Linda was getting ready to head out to dinner and went to put on her favorite pair of jeans, when it felt like something got in the way.

She looked down and it was her stomach…

Frustrated, she sucked it in, pulled each side tighter, and was barely able to button them.

She went to dinner, trying to engage in conversation and be present but she had a heavy sadness on her mind.

This sadness has nothing to do with her jeans and everything to do with her past weight loss experiences.

[For a deeper understanding on who’s to blame for your mindset around dieting and why it’s not your fault, click here to read last week’s newsletter all about this]

All she could think about was what she was going to do to lose the weight and her mind kept coming back to one thing - a 1,200 calorie diet.

Linda was a real member I worked with and wasn’t alone…

Below is a comment from Lori, a Revitalized Inner Circle group member, about eating 1,200 calorie diets.

"I'm a Gen X’er and counting calories/1,200 has been part of my routine for a long time. I feel like it was preached to us. It's wild how that diet mentality has stuck with us for so long, even when research shows it's not sustainable or healthy for many people."

She’s spot on…and I’m confident you’re nodding your head in agreement.

You’ve been brainwashed (just like Linda & Lori) to believe that this is the only solution to your challenges of losing and maintaining your weight.

But this advice belongs where you throw your trash and the reason why will make your jaw drop….

Do you know the amount of calories a 5-year child is recommended to eat per day?

Hint: It’s a number you’ve seen multiple times already in this article.

1,200 calories.

Yes…a 5-year old child who weighs (on average) 40lbs is recommended to eat the same amount of calories these dorks are recommending to you.

Wild, right?

So it’s no wonder that when you start eating 1,200 calories you lose weight initially. Only to feel starving, hangry, and irritable.

And worst of all, your weight stalls.

To help explain why this happens, imagine you’re a cave woman back in 50,000 BC.

I know it sounds crazy but go with it for a second.

You might eat a few berries here and some nasty-tasting roots there. And if you’re lucky, your tribe hunts a wooly mammoth and you get to have some meat.

Your body and hormones evolved in this environment to where you didn’t know when food was coming - not one where there’s a McDonald’s on every corner.

So when you feed it 1,200 calories, you’re essentially telling it you’re back in your cavewoman body, starving.

Your body does what is best, slows down your metabolism, and shifts your hormones in a way that will help you maintain your weight…and more importantly, survive.

This is why the 1,200 calorie diets don’t work.

From now on, my goal is to change your mindset to no longer believe you need to starve yourself and eat 1,200 calories to lose weight.

You need way more.

This is the most common question and worry about eating more than 1,200 calories. And it’s truly sad you’ve been taught to think that eating more than a kindergartener will make you gain weight.

The truth is, you might gain a little weight at first. I see this with members I work with who start to eat more food.

But after a few weeks of maintaining a higher level of daily calories, they start to feel sooooo much better.

Best of all?

They start losing weight.

Now, I don’t want you to blindly trust me. I want you to test this and see for yourself.

The Nourish Method is a nutrition strategy and system (notice I didn’t say diet) I’ve been working after doing countless hours of research and testing with over 500 clients.

This system is specifically designed for women over 40.

In full transparency, I’m working on creating a full ‘Nourish Method’ plan that has:

And outlines everything you need to follow it.

Heck, I might even turn it into a book 😉

For today, I’m going to give you a sample day of eating following this method.

The general overview of The Nourish Method is to eat foods that contain the best and highest amount of nutrients that a woman over 40 needs.

[If you’re curious what those nutrients are, here’s another plug for last week’s newsletter]

By eating these foods, you’ll:

Here’s what a sample daily plan looks like to follow The Nourish Method:

Yes, you even get dessert on while following this!

These foods are all quick to make (some you can set and forget in a crock pot) and don’t require you to be a chef.

Notice there’s no calorie recommendations with these foods…

Because when you eat the right foods, you don’t have to worry about counting calories.

Plus, it’s hard to overeat things like broccoli, chicken thighs, and eggs compared to cookies, Lean Cuisine’s, and cereal.

Now, what you eat while following The Nourish Method is just as important as…

What you don’t eat.

And that’s where we’ll leave off today and pick up next week.

This is a lot of info to take in so please - reply back with ANY questions you have and I’ll be happy to answer them for you ◡̈

Your friend and coach,

Ben Miknis