This post is sponsored by Always Eat After 7 PM, however, all opinions expressed are my own.
Welcome back to the blog! Over the last few weeks, I’ve been discussing my thoughts on bestselling author, Joel Marion’s newest book Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight, in which he is debunking the myth that in order to lose weight one must follow restrictive diets and refrain from eating after 7 PM. I’ve been guilty more than once in my lifetime of subscribing to the thought that if I eat one morsel of food late at night I would gain a shameful amount of weight, however, since reading Marion’s Always Eat After 7 PM I’ve quickly come to understand that, that simply is not the case. (Thank God for that, because eating late works for my schedule more often than not).
I can honestly say that the last few weeks have been a lot easier than I first imagined they would be. I’m used to extremely restrictive diets that limit what and how much you eat to basically nothing, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Marion’s carefully crafted program. “Always Eat After 7 pm is a three-phase program that teaches you how to lose big by strategically eating big when you are naturally hungriest—in the evening. This may sound too good to be true, but let me assure you it is no gimmick. It’s all about making strategic and smart food swaps, and you can still eat your favorite foods.” The first 14 days of the program, referred to in the book as the “Acceleration Phase”, is used to jumpstart the program and give instantaneous results (something I’m sure everyone would love). The Acceleration phase also introduced intermittent fasting, which is something I’d previously implemented into my daily routine, however, I’d stopped doing it. According to Marion “Intermittent fasting really shines when it comes to improving the hormones that directly affect your hunger, blood sugar, and metabolism. One is insulin. IF combats insulin resistance, meaning that it helps your body use insulin more normally, thereby lowering your diabetes risk and boosting your metabolism.” I love IF because it helps me feel more in control of my cravings and gives me a sense of clarity, I’d never really done an extensive research to know and understand that it was also good for my hormones and metabolism because “Your brain will release the neurotransmitters and hormones that will help you regulate your hormones and burn more stored fat each day. You don’t have to be burdened with trying to eat every few hours. With intermittent fasting, dieting becomes much easier to adhere to and the benefits are remarkable.”.
Joel Marion also suggested a 3-minute fat burning ritual in the mornings in place of breakfast, which is something I was extremely happy about because it’s something I’ve been wanting to star back doing. You can read more about that ritual in blog #3 of this series.
What I’ve loved most about this program, is that Marion has literally made me unlearn everything I thought was right, and everything I thought I knew about living a healthy life. I’ve been taught to avoid carbs, like a bad haircut, and especially avoid carbs at night because they sit on you and you absolutely will see the results of having them, however, according to Marion “Having carbs in the evening is also a great weight loss strategy. When you’re active, your body burns mainly carbohydrates and muscle glycogen for energy. By eating carbs at night, you allow your body to use them to restore glycogen for energy the next day and provide your body with the glucose it needs to regulate your blood sugar levels during sleep.”. Generally, I would have my carbs earlier in the day, which made fasting into the next day the most dreadful experience and caused my energy levels to be lowered when I needed them the most. I now understand that carbs later in the evening are way more beneficial to my goals.
My take away from Joel Marion’s Always Eat After 7 PM program, is that I have a long way to go to get to where I want to be. But, participating in his program has made me rethink my goals, reimagine dieting, and restructure what I thought I knew. This program has also given me an understanding of why other programs in the past may not have worked so well. I love that Marion’s program is more longterm and sustainable, it’s also something you don’t have to think too hard about. In his book, Marion provides examples of meal plans that can be easily applied to your diet as you see fit and recipes to help meet your goals. I think the Always Eat After 7 PM program is definitely worth a try. Joel Marion’s Always Eat After 7 PM program makes dieting easy and eliminates 90% of the reasons for resistance. I’ve not yet reached my goals, and I’m going to retry the program by extending out my Acceleration phase but so far I am happy with the way things have gone.
Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion is now available to purchase. Learn more about the book and how to purchase it here.
