following:
Must be added muscle from the push-ups I did yesterday. My hair is
longer. Hair weighs something! It must be from that. I ate a lot of salt
yesterday. I must be retaining water. I ate dinner late yesterday. It must
still be in my system and weighing me down. I’ll be lighter tomorrow.
There was additional evidence beyond the numbers on the scale. My tummy
would begin to sprout a familiar muffin top. I’d pull on my favorite jeans only to
find that my thighs didn’t quite fit into them anymore. Had they shrunk? Hadn’t
I told my husband not to put these jeans in the dryer? Hmm. And my face looked
a bit rounder. Why was it so puffy? Must be from the wine I had the night
before.
Eventually, though, I had to face facts. I usually faced them around February.
It was around this time of year when I would barely be able to zip up my knee-
high boots. It was tough to come up with an excuse for boots that wouldn’t zip.
Even I couldn’t talk myself into believing my boots had shrunk, too!
This realization often came bundled with depression and lethargy. By
midwinter my mood was dark and my thoughts revolved around the following:
Life is exhausting. I don’t want to do anything or go anywhere. And now look at
me! Now, on top of everything else, I have no clothes that fit. Great. I feel
terrible. All I want to do is lie on the couch and have the rest of that creamy
pasta. Maybe I’ll just finish off that cheesecake. Or maybe both?
Yeah, it used to get pretty ugly up there in my head toward the end of a long,
icy, cold, overcast winter.
Fall and winter were not the only seasons that followed a predictable pattern.
As the months got warmer and brighter, I’d spring into dietary panic and nearly
starve myself into dizziness and confusion by living on fruit, salads, and sliced
cucumbers. By the end of the summer, my jeans and shorts would be almost a
size too big! I would pledge to myself that the winter weight gain Was. Not.
Going. To. Happen. Again.
(Of course, we all know what happened.)
It was all so frustratingly predictable, not to mention embarrassing. After all,
I wrote a health and nutrition column for a newspaper and covered health and
fitness topics for various magazines, including Women’s Health. I’d written
about countless diets. At parties, if someone asked about the difference between
saturated fat and hydrogenated fat, I could deliver an answer in seconds. In my
head, I had a running tally of the calories present in various foods. Eggs? 70.
Celery? About 10 per stalk. Bread? Roughly 100 or so per slice, depending on
the brand
If anyone should know how to maintain a healthy weight, I should! Yet I was
struggling. At first I thought that I just needed to have more willpower. I thought
I needed to practice more self-control. “You just have to eat less,” I told myself.
“Just eat less.”
And believe me, I would try. I attempted to eat less with the support of all of
the newest psychological advice around. I had access to all of it. I interviewed
the world’s top experts on a regular basis and read the various studies as they
were released. Still, each winter, the pounds returned.
It wasn’t until roughly 2 years ago that I finally realized what was going on.
As it turns out, my problem had nothing to do with mental softness or a lack of
willpower and self-control. After all, I’ve run marathons! You probably have
plenty of self-control and willpower too. Most women do. But if you are like me,
and a huge number of other women, you probably also have something else: an
incredibly common vitamin deficiency. This vitamin deficiency is fueling your
weight gain—especially in the winter—and standing between you and the
slimmer, sexier body that you seek.
This nutrient deficiency is widespread and it affects both your weight and
your overall health. It’s a deficiency in vitamin D, the vitamin that our bodies are
supposed to make from sunlight.
As it turned out, every winter—as the days grew shorter—my skin wasn’t
able to make enough D to supply the cells and tissues with what they needed.
Supply fell far short of demand, and my body went into D deficiency. This
deficiency made me tired. It caused my muscles to ache and my mood to
plummet, both of which eroded my sense of control when sweets were around.
And it turned my body into a fat-storage machine.
Then spring and summer would come. Once I was out running and walking
in the sunlight, I would naturally build my D levels back up. In the summer, I
always had energy, so I exercised more. My mood was better, so I ate less. And
my body had the vitamin D it needed to nudge my fat cells out of fat-storage
mode and into fat-burning mode. I’m willing to bet that this cycle sounds
familiar to you.
Are You Ready to Lose Weight for the Last Time?
I’M SO EXCITED to bring you this plan that optimizes vitamin D—along with
several other key nutrients—to help you end the weight gain cycle once and for
all. This plan is front-loaded with D and many other powerful slimmers. It helps
turn up the heat on your metabolism so you can slim down as quickly as
possible.
Perhaps best of all, however, is that once you drop the weight, you’ll keep it
off. You’ll end your battle with winter depression and cravings. You’ll be able to
drop weight and keep it off year-round. Welcome to the world of lasting weight
loss
