Author Lyn-Genet Recitas On The 5 Things You Need To Do To Achieve a Healthy Body Weight, And Keep It Permanently

So many of us have tried dieting. All too often though, many of us lose 10–20 pounds, but we end up gaining it back. Not only is yo-yo dieting unhealthy, it is also demoralizing and makes us feel like giving up. What exactly do we have to do to achieve a healthy body weight and to stick with it forever?

In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Do To Achieve A Healthy Body Weight And Keep It Permanently” we are interviewing health and wellness professionals who can share lessons from their research and experience about how to do this.

As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lyn-Genet Recitas.

Lyn-Genet is a NY Times bestselling author and nutritionist. Her groundbreaking work in studying the effects of a bio individual diet to reduce inflammation has helped millions of people lose weight and regain health. Her books have been published in 15 countries and she is the chef owner of Lyn-Genet’s Kitchen in NYC.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?

So great to be here, thank you! I suffered from chronic migraines as a child and while I saw many doctors, none were able to help. I started to look into alternatives to improve my health. I started with practicing yoga when I was 11 in 1976 and became a vegetarian when I was 14. I started off in the restaurant business as a baker in a health food restaurant in Southern California. Total hippie vibe. I became exposed to so many schools of thought around nutrition and that transformed my life! I started studying herbology when I was 18.

What or who inspired you to pursue your career? We’d love to hear the story.

I started getting regular shiatsu and acupuncture when I was 18 and one of my friends saw the same doctor. With dietary changes and acupuncture she was able to put her stomach cancer in remission. I was beyond intrigued so I started studying TCM (traditional Chinese medicine). This was the basis for what would years later become The Plan.

None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Was there a particular person who you feel gave you the most help or encouragement to be who you are today? Can you share a story about that?

Definitely what helped to catapult my success were all of the editors of Meredith publishing, especially Lesley Jane Seymour. When she tried my diet and it changed her life she fought tooth and nail to write articles about me.

When they were finally published I woke up to an inbox of 900 emails. Every day. After that I was flooded with offers to write a book. The rest is history!

Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?

Being on Dr Oz was so intimidating, they make you learn your scripted responses to Dr Oz’s questions and I totally froze. Luckily he’s the nicest person and was really intrigued with my work. He totally broke the ice when he complimented my shoes! Ps those studios are COLD! Bring a sweater.

Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?

It may sound trite, but you HAVE to believe in yourself.

When I started to become well known there were people who tried to say healthy foods cannot cause inflammation and cause weight gain and disease. The prevailing theory at that time was that obesity caused inflammation, not that inflammation could cause weight gain. They called me a witch doctor lol. For example, based on my research, foods such as strawberries, salmon, quinoa and asparagus are all highly reactive for the majority of the population over the age of 35.These foods can cause a histamine and cortisol response which can cause 2 lb. weight gain!

But, this is one instance when I would not let people detract me from my success. I saw The Plan working on a daily basis. I knew my clients were regaining health and losing weight rapidly by using my methodology to find the ”healthy” foods that were causing inflammation and making them to be unwell and overweight. It was very easy to tune out the naysayers.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

I opened a restaurant in Harlem to let people know that you can eat FUN foods, that taste decadent, and still promote your best health. It’s been a wonderful experience and it has started a deep discussion of health in a vibrant community.

Before Covid we had free weekly chats about health- emotional, physical and financial well being. Now that restrictions have lifted, I can’t wait to bring back the community and support all of our allies in health.

For the benefit of our readers, can you briefly let us know why you are an authority in the fitness and wellness field?

I am proud to say that in addition to my staff of 15 in my nutrition company I have also trained doctors, nurses and naturopathic doctors to become Plan nutritionists.

Identifying, and removing the foods that do not work for YOUR body, allows your body to rapidly heal by reducing inflammation. In fact, the investor in my restaurant was someone I worked with to get her through stage 3 breast cancer.

She now owns 12 health food stores in Singapore. Planning changed her life and she wants to pay it forward.

OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview about achieving a healthy body weight. Let’s begin with a basic definition of terms so that all of us are on the same page. How do you define a “Healthy Body Weight”?

Your healthy body weight is a weight you were at without undereating or over exercising. That set point is different for everyone. But many people find they go back to their high school weight when following my diet. You MAY go even lower if you were experiencing health issues in your teens.

How can an individual learn what is a healthy body weight for them? How can we discern what is “too overweight” or what is “too underweight”?

When I work with people I just don’t discuss weight- we have many metrics we work with- blood pressure, blood sugar, mood, digestion and blood work for example.

From a body comp perspective I also use body fat as a goal. For example, let’s say your goal weight as a woman is 140, but you are sticking around 150. If your body fat is 30%, you will look 150, if your body fat is 18% you will look 135.

The problem with just focusing on weight and not other metrics is that you can get frustrated. This will cause many to undereat, remember the great myth? Calories in, calories out?So untrue, cutting calories slows metabolism. The other myth? You need to exercise intensely to lose weight. If you exercise too intensely for YOUR body, this can raise cortisol which slows metabolism and skews hormones. Guess what? This” perfect” model of cutting calories and working out like a beast means you are training your body to hold onto fat!

The goal is to find the foods you love that work for your body, and to find the “sweet spot” of exercise where you are having that lovely serotonin boost without exercising too intensely

Creating a healthy stress free lifestyle is what The Metabolism Plan is all about

This might be intuitive to you, but it will be instructive to expressly articulate this. Can you please share a few reasons why being over your healthy body weight, or under your healthy body weight, can be harmful to your health?

It’s all about inflammation. Inflammation is the culprit behind obesity, premature aging and disease. You can be at a low weight but still have health issues or depression- that’s inflammation. Eating hot dogs every day is not likely to promote your best health, but it’s also very likely that the hard boiled eggs and turkey is the reason you are packing on the pounds. If you are gaining weight from healthy foods that is your body telling you “hey, this doesn’t work for us”. If you keep eating those foods you will develop serious health issues like Type 2 diabetes, auto immune issues, heart disease and cancer.

When we look to you having your optimal health you will find your best weight. I love hearing people say, all I need to do to be at my goal weight is eat. It should be that easy. And it is!

In contrast, can you help articulate a few examples of how a person who achieves and maintains a healthy body weight will feel better and perform better in many areas of life?

We live in a world of judgement, and no one is more critical than one’s self. When there are feelings of being defeated, being “let down” by your body, trying to do the right things, most of the time- there is a feeling of despair. This affects everything in your life. Your relationships, your job and most importantly your confidence and feeling of self worth.

Unfortunately, when you are trying to eat well and your weight is not optimal there are also health issues. This too creates a paradigm where your body instills fear, rather than love.

How often do we say “hey knee- thanks you’re awesome”? Instead, we only notice our knee when it hurts and instead we say “oh you fricking knee! I hate you!”. Do you see how this can permeate to such a feeling of poor body image and create a disconnect from your body?

It’s time to turn this dialogue around.

When your knee hurts it’s saying “danger!”. That’s your body saying I love you, we need to be more careful.

Feeling unhappy with your health or weight (or both) impacts you hour after hour. Day after Day and yes year after year. Freeing yourself up from this negativity allows you to pursue your dreams, and most importantly, be happier!

Ok, fantastic. Here is the main question of our discussion. Can you please share your “5 Things You Need To Do To Achieve a Healthy Body Weight And Keep It Permanently?”. If you can, please share a story or an example for each.

Well, obviously following The Metabolism is key. But if you want to start off small let’s do this

1. I know you’re a rock star, but you really do need 7–9 hours of sleep. Your body does its deep repair when you are sleeping. Let’s start with this. Have you ever weighed yourself at night and then in the morning and you weigh 2 lbs. less? That’s because you are doing DEEP repair. This means a healthier, leaner you. So please do not wake up early to work out!
2. Water. Water is essential for every metabolic and cellular function. When you don’t drink enough water you tell your body- “HEY! Stop repairing our lungs, liver, thyroid and hormones and instead extract water from all of the food I am eating.” Now you see this is rough on your weight and health, because you are enacting water retention. That means you are holding onto water weight. Please drink half your body weight (in lbs. not kg) and covert to oz. So if you weigh 180 lbs. you need to drink 90 oz. (or roughly 6 pints). If you weigh more the good news is I have not seen anyone to need more than 110 oz. You can check out my pint method (no sorry it’s not beer) for achieving this.
3. Exercise- you probably need a LOT less than you think over the age of 35 for women and 45 for men. I discuss why in The Metabolism Plan (ps it’s due to oxidative stress and the loss of enzymes like super oxide dismutase- and oh yeah STRESS). So for the most part…if you are trying to lean out, get strong and lose weight you probably need to stick with 8–20 minutes of exercise every other day
4. Unprocessed your foods is a hashtag for a reason. Processing even the healthiest foods can cause an inflammatory response. Now you know this is likely to affect your weight. Why have the protein powder when you can have chia seeds, raw almond butter, flax and hemp seeds? You save money- you have more health benefits and you are easing the stress on your body having to break down foods which can cause discomfort and weight gain
5. OK!!!! Folks here is the big one. The biggest of all. LISTEN to your body. You should never feel bloated after a meal. That was a reactive food(or many reactive inflammatory foods). You should not feel sleepy after a meal or have that 3:00 energy dip. Constipation, gas? Reactive food. Crabby and foggy headed? Reactive meal. Craving carbs and junk food after a meal? That’s not you having poor self control. You ate something inflammatory or unbalanced for your system and it disrupted your biome. So stop blaming yourself! You will always get the answers when you eat the foods that work for OUR unique body.

The emphasis of this series is how to maintain an ideal weight for the long term, and how to avoid yo-yo dieting. Specifically, how does a person who loses weight maintain that permanently and sustainably?

This is so simple it’s genius. Find that foods that work for you- here are some examples of people eating healthy foods that didn’t work for them- and the fun foods that can. We like to say it’s all about balance. But it’s all about YOUR balance

~My boyfriend gained almost 3 lbs from chickpeas.

~Beer and pizza are friendly, I lose weight…a 1/2 cup green beans and 2 lbs heavier!

~I can lose eating mac & cheese and gain eating a tomato!!!

~Vanilla ice cream passed, no problem…..A small bowl of split pea soup, here comes 1.5….who knew??

~ Pineapple and cucumbers are a no-go. But a Fenway Frank and a beer? Yes, ma’am!

~ Cheeseburger, fries, and a Coke, not an issue. Handful of raw almonds, doubled over in pain and so bloated. I love The Plan!!!

~ I can eat salmon and pork, and beer and pizza too, but give me any kind of beans, green beans included or corn (in any form) & I blow up like a puffer fish.

~White bread and gelato are my friends. Fish (even wild white fish), tomatoes and bok choy are not.

Lose weight with steak, fries, chips, wine, chocolate. But as soon as I eat fish, spinach, nuts of any kind, Chick peas, or beans(even green!) I swell up!\

Lobster mac and cheese is a guaranteed lost pound. Pork, potatoes, green beans, sauerkraut — 2 pounds gain and a week of agonizing fibromyalgia.

What are a few of the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they try to lose weight? What errors cause people to just snap back to their old unhealthy selves? What can they do to avoid those mistakes?

I think the biggest mistake we ALL make, is to try and find a diet that always works. You see that can’t happen. YOUR chemistry is always in slight flux. Cheese may work for you now and be reactive 3 years from now. So what I did was to develop way to test the foods YOU love and when they are no longer “friendly”, find another food you love. Right now fish and goat cheese don’t work for me, but pinto beans and parmesan does. Most bread doesn’t work for me (except for sourdough) but corn tortillas do. So tacos are part of MY healthy diet, how fun is that?

When I listen to my body I am eating foods I love, and yes that includes a margarita or glass of wine, and I am at the same weight at 56 that I have been since my 30s when I was running 50 miles a week every week. (I only exercise 4 times a week at 20–25 minutes)

How do we take all this information and integrate it into our actual lives? The truth is that we all know that it’s important to eat more vegetables, eat less sugar, etc. But while we know it intellectually, it’s difficult to put it into practice and make it a part of our daily habits. In your opinion what are the main blockages that prevent us from taking the information that we all know, and integrating it into our lives?

Listening to the experts has put us in a pretty pickle (ps sorry pickles are higher reactive , sorry!). No one, and I mean no one, knows your body better than you. The problem is there has been a disconnect. You try cross fit and you gain weight, you try cucumber juice and you gain weight. So you are frustrated and rightfully so. What if you could just eat food you love and exercise to make you happy? Seems simple right?

On the flip side, how can we prevent these ideas from just being trapped in a rarified, theoretical ideal that never gets put into practice? What specific habits can we develop to take these intellectual ideas and integrate them into our normal routine?

I don’t mean to sod like Yoda, but listen to your body you must. If not you will be in a perpetual state of frustration listening to other people’s rules.

Ok, we are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Opening my restaurant in Harlem- in what can be an underserved population- and making nutrition fun accessible and an every day discussion is my dream, I hope I can stay open, we opened right before Covid so it’s been a rough two year, and serve my community

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them :-)

I’m a big fan of Chris Kesser’s work- Oprah, you are AH-MAZING-and of course the incredible humanitarian and chef- José Andrés

How can our readers further follow your work online?

My books are available on Amazon and I am working on a new workbook The Metabolism Plan 2021. I’m very active on FB and Instagram. Just google Lyn-Genet, there’s only two of us in the world I believe!

Thank you for these really excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success.