Eat This

For the very first time in my blogging life I have had a blog buddy request a topic! I’m honored. So, at the request of my friend over at Sticky Feet: Part Deux I am going provide some encouragement and tips on starting out and sticking with the Eat to Live plan.

Sticky Feet’s comment was this: “…can you tell me about what you eat each week? Like a menu plan type of thing? What about at school? I read Eat to Live, but it just seems impossible for me to actually make it happen (and feel full!).”

The hardest part of the Eat to Live lifestyle is sticking to the six week plan. The book explained that I would most likely be experiencing the feeling of “true hunger” for the first time in my life. When I read this I snickered at the thought of feeling true hunger. I figured that I would still be able to grab something here and there to not let that feeling happen. But after seeing the results of the plan in my co-workers and reading the life changing material myself I knew that I had to stick with it.

During the initial six week plan I would do the following:

Breakfast: Steel cut oats with seasonal berries, or some fresh fruit. Coffee with a shot of soy milk.

Lunch: Large salad, usually a “Spring Mix.” On top of the generous portion of greens I would put ½ a cup of my own “bean salad.” To make this I would mix 1 can of chick peas, 1 can of black beans, half of a red onion chopped, green onions chopped, two cloves of fresh garlic chopped, two chopped carrots, and a variety of spices. Then I would add some sort of a nut mix. I found a great nut mix at Wal*Mart that had soy nuts, almonds, and pumpkin seeds with ZERO SODIUM! I think it is called “good health mix” or something like that under the Wal*Mart brand. For a salad dressing I would use balsamic vinegar. No oil.

Dinner: Another salad, but this time not as large. Steamed vegetables with rice and on occasion half of a baked sweet potato.

With Lunch and Dinner I would eat a serving or fruit. Sometimes this involved taking an apple back to work with me, but I always tried to eat it close to my meal if not right after it. When I started to feel hungry between meals I would drink water, tea, or coffee. No sugar added. I tried to not drink any calories.

After the six weeks was over the weight loss was very noticeable. I would walk through the store and know that there were entire aisles that I couldn’t walk down because there was nothing down them that I needed. Because I was seeing results I knew that I was doing something right. I was no longer feeling the hunger that I had felt when I started and it was easier to eat less at meals and feel gratified.

Eat at meals, not between.