Jazmine's 2B Mindset Experience

Hi everyone, meet Jazmine... She's one of my teammates who has been seeing awesome success with the 2B Mindset since starting it last month!

Jazmine is still in the early stages of her journey with this program, which is intended to be a wholesale lifestyle change. It's designed to be sustainable over a long period of time, rather than producing quick results that simply feed into a yo-yo effect.

Jazmine's goal starting out was to help break free from patterns of emotional eating—which is a main focus of the program, along with healthy weight loss. "I saw the success others were having with this program and I wanted to see if it could help me too," she says. "I've always struggled with losing weight and sticking to meal plans."

So far, Jazmine has seen some fluctuations in her weight, probably due to starting a new fitness program. (It's an intense program from Shaun T that involves cardio, strength work and plyometrics, and anything that makes your muscles sore afterwards is going to cause some bloating as your muscles retain water to help them repair themselves.)

This kind of bloating can really mess with your head, since it can be frustrating to see the scale stay the same (or even go up) when you begin a new fitness program. Fortunately, with the 2B Mindset we are reminded to track multiple metrics that can indicate different kinds of success. So far, Jazmine has noticed that her clothes are fitting looser, and her sleep quality and daytime energy have improved. These are wonderful markers of progress for long-term health, and gaining energy will also help her make better food choices, leading to a snowball effect as she eats even healthier and the results add up!

Part of the reason the 2B Mindset is so effective is its flexibility. Foods are separated into broad categories, and the proportions of each category specified. (For example, at breakfast, half your plate should be lean protein and half your plate should be fiber-filled carbohydrates, with a small amount of healthy fats or other "accessories" for flavor.) Within those proportions, each person can choose the foods he or she likes best. In addition, there's no limit to portion size; the plan asks you to sense your own hunger and fullness, and you can keep eating those (wisely chosen) carbs until you're full as long as you're eating protein alongside them.

Another reason it's so effective is its practicality. "2B Mindset is a realistic way of clean eating that anyone could succeed at," says Jazmine. Instead of telling you never to eat at a restaurant, the program gives you practical tips for finding the healthiest options on the menu or asking questions of your server if nothing on the menu quite fits.

The program also addresses the behavioral aspect of weight loss, which I think is so important. After all, most people have a good idea of what to eat to lose weight; they just have trouble getting themselves to eat that way. The program contains entire segments on how to approach parties and vacations so they don't detract from long-term weight loss. Above and beyond the videos that form the basis of the program, Ilana remains actively involved with it on social media, and frequently releases new videos or posts that shed light on a topic related to the program. "What sets this program apart is its well-roundedness and the fact that Ilana is constantly continuing to learn and bring us additional materials and answer our questions," Jazmine notes.

Although not everyone who is an emotional eater is overweight, emotional eating does often go hand in hand with being overweight, so I think the creator, Ilana Muhlstein RD, was wise to cover emotional eating in the program. (In fact, the program is based on her work with patients in a weight loss clinic at UCLA, as well as her own experience of losing 100 pounds, and Ilana emphasizes all the time that weight loss will never be permanent unless both emotional and physical habits are addressed.)

Personally, even though I don't have a weight problem, I've found that this program has helped me immensely with emotional eating, and Jazmine says she's found the same. "I've been an emotional eater most of my life," she says, "and I can see improvement in my thoughts and triggers and how I'm able to just say no and stay successful. I've felt how good you can feel eating in a more intuitive, realistic, wholesome way."

One last really wonderful thing about this program is how much Ilana loves food! You might guess that to lose 100 pounds, she'd have to learn to deny her love of food—but you'd be wrong. Ilana simply changed WHAT she eats; she didn't change HOW MUCH she eats. By eating foods that are less calorically dense (but still packed with flavor), she is able to have large, satisfying meals, and that's what she teaches in the program. It's truly delightful to watch her savor the food in each of her recipe videos. There's no question she's enjoying every bite!

I think it's this quality that makes the program especially powerful for those of us who have a history of disordered eating. Many of us got into diet culture and learned to fear food, and that enjoying food was something to hide because it would make us fat. Jazmine and I have both noticed how Ilana is out to slay that myth! "This program is especially good for people who are working toward releasing their fears of food," says Jazmine, "as well as those who aren't used to eating healthier foods and are unsure about portion sizes, what to eat, and how to combine food for the best possible energy."

Want to give this program a shot? Find all the details here, or email me at the address in the footer to find out when the next round begins!