Read an Excerpt
Welcome to
the 2B Mindset!
You Can Lose Weight
Without Feeling Deprived
or Hungry Ever Again.
Hooray! Congratulations! I’m so excited for you to lose weight happily and keep it off for good. Because you can drop these pounds. You can get the body you want. And you’re not going to do it alone.
There are thousands of people like you, unhappy in their bodies and wanting to change. I see them professionally, as a registered dietitian nutritionist with my own private practice. More than 240,000 others have signed up for 2B Mindset, my online course and system for simple and sustainable weight loss. These folks have shed 20, 30, 50, even 100+ pounds and rediscovered their best selves thanks to the unique, easy and effective guiding principles found within the program videos and resources—and in this book.
I know you can drop the weight because I dropped the weight—a lot of weight—using this very same plan. People say they can’t believe it when they see me, but I grew up morbidly obese, weighing more than 200 pounds at my heaviest. I’ve been through this struggle. I know exactly how it feels. I get that there are temptations and cravings. I understand that big wins are usually followed by bigger setbacks. I know what it’s like to feel like the body you’re in doesn’t reflect the you inside.
I also know that I lost 100 pounds—and that I’ve kept it off. I know that I still love food and eating lots of it. I know that I’m happier and healthier than ever before. And I know you can be, too. The techniques in You Can Drop It! work. They work because they’re the result of proven methods combined with science-backed nutrition advice.
My clients pay more than $400 an hour for this counsel. After seeing how amazing they look and feel during our sessions together—and even months and years later—I knew I couldn’t hold these solutions back from those who really need it. My lifelong goal is to help real people like you and me lose weight in the most empowering and enjoyable way possible. It thrills me to share my secrets with you here and even more at 2BMindset.com, because I am committed to have this work for you.
Inside you’ll get practical strategies to help you learn how to eat with purpose, live your life and lose weight so you can keep it off for good. And although I’ll motivate you along the way, I’m not just some rah-rah cheerleader (though if you say I look like one, I won’t complain!). I am a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (the highest standard in nutrition). I have a Master of Science in nutrition. I sit on the prestigious Executive Leadership Team for the American Heart Association and lecture for the Bruin Health Improvement Program at UCLA. I’m in the National Weight Control Registry—that’s the longest study out there on weight loss in America of people who lost weight and kept it off. And I created the 2B Mindset with Beachbody, the pros behind P90x, INSANITY, and other fitness programs that have helped millions of people get the bodies they deserve from the comfort of their homes.
I also have a degree in tough love or PYF—pushing you further. I might seem too direct at times, but I believe hard work equals bigger results, and I am obsessed with results, namely yours. You only get one body, I always say. So you might as well make it rock!
To join in, you don’t have to buy into some new fad or spend thousands on exercise equipment or give up carbs forever. You just need the right guidance and a new...mindset.
GETTING INTO THE 2B MINDSET
This is probably not the first time you’ve attempted to lose weight. I’m sure in the past, you’ve gained some weight and—maybe after being inspired or embarrassed or frustrated—decided it was time to lose it. What did you do? Maybe promise yourself you would fast or cleanse or try really, really hard to eat perfectly for a day, a week, or a month. And maybe you even succeeded. And I give you credit for your willpower, because I never stood a chance using those methods.
Or maybe all of that strictness, discipline and effort frustrated you because you only saw a little success and felt like a failure. So you got sluggish and sad. Your energy crashed, and you went looking for something to make you feel better. Why, hello, leftover cookies and jar of peanut butter!
That’s when you gave in—and felt guilty that you did. So you chose to wave the white flag and surrender... again.
And your weight went back up... again.
That mindset doesn’t work—and it hasn’t worked for millions of people struggling with their weight who have been trying those same methods.
The mindset that does work—as shown by hundreds and hundreds of my clients and the hundreds of thousands more who have used this program—is the 2B Mindset. Why? Because the 2B Mindset is designed to be sustainable from day one. It doesn’t shame you for your love of food, busy schedule, skipped workouts, or lack of meal prep; it works with you and your real life! It redefines your relationship with food and with how you think about eating. You won’t ever be told to cut out sweets, but the cool thing is, once you have a new mindset, you may never want them the same way. And it starts with having a good relationship with your body, which, as a result, also leads to super-effective weight loss.
Ultimately, the 2B Mindset is rooted in this fundamental truth about nutrition: Weight loss is about what food you eat, but it’s also about your eating behaviors, reaction to hunger and food environments, and how you can figure out what works best for you and your body.
We all have different bodies, we all like different foods and we all have different lifestyles and schedules. For you to have long-term success—and a healthy relationship with food and your body—you have to understand that successful weight loss isn’t about rigid meal plans and deprivation. A way of eating has to be about what’s in your mind as well as what’s on your plate.
Life throws you curveballs, and the 2B Mindset equips you with the tools you need to smash them—not the other way around. This program is designed to help you handle any struggle or hurdle you face because it’s not about being “perfect,” but about being customized.
Here’s what you stand to gain.
Freedom
The 2B Mindset is not a diet. You’re not going to count calories, you’re not going to calculate grams, you’re not going to cut out food groups, you’re not going to permanently swear off alcohol, sweets or anything. The second you start telling yourself “no,” you’re just going to be stuck on that, and that’s the last thing you want. Are you skeptical or wondering how and why that’s possible? Despite what you read, do you still think you should cut out bread to lose your weight? Let’s try this little exercise and see if it works for you.
Try not to think about elephants. Whatever you do, for the next minute, don’t think about elephants. Don’t think about their grayish color, the way they walk, their floppy ears or long trunks.
How’d you do?
See, not that promising.
With the 2B Mindset, you’re going to be telling yourself “yes.” You’ll focus on the positive and what works for you, and all you need to start is an open mind.
Control
One of the things that I hear most often from people who have the 2B Mindset is something I enjoy even more than hearing that people lost weight. They report that they finally have control. There’s so much in life that feels out of our control. And in many cases for women, what happens to their bodies is out of their control (puberty, PMS, pregnancy, nursing, menopause, etc....sorry if that’s TMI, boys, but it’s the uncomfortable truth for us). Our bodies are constantly morphing away from us, and we just want to get control of our weight, shape and abilities. I know how this feels, and I know so many others who feel the same, too. Getting control of your mindset and eating habits allows you to finally get control of your body—and your interactions with and emotions toward food.
Short-Term, Long-Term and Sustained Weight Loss
Everything that comes from the 2B Mindset revolves around my Core Four—these four principles that will give you the weight loss, the freedom and the control you want: Water First, Veggies Most, Use the Scale, and Track Your Progress. No intense food rules, calorie counting, strict meal plan regimens, drill-sergeant directives of must-do-this and gotta-do-that. The groundwork is based on these four highly proven and effective core principles—principles that will guide you and shape you to get the body that you want so you can feel better and live better.
When you put all that together, you’ll find that the 2B Mindset is a health and weight-loss gift that keeps on giving. It makes life easier. It makes life fresher. It makes you brighter. It makes you more energetic. It’s better for your joints; it’s better for your back. It’s just better. Weight loss is what’s yummy, satisfying and delicious. But don’t worry, you’ll still be indulging in delicious food as well.
Throughout the book and program, you will get thousands of tips, tricks, strategies and pieces of information that can and will help you.
What you won’t find is a prescribed list of meals and when to eat them. I don’t believe in that. If someone told me to eat asparagus and chicken for dinner one night, and then my husband told me he wants to get sushi, I’m going to want to get sushi with him, butalso make it work for my goals. So there’s no prescribed “thing.” Forget the old mindset, where eating vegan/keto/paleo/macro/fasting/counting points is required for obtaining and sustaining your goals. The 2B Mindset is eating with a sensible yet flexible approach that is needed for physical and mental health.
Once you figure out your own system, the weight drops off, off, off. And it becomes second nature. What makes this different from other diets is that we are doing this together. I live with the 2B Mindset every day. I may be in “Maintenance Mode” (which you’ll read more about on page 275) but I always have to be conscious. I laugh when I see people look me up and down and size me up as a “naturally thin” woman who seems too carefree to have ever struggled with her weight. No one understands how hard I had to work to get to where I am (unless they know me personally, of course). I still watch my weight. Every. Single. Day. More so than ever, because I’m not just living for myself and right now. I’m living for my future. I’m living for my husband, Noah, our daughter, Olivia, our son, Julian, and the whole 2B Mindset community.
As a result, no one wants this plan to work for you more than me. Everything I will push you to do is for the benefit of you because I care about you! You’ll get to the weight you want to be. You’ll forget the stories of the past. You’re going to let go of this identity of someone who struggles with their weight, and you’ll get to that place where you always wanted to be—to that person who is strong, fit and free.
So let’s leave the past behind us and turn the page to focus on everything you want 2B.
xoxo,
Ilana Muhlstein, M.S, R.D.N.
