If you’re new to a Pro Metabolic Diet, this page was created to point you to all the articles on this website to get you started.
What is a Pro Metabolic Diet & Lifestyle?
A Pro Metabolic Diet is one that provides easily digestible and bioavailable foods that your body needs for optimal cellular metabolism. This ensures your body has all the fuel and specific nutrients to function at optimal capacity, which increases your metabolic rate. Your body therefore efficiently burns fat while at rest. The cells efficiently create energy from the balanced diet we eat.
The feeling is high energy, amazing health with little effort required.
Your thyroid gland controls your metabolism and the thyroid needs sufficient carbohydrates to function properly. This is why so many of us, including me after 10 years on a Keto Diet, ended up with low body temperatures, feeling cold all the time, close to pre diabetes, putting weight on without eating any more. and metabolism grinding to nearly a halt!
We also follow a Pro Metabolic Lifestyle because certain activities can lower your metabolic rate. These activities include intense cardio, fasting, low calories, exercising on an empty stomach, and more. We need to learn better metabolism supporting habits. These activities include eating enough calories, developing muscle tone and getting out in the sunshine, which all enhance our metabolic rate.
What you may have been doing that messed you up in the first place
A link to the FREE 7 Day email course to learn more
How to join our Private Facebook Group to ask more questions
And more!
Get started reading on the Pro Metabolic Diet Beginners Guide here.
Most of what we’ve been told about diet and exercise is wrong. This is why we think we’re doing all the right things, but we keep putting on more weight!
This website has lots to read to get you started. If you’re in a hurry though to learn it all quickly, the ZEN Beach Diet is the book to grab. It’s under $10 and available for immediate download worldwide. The summary of a pro metabolic diet, 7 day meal plan, recipes and beautiful images to get you motivated is included. Click the image below to learn more.
In our private facebook group we were talking about how much fruit people buy in their weekly shop. It was prompted by me trying to organise myself better, to make sure I was sticking to my ZEN Beach Diet.
It’s one thing knowing WHAT to do and HOW to do it,
but actually DOING it is another thing entirely.
Some people are super focused on food prep and planning their meals and to be honest, I wish I was far more like that. But I’m not, so that’s why the basic outline of a meal in the ZEN Beach Diet is so helpful, because at least you easily know what each meal is supposed look like macro-wise.
It’s true. There are metabolism boosting foods. Coffee is one of them. But in ALL cases they must be consumed in a certain way to trigger the metabolic benefit. Continue reading →
Hands up who’s eating has been a little all over the place lately and needs to lose weight and get back on track with a Summer Diet Restart that’s Dr Ray Peat Inspired?
The good news is that I’ve just created the new Zen Beach Diet 3 Day Summer RESTART book and double bonus – you can even get it for FREE! Read on to find out how.
The Zen Beach Diet is a detailed guide of Kristy Alford’s experiences with the Dr Ray Peat style of eating.
After eating low carb/keto for 10 years, she realised it was no longer working. Weight was coming back on, she was feeling cold all the time and her hair started to fall out. Kristy sought further answers and found the work of Dr Ray Peat.
After researching, experimenting and eating this way for nearly four years now, Kristy has finally found her answers. It was about fine tuning the calorie level, balance of macros and types of food to maximise her health, metabolism and finally reach the weight loss goal she desired.
The book includes information, food guides, a how to build your own meal plan formula as well as a 7-day meal plan and new recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Kristy says, “Many of the resources on Ray’s way of eating give the general guidelines, but no-one tells you specifically WHAT to eat and HOW MUCH to eat. This is where the Zen Beach Diet book fills the gap.”
It’s a fantastic start point to get you going. Then as you learn more, you adjust what you’re doing to suit your own body better.
Beautifully photographed by her husband and professional photographer Adrian Alford, it features a stunning collection of beaches from around the world.
Enjoy the amazing view as you learn how to finally get your health and weight on track and into the Zen Beach vibe.
Priced at only AU$9.95 (US$6.65, £5.15), it’s a PDF file of 34 mb and is available for immediate download now.
“I love it! Such an easy concept to follow and the pictures are stunning. Feeling better already.” – Lindy Z.
“Easy plan, easy recipes. Love the way she incorporates fruit into everything.” – Rita A.
“Ray’s information and education is amazing but I could never find it all in just the one spot, so this book is amazing!”– E.D.
“Yep I have bought this recipe book and can safely say we are given fabulous recipes with lots to eat. I feel very well fed plus the gorgeous photography images are sunny and cheery!”– Lisa W.
“You are to be commended on putting the basics in one easy reference for sure! This isn’t easy to simplify at all! Very, very helpful” Marcine P.
“I am really enjoying the Zen Beach Diet. Great info in it and easy to understand.“ J.V.
“I’ve been trying to follow a pro-metabolic diet for years but it didn’t click until I started working with Kristy and reading her books – the Zen Beach Diet is SO simple and easy to understand and makes me feel like I can do this. With Kristy’s help, I’ve been able to get my temperatures back to where they should be and feel more energized. Thank you, Kristy!” – Rachel B.
“What a gorgeous book, it’s such a delight to read and use.The pictures are amazing, it’s beautifully written and easy to follow.I love all of Kristy Alford’s books and I think The Zen Beach Diet is her best book so far! Very inspiring! – K.D.
“I recently purchased the Zen Beach Diet book and Sweet Treats. Both of these books contain great recipes and break down the macro nutrients for each meal/snack. When I’m out of ideas for what to make, I pull out your books for easy meals and snacks that also hit my nutrient needs (especially protein!) I also recommend both books to my clients because you follows the principles I teach. Recipe development is NOT my favorite thing to do, which is why I am so grateful for the diligent, hard work you’ve put into these resources, Kristy. Thank you!”
“While I am pretty new to the Peaty way of eating, (about 2 months now,) I have all three of your Peaty books and am having great success with gradual changes and love your perspective of watching the fat and calories so I don’t blimp out!
So far, I have lost 10 pounds, feel so much less bloated and never felt like I was on a diet but rather quite satisfied. I can totally eat this way the rest of my life and my only hunger is to learn more about this way of eating.
Truly though it has been MOST helpful to ‘see’ the Ray Peat plan simply laid out in your Zen book with the information and daily food plan. Can’t say enough how much this has helped me and I always refer back to it.
After on and off again dieting and interests in nutrition, etc., since my teens, I can wholeheartedly say, I’ve finally found it…what really works to keep me healthy, balanced & happy.” – Jen H
“I also want to thank you for writing an excellent book. It really explains things well. I guess I didn’t realize one needed to eat that much fruit at a meal.
I think as simple as your food measurement method might sound, it is brilliant. It does make this way of eating easier. I don’t want to have to count my macros.” – J.F.
Purchase any three of my three Ray Peat Inspired books & receive a BONUS Fat Burner HIIT guide to ramp up your weight loss without damaging your health, absolutely FREE.
When I see the sale come through, I will manually send you the Bonus Guide.
I just wanted to give everyone an update on my super low fat diet experiments.
As you may or may not know, since about June 2020 (4 months,) I have been trying to have only 20g fat a day, (10% of my 1,800 calories.) This was spurred on by the desire to lose about 5kgs (10lbs) within a Ray Peat diet framework.
(10% of calories was deemed to be the magic level where weight loss was more likely, along with a wider margin of calories allowed to no adverse effect.)
Do you know how much daily exercise for health we are supposed to be doing? How much is too much, where it starts to negatively impact your health? Do you know the best exercise to lose weight?
I was visiting my parents who live two states away and I have a running joke with my father, where I ask – “Dad have you been lifting your weights a little?” He always replies, “I’ll start tomorrow.” He has said this for the last 30 years!
Ray Peat weight loss is elusive for many, mainly due to following wrong advice. Hopefully by the end of this article you may figure out where you are going wrong.
Interesting reading in the Ray Peat groups recently and the study where a bunch of guys were given 6,000 calories and no exercise. It demonstrated that while their metabolism increased, so too did their fat and other, not so great, health markers.
While the study was extreme, I think it was a great example of how too many people emphasise the increase of calories as the only way to get to health and a higher metabolism using Dr Ray Peat principles. (Anything under 2,500 calories was deemed to be an eating disorder! What?)
A fast metabolism is one of the key factors that improves overall health no matter what your specific ailment.
I’m coming across more and more people who are health damaged by keto, low carb, paleo, veganism, intermittent fasting and even excess exercise, so I just wanted to make a summary post of all my articles so far, that talk about my journey back to health via the Dr Ray Peat guidelines. A fast metabolism is a really big part of the solution.
Examples of issues
Just this past week a friend with weight issues tested her waking temperature and came in at 36.1C (97F) – so it’s not diabolical but whatever she is doing is contributing to her metabolism decline, which will only get worse if she doesn’t address it now.
Another follower on IG complained about not being able to lose weight any more, she had lost and regained a few times in the past but just couldn’t budge it any more, despite still eating the recommended balanced diet with low calories and doing heaps of cardio. Her temperature – 35.0C (95F) and pulse 60 bpm – which is pretty bad and the level I was when I realised I was heading down the wrong path.
Then two other people where a dietitian and an obesity specialist both recommended low carb/keto diets!
So there is no surprise that the US currently has a thyroid dysfunction epidemic and Australia will soon follow. Already world wide nearly 20% of all women have PCOS! Given the popularity of keto/low carb and quitting sugar, these issues are no surprise.
What controls the metabolism? The Thyroid gland!
So if you are already in the damaged state, these articles will give you an insight as to what you may be doing wrong and the steps required to fix it.
So this is a snapshot of the pro-metabolic direction for optimising your health and hormones with food and exercise. (I don’t know anything about the supplementation side of things because I didn’t need to do that. I do take about 2000mg of non acidic Vitamin C a day though, just because it makes me feel better and it actually reduces cortisol.)
After two years now my body temperature has increased from:
A waking temperature of 35.3C (95.5F) – and after exercise/walking was 34.3C (93.7C).
To now, just in the last few weeks, I’ve reached 36.7C (98F) waking and goes right up to 37.7C (99.9F) after food. (I credit my new light weights exercise program for this last boost.)
When my body fell into a heap two years ago with a pile of hypothyroid symptoms, I had also put on about 6kgs (12lbs) since my lowest low carbing weight, but I didn’t put on any more while switching to Peaty foods. This was because I ignored most of the advice to drastically increase calories to help the body heal. I researched the forums first and everyone who said they did this put on loads of weight. Honestly I don’t think it gets you there any faster. Your body needs time to learn how to process carbs again properly, and clearing the fat out of the way via a lower fat diet was probably the most effective tool for me.
4 years on
Now I am four years into committing to a Ray Peat style lifestyle, the weight I want to be and thriving. A few more recent articles may be helpful:-
Please start on the super easy One Ten Toned exercise program to make sure whatever exercise you are doing now, is not sabotaging your healing efforts:
I show some of the exercises on my YouTube channel:
Having muscle tone helps your body burn fat at rest, shifts around the belly fat, and just helps with circulation, posture, and puts the spring in your step.
Also I have now completed the ZEN Beach Diet book which summarises all of the above and gives you a meal plan, macros and recipes to get started on right now. Available here.
And please share this post with anyone you feel is suffering the effects of wrong diet and punishing exercise, so we can help as many people as possible get on the right track.
A big thank you to Dr Ray Peat whose wisdom is helping so many people regain their health.
