Ginsburg's impulse diet: how to lose 18 kg in 3 months without denying yourself anything

Brief description of the diet . Type: low calorie, low fat. Duration: up to 3 months. Results: up to 18 kg. Difficulty: low.

The Ginsburg Diet is known for its unusual approach to weight loss. There are practically no prohibited foods in it, and it allows you to eat your favorite sweets, even at night. It is not suitable for those who are looking for ways to urgently lose weight, because it stretches out this process over time so that the lost kilograms do not return later. A very interesting technique that is worth trying.

What does "impulse" mean?

The author of this system is Doctor of Medical Sciences, famous Russian nutritionist Mikhail Ginzburg. She is certified as a cardiologist, endocrinologist, psychiatrist and psychotherapist. To this day, he continues to publish books dedicated to correcting excess weight and maintaining normal weight. Particularly popular is his practical guide “Down with Diets!”, in which he describes in detail what a pulse diet is.

Practical guide by Dr. M. Ginzburg “Down with diets!”

It is based on alternating 2 nutrition modes: maintenance and unloading. Their tasks are completely different, which ensures the emergence of impulses for intensive weight loss with its subsequent maintenance. The nutritionist himself compares such a system with a staircase leading down (to weight loss): you lost a couple of kilograms (went down a step) - you fixed yourself (stood on it for a while) - and so you need to go down until the numbers on the scales satisfy your ambitions.

Maintenance mode

Involves compliance with 10 “wonderful” rules (given below). Moreover, you cannot force yourself to adhere to them through force: this way of life must be accepted and loved, otherwise there will be no results.

Unloading mode

You can move on to it only after you have fully mastered the supporting one. The goal is to minimize daily calorie intake without suffering or discomfort. Ginsburg suggests using dietary modifiers for this - weight loss cocktails. In his book, such a one-day fast is called a “fasting midday”, since dinner is not excluded.

10 “wonderful” rules

Ten rules that Ginsburg called “wonderful”, as they allow you to make food less fatty and high in calories while fully maintaining satiety and taste. These are the basic principles of his diet.

1. Reduce the fat content of products as much as possible (methods are described in the “Recommendations” section).
2. Reduce your consumption of sweets.
3. Do not give up your favorite treats (cakes, sweets, chocolate, chips, etc.), but eat them after dinner, on a full stomach, stretching out the pleasure - this way the amount of food eaten will be minimal.
4. Make multi-component dishes: put on a plate a small piece of chicken, a spoonful of buckwheat, chopped half of a baked potato, a little lecho and green peas, sliced ​​vegetables on Iceberg leaves. According to Ginsburg, this restaurant approach to food will make meals more nutritious.
5. Tasting dishes - trying every slice and enjoying the taste.
6. Make meals frequent (up to 8 times a day).
7. Reduce portion sizes.
8. Increase your consumption of foods containing dietary fiber.
9. Follow the pre-meal rule: 15 minutes before the main meal, eat something (a slice of bread, a slice of apple, a plum) to curb your appetite.
10. Reduce alcohol consumption.

Ginzburg addressed his diet to the following categories of the population:

• children and teenagers;
• pregnant women;
• nursing mothers;
• office workers leading a sedentary lifestyle;
• for those who are actively involved in fitness.

Since the pulse diet offers a balanced diet and gradual weight loss, it has virtually no contraindications. Diabetics (sweets are not prohibited) and people with kidney failure (on fasting days the condition may worsen) need to be careful.

Before losing weight, it is recommended to consult a doctor. Or write to M. M. Ginzburg himself, whose contacts are on many sites.

Pulse Diet Requirements

The key point of this nutrition system is fasting days. These days, Ginzburg allows eating light and low-calorie foods. You can opt for a protein fast and consume cottage cheese or meat in small quantities throughout the day. Vegetable and fruit fasting days are also held in high esteem. Choose the ones you like and go ahead. For more effective weight loss, you can unload every other day. Possibly less often. But during the period of active weight loss, the developer does not recommend spending less than two fasting days a week. Carrying out fasting days more often (no matter how excellent willpower you have) can do the exact opposite service and, on the contrary, slow down your metabolism. Frightened by the hungry time, the body will not want to lose kilograms as actively as it would do if unloading was carried out in the recommended amount. Also, frequent fasting mononutrition is fraught with a significant blow to the body in the sense that it will lose many useful substances it needs for normal functioning. An acute lack of vitamins may occur. Don't take risks!

When you decide that you are happy with your figure, you just need to stop fasting days and eat according to the standard system. Repeat unloading again only in cases where you have allowed yourself too much (for example, on a holiday).

On an impulse diet, Mikhail Ginzburg advises taking signature cocktails called Dr. Slim. If you don’t want to buy them, you can replace the cocktail with 50 grams of low-fat cottage cheese and half of any fruit. These products can be consumed as usual, or you can blend them in a blender to make a homemade smoothie.

It is worth eating, according to the requirements of the pulse diet, 5-6 times a day. It is noteworthy that extreme meals are allowed at quite late times. You can have a snack even half an hour before bed, which will certainly allow you to fall asleep without hunger pangs, feeling more than comfortable.

The impulse diet involves several stages that help significantly transform your figure. At the first stage, which is often called the period of low-fat nutrition, your diet should be based on the following foods: lean meat, fish, seafood, low-fat (at least low-fat) dairy and fermented milk products, various fruits and vegetables (try not to lean on starchy types ), complex carbohydrates (pasta made from durum flour), potatoes, cereals, bread (preferably rye). If you like sweets, you shouldn’t give them up completely. You just need to choose the right types of these products (marshmallows, honey, marshmallows) and limit their amount per day to a maximum of 30 grams.

After the first stage comes the second - the phase of active weight loss. Now, if you want to significantly transform your figure, you should limit the presence of simple carbohydrates and even sweets allowed in the first stage in your diet. As for fruits, you should give preference to apples and pears. Otherwise, the recommendations for the first stage of the impulse diet remain the same.

Regarding the timing during which it is worth adhering to the various phases. According to the rules of the method, first eat according to the principles of a low-fat diet. When you feel that you are ready for more significant restrictions, move on to active weight loss. In the second phase, you can sit for as long as you wish, but no more than three months without breaks. Carry out unloading at your own discretion. Focus on your goals and, of course, your well-being. Carrying out fasting days is not a prerequisite. If you are not in a hurry, you are comfortable losing weight without it, or these days are too difficult for you, you don’t have to do them at all.

According to reviews, many people manage to significantly transform their figure by simply adhering to a low-fat diet and, from time to time, a diet during the active weight loss phase. When you reach the desired weight, so that it does not return, it is worth making a low-fat diet (with some modifications and rare deviations) the norm of life. This lifestyle will become your protection from extra pounds and health problems for a long time.

Let us also note the seemingly minor, but in fact very important, rules of the impulse diet. They, according to the author, significantly increase the chances of success. First, before you start losing weight using this technique, think through the main points necessary to comply with it. Develop a menu, try to cook something from the recommended products. This will help you figure out which dishes you like and which ones you don't particularly like. This practice will reduce the likelihood of relapse due to the fact that you have to eat tasteless dishes that you do not like at all. Think about what you will eat at which meals, under what conditions, and so on.

Try to chew your food thoroughly and eat slowly. It is strongly not recommended to skip breakfast, lunch, dinner. At most, you can cancel one particular meal per day. But if you skip a snack sometimes, there is nothing critical about it.

As the author of the impulse diet notes, which those who lose weight with this method readily agree with, from the first days you feel lightness, the feeling of heaviness from overeating leaves you, you feel independent from food and are in an excellent mood. The main thing is a positive psychological attitude.

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages:

• effectiveness: approximately 1.5 kg is lost in 1 week;
• slow weight loss is a guarantee of health safety;
• the skin and muscles have time to adapt, which eliminates the appearance of stretch marks;
• weight loss mixtures that Ginzburg recommends (such as “Doctor Slim”) reduce the time for preparing dishes;
• the varied menu never gets boring;
• it is allowed to eat sweets;
• easily tolerated due to lack of hunger;
• the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract improves;
• fasting days allow for regular cleansing of the body.

Flaws:

• duration;
• within 3 months a lack of fat may become apparent;
• there is always a risk of getting carried away with permitted sweets before bed;
• it takes too long to get used to the “wonderful” rules;
• at stage I you need to calculate the amount of fat consumed;
• you need to spend money on weight loss cocktails.

Description of stages

Mikhail Ginzburg's diet involves several modes and stages, for each of which he offers an approximate menu and gives useful recommendations.

Maintenance mode

Stage 1. Low fat

1. Reduce your daily fat intake to 20 g per day.
2. We eat almost everything (except for very fatty foods and alcohol), but gradually reducing the size of our usual portions.
3. We are trying to implement 10 “wonderful” rules into life.

Sample menu for stage I:

Stage 2. Pulse

Entry into the diet (stage I) is completed. Now comes the phase of active weight loss (we are finally starting to go down one step on the Ginzburg ladder):

1. We exclude sweets and simple carbohydrates.
2. We consume as much fruit as possible (preferably seasonal).
3. We include weight loss cocktails on the menu.

Sample menu for stage II:

Unloading mode

Fasting afternoons are held 2 times a week. For the first 2 weeks they need to be kept on a gentle regimen, and then you can switch to a full-fledged hunger strike.

Sample menu for a fasting afternoon (gentle mode):

Sample menu for a fasting afternoon with Doctor Slim products:

The duration of the diet is determined individually, but approximate periods may be as follows:

• Stage I of the maintenance regime - from 2 weeks to 1 month;
• Stage II of the maintenance regime without fasting afternoons - from 2 weeks to 1 month;
• alternating unloading and maintenance regimens - from 1 to 2 months, until weight normalizes.

After 3 months of the diet, you should temporarily (at least 3-4 weeks) switch to a normal diet to make up for the fat deficiency, and then you can repeat the weight loss scheme again.

Description of the pulse fat-burning diet for weight loss

You are offered 5-6 meals a day. The intervals between meals are small, the last meal is prescribed at a comfortable time, for example, 30-40 minutes before bedtime.

We also took into account that most of us take part of our meals outside the home. In the proposed options, we present products and dishes that do not require cooking, which you will be comfortable eating in the office, at your workplace.

Treats are allowed in one of the meals, preferably in the evening. The main condition is to eat a treat after eating, immersing yourself in the process of extracting pleasure as much as possible. Remember, this is your reward!

Other sources of pleasure from the process of losing weight:

From the first days of following the diet, you will feel light. It will become easier for you to breathe. You will feel a surge of strength and energy. Your sleep will improve. You will experience a feeling of freedom and independence from food. The feeling of being full of food, shortness of breath and drowsiness after eating will disappear.

To follow this diet, you will need three measuring instruments:

watches, household scales for weighing products, floor scales for weighing people.

This program is impulse in nature and involves rest days, during which people simply follow a few simple rules aimed at reducing daily caloric intake and at the same time improving the quality of nutrition. Check them out. It is advisable to assign rest days (if you need them) to weekends.

At any moment, focusing on your life situation (stress at work or at home, a cold, etc.), you can interrupt this fat-burning diet and switch to a maintenance regimen , which all boils down to the same simple rules for reducing daily caloric intake. Then, when your situation is resolved, you can return to the weight loss program.

By the way, having gotten used to following our simple rules for reducing daily caloric intake, finding them convenient and useful for yourself, you will forever insure yourself against weight gain again.

What makes this diet extremely convenient to use are Doctor Slim products , the main principle of which is MAXIMUM SATIETY WITH A MINIMUM CALORIES. Use our smoothies, soups and cereals, and you will see how much easier their use will make following your diet and speed up your weight loss!

Rules for using a fat-burning diet for weight loss:

• Before starting to follow the program, carefully consider the order of its implementation, prepare the required products and dishes, try them, find options that suit you, determine at least approximately what exactly you will eat, at what time and under what conditions
• Food should be taken while sitting. You should eat slowly, if possible without being distracted by other things, enjoying the tastes
• You should not skip more than one meal a day
• It is highly undesirable to go beyond the prescribed set of products. Remember, for any deviations from the diet there are rest days (if necessary)
• Rest days (if necessary) are prescribed no more than 2 times a week

Schedule and prescribe individual meals when losing weight using a pulsed fat-burning diet

Recommendations

The tips below are taken from Ginsburg's book, Down with Diets!

BJU ratio

The amount of protein foods and foods containing dietary fiber in the diet cannot be reduced. Ginsburg offers 6 ways to reduce fat in your diet:

1. Eat more lean foods: replace meat with fish and milk, do not add fried foods to soups, give preference to boiled and stewed dishes rather than fried ones.
2. Use less fatty products among analogues: take low-fat cottage cheese, not 9%, dumplings - without adding lard, light mayonnaise, etc.
3. Reduce the fat content of the dish during its preparation: remove fatty layers from the meat, use a minimum amount of oil for frying, skim the foam from the surface of the broth.
4. Gastronomic trick: reduce the fat content of the dish while eating it: cut off the fat from the meat, remove the skin from the chicken, do not put mayonnaise or sour cream in the soup.
5. Hedonic technique: eat fatty foods as slowly as possible, prolonging the pleasure - this will ensure faster satiety, which means the size of the portion eaten will be minimal.
6. Information technique: carefully read food labels at the stage of purchasing them and choose the least fat ones.

A clear example of how the second technique works as part of a pulse diet:

Cocktails

As part of the maintenance regimen, weight loss cocktails should be drunk 15 minutes before main meals and instead of lunch and afternoon snack (5 times in total). Moreover, Ginzburg does not insist on their mandatory use, leaving the right of choice to its users.

Fasting afternoons - know-how diets. Since the main process of spending fat reserves occurs during the day, you should fast until dinner. Before it you need to have time to drink about 4 servings of cocktail. But in the evening you can allow yourself some low-fat foods. If you really want to eat during the day, do not deny yourself vegetables (but no more than 800 g) and bread (3-4 pieces).

Scheme of the fasting regime of the day according to Ginzburg:

A serving of a cocktail is required 15 minutes before dinner - this will help reduce your appetite. Before going to bed, you can eat an apple or a bun.

Ginsburg recommends using Doctor Slim cocktails, but does not insist on this particular brand. He gives advice on how to choose the right and healthy drink that is suitable for his diet:

1. Buy only in pharmacies.
2. Per 100 g of dry mixture there should be a maximum of 10 g of fat.
3. For 1 g of protein - no more than 1.5 g of carbohydrates.
4. Don't chase expensive brands.

Other cocktails for weight loss: homemade / pharmacy.

Sport

Ginsburg says his diet does not involve intense training. He suggests replacing them with healthy walking, which:

• is not as stressful for the body as running;
• consumes energy released from broken down fat;
• uses most muscles;
• allows you to easily dose the temp.

As an alternative he suggests:

• cycling;
• skiing;
• aerobic exercise equipment;
• simple exercises that can be easily performed at home;
• walking up the stairs;
• Nordic walking;
• health running.

Possible meal schedule

Pulse diet menu

Approximate menu for the first stage

Breakfast: a portion of buckwheat or oatmeal porridge cooked in water; a glass of homemade yogurt or kefir (1% fat or low-fat); pear. Second breakfast: 100 g of low-fat cottage cheese and a small apple. Lunch: vegetable soup (it is recommended not to fry); steamed chicken cutlet, or just a small piece of chicken fillet; a few tablespoons of empty boiled brown rice or buckwheat. Afternoon snack: a few pieces of dried apricots plus homemade yoghurt (or 2-3 tbsp. low-fat cottage cheese). Dinner: a portion of baked or stewed fish; vegetable salad seasoned with a few drops of vegetable oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Approximate menu for the second stage

Breakfast: Doctor Slim cocktail; a cup of coffee without sugar, to which you can add a little skim milk. Second breakfast: Doctor Slim cocktail. Lunch: approximately 150 g steamed chicken breast; vegetable soup without frying. Afternoon snack: Doctor Slim cocktail. Dinner: a portion of lean fish, cooked without adding oil, or some seafood; up to 300 g of vegetables in any form.

Note

. At all meals, the recommended professional cocktail can be replaced with 50 g of low-fat cottage cheese and several slices of your favorite permitted fruit.

Product Lists

Recommended Products

Protein:

• meat, fish, eggs, cottage cheese, milk, cheese, fermented milk products (animal proteins);
• legumes, grains, nuts (vegetable).

Carbohydrates:

• bread, flour products, cereals, pasta, potatoes, legumes (complex carbohydrates);
• sugar, sweets, fructose, milk (plain).

An approximate set of dishes and products that meet the body’s daily need for dietary fiber:

Products containing low amounts of fat:

• lean meat, fish, dairy products;
• egg whites;
• complex carbohydrates (cereals, pasta and bakery products, potatoes, baked goods);
• vegetables fruits;
• some sweet treats (honey, jam, marshmallows, pure sugar, jam, pastille, marmalade).

Prohibited Products

As such, Ginzburg does not have a prohibited list - he allows him to eat everything so as not to lose his temper. But, for example, products in which the amount of fat is off the charts cannot be included in the Stage I menu, because their daily consumption is limited to only 20 g. Therefore, they are automatically left out of the diet:

• vegetable and butter;
• fat on meat;
• salo;
• shortbread dough and baked goods;
• milk chocolate;
• any ice cream;
• margarine;
• all custard and pastry creams;
• milk with a high percentage of fat content.

There is also a strict ban on alcoholic beverages.

Menu

A sample menu for a week is ideal for stage II of the maintenance regimen.

The concept of a pulse diet existed before Mikhail Ginzburg. Before it, this system assumed nutrition according to the following scheme: 1 day to eat only zero-calorie foods, then 2-3 days to eat as usual, and again - a day with zero calories. The nutritionist identified the imperfections of such “swings” and proposed a more balanced and gentle method as an alternative.

We recommend:

• Ketone diet;
• Energy diet.