Nutrition consultant Jeff Williams

Are you embarrassed by the shape of your body? Those extra pounds have piled up around your stomach, it’s impossible to lose weight, and you can’t control your eating habits and behavior. It’s been three beers here, a 12-inch pizza there, and one day you’re standing in desperation over the many vows you made.

There is no need the think about shortcuts, like liposuction or stomach stapling. Instead, there is a cheaper, healthier and safer option that I can tell you about: It is called the 15/21, and it allows you to lose fifteen pounds in twenty-one days.

The 15/21 will help you to reach your target weight without any starvation or exhaustion from gym workouts. All what you have to do is just follow the dieting schedule exactly as it is, and commitment to this program. By doing this you will lose fifteen pounds in the exact time.
If you do only have a few weeks to lose weight, and you'd like to lose a lot of pounds, the 15/21 will be perfect for you, but you can only apply it for three weeks; it is not a long term diet. You should adjust your eating habits afterward to maintain the success that you will achieve.
Now that we have agreed to this, let us face your problem. You don't have much time to lose fifteen pounds in. You’re desperately thinking there is no way; people are telling you to work out harder, but you don't have to.
When you work out, you’re giving your body an opportunity for change, but it will never make a change on its own, because exercise tears muscle tissue, so this is not enough. Another critical factor is the rebuilding of these muscles; resting, taking in proper calories in balanced meals and drinking more water are the very important during this process.
When you do not see any results from these hard workouts, you will start thinking about decreasing your caloric intake and will try harder in the gym. Unfortunately, your caloric intake will not be sufficient for your body to function properly; your body will sense starvation and will try to avoid this by storing as much energy as it can. Needless to say, your body stores it in the form of fats.
You can try the 15/21 program. I designed a schedule of five to six meals per day to supply your body consistently with calories in a regular and natural pattern; it is very important to keep your body healthy and supplied with calories, for this will release fats by the heat the calories form.
Your meals will contain proteins (to build muscles), carbohydrates (for fuel), fats (for energy and health), and vegetables to help with digestion and give you some micronutrients and vitamins.
As per the schedule, you will notice that carbohydrates should be taken in the morning to give you the energy that will help your body operate during the whole day.
Proteins on the other side should be taken later, in the afternoon and evening, because your body will need proteins to rebuild muscle tissue while you are at rest. Proteins also boost your rate of metabolism.

As you can see, because the program is short, you must not deviate from the schedule I have designed, since your commitment is the backbone of this program.
If you want to see good results, eat every meal in the proper order of the schedule, and note that you should allow two to three hours between each meal, no more and no less.
Skipping a meal or taking a snack will not affect only one day, but can ruin the daily pattern that you are trying to get your body used to. In fact, your body will need two additional days to reconfigure the whole issue and re-adjust to the same pattern; by not following the schedule in detail, you will lose what you were trying to achieve; you should follow the program with complete commitment.
By the end of the three weeks the results will be obvious; it is not only a matter of scale and weight. You will see a difference in your shape as well.
The facts are that muscle weight more than fat, but fats takes up more space, four and a half times more space than muscles do. This explains why you are struggling to weigh less and minimize the square inch space of your body. Feeling energetic and healthier is another way to judge properly. You feel a difference in your workouts, clothes fit better, and your body has a more pleasing shape.

Once again, I must remind you that the 15/21 program is not a long-term diet. At the end of three weeks, once you see the difference you may consider repeating it to gain more benefits. Don't do it. Follow a long-term diet, because your body has now become more flexible and will accept a long-term diet more quickly.

THE 15/21 THREE-WEEK PROGRAM

This design is for a 180-pound male; if you weigh more, increase your daily protein intake by four ounces (equal to one chicken breast) for every twenty additional pounds. Take a multivitamin, daily regardless of your weight.

WEEK 1

	Food	Portion size	Proteins	Fats	Carbs	Calories
Meal 1:	Oatmeal, plain, cooked (not instant)	1 1/2 cups	9	4	38	218
	Orange (or a banana)	1	1	0	15	62
Meal 2:	Apple	1	0	0	21	81
Meal 3:	White rice, cooked	1 cup	5	0	51	233
	Chicken breast, no skin	4 oz.	27	3	0	142
	Squash, steamed	1 cup	2	1	8	36
Meal 4:	Raw celery	2 cups	2	0	9	38
	Peanut butter (natural)	1 tbsp	4	8	3	94
Meal 5:	Whitefish, (not battered or fried)	8 oz	52	2	0	238
	Zucchini, steamed	1 cup	1	0	7	29
	Asparagus, steamed	1 cup	5	1	8	43
	Tossed salad, no dressing	3 cups	5	0	13	66
Meal 6:	Mixed berries	1-2 cups	1	1	10	45 (1 cup)
Totals:			114	20	183	1,325

WEEK 2

	Food	Portion size	Proteins	Fats	Carbs	Calories
Meal 1:	Oatmeal, plain, cooked (not instant)	1 1/2 cups	9	4	38	218
	Orange (or a banana)	1	1	0	15	62
Meal 2:	Raw celery	2 cups	2	0	9	38
	Peanut butter (natural)	1 tbsp	4	8	3	94
Meal 3:	Baked potato	1/2 potato	2	0	25	110
	Chicken breast, no skin	4 oz.	27	3	0	142
	Or whitefish (not battered or fried)	4 oz	26	1	0	119
	Spinach, steamed	2 cups	12	1	20	106
Meal 4:	Raw celery	2 cups	2	0	9	38
	Peanut butter (natural)	1 tbsp	4	8	3	94
Meal 5:	Whitefish, (not battered or fried)	8 oz	52	2	0	238
	Zucchini, steamed	1 cup	1	0	7	29
	Asparagus, steamed	1 cup	5	1	8	43
	Tossed salad, no dressing	3 cups	5	0	13	66
Meal 6:	Nothing	-	-	-	-	-
Totals:			125-126	25-27	150	1,255-1,278

WEEK 2

	Food	Portion size	Proteins	Fats	Carbs	Calories
Meal 1:	Oatmeal, plain, cooked (not instant)	1 1/2 cups	9	4	38	218
Meal 2:	Raw celery	2 cups	2	0	9	38
Meal 3:	Chicken breast, no skin	4 oz	27	3	0	142
	Or whitefish (not battered or fried)	4 oz	26	1	0	119
	Squash, steamed	1 cup	2	1	8	36
	Asparagus, steamed	1 cups	5	1	8	43
	Tossed salad	3 cups	5	0	13	66
	with low-calorie dressing	1 tbsp	0	2	1	25
Meal 4:	Raw celery	2 cups	2	0	9	38
	Peanut butter (natural)	1 tbsp	4	8	3	94
Meal 5:	Hard-boiled egg	1 whole	6	5	1	74
Meal 6:	whitefish, (not battered or fried)	8 oz	52	2	0	238
	Zucchini, steamed	1 cup	1	0	7	29
	Tomato, steamed	1 cup	3	1	14	65
	Tossed salad, no dressing	3 cups	5	0	13	66
Totals:			122-123	25-27	124	1,149-1,172

Tips for getting best results:

• Follow the schedule tightly, and don't switch meals around or substitute one type of food for another. As I told you before, there is no room to mess around; commit yourself and be confident your actions will greatly affect the results to your advantage. If you allow your moods to control you, or even an upcoming event, you will miss the purpose of the whole program, so think again. A brownie or a cup of beer is a big deal; think of the results you are looking for, and think confidently of the big change that you will see by precisely following the program to the end.
• Eat all your meals, and don't skip any of them. However, if you do miss one of the meals, for example, meal five, rather than lose that meal, take it along with meal six. It is worse to skip meal than to eat them without a time interval. But again, you can ruin three days of progress by missing one meal.
• Drinking water is very effective for losing weight. If you drink one ounce of water for every pound (half-ounce, if you are not active), you will lose five pounds, because water gives your body the opportunity to rid itself of toxins and non-required nutrients. If you do not drink sufficient water, you body temperature will become unstable. To compensate for this, your body will seek homeostasis (the desire to remain as it is) through other ways, one of which is to store fats beneath the skin for insulation. If you have trouble drinking a lot of water at first, realize that you will get used to it, and the more you drink, the more you will like it.
• For a better calculation of how many ounces of water you are drinking, pour the contents into a big bottle and keep it beside you; you will even need more water if you are exercising. Fifty ounces of water is required for a one-hour workout in the gym.
• Keep to your word without cheating. Since you agreed to follow this program, you should follow it precisely, with no deviation.
• Again, remember to add more proteins to your meals according to your weight, as this table is designed for a 180-pound male. If you are less than that and crave more food, you can add the four ounces of proteins to your plan as well.
• You can also add condiments to your food; they are safe. You may use ketchup, mustard, barbecue sauce, non-fat mayonnaise, non-fat sour cream, butter substitutes, salsa, spices, horseradish, extracts (vanilla, orange, almond), and lemon or lime juice.

Tips to make the three weeks easier:

• Cook every two days' food (chicken, fish, steamed vegetables) once, so as not to become bored of the kitchen.
• Use fresh fish and vegetables.
• Place each meal in plastic food containers the night before you eat them.
• Keep your workouts of the same intensity and duration, without any elevations.
• To stay motivated, keep an eye on the time it takes to eat of each meal and the time you drink each glass of water.
• Watch for results by the third week; do not touch the scale before then.
• Follow the schedule exactly, even if you do not want to eat.

Good Luck

 

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Please Note: The information presented throughout Lose15Pounds.org is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice. Please see your physician before starting any diet and/or exercise program.