Dining Out (oops, who said I was perfect anyway)

One of the great things about this lifestyle is the ease in which you can fit it into a normal day. You can still enjoy sumptuous meals out with your friends. The Outback has a seared ahi on a bed of greens and cucumber with a mixture of 2 dressings. I always order it without the crispy wontons (starch)  and the dressing on the side. I usually just squeeze some lemon over the whole thing, but sometimes I eat a tiny bit of their dressing. Occasionally I will substitute the ahi with their grilled Norwegian salmon, like I did last night. Add a glass of wine and not only do you have a well-combined protein meal but a real treat as well

But, if the kitchen messes up your order and gives you a free dessert,  like their Thunder from Down Under,  you might not be strong enough to refuse. Oh well, who said I was perfect anyway. Thank goodness I had someone to share it with. If you were to eat just the ice cream, whipped cream, the chocolate shavings and sauce, you would still have a pretty good protein meal, but add the brownie and uh oh.

The really great thing about this lifestyle though, is that is isn’t just a temporary diet, it really is a lifestyle. One thing I have learned living like this is not to be so hard on myself. It isn’t about perfection. It is about progress and transitioning and learning not to be in a hurry. I do so well most of the time that an occasional boo boo isn’t a huge setback. It no longer sends me into a downward spiral of bingeing on anything in sight for days, into weeks and then you wake up and 3 years have gone by .  I knew I would wake up this morning to my rebounding and yoga and drink my juice for lunch and not miss a beat.

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In the Beginning…

The key to success in this way of life is to stay with it. It can be fun and exciting as you see the great progress you are making, but it can be difficult @ times. This journey you are embarking upon is truly a dance. There are many subtleties and you will become more and more aware of the signals your body is sending you. It is important to begin slowly. You do not want to make huge changes in the beginning. Your body will tell you when it is time to take it up a notch and when it is time to slow down a little.
We are so conditioned by this society to eat like everyone else. Big breakfast, lots of variety in our meals for two examples and both of those couldn’t be more wrong or damaging to our systems. People don’t realize just how much energy digestion takes.

You may have noticed in my daily detox essentials the term light to heavy. That works for each meal ie start w/ a salad and end w/ the entre. It also works for the entire day. Little or no breakfast, a very light lunch and a satisfying, comforting evening meal. I know that may sound odd to many of you, but it works. Once you train yourself to eat light during the day you’ll see that your energy increases greatly. You won’t need that afternoon siesta anymore.

Also in this list of essentials is to never mix starch and protein at the same meal. The reason for this rule and the light to heavy rule is that the key to health and weight loss is to eliminate our meals and the remaining waste from past meals as quickly and efficiently as possible. The body digests protein and starches or carbs differently. The stomach acids needed to digest both of these completely different substances will neutralize each other if they are in the stomach together, thereby tripling digestion and transit time. Meals begin to crash into each other in the stomach, the intestines and the bowels and the system bogs down to a near standstill. The residues from these old meals ferments, forms gasses, begins to rot and decay and then it dehydrates as it is packed into the tissues to make room for the next few meals.

Eating the way I suggest and following these few simple rules, you will begin to loosen up these deposits of old dehydrated waste in your body. And as you eliminate them your energy and vitality will increase tremendously.

If you can replace your breakfast with a green juice and have a green salad with avocado and lemon juice for lunch, you will soon see what I mean. Results will begin to happen immediately. For our purposes, avocados may be technically a fruit but they combine as a starch. If this is too much of a change for you right now, if you are used to a big breakfast of starch, protein or both you definitely want to start a little slower. You might want to begin with sprouted grain toast and avocado or an egg with cottage cheese for breakfast. Please don’t combine either of these ideas with each other or with fruit. Variety may be the spice of life but where your diet is concerned, it is a disaster for a lean energetic body. A breakfast possibility for a cleaner stomach could be some fresh fruit or a smoothie made with bananas, berries and throw in a little spinach or romaine and some bee pollen.

After a well combined breakfast, have your green juice as a mid-morning snack then lighten your lunch as much as possible. If you prefer starches, have avocado with your salad. You could add a piece of whole grain toast or a small baked potato (preferably a sweet potato) to this. If you prefer protein, have some grated cheese on your salad instead of the avocado and add a boiled egg or a small piece of fish or chicken if you need more. But remember not to mix starches with the protein.

If you can begin by  abiding with these two simple rules, you will be off to a good start. The next step is to look at your afternoon snack, if necessary, and your evening meal.

I’ll save that for another post.