Involving Your Doctor

You mustn’t go on this journey alone. You need a support group, someone to help hold you accountable, and someone to lean on when you have moments of weakness.

If you have medical issues that impact your diet (like cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, autoimmune issues, diabetes, etc..…), running your meal plan past your doctors before taking action is good. For those of you in this category, your doctor has likely given you some suggestions:

  • cut back on protein
  • limit fiber
  • don’t eat lots of fat

While your doctor’s suggestions seem reasonable and prudent for your condition, you may discover they are a bit… vague. For example, how much protein constitutes “cutting back”? How much fiber is considered “limited”? How much fat is “a lot of fat” (not to mention the distinction between healthy and unhealthy fat)?

Here’s where your newly-acquired knowledge comes in:

  • Write down what you plan to eat.
  • Add up the macros.
  • Print it out.
  • Take it to your doctor and discuss it with them.

Have a meaningful conversation with your doctor. If he or she has concerns, get specific recommendations from them on what should be changed. This means turning statements like ” I’d like to see you cut back on protein.” into ” I’d like to see you keep your protein under 50g daily and only from lean protein sources like chicken and fish.” Your doctor’s advice must be actionable and measurable. You don’t know what steps to follow if it isn’t actionable. If it isn’t measurable, you won’t know if you follow it correctly.

Word of Warning: Your doctor may be unprepared for this. Many of your doctor’s patients don’t have a plan on how they are going to follow his or her advice. When you show up with a plan, seeking specific guidance and input, your doctor may need some time to evaluate it and offer a quality evaluation. That’s ok. Allow that process to happen, and follow up with them. Finally, seek an alternative if you’re not getting the necessary answers.

Today’s Tasks

Don’t forget to complete today’s tasks for the challenge. Today we add a new task to your list: sticking to your meal plan.

  • Drink 1 gallon of water
  • Workout for 45 minutes
  • Read ten pages from your book
  • Stick to your meal plan Once completed, head to the tracking site and mark them as completed to track your progress for the challenge. With our meal planning in full swing, tomorrow we will talk about fasting: how and when to do it.