Gene Smart Diet Phases

Diet Phase 1: Adaptive Response

Lasting three weeks, or until you’ve reached your optimal weight, this is the most rigorous diet phase of the program's three diet phases.  The purpose of this diet phase is to trigger our adaptive stress response, and make a real break with our unhealthy past, both mentally and physically.

Diet Phase 2: Preconditioning

Once you’ve arrived at your optimal weight, you’ll move to the 2-week-long Preconditioning Diet Phase.  It’s called the Preconditioning Diet Phase because it’s “conditioning” you to what your diet should be for the rest of your life. You’ll be happy to know that this diet phase is a little less stringent than Diet Phase 1. Most importantly, you are moving to a 10 to 20 percent reduction in calories. You will continue to consume high quantities of polyphenols, and you will continue to increase your physical activity as you continue to “get into shape.”

Diet Phase 3: Optimal Maintenance

This is the ongoing diet phase of the program.  The goal in this diet phase is to balance the number of calories you consume with the number of calories you burn.  The polyphenols and omega-3s are maintained at a high level so you get all the benefits.  And you’ll be further “stressing” your body and activating all those anti-inflammatory gene pathways with the described exercise program.

Congratulations!  In this diet phase, you can start consuming two other important polyphenol sources, dark chocolate and red wine, which are excluded from the earlier diet phases because of their caloric impact and their potential effects on appetite.