Back in 2015, I created a simple approach to weight loss that I called the 0,1,2,3 strategy.

Since then, it has been shared tens of thousands of times helping individuals solve up to 80% of their diet’s problems by doing nothing else but following four daily habits.

Would you like to learn about it? Here you go!

There are no strings attached. It is my hope that this simple strategy will become the foundation of healthy weight control for the rest of your life.

Why Dr. Becky’s 0,1,2,3 Strategy Works

I mentioned that when you incorporate these four daily habits into your life, they will wipe out up to 80% of the problems in your diet.

That is a bold statement, but I have come to find that it is true because they remove the number one diet destroyer, which is sugar, while at the same time fill your body with high-volume, nutrient-rich foods.

You will learn the strategy in this blog post, but if you’re in a hurry, then you’ll want to download my 0,1,2,3 Strategy that has been compressed down to a one-page checklist. To download the checklist right now, put your name and email in the form below.

Who is Dr. Becky?

If you don’t know me, I am Dr. Becky Gillaspy. I am a doctor of chiropractic, but the majority of my career was spent teaching college courses in subjects ranging from nutrition to anatomy and physiology.

I’m excited to share this information with you, and I have been in your shoes.

I struggled with my weight for years mostly due to my obsession with sugar.

I will tell you that during those years, my head was filled with good ideas about how to get healthy and lose weight, but when it came to focusing those ideas into an effective plan that I could enjoy, I felt like I had no control.

O,1,2,3 is simple and effective and will become the foundation that puts you in control.

It will serve as the jumpstart to move you from where you are now, to where you want to be and I can’t wait for you to start experiencing this for yourself.

The strategy has been downloaded tens of thousands of times, and I’ve received so many heartwarming reviews from people who felt liberated by these four habits…

What People Have to Say about The 0,1,2,3 Strategy

“What I’ve learned so far is that following the 4 rules (0,1, 2, 3) has really given me back some control and a sense of calmness…I’m not stressed about what I’m going to eat because it’s planned out and I know it’s going to help me lose weight” ~Michelle P.

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“I really liked the simplicity of this program. 0 1 2 3 simple, but effective!!” ~Dona G

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“I am very excited that Dr. Becky Gillaspy shared her 0,1,2,3 program with me. In the matter of a few weeks, I have lost almost 30 pounds. More importantly, I have found a healthier eating lifestyle that I can continue forever. The 0,1,2,3 program is simple and easy to remember and follow. I am grateful for Dr. Becky Gillaspy and her program, it has changed my life.” ~Jim R.

0123 – Daily Habits That Create Weight Loss

0, 1, 2, 3 – this is the acronym we are going to use to remember the four daily habits that when followed, eliminate the majority of the problems in your diet.

They will become the foundation for weight control that you can turn to for the rest of your life.

They work so well as a foundation that they are also the foundation for my diet plan that I referred to as The Full 0,1,2,3 Diet Plan.

Let’s go over these four daily habits. And, if you haven’t done so already, I encourage you to download your copy of the 0,1,2,3 strategy that is provided below.

Having that at your fingertips will help you follow along.

Zero “0” Sugar

Our strategy starts with zero, meaning zero sugar.

But, what exactly does that mean?

Well, it means that you’ll eliminate added sugar throughout your day, so you’re not going to add sugar to tea and coffee, for instance.

And, if you are eating packaged food, you want to turn that food over and read the ingredient list. If sugar is listed as one of the top three ingredients, don’t eat it.

Now, I rarely get past this point when I’m trying to describe these habits before I get a question…

“Umm, does that mean I have to give up sugar for the rest of my life?”

I understand that fear arises when we’re looking at the idea of giving up sugar. My answer to that question is no.

I don’t recommend that anyone commits to giving up sugar for the rest of their life mainly because that thought is very intimidating.

When we try to give ourselves ultimatums like that, they backfire and we quit.

What we’ll do instead is show you, as we progress through this blog post how to whittle these habits down into short-term goals, which makes them much more doable and melts away a lot of that fear.

But, I also want to explain something to you about sugar.

Sugar is a Problem, But How Do You Give It Up?

Sugar is the food that is eliminated in every weight loss plan from plant-based to animal-based and everything in between.

Sugar is a problem, but here’s the thing…

You might have tried to give up sugar in the past and been unsuccessful.

The reason for that is because you didn’t follow the rules one, two, and three of our strategy.

So, let me go into those…

One “1” Large Salad

One stands for one large salad.

What does a large salad mean? Well, you’re going to take a big bowl and fill it with four cups of leafy greens. That’s about 160 grams depending on which greens you use.

You’ll top those greens with different vegetables like tomatoes, onions, peppers, and any other veggies that you have handy and enjoy.

Those are the basics, but you can certainly throw other items on your salad as well, such as meat, cheese, beans, nuts, and seeds.

Just to clarify, every day you’re going to have a large salad, so one of your meals should be a salad.

Two “2” Cups of Cooked Non-Starchy Vegetables

Two stands for two cups of cooked non-starchy vegetables.

The weight will vary depending on the vegetable you choose to eat and I do provide metric measurements in The Full 0,1,2,3, Diet Plan for those of you living outside of the United States.

When we are talking about non-starchy vegetables we are talking about things like broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, snap peas, green beans, onions, mushrooms, and zucchini.

We are not talking about 2 cups of corn or potatoes because they are both starchy vegetables. I’m not saying that you can’t eat corn and potatoes, you can! What I am saying is that those starchy foods do not satisfy the “2” of the 0,1,2,3 Strategy.

Why So Many Veggies!

You’ve likely noticed that you are putting a lot of vegetables into your body every day. There are a lot of reasons why you want to load up on veggies.

One reason is that these foods flood your system with micronutrients. Those vitamins and minerals help to eliminate a lot of toxins that build up in your body from a high-sugar diet.

When you give up sugar, you go with through withdrawal and your body starts to free those toxins from storage.

That rush of toxins into your system creates a false or toxic hunger that threatens to pull you back.

The pull that comes with this uncomfortable hunger is similar to the pull felt by a drug addict.

Why do addicts keep going back to their drugs? Their bodies are telling them “give me some more of this, I’m going through withdrawal.”

It’s the same thing with sugar, but when you eat a lot of nutrient-rich foods, those nutrients flush out the toxins very quickly and that gets you past the withdrawal symptoms much faster.

Three “3” Hours Before Bed, Stop Eating

Number 3 or our 0,1,2,3 Strategy stands for 3 hours before bed, stop eating.

When we eat in the evening we often do so out of boredom.

Snacking is often looked at as a way of passing time, all the chores of the day are done and we’ve created nighttime snacking as a way to relax.

Creating the daily habit of stopping eating 3 hours before you go to bed eliminates that late-night, mindless eating. And, because a lot of those evening snacks are high in sugar, rule number 3 is going to help us with our sugar problem.

So, one, two, and three of our strategy help us stay true to our zero sugar rule.

Making The 0,1,2,3 Rules No Exception Rules

You’ll get the most benefit if you turn the four daily habits into No Exception Rules.

I borrowed the term No Exception Rule from Jack Canfield who is a world-renown success coach.

No Exception Rules work because when you declare something it gets done. There is no exception.

It becomes part of your daily routine and it cuts out that internal banter that we get in our heads that tries to talk us out of something

For instance, have you ever half-heartedly gone on a diet and by telling yourself, “well, I don’t think I’m going to eat sugar today,” but then your coworker brings in cupcakes, and your internal dialogue changes to, “well maybe, I’ll have a little bit.”

The no exception rules stop that internal discussion.

By making the 0,1,2,3 rules No Exception Rules, you know without a shadow of a doubt that today you’re going to completely avoid sugar, eat one large salad, eat two cups of cooked, non-starchy vegetables, and stop eating three hours before bed.

Done. period. End of story.

It’s just like brushing your teeth.

You brush your teeth in the morning and you brush your teeth in the evening without exception. Even if you’re in bed and you realize that you forgot to brush your teeth, you get up and walk into the bathroom to brush them. It just gets done.

The Trick To Making The 0,1,2,3 Rules Work – Short-Term Goals

Right now, you might be considering what it means to follow these rules for the rest of your life. When we look at lifetime changes in the way we eat, it can bring up a lot of fear.

So we’re not going to do that. What we’re going to do instead, is create short-term goals.

When I take someone through my diet plan, I guide them through 40-day, short-term goals.

The main reason is a personal one because 40-days-at-a-time is how I lost weight.

When I committed to making the effort and I made the choice to lose weight, I did so in 40-day increments.

As a Christian woman, 40 days has a lot of meaning for me.

And then, as I started to guide more people through how to lose weight, I found that 40 days work really well and here is why.

• 40 days is doable
• 40 days is a lot less intimidating than forever
• 40 days allows your brain chemistry time to reset

A lot Can Change in 40 Days!

As I mentioned in the free video series that fully explains my 0,1,2,3 Strategy, sugar causes the release of a feel-good chemical called dopamine in your brain. So, when you eat sugar, your brain says, “Wow that was great!”

As you eat more sugar over time, your brain creates a tolerance to sugar, which makes you need more sugar to get the same high.

When that happens, you drop into a vicious cycle of feeling like you need sugar to feel okay.

When you go off sugar for 40 days your brain pushes the reset button. The chemical receptors in your brain downregulate and you reset to a point where sugar doesn’t have as much of a hold over you.

Download the 0,1,2,3 Strategy Checklist here:

Finding the Motivation

Setting a 40-day short-term goal is effective and more manageable than forever, but it still requires motivation. So. if you’re not feeling like you can do these four daily habits on your own for 40 days, you’ve got a couple of options.

One option is to make a shorter-term goal.

If you want to try the strategy but you’re not feeling secure in your ability to follow them long-term, then commit to doing them for one day, and then up your commitment to three days, and then a week and so on.

Another option is to commit to 40 days and constantly put things in your path that keeps your motivation and commitment strong.

This is exactly what we do in The Full 0, 1, 2, 3 Diet Plan

For a diet to work, you need to see continual evidence that the plan is working.

When you follow the full 0123 diet plan, you learn how to incorporate all types of food into your day to get the right balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fats to optimize fat burning and minimize hunger.

You’ve probably realized that there is more food in the world than sugar and vegetables, so how do you handle meat? Where does dairy fit in? What do we do with nuts and seeds, or fruits?

Those are the things I show you how to do in The 0, 1, 2, 3 Diet Plan.

Going Beyond 0,1,2,3

In the 0,1,2,3 Diet Plan, you will learn how to eat the right foods in the right amounts to turn off hunger and cravings and turn on fat-burning. By doing so, your motivation will grow as you go along because you feel in control and the scale goes down.

There is nothing more motivational than seeing continual results.

Then, as you get to day 41, which is a scheduled day off.

It might sound counterintuitive to schedule a day off of your diet, but when you apply this strategy in the real world, that free day becomes a motivating short-term target, and because you’ve spent the past month and a half on a low-carb/no-sugar diet, your taste buds and brain chemistry have reset and your intense need for sugar has diminished.

So, Day 41 is a free day and you can enjoy it any way you’d like, but there is a catch.

The catch is that on one day 41 if you still have weight to lose, you must recommit to another 40-day diet cycle. And that’s how you reach your goal, 40 days at a time.

About the Author

Dr. Becky Gillaspy, DC graduated Summa Cum Laude with research honors from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1991.