What’s For Dinner?

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If you are a member of our Optimal Nutrition For Life Club, we will be sending you a link to a new app that will solve that most pressing of problems: What’s For Dinner?

Do you ever find yourself pulling into the grocery store car park trying to remember at least one good recipe? You can’t bear the thought of tasteless, boneless chicken breast again, so you peruse the magazine aisle and end up with Paula Dean’s latest “Stick of Butter and Cream Chicken”.

Well worry no more. When you request it, ONForLife’s app will send you a link to an Ilana Katz approved recipe for dinner.

You have to be a member as that is the only way we will know who you are to send you the link.  Once you have the link you will be able to request the recipe any time. The ONForLife app is not an iphone specific app; anyone who can receive a text message or view a browser on their phone will be able to get the recipe.

Show me where to Become a Member.

The one in which Optimal Nutrition opens for new members

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Get Started With a Metabolic Boost Program

There’s never been a more certain, more effective way of becoming lean than the Metabolic Boost program. The Metabolic Boost program works on the principle that you want to build a body you can live with for the rest of your life.

What you get with the Metabolic Boost program:

  • Your customized meal plan based on scientific research into Nutrition and Metabolism,
  • Weekly/ Monthly review of your progress,
  • Live or telephone consultations,
  • Metabolic Boost Cookbook,
  • Grocery list,
  • Fast good guide,
  • Eating out guide,
  • Ethnic Cuisine guide,
  • And more..

  • Endurance nutrition calculations (if you are an athlete training),
  • Race day nutrition advice,
  • Race week nutrition advice,
  • Training and recovery nutrition,
  • And more….

Get started with a Metabolic Boost program today and you WILL have that new body by the first day of summer.

Here are some of the goals my new members have:

  • Wear a super slinky dress at my high school reunion in June,
  • Look great at the family wedding June 19th,
  • Be 10 pounds lighter for the Peachtree so I can beat my cousin.

What are your goals?

Ilana

Never again will you worry about holding your stomach in during a photo op.

Remember nothing changes if nothing changes.


Optimal Nutrition for Life Expansion Plans

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So I have teased you a bit with my expansion plans for my nutrition coaching practice and today I am finally ready to tell you all about it. Truth is until recently I was still debating about these plans because:

  1. It’s a big scary move for me and
  2. It is way harder to pull off than I imagined (but it is so going to be worth it)

So here goes:

In the old days (that is last week) I delivered all my coaching via face to face meetings. OK – waving to clients in other parts of the country that found me from my famous Runner’s World articles – that isn’t totally true, some of you can’t get to my office. Most of you do come to my office and many of you want more. More time with me to ensure your success and more ways to get the answers.

A few months ago I requested your help via a survey asking for ways I can improve my practice. (BTW, you should definitely do this. The best way to improve what you are doing / offering is to ask your clients for their expert advice.)

  • I learned that many of you wanted an on-line option.
  • I heard you say you wanted a less expensive option.
  • You told me accountability was key to success and you valued a peer group that could hold you accountable.
  • The sheer amount of material I provide with your initial consultation is overwhelming for some and you want an easier way to consume the material.

Beginning next week – drum roll please– my nutrition coaching program – Metabolic Boost – will ALSO be available on-line and right in your own house.

Don’t worry- I will still be providing face-to-face nutrition coaching in my office. The personal interaction with face-to-face clients is often the highlight of my day.

And I can tell from my website analytics that people from all over the world are signing up. I am excited to have a way of helping all those people too.

Listen and see how you can be part of the program

Beginning Tuesday you are invited to join my Coaching Club. ALL OF YOU on my inner circle list as of today, April, 2, 2010, are invited to join as charter members.

The Coaching Club is a new way to deliver content to you and help keep you accountable with your Metabolic Boost program. (See how the Metabolic Boost program raises your metabolism. Then hear how all these people improved their body composition, in layman’s terms: lost body fat.)

What you get with the Coaching Club:

  • Access to our live forum,
  • Group coaching calls,
  • Discounts on future events,
  • Access to cutting edge research,
  • Travel Tips,
  • Body Makeover Recipes,
  • Interviews with other nutrition experts,
  • Interviews with coaches and trainers,
  • Endurance nutrition calculations (if you are an athlete training),
  • Race day nutrition advice,
  • Race week nutrition advice,
  • Training and recovery nutrition,
  • Discounts on future services,
  • And more….

What you get with the Metabolic Boost program:

  • Your customized meal plan based on scientific research into Nutrition and Metabolism,
  • Weekly/ Monthly review of your progress,
  • Live or telephone consultations,
  • Metabolic Boost Cookbook,
  • Grocery list,
  • Fast good guide,
  • Eating out guide,
  • Ethnic Cuisine guide,
  • And more..


Why it is a Big Scary Move

Have you heard the old saying “feed a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”? If you have worked with me in the past, you know my principle is to teach you to fish. I give you the principles of creating a meal plan in order that you learn to eat purposefully and you create lasting dietary change. Putting you on a diet simply doesn’t work for lasting change.

With the new Metabolic Boost Coaching Club I am taking that teaching principle one step further. I am GIVING you the KEYS to my success. I am giving you the STEP by STEP guide to creating your own Metabolic Boost. This is ALL of the research that goes in to my $500 coaching package. (Yes I do realize that other dietitians charge 3 times that much for the personalized individual coaching I do. I just can’t help it. I want to help more people.)

In fact, the reason this is such a big, scary move is that I am putting all the research that went into the program into your hands. People I have told this to thought I was nuts to give you all this with the new package as I already don’t charge enough.

I’m confident about it though because, as it turns out, some people don’t want to learn to fish- they want you to bring them a fish sandwich and a cold beer. If this is you, I am like FedEx – you absolutely need to have it overnight and I am going to sit side by side with you and make sure it gets there overnight. You pay a bit more for that service but you do that for the confidence that you get it right.

So there you have it: Optimal Nutrition for Life expansion plans. Some of you will want me to bring you the fish sandwich and cold beer; some will go buy the fishing pole.

Check it out. See what works for you. The new plans will be available Tuesday, April 6th AND there is a bonus special for the first 20 people who join. Tuesday morning I will send you all the details on how you can join.

Remember, nothing changes if nothing changes.

UPDATED: The membership is NOW OPEN!  Kick start your fat loss today.

Common Threads in Successful Weight Loss

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“Thanks so much, Ilana. I love the ease of my nutrition plan, the way I eat is so easy and convenient, and my energy levels are out the roof.”      ….   Deidre

“I just wanted to express my sincere gratitude to you – your nutrition plan has truly changed my life for the better. You were an integral part of making my last marathon an experience to remember with joy. I attain the success to my nutrition and now as a way of life, marathoning is memorable for all the right reasons 🙂   ”     ….   Elizabeth

Kona – Ironman World Championship – That was just an amazing day for me…hell, it’s been an amazing 12 weeks working with you leading up to that day!  ….   Randy

These are just a few of the many awesome and humbling comments that make my job so rewarding. I am on cloud nine when I receive one of these emails from one of you. You can see more messages on my website, and I promise, not one word has been edited:  Success Stories.

As losing weight is always at the top of the New Year’s Resolution list and “losing 10 pounds” is often at the top of the  “what I would change about myself” list, it seems that losing weight is extremely difficult for most people.  And yet it seems so simple: eat less, move more.  Is it that simple? I guess not or we would all be successful with it.

Based on the testimonials above, some people do find weight loss success. (I’m using the term “weight loss” but you know me and you know I mean “fat loss”.)

I decided to go through my client emails and compile a list: what is the common thread amongst these success stories. I worked with many of these people for a minimum of two to three months, so I got to know them well. I saw how they took my nutrition coaching, scientific findings and nutrition philosophy and adapted it to their situation.

So here is the list:

COMMITMENT TO TIME (NO QUICK FIX)

The first one has already been addressed – yes TIME. As mentioned, many of the most successful clients are those that made themselves accountable. They saw this was a work in progress, definitely not a quick fix, and decided right up front to treat it that way.

Commit to a time period, become accountable, decide that no matter what you will stick with it for the committed time period. All these clients above committed to at least a 3 month program for starters!

ACCOUNTABILITY – SET OBJECTIVE GOALS

Objective means measurable. It makes more sense to aim at a target than to aim an arrow into mid air and just shoot. Plus there is a school of thought that having a goal and visualizing yourself achieving the goal, makes it real and more likely that you will achieve it.  When you picture yourself as having achieved the goal you are directing yourself to BE the person with the goal achieved. BE the person who makes the new plan a way of life.

PREPLANNING

The old cliché of “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail” holds true. BUT planning does not have to be made into a stumbling block. I get the common failure pit to be “I am just not a planner… I always lose it when I am required to plan.”  My unique take on this is to plan according to what suits your lifestyle best… it does not have to absorb every last free minute.  Planning your meals does not have to be a bind, it can be as simple as having a shopping list so you are not caught at the store wandering the aisles, or as simple as jotting down when you are going to eat each day.

AVAILABILITY

Once you have preplanned, even if it was five minutes in the morning of thinking about and visualizing your day, take what you need to put your plan into action along with you when you leave home.

Avoid the trap of being faced with temptation because you were hungry and needed to grab something quick and convenient. If you have it with you, there are no fuzzy lines… there is no room for the devil saying “well just this meal… I will start over on my plan after this one”.

JOURNALING

Track your progress. Just like any other science, without the data you cannot fix the problem. It’s all very well arriving at your weigh in and feeling gung ho that the scale or body fat measure is going to be hugely in your favour – after all you have had 3 excellent days in a row. And guess what, numbers are up.

Firstly, 3 days is not enough to expect miracles, and secondly, the data tells all. Yes the last 3 days may have been phenomenal, but the rest of the week may have been a free for all, knowing that you were starting over after you had weighed in anyway.

Data can help you determine patterns in the food that causes your weight to go up. It can also reveal trigger foods, and time lulls. Data is the most valuable tool for any science and weight management is no exception.

DE-STRESS

Definitely easier said than done… but people, once and for all, do not obsess over numbers. Stop dieting, start relaxing – have things available, and eat them when appropriate. The vicious  cycle of obsession and worrying causes you to hold on to fat – why, just think about it – genetics… hunters and gathers (the basis of our gene pool) had to fight off stress factors by either fight or flight… so stress factors require energy. Our physiology is an amazing science, we still store energy under stressful conditions, because even though modern stress may not require a fist fight or running away from a situation, the instinct of fight or flight remains; the genes thus say “Stress- I need energy,” equates to “Stress  – I need to store fat”.

THEY USED A PROFESSIONAL

Most successful people have made a commitment to themselves, made it a valuable commitment by hiring a professional and made themselves accountable not only to themselves but to someone else. I admit I don’t like being the food police but if you need me to I will.  I can share with you research and experience you don’t have and together we can knock this out of the park.

Michael Phelps still has a nutrition coach over and above his swimming coach, how about you?

Common Threads in Successful Weight Loss

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“Thanks so much, Ilana. I love the ease of my nutrition plan, the way I eat is so easy and convenient, and my energy levels are out the roof.”      ….   Deidre

“I just wanted to express my sincere gratitude to you – your nutrition plan has truly changed my life for the better. You were an integral part of making my last marathon an experience to remember with joy. I attain the success to my nutrition and now as a way of life, marathoning is memorable for all the right reasons 🙂   ”     ….   Elizabeth

Kona – Ironman World Championship – That was just an amazing day for me…hell, it’s been an amazing 12 weeks working with you leading up to that day!  ….   Randy

These success stories for weight loss are just a few of the many awesome and humbling comments that make my job so rewarding. I am often on cloud nine after receiving these unsolicited e-mails which, with a little bit of  pride, I turn into real life testimonials (you can see a whole bunch more on my website, and I promise, not one word has been edited:  Weight Loss Success Stories.

As losing weight is always at the top of the New Year’s Resolution list and “losing 10 pounds” is often at the top of the  “what I would change about myself” list, it seems that losing weight is extremely hard for most people.  And yet it seems so simple: eat less, move more.  Is it that simple? I guess not or we would all have a success story for weight loss.

Based on the testimonials above, some people do find weight loss success. (I’m using the term “weight loss” but you know me and you know I mean “fat loss”.)

I decided to go through my client emails and compile a list: what is the common thread amongst these weight loss success stories. I worked with many of these people for a minimum of two to three months, so I got to know them well. I got to recognize their individual strategy and how it took on its own personality as they made adapted my nutrition coaching and philosophy to their lifestyle

So here is the list:

COMMITMENT TO TIME (NO QUICK FIX)

The first one has already been addressed – yes TIME. As mentioned, many of the most successful clients are those that made themselves accountable. They saw this was a work in progress, definitely not a quick fix, and decided right up front to treat it that way. Commit to a time period, become accountable, know that no matter what, this date will come and go whether you stick to your guns or NOT!!! All these clients above committed to a 12 week program for starters!

ACCOUNTABILITY – SET OBJECTIVE GOALS

Objective means measurable. It makes more sense to aim at a target than to aim an arrow into mid air and just shoot. Plus there is a school of thought that having a goal and visualizing yourself achieving the goal, makes it real and more likely that you will achieve it.

PREPLANNING

Whether you are a planner or not, the old cliché of “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail” holds true. BUT planning does not have to be made into a stumbling block. I get the common failure pit to be “I am just not a planner… I always lose it when I am required to plan.”  My unique take on this is to plan according to what suits your lifestyle best… it does not have to absorb every last free minute, it does not have to be a bind, it can be as simple as having a shopping list, or as simple as jotting down the next free time for a meal.

AVAILABILITY

Once you have preplanned, even if it was five minutes in the morning of thinking about and visualizing your day, take what you need to put your plan into action along with you when you leave home.

Avoid the trap of being faced with temptation because you were hungry and needed to grab something quick and convenient. If you have it with you, there are no fuzzy lines… there is no room for the devil saying “well just this meal… I will start over on my plan after this one”

JOURNALING

Track your progress. Just like any other science, without the data you cannot fix the problem. It’s all very well arriving at your weigh in and feeling gung ho that the scale or body fat measure is going to be hugely in your favour – after all you have had 3 excellent days in a row. And guess what, numbers are up.

Firstly, 3 days is not enough to expect miracles, and secondly, the data tells all. Yes the last 3 days may have been phenomenal, but the rest of the week may have been an all out “last supper” knowing that you were starting over after you had weighed in anyway. Data can help you determine patterns in the food that causes your weight to go up. It can also reveal trigger foods, and time lulls. Data is the most valuable tool for any science and weight management is no exception.

DE-STRESS

Definitely easier said than done… but people, once and for all, do not obsess over numbers. Stop dieting, start relaxing – have things available, and eat them when appropriate. The vicious  cycle of obsession and worrying causes you to hold on to fat – why, just think about it – genetics… hunters and gathers (the basis of our gene pool) had to fight off stress factors by either fight or flight… so stress factors require energy. Our physiology is an amazing science, we still store energy under stressful conditions, because even though modern stress may not require a fist fight or running away from a situation, the instinct of fight or flight remains; the genes thus say “stress – Store fat”.

THEY USED A PROFESSIONAL

Most successful people have made a commitment to themselves, made it a valuable commitment by hiring a professional and made themselves accountable not only to themselves but to someone else.   In the common success stories  of these people they chose an accountability partner who is trained to ensure their weight loss success and who has a vested interest in their success story for weight loss.