How to get started

Questions from Whisperers about how to get started with the Diet Whisperer. You will find questions to help you to navigate your Whisperer Plan and we hope you will find the answers that you are searching for. Good luck in your Whisperer journey. Monique and Paul

Do you have recipes on the audio book?

The paperback version and the kindle version of ‘The Diet Whisperer: The 12-Week Reset Plan’ both have recipes and meal plans, but the audio book does not. You will find the paper back and kindle version of ‘The Diet Whisperer: 12-week Reset Plan’ here. https://amzn.to/3pCYiGv

Do you have a list of food and drink dos and don’ts?

We do have such a list, based on the principles outlined in ‘The Diet Whisperer 12-Week Reset Plan’ in chapter 16 on page 168.

Can you help with keeping a record of my progress?

We have written a Diet Whisperer Weight Loss Journal where you can record your progress and measurements before and after the plan. You will be able to enter your daily, weekly and monthly changes.

Setting goals increases the success of a weight loss programme and the journal encourages you to set goals. Reviewing your goals can be highly motivational when you are finding that things are a bit dreary! You will find the Diet Whisperer Journal here: https://amzn.to/3K8blbz

My GP believes in ‘calories in versus calories out’ and I need help now before it is too late.

We debunk the ‘calories in=calories out’ myth in ‘The Diet Whisperer 12-Week Plan.’ In the Diet Myths, chapter 9, page 90, we outline the reason why calories in=calories out is old fashioned and represents very lazy thinking! It’s fair to say that a calorie is not always a calorie. We have also written an article which you will find here: https://dietwhisperer.com/blog/2020-09-19-why-diets-dont-work

I'm about to start this regime but really need one or two mugs of tea with a little milk in a morning! Is that OK and how do I calculate that?

In the first four weeks, breakfast is included in the plan. If you drink milky tea for breakfast, simply calculate the macronutrients in the tea and use this to calculate the residual macronutrients for the rest of the day. For example: If you have a glass of milk with your two cups of tea, this contains 4.81 g of carbs, and you subtract this from your daily carb allowance. Once you reach week 5, you start to skip breakfast, and as every snack is a meal, instead of breakfast, you may drink black tea or coffee.

How and when one should be guided to what would be my sensible weight? I’m honestly not sure what to aim for! Is this a silly question?

Not a silly question at all and a very common question posed to Whisperer HQ.

A good way of judging your ideal weight is to ensure that you are in the healthy zone for body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and waist hip ratio (WHR). Aim to achieve a body weight where these three metrics go into the low risk or normal zone.

We help you with the numbers on the calculator page of our website.

You will find your BMI and the zones here: https://dietwhisperer.com/calculators.

You will find the waist hip ratio values with the risk stratification here: https://dietwhisperer.com/calculators?view=circumference .

We discuss waist circumference in more detail in ‘The Diet Whisperer: 12-Week Reset Plan’ in chapter 8, pages 86-7.

I am about to begin the Diet Whisperer Plan, having purchased the book recently. However, I am very confused about the concept of intermittent fasting versus calorie restriction.

The two methods of weight loss are very different. Calorie restriction and intermittent fasting have different hormonal responses. For example, ghrelin, our hunger hormone is elevated in calorie restriction, whilst during intermittent fasting, ghrelin levels drop. This means that once you are accustomed to fasting, you no longer feel hungry, unlike calorie restriction, where hunger is common. You can read more in ‘The Diet Whisperer: 12-Week Reset Plan’ in Chapter 12, The Ancient Practice of Fasting, page 120.

I don't normally eat breakfast, so should I adapt the first few weeks of the plan to take this into consideration, or should I follow it exactly as laid out and therefore start eating breakfast?

You can adapt the plan to suit your lifestyle. If you already do not eat breakfast, then don’t start now.

Follow the plan from weeks 1-4 and eat all your daily allowance of nutrients in your residual two meals.

From week 5 onwards, you no longer replace the lost meals (e.g. breakfast), you do not eat your entire daily allowance, and you do not put three meals into two. See ‘The Diet Whisperer: 12-Week Reset Plan’, chapter 19, page 183 for further discussion.

Is it possible to do the Diet Whisperer Plan as a vegetarian?

Combining a low carb diet with a vegetarian diet is difficult, but not impossible. All restrictive diets have potential problems. The Whisperer low carb diet relies on meat and fish, excellent sources of fat, protein and micronutrients, but which means that vegetarians will need to make substitutions.

The vegetarian low carb diet focuses more on dairy products such asyoghurt, cheese and kefir. Eggs are nutrient dense and an excellent source of protein. Many plants are low carb friendly, such as green vegetables, berries, nuts and seeds, avocados, fats such as avocado oil, coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil. Plants such as beans and lentils, although they supply protein, have a high carb count and it is difficult to fit these into a low carb diet.

I am keen to get started, but I’m a bit confused

To start the Whisperer Plan, you will need to know your daily macronutrient food allowance. This means the amount in grams of carbs, fat and protein that you eat each day. This depends on your measurements, and you can use our calculator to help you.

  • Go to the calculator page of our website. www.dietwhisperer.com/calculators
  • In the first column, under ‘Your metabolism’, enter your height, weight, sex and age.
  • In the second column, you will see your body mass index and underneath this Basal Metabolic Rate will appear. It looks like this; Basal Metabolic Rate and underneath e.g., 1172cal.
  • Once you have completed the first column, the third column shows the three Whisperer Plans. Ensure that you are on the appropriate Macronutrient Whisperer Plan, highlighted in blue-loss, stable or stable active. Record the carbs, fat and protein in grams (or ounces). These figures are your daily allowance for each macronutrient. You may have figures such as these: Carbs 15g, fats, 91g and protein 73g.
  • This means that your daily nutritional allowance is 15 grams of carbohydrate 91 grams of fat and 73 grams of protein.
  • For example: one 100g chicken breast contains0gcarbs, 3g of fat and 32g of protein. Subtract this from your daily allowance and proceed to analyse your daily food in this way, maintaining the suggested figures for each macronutrient. If your figures were as above, this would leave you with 15 grams of carbs, 88 grams of fat and 41 grams of protein, for the rest of your food that day.
  • The weight of the macronutrients refers to the content of the macronutrient in each food, not the weight of the food! So, it is not the weight of the chicken breast that is part of your daily allowance, it is the weight of the fat=3g or protein=32g that is part of your daily allowance.
  • There is a list of the macronutrient value of foods commonly eaten as part of the Whisperer Plan on the website, under macronutrients and you will find it here. I have not put in the link, as I presume that you will rename if from micronutrients to macronutrients, is this is an obscure message, I explained it on a slack message.
DIET WHISPERER

We exist to help you.

Disclaimer

We're here to share information about how to lose weight quickly, become healthier and leaner, feel better and live longer.

The information on this website is not intended to constitute medical advice, nor is it intended to replace or conflict with the advice given to you by your doctor or other health professional. Before embarking on the plans set out on this website, you should discuss them with your doctor, especially if you have any medical condition or if you are taking any medication. The author and publisher disclaim any liability directly or indirectly from the use of the material in our books and on our website by any person.

Copyright © 2020 MediaMedica Ltd 12588057.
All rights reserved.

The moral right of MediaMedica Ltd to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright owner.