Unlock Weight Loss

Reprogram your body to crave less sugar and processed foods by minimizing all fast-digesting carbs and added sugars or sweeteners for just two weeks.

Fast-digesting carbohydrates and sugar-loaded foods adversely impact your hormones, metabolism, and hunger signals. (Sugar, in fact, has been proven to be an addictive substance; that’s why your body feels like it craves it.)

Without these foods, your fat cells will transition from storing energy (which leaves you feeling hungry) to actually burning it. The Jumpstart is an important tool for breaking cravings cycles and rewiring your body from the inside out.

Step 1

Plan It

During the Jumpstart, you’ll follow the Metabolic Jumpstart phase of the Calibrate Food Triangle (see what changes here). To do this, you'll focus on filling your plate with nutrient-dense foods packed with protein, fiber, and healthy fats. This all on its own will leave less room for processed foods and added sugars.

Remember, prep is the number one thing you can do to set yourself up for success. Planning out your meals helps you make smart food choices instead of grabbing something last minute. Choose your approach now: You can cook your own meals (check out our budget tips for cooking the Calibrate way), follow our meal plan (complete with a shopping list), or use easy on-the run options, too. You can also mix-and-match any of these ideas based on how they fit into your week. (And don’t forget to plan some snacks, too!)

Then, fill out your Meal Plan Calendar so you have a helpful road map to keep you feeling in control. This is also a great time to revisit the Pantry Purge if you’ve found more red foods than you might like have crept their way back into your cabinets.

To learn even more about what to expect, drop by our twice-monthly Food Program Office Hours (the second half of the hour is completely dedicated to Jumpstart questions and strategies).

Step 2

Do It

It’s go time! During these next two weeks, stick to your plan and lean on us for support: If you have questions or haven’t been yet, attend one of our Food Program Office Hours to chat live with the Calibrate food team.

No matter what these two weeks throw at you, we’ve got you covered:

Cooking your own meals? Try some new techniques, plus easy ways to add even more flavor.
Eating out at a restaurant or grabbing lunch from a cafeteria? Learn tips for when you’re not in control of the kitchen in our Metabolic Jumpstart Dining Out Guide.
Heading to a party? Keep it healthy, without losing any of the fun.
Feeling too exhausted to cook after a crazy day? Order take-out and feel in control.
Feeling overwhelmed by cravings? Reading our Comfort Food Guide can help you get to the root of them, and help give your body what it really wants.

And do not give up! The point of this exercise isn’t how perfectly you can hit the mark every day. It’s to jumpstart your metabolism and establish changes that you have the whole rest of the program to build upon.

Step 3

Review It

Congrats! You’ve spent two weeks slashing your sugar and fast-digesting carb intake, changing your body from the inside out. Now what?

First of all, pat yourself on the back. Detoxing from fast-digesting carbs and sugars is no small feat, and you’ve taken a huge step in rewiring your fat cells.

Next, keep up the good work: Take the highs and lows of the last fourteen days and turn them into healthy habits you want to keep. Continue to give your body the food it needs: healthy fats, proteins, and fiber-filled fruits and vegetables, with a new addition of whole grains in moderation. While we know it’s not easy, keep your sugars low and your carbs complex.

You'll have two weeks to help you transition to the Weight Loss phase of the Calibrate Food Triangle (and review what changes here).

And remember, you can always do the Jumpstart again. Think of it as just another tool in your arsenal for your entire Metabolic Reset. Hitting a weight plateau or just feeling blah after the holidays? Talk to your coach and make it a focus class, follow a mini version, or do it on top of your other classes.

There are a few distinctions between the Metabolic Jumpstart and the other phases of the Calibrate Food Triangle. Whether you’re doing the Jumpstart for the first time or revisiting it at a later point in your Reset, review what’s different in our quick guide on What Changes Across the Calibrate Food Triangle.

Red Foods

Throughout your time with Calibrate, we simply ask you to track your red foods and minimize them over time. During this two-week Jumpstart, you’ll work to get your red food consumption as close to zero as possible. (Sanity check: you’re not failing if you don’t hit zero. Success is progress, not perfection.) Keep in mind, too, that a few foods switch to red during the Jumpstart (you can review them here).

Added Sugars

Minimize added sugars as much as possible: They spike your blood sugar and increase future cravings. Added sugars include anything that’s added during processing or preparation, such as refined white sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, as well as less-processed options like honey or maple syrup, and will always show up on a nutrition label under “Added Sugars.” For more info, read the Fine Print on Sugars and Sweeteners Guide.

A Note About Natural Sugars

Naturally occurring sugars (like what you’d find in whole foods like milk or an apple) are not added sugars and do not need to be limited during the Jumpstart. These sugars come prepackaged alongside protein, fiber, healthy fats, and other nutrients that your body needs and that help keep your blood sugar stable. For more info, read the Fine Print on Sugars and Sweeteners Guide.

Sweeteners

Always read the ingredient list: Even “sugar-free” products can still contain a sweetener. Artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose are always red: they negatively affect your microbiome and can lead to weight gain. But during the Jumpstart, we also ask you to limit sugar-free natural sweeteners like monk fruit, Stevia, erythritol, or allulose. While these are often better options (and are recommended alternatives during the rest of the program), they can still trick your brain and spike your blood sugar or cravings, which the Jumpstart is helping you rewire. For more info, read the Fine Print on Sugars and Sweeteners Guide.

Alcohol

Alcohol is high in sugar and devoid of proteins, minerals, and vitamins—and beyond that, it actually inhibits the absorption of nutrients. It also loosens our decision-making skills and hinders the effects of fullness hormones like leptin and the GLP-1s that naturally occur in our bodies. During the Jumpstart, consider alcohol a red food and limit it as much as possible.

White Potatoes and Yuca

During the Jumpstart, and for the remainder of your Metabolic Reset, consider white potatoes and yuca red foods and limit them as much as possible as they are high in fast-digesting carbohydrates. (Keep in mind that although sweet potatoes and white potatoes share a name, they’re distantly related. Sweet potatoes are grouped into the vegetable category, a green food, on the Calibrate Food Triangle.)

Processed Whole Grains

During the Jumpstart, processed whole grains (minimally processed grains that retain some fiber, such as 100% whole grain wheat or rye bread, brown or wild rice, whole wheat pasta, or rolled oats) change from yellow to red on the Calibrate Food Triangle. (After the Jumpstart, they’ll become orange.)

Intact Whole Grains

During the Jumpstart, consider intact whole grains (unprocessed grains with maximum fiber, such as quinoa, steel cut oats, buckwheat, farro, teff, amaranth, millet, spelt, or air-popped popcorn) yellow. This means you should aim to eat no more than one serving (about ½ cup cooked) per day. (During the rest of your Metabolic Reset, intact whole grains remain yellow-green.)

The key to success during the Jumpstart is not just just taking out the foods that sabotage your metabolic health, but also adding in the foods that keep you feeling full, provide the right building blocks to reset your metabolism, and best of all, are satisfying and delicious.

As you begin replacing those foods with balanced meals that consist of protein, healthy fats, and fiber you'll feel full and satisfied, not deprived. This will help your body to adapt to the right types of nutrients, burn the energy it already has stored, and feel better, physically and mentally. And don’t forget to hydrate too!

Protein

Think fish and shellfish, meat, legumes (beans, lentils, chickpeas), nuts (whole, or as nut butter), eggs, dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese), non-animal protein (hemp and pea protein), or protein powder (check the label for sneaky ingredients).

Protein helps sustain your energy, support your immune system, power the growth and repair of cells and tissue, and is also critical for keeping you full and reducing hunger. It even reduces your insulin levels after eating, making it ideal for regular meals and for craving-busting snacks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Two weeks is long enough to build the foundation for habit change and consistency, but short enough so that it won’t feel like forever. In the grand scheme of things, two weeks is a drop in the bucket. Success (at anything!) doesn’t happen overnight. With the same habits, you’ll end up with the same results. But with better habits, anything is possible. During week one of the Jumpstart, your body will be adjusting to these new behaviors. During week two, your body will be cementing these new behaviors as habits that you can take with you beyond the Jumpstart.

Remember, medication is just a tool, not the treatment. While GLP-1s effectively jumpstart weight loss, results achieved through medication alone won’t last forever unless you make sustainable lifestyle changes and shift your underlying physiology. While the side effects of GLP-1s might help you complete the Jumpstart, doing it on your own will set you up for immeasurable success during the rest of your Metabolic Reset as you truly reset your metabolism.

Remember, sugar has been proven to be an addictive substance. So you may actually feel like your body is detoxing. Initial side effects might include headaches, fatigue, increased cravings, and feelings of crankiness. However, most members find that these symptoms go away between days two and five of the Jumpstart, when your body starts to adjust. By the end of the two weeks, you’ll find that you have more energy, you crash less after your meals, your cravings have reduced, your skin may have cleared up, you have less bloating, you’re sleeping better, and you have less anxiety—plus, you may have lost some weight.

The Jumpstart is not just about weight loss. It’s about reprogramming your body from the inside out to set yourself up for future weight loss and improved metabolic health. At the end of the two weeks, you’ll likely feel other benefits, such as more energy, less cravings, cleared skin, less bloating, better sleep, and less anxiety. Continue to build on your wins from the Jumpstart and the weight loss will be sure to follow.

The faster your body digests a carbohydrate, the faster your blood sugar will spike. Fiber helps slow digestion, so the more fiber a food has relative to its carbohydrate content, the slower-digesting a carbohydrate it will be, the more stable your blood sugar will stay and the less likely your body will be to store energy as fat. We’ve already identified lots of fast-digesting carbohydrates on the list of red foods on the Calibrate Food Triangle. You can also use the carb:fiber ratio to help separate out the slower-digesting carbs. To review the carb:fiber ratio and learn more, visit the Food Pillar page.

Added sugars (like brown sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and even honey), will show up on a nutritional label as an “added sugar.” Low- or no-calorie sweeteners like Stevia, monk fruit, allulose, or erythritol won’t show up as an added sugar but add plenty of sweetness to processed foods and can have similar effects on your blood sugar, cravings, and overall metabolic health. For more information about sugars and sweeteners, read our Fine Print on Sugars and Sweeteners Guide.

After the two-week Jumpstart, you’ll transition to the Weight Loss phase of the Calibrate Food Triangle where you’ll continue to give your body the foods it needs—healthy fats, proteins, and fiber-filled fruits and vegetables, with a reintegration of whole grains in moderation. If you lost a fair amount of weight during the Jumpstart, you may hit a weight plateau or even gain some back immediately after the two weeks. But as you progress, you’ll find that your body will return to losing weight and supporting the rest of your metabolic system.

Not a question, but a sentiment we’ve heard before. If you’re like most people, the thought of suddenly slashing your sugar and refined carb intake to zero (or close to it) probably feels impossible (and a bit terrifying). Remember: Sugar and fast-digesting carbs are addictive substances. It’s hard to detox from them. But we’re in it together. Calibrate, your coach, and our community are here to support you every step of the way.

THE METABOLIC JUMPSTART

Jumpstart Goal

Here's Why

Your Metabolic Jumpstart Plan

Plan It

Do It

Review It

What's Changing?

What to Add In

Frequently Asked Questions