Please note: I’m not a medical professional. This is my personal experience with the recently released program, The 21-Day Belly Fix by Dr. Tasneem Bhatia, widely known as Dr. Taz. I was blessed with a free copy of the book. Thanks to my sweet blogging buddy, Jennifer of Sheran Memories, for referring me to Dr. Taz.
I have struggled with my weight for most of my life, but I always knew it was about so much more than the number on the scale. My moods swayed violently from depression to anxiety, stopping at everything in between.
A couple of years ago, I learned about a concept of a “second brain” in the gut. I let the thought quickly fade away, as I didn’t want to give up my incredible love of sugar. Dr. Taz’s program forced me to let go of my obsession with sugar and other processed foods to give my gut a much needed break.
Do you have any of these symptoms?
I had almost all of them… The key word here: HAD.
I’m blown away by how the past 21 days changed me on so many levels. My moods stabilized. I’m sleeping better. My eczema is greatly improved. My migraines and daily ibuprofen disappeared. I’ve lost almost 10 pounds, an average of a half pound per day! The list goes on…
Dr. Taz gives 5 reasons for our sad, aching guts:
In her book, she shares how to bring us back to vitality by working on each of these pieces of our gut health. I must admit. This is not an easy program. I wanted to give up many times. Honestly, if I hadn’t promised an honest review of the entire program, my gut would still be crying out for help.
The first 3 days are extremely restrictive. Each section after adds a little more food with some options. By day 4, I was exhausted, cranky, and ready to bite my family’s heads off. Literally… By day 6, my sugar cravings went away and I began to see light again.
On the 9th day of the program, I decided to cheat. I went to a movie with my husband and ate buttered popcorn, which quickly turned into half his fries dipped in nacho cheese. I woke up the next morning hungover. For a woman who hasn’t had a drink in almost 15 years, this is not a feeling I ever wanted to deal with again.
Needless to say, I got back on the program and finished pretty strong. Did I do it perfectly? Absolutely not.
I missed a couple of mornings of the apple cider vinegar cocktail that made me gag the first 18 days. I only took 1 of the 5 supplements she recommends, having many issues with different supplements over the years. I ate out twice thinking their ingredients would be almost as fresh and clean as the ones I bought and prepared myself. That was a bad choice on so many levels…
I learned a great deal about foods I may need to kiss goodbye. As the program progresses, possible gut offending foods are slowly reintroduced. Dairy and gluten are brought back into the diet a few days apart. I took the liberty of adding them the same day. Big mistake. My moodiness, brain fog, and an ugly rash all resurfaced within 24 hours. I cut out gluten again and left the dairy to try to pinpoint the offender. Sadly, it may be both…
Today is day 22. Dr. Taz does not leave you lost at the end of the 21 days. She gives us a sustainable plan for the future, even offering 10% of the daily plan up for grabs. Today, my 10% is a latte. Not an almost 400-calorie, 13 grams of fat, Starbucks pumpkin spice latte, like I was drinking often less than a month ago, but a healthier, yet still incredibly tasty latte created by my locally owned coffee shop, weighing in at less than 150 calories.
The rest of my day will contain many of the wonderful recipes in the 21 day book, like bone broth soup, green juice, and my new favorite snack, tempeh sticks. This book makes me feel like I can cook the way a healthy person does. You should see my refrigerator! It is beautiful. My children are even (shockingly) enjoying the healthier choices.
I’m surprised by how much these new habits have become second nature to me. That morning apple cider vinegar concoction is just part of my routine, instead of a nose-plugging nightmare. Making homemade bone broth is something I do weekly, not one of those things I think only those awesome, granola moms I envy do.
If you would like to learn more about the book or purchase it, you can find it here
Note: I’m an Amazon affiliate. If you click through and purchase from the above link, a small amount will go to help support this site, at no additional cost to you.
If you have time today, check out the rest of this series:
Oh Candace!! I am just SO happy that you have found this program and you are healing healing healing in every way- from the inside out!! This really sounds so amazing. My husband might benefit from this, as his gut is always horrible- he suffers the more he ages, from IBS. He has gone gluten free- and is only eating simple foods. I on the other hand eat anything- and sometimes pay a heavy price! (Gas- especially!)
I celebrate your healthy changes and challenges and your faithful steps to keep going with the program and take control of your food intake and ultimately take care of YOU!!
Thanks so much, Chris! Your support and encouragement are such a gift to me. It sounds like something your husband might want to check out. I’m shocked at how much I benefited from it. It was God delivered :). I think I’m going to have to stay mostly gluten free as well. Simple foods are truly the way to go. The hardest thing for me is not eating out as much but cooking at home is incredibly healthier for my entire family. So glad you stopped by to celebrate with me!
I’ve been thinking about you Candace! I thought I would hop over and check in. Please know you are on my heart and in my prayers, dear friend. XOXO
You are the sweetest, Chris! I have been the queen of inconsistency lately with everything- blogging, eating, exercise… It seems like I hyper-focus in one area and all else fades away. Lately I’ve been obsessed with redecorating :). Thanks for checking on me and for your always welcome prayers, my friend!! XO!
Candace, Just found your blog a few weeks ago, Your last posting intrigued me to return. I am 58 and have struggled with my weight all of my life. Would be interested in reading this book. I know sugar has such a hold on me. Go to bed each night…..planning to not eat it the next day. I think the 21 day cleansing would be a good thing,
I’m so thankful to have you here, Sarah! Sugar has always had a crazy, obsessive hold on me. My addictions changed over the years, but sugar was always one of them. I know what you mean about going to bed with the best of intentions for the next day. By mid-afternoon, I’m usually feeling hopeless again. These 21 days have really helped me detox. I had that latte this morning and was afraid it would set me off for binging the rest of the day. It didn’t! I got to enjoy it and then move on to healthier choices. I even have my dinner of bone broth soup with chicken, kale, and brown rice waiting to be heated up :). Let me know if you have any questions about it.
I’m so proud of you!! This is just wonderful! And I applaud you for being human, and admitting it! These “slips” will most likely happen to us all, and it’s refreshing to see that you has them, and what the results were! Makes me less likely to have the inclination to slip. Thank you for sharing this!!!
Thanks so much for the encouragement, Veronica! There has definitely been some great progress. I finally know to allow myself slips and not give up after every one like I used to. You are so right they “will most likely happen to us all” :)!
What a fabulous program! I like that it is not just a diet, but a lifestyle change focused on helping both your gut and your mind process the changes.
I’m actually more excited about the mind benefits than anything else, Jen! My moods have been amazing. I also love that it is “a lifestyle change.” So many plans just end after a certain period of time. We have to find something that will work for us longterm. I’m hoping this is the one for me :).
Thank you! I have a few in the family that have some of these…will be taking a look at it.
I’m incredibly impressed with this program, Becky! Let me know if you have any questions I can try to answer for you.
I can attest all of those issues contribute to disruptive bellies especially STRESS!
I completely agree, Diatta! Stress has trashed my belly over the last few years. Dr. Taz gives some great tips on how to lower our stress, including yoga. I forgot how much I love yoga and hope to start it again this week.
My husband recently started doing hot yoga and it is helping with his stress level. He used to be an “in the gym, lift heavy weights” kind of guy but he is finding yoga is really helpful.
I’ve heard great things about hot yoga. I may have to try it out. I’m glad to hear it’s helping your husband’s stress level. That is a wonderful outcome :)!
Thank you for posting this today. You wouldn’t believe what I’ve been going through the past few weeks with my body and now I have an enlarged thyroid and waiting on other tests. I don’t like feeling like this and I know the majority of it is my diet. So hubby and I have started with deleting one thing we eat or drink out of our lives slowly. We are huge tea drinkers and that is our first step and drink water instead. We will work on sugar and bread next. This book sounds so interesting. We both need a better life style change for sure.
I’m so sorry to hear of your troubles, Tammy! The thyroid can really mess up so many aspects of our health. Thyroid issues run in my family. All of our women, including my daughter, struggle with it. Taking one thing out of your diet at a time sounds like a great plan. Sugar is definitely my biggest demon. I have already introduced it back into my diet too much and am paying for it!
I need to read this book. I’ve already elminated a lot from my diet. However, I need to do a better job of eating less sugar (mainly a lot of fruit). I also, need to exercise a lot more.
It is a great book, Sonya! It’s definitely not the easiest plan, but it’s well worth it. I’m going to start working on exercise this week. My older age is no longer conducive to losing weight without moving :). I used to be able to lose with food choices alone, but sadly that does not work as well anymore.
I really need this book. My diet has been very poor lately due to my busy schedule so my family and I are either eating out or cooking convenient foods. I’m heading to a healthy eating conference next month and hope that will help me. Thanks for hosting the giveaway Candace! #ProductReviewParty
Eating out is our biggest pitfall, Louida. My family goes out far more than we eat in my kitchen. I’m really working on changing that. It’s so hard when we have busy schedules. I feel your pain on that one! That conference sounds awesome. I look forward to reading about it when you get home. Thanks for the linkup!
I cook my own beans and make my own “refried”beans and try to eat more of those. Did you have to make a separate meal plan for the rest of your family and was it hard not to snitch when you were cooking?
That’s a great tip on the beans, Tammy! I’ll have to try that. I’m always looking for more vegetarian choices. I did have to cook separate for my kids. Honestly, it was mainly pasta and frozen stuff in the beginning just so I could get through it. Towards the end, it was much easier to merge my plan and their dinners. My husband was out of town for a lot of the 21 days. He’s home now and I’m struggling to find common ground for us. I finally made a plan for this week though, so I’m going to make everyone try to eat the same thing. As far as the temptation of making them pasta and not gorging on it myself :), this 21 day plan really takes those cravings away. I didn’t even want heavy foods like pasta, etc. Since reintroducing gluten and sugar, I’m craving things again so I’m planning on laying off of them for a while.
Candace-I am so proud of you! I can’t imagine how difficult the beginning of the program was for you to not only start but stick with. I need to do something like this as I have mentioned before. I will pray as you continue and learn to introduce some foods back into your diet. Love you friend!
Thanks, Mary! I was really excited about sticking with it. It was the hardest plan I have done, but also the most rewarding. I’ve fallen a little bit over the last week, but at least I know exactly what to do for relief. Love you too, my friend! I so appreciate your prayers and encouragement :).
what an interesting process! I’ve been trying to eat less and less process foods, which was a hard health tip until we moved!
It is so hard to avoid processed food, Roaen! I have to admit I reintroduced way too much junk food and am paying the price for it. I didn’t know how much better I felt without it until I got it all out of my system for a while. Moving is tough on all levels. I hope all is well with you and your family! Stay safe on those roads ;)!