Hey there ,

If you’re familiar with JillFit, you know that I have a disdain for meal plans and strict nutrition rules that require you white-knuckle your way through, only to feel anxious, defeated and worse off than before you started.

Ugh, no.

The comply-or-die approach to eating and exercise is lazy. It’s the 1.0 version, and while for a long time, I was a relentless meal plan follower, over time I came to see it as something that kept me dependent and unable to think for myself.

In fact, I have a distinct memory of going grocery shopping after my first figure competition and literally having no idea what to buy. Which is insane considering I’d been food shopping for myself for 10 years and all of a sudden, because I’d been so regimented and hardcore for 12 weeks on a “contest prep diet,” I had become scared of normal-person eating. I was terrified of making the wrong decisions, and fearful that I’d gain 50 lbs overnight if I bought the wrong thing.

Which is just BS. Mental aerobics. The dieting culture at its finest. It’s a huge lie, and part of my mission at JillFit is to call out the dependency on plans, experts, diet books and coaches. No one can know your body better than you can. And when you start owning that fact, it opens up a whole new world of possibilities and dietary freedom.

YES.

ANYWAY. After giving up the all-or-nothing eating approach about 4 years ago, I slowly started adopting a more moderate approach to eating, where I’ve earned to taste anything and binge on nothing, simply because I’m not scared of food anymore. BUT. That transition has left me with little tolerance for what I consider short-term willpower-wrangling plans like 21-day detoxes, 12-week competition plans and 7-day jump starts.

Admittedly, I have a hard time with restriction ;)

But, I keep getting the question: “Jill, I feel like I want to tighten up for a while, because I have a few l-b’s to lose, but I am so scared of yo-yo’ing. Is there any way I can do this safely and still reach my goals?”

Okay, okay. I get that there is a difference between “attain” mode and maintenance mode.  I am partial to maintenance mode because frankly I want to think about nutritional decisions as little as possible. But I can’t deny the fact that at times, you might want to be in “attain” mode.

So … your nutrition might have to change a little. It might have to get a teensy bit more regimented for a period of time, and you might have to dedicate a little more mental energy to the whole process.

You can’t. You can’t constantly be in a state of trying to lose weight and trying to cut cals and increasing your exercise. The eat-less-exercise-more model is finite. It might work for that first or even second time you’ve dieted but thinking you can be constantly in a state of trying to lose weight is shortsighted. Your metabolism doesn’t just keep responding ad infinitum.

So, the key is to oscillate short periods of time in “attain” mode with long, looooong periods of time in maintenance mode. You have to establish equilibrium for honestly, months before jumping into a more strict approach to lose a little.

And then that strict approach cannot last for long. Because willpower is exhaustible and trying to white-knuckle your way through your eating will always inevitably end in overindulgence. So when you stay there for only shorter periods of time AND have a plan for getting back into a more balanced place, then this oscillating process is possible. You need to eventually always get back to a place of balanced hunger, energy and craving control (i.e. maintenance mode).

Along those same lines, I get asked about detoxes quite a bit. I don’t love them. I consider them a Band-Aid approach. But, they can be effective – if done correctly – in offering that small advantage in terms of water weight loss and de-bloating. For me, those things, though they are not sustainable fat loss approaches, can offer a psychological benefit, helping me stay more mindful and motivated to find an actual forever-solution for myself. Getting a few small wins under my belt helps me stay the course long-term.

So. I thought I’d give you my best tools and tips as it applies to detoxes, jump starts and short-term fixes here. You just have to know what to look out for:

If someone tells you that you absolutely cannot detox without designer supplements and strange foods you have never heard of before, they are bullshitting you. The best detoxes are the ones that including all real food: plenty of vegetables, fruit, lean protein sources and water. You absolutely don't need to spend tons of money to attain your goals. I’m fully behind JillFit Ambassador Ashley Olson’s version for this very reason.

The idea that you go on a 21-day crash diet and are able to maintain any weight lost is absurd. You have to have a long-term strategy. What will you do on day 22? What foods will you add back in? How will you slowly come off the strictness of the plan? Remember, this is from the chick who gained 15 lbs in a week after her first competition. You can never outsmart your physiology so be prepared for those moments of deprivation. What go-to strategies and tools will you have in place? Tightening up on your nutrition can be fine, so long as you realize that eventually you will have to get back on board with a forever-solution.

The Master Cleanse? Really? Listen, drinking 500 calories worth of anything – whether it’s lemon/cayenne/maple syrup OR some fancy juicing supplement or some cleanse you have never heard of before, WHATEVER, will result in an initial loss. Of course it will, it’s only 500 calories. But how on earth is that sustainable? And worse off, remember that restricting yourself both mentally and physiologically for days will create an equal and opposite overindulgence response. So any weight that you lose on a liquid diet will be all gained back (and more) after it’s over. Stay smart, stay mindful.

It really is. Exercise intensely and you will be sweating, pushing blood circulation, toning your adrenals and stimulating your biggest metabolic organs: your muscles. Remember to include short and intense weight training into your regimen for maximal results. And if your nutrition is too insufficient to be exercising because you are so low energy, then … your nutrition is too insufficient. Eat more. Eat more good stuff. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t exercise. It’s one of the safest, most effective and natural forms of detox.

Some hard and fast rules of detox. If you are serious about a few days of intentional eating, then try your hardest – harness that mental energy – to remove things from your diet that could be affecting your gut. You might not be gluten or dairy-sensitive, but giving yourself a few days off from that stuff in the name of investigation and health might not be a bad idea. Honestly, I personally think those things are fine for long-term use for those who are not sensitive, but if you are doing a 3-5 day detox, it can’t hurt to abstain. Just be sure to watch yourself, stay mindful and work to understand your own metabolism for the long haul.

They are short-term harnessings of willpower that can offer a mental advantage at times when you need a reboot. But if you are going to try them, I want to give you all the information and I also want you to stay mindful. You need a strategy for after they are over. What solutions for the long-term do you have in place? Do not make the mistake of feeling so restricted that you go off the rails after.

I guess the bottom line is this: restriction is not a long-term solution. You absolutely cannot be deprivation mode for long periods of time without suffering the consequences.

So I suggest that instead of going down that tempting road of 21-day sugar detoxes and competition prep diets and 90-day challenges that you abstain from the extreme stuff, or at least have a strategy for what comes next.

But I’ve received enough emails from JillFit readers to warrant sending out my guidelines for how to engage in these things. Stay mindful, stay healthy and have a plan in place for how you are going to transition into a long-term eating strategy afterward.

Stay smart!

One of the best, healthiest and holistic programs I’ve come across is Ashley Olson’s Detox 101. It’s a 4-day all-real food approach, including an effective exercise regimen (short and intense), stress management and healthy living tips and plenty of perspective. Ashley knows this program is not a long-term weight loss solution and specifies that, which I love. BUT, the program can be a great way to shed a little subcutaneous water weight and boost energy and motivation so you can keep going with a more sustainable approach.

If you're interested, you can get Ashley's program here.

That’s it for me today! Wishing you a fabulous week, and as always, let me know how you are doing ;)

Xo,

Jill