The great news in the fight against COVID-19 according to Paul Dabisch, a senior research scientist at the Department of Homeland Security’s biodefense research laboratory is that his initial lab tests show sunlight, higher temperatures, and humidity inactivate the majority of the virus particles on surfaces and in the air within minutes.

This is fantastic news as the country is starting to open up, but for those of us who binge watched Netflix and stress ate all the snacks, it’s going to take some work to fit into last year’s summer shorts. Fortunately, my tried and true Smoothie Shakedown plan is a simple and reliable way to lose that “quarantine 15” pounds in just two weeks—without having to leave your home. Wouldn’t it be amazing to feel confident and even sexy again, by slimming five or ten pounds of belly fat?

Whether you are sheltering in place or out working, shedding those unwanted pounds isn’t out of your reach. The Smoothie Shakedown is designed with two super-charged smoothies and one satisfying meal daily, plus all the healthy snacks you need to keep you going. You can tailor the timing to fit your schedule and even get most of the work done on a “prep day” at the start of the week, by doing all of the meal prep at once and also putting your favorite smoothie ingredients into individual serving containers so you can just add the protein powder and blend. The secrets to slimming down on this plan are easier than you think—and it starts first thing in the morning.

Start Your Day Off Right
When it comes to weight loss, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If you skimp on breakfast and just grab coffee and a donut, you're missing out on a golden opportunity to jumpstart your metabolism. Skipping breakfast may feel good at first—and you may even make it to lunchtime—but your sleeping metabolism has to wake up sometime. If you wait too long to feed your body what it needs, you'll be overwhelmed when afternoon cravings for sweets and other junk foods hit hard, leaving you feeling almost powerless against them.

Here's Why We Get So Hangry
That morning jolt of caffeinated java stimulates your adrenal glands, which are responsible for your stress response. This gives you a rush of cortisol and puts you into a state of "high alert" that gets mistaken for feeling energized and ready to tackle the day. But your blood sugar level drops in response, which starts the blood sugar roller coaster of ups and downs all day, which thwarts even your best weight loss efforts, and has your energy lagging and cravings soaring by mid-afternoon.

These fluctuating blood sugar levels not only cause sugar cravings, and energy and mood swings, but also lead to weight gain. So, if you are skipping breakfast as a way to cut calories, you're actually adding inches to your waistline and encouraging your body to hold onto excess fat. You'll only lose those stubborn pounds by waking up your metabolism with what it craves the most—protein.

Power Up With Protein
The best-kept secret for summer slimming isn't found in counting calories, cutting out an entire food group, or in some exotic herb that magically melts off pounds. And while getting up early to exercise at boot camp or sweat off extra pounds on your home exercise bike is admirable—over exercise can trigger cortisol-based weight gain the same way skipping breakfast can. If you want your nutritional supplements and moderate exercise to work together to get you slim and trim, you need protein first thing in the morning. Clean, lean protein powers up your mind, muscles, memory, and metabolism.

According to recent studies, a protein-rich breakfast first thing in the morning causes women to not only lose more weight than women who eat a small breakfast or skip it completely—it causes them to lose it faster. Another recent study gives us even better news—waking up your metabolism in the morning with protein gives you energy and sets you up to burn fat all day long, while giving your adrenals what they need to maintain healthy cortisol and blood sugar levels all day, which keeps cravings at bay and reduces belly fat.

And if all of that isn't enough to convince you that protein is the best way to start your day, then do it for your lean body mass and physical performance—especially as you age. We've been told for decades that older adults need smaller meals and less protein to preserve health, and this couldn't be further from the truth. It turns out that adults at every age need around 100 grams of protein per day to preserve your lean muscle mass, optimal physical performance, and health. Experts now say to aim for 20 to 30 grams per snack, with the only exception being if you have kidney disease or impairment.

The Easiest Way To Eat More Protein
Now that the secret is out that protein slims you down and boosts your energy while fighting off cravings—how do you get enough? Many of us grew up with carb-heavy meals centered around, pasta, bread, cereal, and pizza, making it a challenge to wrap our minds around clean, lean protein-centered meals. The Smoothie Shakedown is a great way to get started, with at least 20 grams of protein in each shake, smoothie, or meal.

With 20 grams of pure plant protein, Fat Flush Body Protein powder is a great way to kick-start every day. This vegan rice and pea blend has one of the highest Protein Efficiency Ratios on the market and is free of common allergens, which is important for preventing belly bloat and "false fat." Simply add it to your favorite Shakedown Smoothie recipe for a great tasting shake that jump-starts your metabolism, mellows your moods, satisfies your hunger, and leaves you feeling energized throughout the day. (Smoothie recipes are available by searching January2020Totalhealth for Smart Recipes—Part 1.)

The Skinny On Staying Slim
The Smoothie Shakedown is a great way to lose a quick five, ten or even twenty pounds. To make it easy—everything you need for a two-week program comes in a bundle you can order direct from UNI KEY Health, which includes the complete guide, slim-stimulating supplements, and the Fat Flush Body Protein Powder. But your weight loss doesn't have to end once the two weeks is completed.

You don't have to go back to the same eating habits that put on the weight in the first place. Check out the New Fat Flush Plan at annlouise.com

Achieving a healthy body weight and detoxing your cells also supports healthy immune system function and helps make you less prone to illness and infection.

For the last three decades I have found myself rewriting the rules of nutrition—and now, with Radical Metabolism, I'm at it again. Why? Because the latest science paints a new picture, and it's not a pretty one. I am well past fifty, and in moving through that transition I was personally challenged by a metabolic slowdown. The plan in this book has evolved from my discovery of what worked for others and myself. I happily report that my tummy pooch has finally disappeared!

We are living a modern toxic nightmare and the old remedies don't work. Every day we face an invisible war deep within our body as hormone-disrupting environmental pollutants contaminate, and progressively erode, our cellular defenses.

Petrochemicals, plastics, heavy metals, fake hormones, radiation, microbes, and other toxic agents all wreak hormone havoc on our biology. Most of these toxins are hidden, lurking in our food, air, and water, as well as body care, household, and cleaning products, and even technology, which makes them even more insidious. This is not your parents' or grandparents' world anymore. Our planet—and our body—are crying out for help.

We have more than 70 trillion cells in the body, and every one of them is at risk. Once enough of your cells become compromised, then your tissue and organ function will soon follow. Healthy cells begin with healthy cell membranes. Without them, your body essentially stands naked and defenseless against those toxic assaults, which results in hormone disruption and inflammation. Inflammation is the number one factor driving nearly every chronic disease today. Back in 1858, physician Rudolf Virchow, the "father of modern pathology," said, "All diseases are disturbances at the cellular level." He argued that to treat a disease, we must first understand the cause—and the cause is always found at the level of the cell. There are many examples. Alzheimer's disease involves defective processing of amyloid precursor proteins by cells in the brain. A genetic predisposition to high cholesterol is caused by the defective cellular uptake of lipoproteins. Cancer occurs when cells develop aberrant growth patterns, and autoimmune diseases arise when cellular communication runs amok.

And so it is with metabolism.

After working with literally thousands of "fat, forty, and fatigued" females, the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place for me. It became clear that no diet in the world would work if your metabolism has turned toxic. One reason many diets fail is they don't correct the shutdown of key fat-burning tissues in the body. You have three important metabolically active tissues: brown fat, muscle, and your microbiome—that vast community of microorganisms inhabiting your gut. Each of these prefers a speci.c type of food for its optimal function. If you don't properly fuel these fat-burning tissues, they aren't going to return the favor by giving you a radical metabolism and a healthy weight.

Another critical missing link concerns the role of the much-maligned omega-6 fats—the pariah of both conventional and alternative health experts. We hear so much these days about ditching omega-6s for omega-3 fats, but as it turns out, high-0quality omega-6 fats are the most critical fuel for reigniting sluggish mitochondria—the energy engines in your cells.

Essential fats and certain essential amino acids fast-track your metabolism for lasting weight loss, as well as being vital to the nourishment of your cell membranes that surround and protect the mitochondria.

As you will read shortly, the mitochondria are linked to the metabolically active "brown fat" that eats up heavy-duty amounts of glucose and fat for dramatic weight loss and fat loss, and decreased risk of insulin resistance.

In addition, no disease can be healed if your cell membranes—which direct nutrients in and poisons out—are weak and unstable. Radical Metabolism is all about what to eat to rebuild and fortify those lipid (fat)-based cell membranes, so that toxins are prevented from moving up the chain and gunking-up the function of every cell, tissue, and organ in your body, from your brain to your thyroid, gallbladder, liver, kidneys, and skin. This is also where omega-6 fats really shine. True healing requires we protect ourselves at the source—at the cellular level. Finally, breakthrough research reveals how putting back the missing omega-6s can boost cellular energy, to gain vitality and accelerate fat burn.

But reinstating omega-6s is just one unique aspect of Radical Metabolism. Eating "good fats" does you no good if you can't properly digest them. So, this program also introduces the forgotten but powerful role bile plays in the body's slimming systems. Bile is stored in the gallbladder to break down dietary fat and remove toxins from the body. Harvard Medical School research has revealed that subjects with improved bile health showed a remarkable 53 percent spike in metabolism.

Even more fascinating is a study out of Finland finding that people with decreased bile production are nearly ten times more apt to experience hypothyroidism. With low thyroid on the rise, this provides great hope to the millions of hypothyroid sufferers who experience metabolic slowdown as well as fatigue, dry skin, and constipation. Besides hypothyroidism, studies have also connected poor quality bile with chronic fatigue, migraines, depression, and autoimmune disorders.

If you no longer have your gallbladder, no problem! Unlike other diets, the Radical Metabolism plan helps you compensate for this to ensure you can fully utilize and digest all those good and essential fats that are your body's preferred fuel. This is a key difference between Radical Metabolism and Paleo, Paleo Plus, and/or ketogenic diets. I don't want you overloading on fats if you don't have a gallbladder or suffer from poor bile quality (as most weight-loss resistant individuals do) without nutritional backup, as this can result in weight gain instead of weight loss—as well as decreased energy, gastrointestinal problems, stress on the kidneys, and other issues.

Putting It All Together
As you read, Radical Metabolism will probably shake up your long-held beliefs and assumptions about what is healthy, especially when it comes to diet. I sure hope so! I'm not just talking about weight loss—I'm talking about staying energized for life. Let's put the brakes on aging—I'm talking about gaining the tools necessary for dodging age-related illnesses so you won't spend years stuck in the hospital revolving door. If you find the word radical a bit intimidating, rest assured that the strategies herein are actually really quite simple and straightforward, designed for easy integration into today's busy lifestyle. However, these simple strategies produce radical results!

In the first part of this book, you'll learn the scientific basis for the program before moving on to the protocol itself, so you can understand the rationale. I start by laying out my five Radical Rules to rescue a stalled metabolism, which are foundational to the program. Each of the five must be addressed if you want to reignite your internal cellular energy and fat-burning tissues to fix your broken metabolism. More than 80 percent of readers will feel better after just four days of implementing the basic Radical Rules. In the second half of the book is the eating program itself. It kicks off with a 4-Day Radical Intensive Cleanse, followed by a 21-Day Radical Reboot—a two-part "cellular makeover" diet designed to jumpstart your detox pathways and your metabolic healing. The final section expands the menu with fifty amazing recipes, and provides additional guidance for staying on track for the rest of your life. Here is what you'll learn:

• How to harness the power of omega-6 oils to fuel brown fat to effortlessly stoke your fat-burning fires,
• while fortifying your cell membranes and ridding your body of toxins.
• How bitter foods are key to metabolic healing and digestion. These support your gallbladder health, bile flow, fat breakdown, and better absorption of fat-soluble vitamins for immunity and skin health.
• The fabulous foods (herbs, fresh veggies, bitters including watercress, berries, and supplements) that will kick your metabolism into overdrive, reboot your gallbladder (or replace what's needed in the form of bile salts if you no longer have your gallbladder), and heal your gut by feeding you "from cell to soul."
• How to optimize your protein and amino acid intake to prevent muscle loss, boost your mitochondria, and reset your "metabolic thermostat."
• How to reduce your exposure to unsuspected toxins that may contaminate some of the foods you love, such as bone broth, chocolate, and green tea.
• How to modify your kitchen to steer clear of common food contaminants, such as aluminum and Teflon.
• How soups and juices can be combined into a powerful cleanse that rejuvenates and resets your system.
• How cleansing beverages, such as refreshing hibiscus and dandelion teas, help clear toxins.
• A special section about prebiotic and probiotic foods (jicama, miso, sauerkraut, yogurt) to optimize immunity.

Because this program deals with all the toxic environmental challenges of our modern world, think of it more as a lifestyle program than a "diet plan." For you to regain your health and maintain it over the long run, these changes will need to be permanent. After all, although there are steps you can take to mitigate the toxins in your home, it's unlikely our overall environmental toxicity problem is going to vanish anytime soon.

Lastly, radical times call for radical changes, but these techniques don't all have to be implemented overnight. If you begin to feel overwhelmed, simply slow it down a bit... you know, baby steps. Stress is as detrimental to your health as bad fats—so getting stressed out over these changes is counterproductive. Please know that we are here to support you every step of the way, online and otherwise. Be kind to yourself. It's important to recognize and applaud even your smallest accomplishments. If it took ten years for your metabolism to turn against you, you can't expect to completely heal the relationship in less than thirty days. But with a little willingness and determination, you can succeed. You can radically improve your metabolism and be on your way to an ageless, radiant you.

Let's get started!

Excerpted from Radical Metabolism: A Powerful New Plan to Blast Fat and Reignite Your Energy in Just 21 Days by Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS. Copyright© 2018. Available from Da Capo Lifelong Books, an imprint of Perseus Books, LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

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Radical Metabolism–A Powerful New Plan to Blast Fat and Reignite Your Energy in Just 21 Days