Dr. Mirkin's diet: menu for 14 days, rules, recipes, reviews and results of losing weight, advice from a nutritionist

The essence of the weight loss method

The Mirkin diet is characterized by key features that distinguish it from other methods of losing excess weight. The technique is based on psychological dependence on food. Dr. Mirkin claims that the reason for significant weight gain is considered to be a lack of willpower and the presence of psychological problems.

To cope with a problem, a person must focus all his efforts on the goal. It must be clearly formulated and kept on track to achieve the required results. Many people try to lose weight mindlessly and do not concentrate on the desired effect.

Dr. Mirkin's diet is based on the following rules:

Only the person himself is responsible for the appearance of excess weight. There is no need to find excuses in external factors or the influence of other people.
Losing excess weight is necessary only for yourself. You should not try to lose weight for the sake of your husband, parents or children. Only in this case will it be possible to form effective motivation and facilitate the process of losing weight.
It is important to set the right deadlines and goals. It is not recommended to consider losing weight as a lifelong endeavor. The doctor is recommended to allocate specific time to obtain the desired effect. If necessary, you can always increase the time frame.
Choose your own diet. It should be varied and enjoyable. Dishes should be easy to prepare and affordable.
You need to eat according to your appetite, not according to a schedule.
You need to start the diet immediately. It is not recommended to postpone it to the weekend, Monday or next month. The very next meal should be made lighter, reduce the amount of fat and reduce the portion size.
Understand that there is a direct connection between the desired result and the diet. This means that you need to burn more calories than your body gets from food. The effective difference should be 300-500 kcal.
You definitely need to practice self-hypnosis. To make it easier to give up unhealthy foods, reduce portion sizes and reduce calories, you need to set yourself up for success. The doctor advises forming associations with high-calorie foods. So, you can think about what unpleasant consequences their use provokes.
Don't follow your habits. If a person likes to eat while watching TV, you can replace this habit by drinking water or kefir. Gradually, it will be possible to completely abandon it.
You shouldn’t perceive a new diet as something difficult and scary. It should be treated as a natural process. It is recommended to create a plan indicating the calorie content of food and activity.

To lose weight using Dr. Mirkin's diet, you need to have an inner desire. At the same time, fears, complexes, and insecurities should be put aside. A person must concentrate on the result and perform actions to obtain it.

Although the Mirkin diet does not require fasting, this does not mean that you do not need to watch your portion sizes and calories. It is recommended to eat only when you feel hungry.

About the fight against excess weight

Sometimes they say “hormones are to blame” when a person begins to gain weight sharply for unknown reasons. It turns out that hormones can suddenly wake you up in the middle of the night and send you to the refrigerator, and in such a way that it is impossible to resist? Or does it work completely differently? Please tell us what is the mechanism (or mechanisms) of weight gain, and how does an endocrinologist help cope with this problem?

Natalya Sergeevna Libernaskaya:

If you look at it, excess weight is always a hormonal problem.
And this is true - hormones can literally force us to go eat. Obese patients suffer from extreme hunger. Imagine, you always want to eat: morning, afternoon and evening - and so much so that if your hunger is not satisfied, then a person can show aggression. However, this is not at all because the person is promiscuous, but, for example, because his hormone insulin is elevated, which causes a strong feeling of hunger. Essentially, such people are dependent on the hormone insulin, and this condition is called “insulin resistance”
.
Therefore, if you suddenly suddenly and seemingly for no reason began to gain excess weight, then first of all it is necessary to check your insulin
. This helps to identify the presence of insulin resistance and correct it.

The problem may also be related to the thyroid gland.

.
If it produces few hormones, then weight gain also begins, and it will be very difficult for a person to lose weight. In men and women over 40 years of age, an age-related decrease in the production of sex hormones
: estrogens, progesterone, testosterone. This is programmed into us - we grow old this way. Therefore, after 40 years, the notorious “tummies” appear - no matter what constitution a person is and no matter how much he takes care of himself. At the age of 50, many women enter the menopause stage, and then even the thinnest and most slender begin to gain weight. This also occurs due to a deficiency of sex hormones.

Sudden weight gain can also be caused by problems with the adrenal glands.

. We all live in a state of chronic stress: we are nervous, we work a lot, we get little rest, we sleep poorly. And because of this, the hormone cortisol increases. Cortisol, together with insulin, is a fat-storing hormone. Their excess leads to excess weight. We can talk about this for a long time - each case is individual, and you need to understand it. However, these are the most common reasons for weight gain.

Doctor Mirkin's diet rules

To achieve the desired results, you must strictly follow the rules of Dr. Mirkin’s diet:

It is recommended to eat food only when you feel hungry. There is no need to adhere to a specific regimen.
To avoid overeating, you should use small plates. Thanks to this, the food will fill the entire space, and therefore the portion will seem large.
To achieve a feeling of fullness, food must be chewed thoroughly. The signal of saturation reaches the brain only after 20 minutes. If there is not enough time, it is recommended to leave the table with a slight feeling of hunger. After some time you will feel full.
To avoid overeating at festive events, you need to drink kefir or water in advance. They fill the space in the stomach. This minimizes the risk of eating excess food.
It is recommended to start eating with liquid dishes. It is advisable to eat more meat, while it is better to refuse side dishes.
You can eat vegetable salads and fermented milk products in unlimited quantities. It is also acceptable to drink sugar-free drinks.
Reduce the amount of sugar to a minimum. It is best to eat dessert with tea. Stevia would be a good option.
Eat vegetables and fruits as snacks.
For preparing fried foods, use exclusively vegetable oils.
It is forbidden to eat food on the go, since the impulse about saturation reaches the brain more slowly. The doctor advises taking time to eat in a calm environment. Even unhealthy foods should be eaten at the table and chewed thoroughly.
Drinking enough fluid is important. It is best to give preference to clean water. This will help avoid overeating and maintain normal water balance.

About vegetarianism

What do you think about a vegetarian diet? On the one hand, the PubMed database often contains studies and publications that confirm that giving up meat leads to a deficiency of vitamins B12, D and calcium.* Not to mention the fact that meat is still a valuable source of protein . On the other hand, there is an opinion that meat contains “bad hormones” from the stress that animals experience before they are killed. Is this true or false?

(See for example, Gallego-Narbón A., Zapatera B., Barrios L., Vaquero MP Vitamin B12 and folate status in Spanish lacto-ovo vegetarians and vegans, 2019; Bousselamti A., El Hasbaoui B., Echahdi H., Krouile Y. Psychomotor regression due to vitamin B12 deficiency, 2021, etc.).

Natalya Sergeevna Liberanskaya:

As for “stress hormones” in meat, it sounds doubtful.
But I am rather against vegetarianism, because it seems to me that in our realities it is very difficult to properly follow this diet without falling into deficiencies of important nutrients. Among my patients, there are many vegetarians, and few of them began to promptly and competently monitor their health. Vegetarians are indeed prone to deficiency of vitamins B12
,
iron
, and they do not get the right amount of
protein from food.
Therefore, I adhere to the position that it is still necessary to eat meat in moderation.
Even if not every day, but 1, 2 or 3 times a week it should be present in the diet. But if a person, for some reason, for example, religious beliefs, does not want to eat meat at all, then it is necessary to monitor his health, and preferably under the supervision of a doctor. B12, iron and protein sources must be restored additionally, otherwise such changes may then occur in the body that it will be very difficult to solve health problems. Supporters of a vegetarian diet often say that this way they are cleansed, healthier, and therefore feel great. However, there may be a significant imbalance in their body that they may not even be aware of. Judge for yourself: the diet of vegetarians contains a lot of cereals and fruits - fructose
. For young people, this is nothing, but in older patients, accumulated fructose puts a strain on the liver, and it increases the very insulin that we have already talked about. Therefore, it is not surprising if adult patients who follow a vegetarian diet have high sugar levels. And because of this, diabetes and atherosclerosis develop. Therefore, vegetarians need to be very careful.

List of permitted and prohibited products

If you follow the Mirkin diet, the menu may include the following products:

lean red meat, poultry, rabbit - these products are eaten boiled or baked;
whole grain or rye bread;
fish, seafood, seaweed;
eggs – they can be boiled, used to make omelettes or scrambled eggs;
dairy and fermented milk products;
vegetable fats – it is useful to eat olive, sunflower, flaxseed oil;
vegetables without starch - these include asparagus, cucumbers, celery, onions, cabbage, zucchini;
sour fruits - it is recommended to give preference to citrus fruits, pears, apples, plums;
rosehip decoction, still mineral water, green tea, vegetable juice.

At the same time, there are foods that need to be limited or completely excluded from the diet. This category includes the following:

baked goods made from wheat flour;
pasta, white rice, cereals;
fatty meat, sausage, semi-finished products, smoked meats, canned food;
ready-made sauces and butter;
fatty dairy products;
food containing fast carbohydrates - this includes various sweets;
starchy vegetables - this category includes potatoes, carrots, eggplants, beets;
sweet fruits and dried fruits;
alcohol, black tea with sugar, sparkling water, sweet drinks.

Doctor Mirkin's diet: menu for 14 days

The key advantage of the Mirkin diet is its simplicity. No special skills are required to comply with it. A person can easily eat regular food.

The Mirkin diet menu for 14 days looks something like this:

First day. In the morning you should eat low-fat cottage cheese and drink coffee without sugar. Lunch may consist of chicken fillet, broth and coleslaw. In the evening you should drink a glass of kefir.
Second day. For breakfast, boiled sausage and unsweetened tea are suitable. Lunch includes fish soup, fish steak and tomato salad. You should eat yogurt for dinner.
The third day. In the morning, it is recommended to eat 2 soft-boiled eggs and drink a chicory drink. For lunch, meat broth and green salad are suitable. It's also worth eating some boiled chicken. For dinner, low-fat cheese and an apple are suitable.
Fourth day. In the morning you need to eat cabbage stew and green tea. For lunch, it is recommended to eat okroshka without potatoes and carrot salad. Drink a glass of milk for dinner.
Fifth day. Breakfast may include 2 boiled sausages with coffee. Lunch should consist of vegetable soup, apple salad and juice. It is recommended to drink kefir for dinner.
Sixth day. In the morning you need to eat an egg omelet and drink tea. For lunch, it is recommended to eat boiled breast, tomato and cucumber salad. It is recommended to drink some yogurt for dinner.
Seventh day. In the morning it is recommended to eat rice, orange and drink coffee. Lunch may include green borscht, fish and assorted vegetables. For dinner it is recommended to eat an apple and drink tea.
Eighth day. The diet may include chicken fillet, coffee with milk, and lean borscht. You can also eat low-fat cutlets and vegetable salad. An apple or pear is suitable as a dessert and afternoon snack. For dinner you should eat some lean fish.
Ninth day. It is recommended to eat boiled eggs in the morning. For lunch you should eat soup with meat broth and boiled sausage with vegetables. Kefir is suitable as a snack. Dinner may consist of a piece of cheese and an orange.
Tenth day. For breakfast you can eat bacon and drink tea. For lunch, it is recommended to eat borscht in meat broth. You should not use potatoes to prepare it. For the second course, stewed cabbage is suitable. Dinner may include a piece of lean beef and tangerines. Yogurt is suitable as a snack.
Eleventh day. You can eat several sausages for breakfast. For lunch, pea soup without potatoes and lean meat with vegetables are suitable. It is recommended to eat an orange for dinner.
Twelfth day. It is recommended to eat fish in the morning. For lunch, borscht and cutlet with salad are suitable. It is also acceptable to eat a slice of whole grain bread. Sausages and tangerines are suitable for dinner.
Thirteenth day. For breakfast, it is recommended to eat some boiled sausage. For lunch you can use fish soup and fish with tomato salad. For dinner you can eat liver and an apple. Kefir is used as a snack.
Fourteenth day. It is recommended to eat a few slices of ham in the morning. Mushroom soup, bean salad and pork chop are suitable for lunch. For dinner you should take low-fat cottage cheese with grapes. Tomato juice and kefir are used as snacks.

If necessary, the Mirkin diet menu can be extended for 14 days. To do this, just choose a comfortable list of products and create your diet. You can stick to this diet for quite a long time.

Contraindications

According to reviews, Mirkin’s diet is considered quite balanced. Therefore, it has a minimum of contraindications:

pregnancy and lactation;
allergies to certain foods;
age less than 16 years and more than 55;
disturbances in the functioning of the digestive system;
diseases of the kidneys, liver and digestive organs;
disturbances in the functioning of endocrine organs;
psychological disorders;
pathologies of the heart and blood vessels;
relapses of chronic pathologies.

Pros and cons of the diet

The main advantages of this power system include the following:

lack of hunger - it can always be suppressed with the help of vegetables;
high efficiency - the combination of dietary intake and the psychological aspect makes the weight loss process more effective;
therapeutic effect - the diet helps to cope with heart pathologies, atherosclerosis, arthritis, and eliminate the symptoms of diabetes;
Possibility of compliance throughout life.

At the same time, the Mirkin diet also has certain disadvantages:

presence of contraindications;
uncertainty of timing;
cannot be used by vegetarians;
no lunch;
ban on sweet foods, cereals, baked goods;
monotonous diet;
ban on snacking after dinner;
unclear effectiveness - some people get rid of 5 kg in 2 weeks, while others get rid of 15.

Another disadvantage is the lack of a way out of the diet. The doctor claims that it is not required, since the nutrition system is designed for a long period of time. However, many people adhere to this technique for only a few months, because giving up sweets and cereals forever is very problematic.

Psychological aspect

Even the most effective diet, according to Mirkin, will not work if you do not work on your motivation and psychological attitude. Therefore, he begins his lessons and master classes by programming people to lose weight. Everyone should:

imagine how much his life will change in a positive direction after losing weight;
set a goal: I will lose so many kilograms in such and such a period of time;
develop iron-clad confidence in the achievability of your goal;
set yourself up to strictly follow all the rules;
understand the harm of prohibited products in order to give them up forever.

And only after this Mirkin voices the conditions without which weight loss is impossible. Compliance with them is the so-called psychological “entrance” to the diet, moral preparation for new eating behavior.

Condition 1: only you are responsible for your figure

You can't hold someone else to blame for being overweight. If you are still looking for reasons in hormones, work, diseases, slow metabolism, you will not be able to lose weight. First you need to find the root of the evil in yourself: it’s you who eat too much, it’s you who lead a sedentary lifestyle, it’s you who don’t exercise. A person losing weight must fully realize that everything is in his hands, and only he himself can change his life for the better. Refusal of personal responsibility makes the diet ineffective.

Condition 2: you must sincerely want to lose weight

If you decide to lose weight because it’s fashionable or you were forced, nothing will work out. This discourages initiative and makes your participation in the process passive. In this case, the goal is different - not to become slim, but to brush off annoying relatives and loved ones: “I’m on a diet!” Only those who sincerely dream of a beautiful figure without fat deposits will achieve results. The desire must be strong and hard-won. Mirkin repeatedly talked in his books about how he was forced to refuse patients only because they themselves did not want to be treated.

Condition 3: you need an iron motive

Write down 3-4 compelling motives: I want to lose weight so that...

improve well-being;
make your husband fall in love with you again;
be more beautiful than your friend;
get rid of internal complexes, etc.

Mirkin helps in his books with the formulation of motives. Without them, he does not recommend even starting a diet.

In addition, he strongly advises avoiding so-called justifying motives, which will certainly interfere with weight loss: I’m quitting the diet because...

Tomorrow is my husband's birthday;
we were invited to a wedding this weekend;
I still don’t have the strength to complete it;
I'm stressed and need to comfort myself and have a drink.

The doctor notes that the struggle between these types of motives is natural, but the attitudes of the first block must win in it.

Condition 4: plan to lose weight

A person losing weight should see real numbers: how much he weighs now, and the one he is striving for. All this can be calculated using special formulas (for example, Broca). Mirkin offers his diet only to those who suffer from excess weight or obesity of degrees I, II, III (from IV he sends for treatment to professionals). The doctor explains in detail to his patients how weight loss can occur:

the first 3 weeks - losses can be up to 10 kg;
the next week may become a “dead zone” when the weight remains at the same figure, even if you continue to strictly follow the rules of the diet: this is lipid metabolism being rebuilt in a new way;
next 3 weeks - weight loss will occur at a slower pace, you can get rid of 5-6 kg;
then the “dead zone” may occur again.

Understanding this scheme allows you to set realistic goals: 10 kg per month, not per week.

Condition 5: organize new eating behavior

Mirkin convinces his patients that his nutritional system is not a diet, but the development of new eating habits that should be followed throughout life. This will allow you to look slim and fit until old age. Therefore, he conducts group trainings, where he forces people to treat new dietary restrictions as a healthy lifestyle, which they will now lead for the rest of their days.

Condition 6: start

Mirkin advises not to sit at the entrance to a diet for too long. If a person was unable to prepare himself psychologically in 2-3 days, he is sure that the preparation will last forever, and always with justifiable motives:

I'll start on Monday;
I won't be able to stand it;
I'm afraid of hunger;
I'm lazy;
we need to find like-minded people, etc.

You need to overcome this barrier in order to start a diet not on the first day of the next month, but tomorrow, especially since Mirkin does not link it to the days of the week - you don’t have to wait until Monday.

Condition 7: using auto-training, believe in the results

Both at the stage of preparation for weight loss and during the diet, the doctor advises conducting self-hypnosis sessions - auto-training - twice a day. This is best done while lying in bed. You need to relax as much as possible, close your eyes and slowly say your motivating formulas. This can be done during the day - every time you want to eat something forbidden. The main thing is to associate food restrictions not with a feeling of hunger or longing for a cake, but with the positive improvements that they will bring. For example: “Today’s fasting day is my beautiful body and the attention of men after 2 weeks.”

Many experts note that this is not just a diet, but a whole system with restrictions not only in food, but also in thoughts and lifestyle.