CHAPTER 11 - YOUR 5-DAY EATING PLAN
When I was a kid I hated vegetables, especially green ones. Beans? No thanks. Broccoli? Not a chance. Spinach? Save it for Popeye!
I can clearly remember shuffling peas around my dinner plate, hoping that if I move them enough maybe they’d somehow disappear. They didn’t.
Thankfully, my taste buds have evolved over the years and I really like most vegetables nowadays (I’m still working on beets). But “liking” something doesn’t necessarily mean it becomes a daily food choice. It is always going to be easier to grab a bowl of cereal than it is to prepare a spinach salad.
When it comes to losing weight, convenience cannot be priority number one. Yes, there are a lot of healthy meals that are super-easy to prepare, but even these are going to seem like a bit more work than the ready-made meals you can buy in the grocery store.
Now’s a good time to ask yourself, “Do I really want to lose weight?”
A “YES” means that you’re ready to change your eating habits even though it’s going to require more work, especially in the beginning.
A “YES” means that you realize your eating choices are the most important factor that determine whether or not you are actually going to lose weight and keep it off.
A “YES” means that you are ready to adopt the 5-Day Eating Plan that I will lay out for you right now.
Remember when we talked about goal-setting in Chapter 6 and I asked you if you could go a whole day with just eating broccoli? (I still think you could do it!)
One day seemed doable but a whole week or month would be almost impossible. That’s the main reason we are going to practice clean eating for 5 days. It will have a tremendous impact on your weight and overall health, AND it’s doable.
What will your eating plan look like for the other 2 days each week? That’s coming up shortly.
This 5-day eating plan has one goal: Feed your body with the most nutritious food possible. You aren’t going to count calories or assign any points. You are simply going to construct meals that consist of highly nutritious foods that will allow your body to thrive.
Which foods are most nutritious?
The easiest way to answer that question is by looking at the “new” food pyramid.
You’re likely familiar with some version of a food pyramid. Usually it places an emphasis on grains as well as fruits and vegetables. Next there will be some dairy, then meat products, and finally fats or oils.
While there are some positive aspects of this setup, the traditional food pyramid is NOT designed for proper weight management and I don’t believe it outlines and ideal eating plan.
Below is the food pyramid that I believe will lead you to significant, sustainable weight-loss:
There are some important things to notice and learn about this revised food pyramid:
#1. Fruits and Vegetables Are Different – Most food guides place a high importance on eating “fruits and vegetables” each day. It’s almost as though the two are interchangeable – Eat an apple OR eat some asparagus…it’s all the same.
Well, it’s not.
Vegetables offer significantly different nutritional value than fruit – Here are just a few examples:
I could go on but I think the point is pretty clear. Fruits and vegetables are NOT created equal, and in many cases vegetables are much more densely packed with the important nutritional components that our bodies need in order to thrive.
Am I saying fruits are bad? Not at all. In fact, some fruits offer health benefits beyond what even vegetables can offer. For example,
In this case it’s a fruit (i.e. apricots) that offer the most nutritional bang for your buck, however this instance is more of an exception than a rule. When it comes to nutritional value, vegetables win out far more often than not.
Aside from nutritional content, sugar is another key reason why fruits and vegetables are not on par.
As you’re likely aware, sugar has been declared enemy #1 when it comes to healthy eating, especially if you are watching your weight. It likely won’t surprise you to see how sugary fruits are when compared to vegetables:
You do not need a dietary source of sugar (there is no daily requirement you need to consume through food), so there is no reason to eat much sugar at all.
Again, I’m not declaring a war on fruit – I am simply pointing out that fruit is often lower in nutritional value than vegetables AND it comes with a higher sugar count (and therefore is usually higher in calories).
#2. Some Foods Are Missing – During your 5 days of clean eating there are certain foods that are “off limits”. These include:
42. Sugar (including natural and artificial sweeteners)
43. Processed Foods (most foods that come in a box, can, or package)
44. Dairy
45. Alcohol
46. Glutinous Grains
These foods are generally very low in nutritional value. Eating them simply adds calories (often LOTS of calories) to your diet without offering much in return.
Some of these “off limits” foods (i.e. dairy and glutinous grains) can also negatively affect your digestive system. An inhibited digestive system can lead to increased eating, decreased ability to absorb nutrients, and ultimately weight gain.
Here are some common foods that will be off limits for 5 days each week:
47. Bread
48. Most pastas
49. Cereal
50. Milk and Cheese
51. Sugar/honey added to your coffee or tea
52. Crackers
53. Most baked goods (e.g. cookies)
54. Granola bars (or other similar processed snacks)
55. Canned soup and stew
This list is not at all exhaustive. When choosing foods to put in your 5-day plan, you can ask these questions:
Is this sweetened?
Was this made in a factory?
Is this the most nutritious food I can choose?
At first it will be a conscious effort to ask these questions, but soon you will do it without thinking. You will just know which foods fuel your body optimally and which are just filler.
Right now you might be asking, “What can I eat?” – Let’s take a look at the many nutritious options you have to choose from for these 5 days…
#3. There Are LOTS of Foods To Choose From – The following chart includes foods from each step in our new pyramid that you can add to your 5-day eating plan. There are a lot of goodies in here, and likely some new ones that you’ve never tried before.
You can reference this chart in Appendix B as well.
In the next chapter we will discuss how you can begin assembling amazing meals for your 5-day eating plan using the foods in this chart.
For now it’s just important to familiarize yourself with each step in the pyramid and the foods associated with each step.
#4. There Are 2 Recommended Supplements – Most people have deficiencies in their diet even if they are conscious about eating well. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies can play a huge role in unnatural food cravings, a slowed metabolism, imbalanced hormone production, and ultimately weight gain. It’s important to minimize those deficiencies as much as possible.
Supplements should be treated as just that – They are intended to “supplement” your good diet. They never replace vegetables or other whole foods that included in the food pyramid.
In this program I recommend just two supplements that will remedy the most common nutrient deficiencies:
56. A multivitamin
57. An omega-3 supplement
There are many good multivitamins in the market today. The Dieticians of Canada provide this excellent multivitamin guide that will help you find an appropriate choice.
As for omega-3 supplements, it’s important to read the labels. Look for one that offers at least 600mg of DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) to ensure that you’re getting an adequate daily dose.
58. Quiz: Are fruits and vegetables the same? Why or why not?
59. Quiz: What are the 5 “off limits” foods?
60. What will be the most challenging part of adopting this 5-day eating plan?
61. What do you have to look forward to when you begin eating according to this 5-day plan?