Thursday, January 13, 2011

what i eat part 2


this is the second installment to "eat this not that." see the first part here.

when sam started seeing a nutritionist dietician, i jumped on his bandwagon. we used the book be fat free forever as a guide. the book is very similar to south beach diet, but there isn't much focus on eating organic with lots of vegetables. there's a lot of talk about bacon and steak. there is nothing wrong with either, but they don't need to be the primary ingredients in your daily menu. therefore, i don't truly endorse either. one concept we did put in to play was gradually adding good carbohydrates back in to our diet after a 2 week detox. we started by adding 20 grams of carbs back in and then 5 more grams week by week.

good carbs are fruit (berries specifically), oatmeal, sprouted grains (ezekial bread), etc.

we also added a "free" meal to our week. i honestly think that this is the key to living a healthy lifestyle. part of being healthy is not depriving yourself. eating whatever i want once a week allows me to fulfill my cravings and usually leaves me ready to get back to eating better because you feel the effects immediately.

we also made small changes like using coconut oil to cook with and i stopped using sweetener in my coffee. we switched over to meats that are grass fed and free range. we stopped eating pork.

this is one of my favorite lunches: fried egg over mixed greens


fry egg in pan and season then place over mixed greens with goat cheese and dried cranberries with soy ginger dressing.

some homework...

update: if you have any questions please leave them for me in the comments section and i will do my best to answer them. also, would love to hear from you if you are trying the detox or implementing any of these practices in to your routine!

28 comments:

Lindsay Széchenyi said...

That salad looks delicioussssss. This is awesome Lesley, thanks for sharing!

wishful nals said...

you know, i would never think of eating an egg over greens, but this looks SO good. i think i know what's for lunch... :)

Kate Kiefer said...

i can't wait to try cooking with coconut oil!

Ashley said...

I have so many questions! Bear with me :)
1. Why not eat pork?
2. What do you put in your coffee? Flavored creamer or just milk?
3. Do you have to heat the coconut oil? The ones I have seen in the store are solid at room temp.

xoxo

Lesley said...

re: hiking in stilettos

1. check this out http://campaignfortruth.com/Eclub/120706b/CTM%20-%20avoidpork.htm do i eat bacon on occasion? yes. do i eat pepperoni pizza on occasion? yes
2.i only use half and half. watch for "fructose corn syrup" in almost all flavored creamers.
3. the coconut oil melts almost instantly. buy it at the farmer's market and save $$$
thanks for the questions!

Lindsay Széchenyi said...

Next week I'm going to try the detox. I'm shooting for 2 weeks. Is that long enough?

More ideas of other things to eat would be awesome! So far I love the salad and yogurt ideas.

Anonymous said...

les- i'd love to hear the recipe for your dressing.
you're such an inspiration!
hope to see you soon.
-brit

Kate Kiefer said...

how do you cook your meat?

any tips for eating out?

would love if you posted more recipes : )

Lesley said...

re: lindsay
2 weeks is plenty! it's crucial to re-introduce fruit asap.
re:brit
i use whole food's soy ginger dressing. so good! date soon please:)
re: kate
we use coconut oil to cook our meat. we grill out a ton when the weather is nice, otherwise we cook in our cast iron.
for eating out...ah the challenge. we typically reserve eating out for a cheat night, but if you eat out often choose a healthy salad. i love a good cobb salad and don't worry about dressing unless it's sweet (most likely it has sugar in it). we also do fajitas without the tortillas and i eat ALL the guacamole:). will devote a post to eating out as well.
re: all
i will do a recipe post next week. if you are detoxing as you should to jumpstart your body, i recommend lots of chicken and vegetables and we eat a lot of eggs at my house. love the omelette for 2 by ina garten, just don't include the potatoes.

thanks for the great questions!

Anonymous said...

another one- is the egg on the salad over easy?
Thanks for answering the questions!!!!
-brit

Lesley said...

re: brit!
haha this is fun, i like mine that way, but you can do whatever you wish my dear!

Lesley said...

ps thanks for the leg compliment:) usually when i wear shorts people ask me "are your legs reallly that pale?" "i thought you were wearing tights." sigh.

Anonymous said...

Wow Lesley! Who are you? You sound exactly like me! Mixed green salad w. a fried egg, a big spoon of salsa and sliced avocado is a staple in my diet. I also use coconut oil for cooking, in recipes, in place of butter.

I keep some in the bathroom & slather it on all over head to toe. Fantastic for tattoo care thanks to its natural anti-biotic anti-fungal properties.

Have you tried coconut milk? Last night, I had french toast dredged in a coconut milk-egg mixture topped with cinnamon, yummy! It is also the cats meow in mashed potatoes - no butter required just potatoes, coconut milk, and salt and pepper to taste.
Happy eating!

Annette said...

totally agree with everything but the oil, cannot think of switching from Olive Oil! The key is balance. Good food is something one must hunt for, so many processed corn ridden foods in the U.S. that and the lack of walking everywhere is killer! All I know is when I am in Italy all summer I loose 5 lbs, straight away...that's all I'm sayin'..great post.education is key to a healthy lifestyle.

cristen chester said...

so inspired by these posts! kate has been bragging on you : )

a few questions:
1. when did you start allowing yourselves one 'free' meal a week?
2. when did you start reintroducing the healthy carbs back into your diet in the 5 gram increments?
3. do you enforce a no food after a certain time rule (ie, no food after 7pm or nothing to eat within 2 hours of bedtime, etc)?

thanks + i can't wait to see more recipes + tips!

xoxo,
cristen

Lindsay Széchenyi said...

Ok sorry, one more question about the detox! You said no bread. I assume this means no grains at all? Or just no bread? I guess what I'm really asking is if I can eat steel cut oats or quinoa during the 2 weeks of detox :)

Thanks!

<3

Lesley said...

re: cristen
thanks for the encouragement cristen!
1.just realized that i didn't make that very clear. we started adding good carbs and the free meal in after 2 weeks. also, a note is that you shouldn't have any carbs at breakfast or lunch on the days you do have the free meal.
2. i was just thinking at dinner that i needed to add that i don't eat for 12 hours between dinner and breakfast. so, if i eat dinner at 8, i won't eat breakfast until after 8. this kickstarts the metabolism.

look forward to hot yoga soon!

Lesley said...

re: lindsay
no carbs at all during the detox. sorry!
also, the oats may have more than 20g of carbs, so you may have to wait a few more weeks.
i started with adding fruit the next 2 weeks, then slowly reintroduced the grains

Amy said...

Les,

Thank you so much for the homework...very interesting to read and a great resource.

I started doing all organic meats, milk and dairy a several months ago and the more I read the better I feel about this decision! I tried your Fage recipe with cinnamon and coconut too. LOVE IT!

I'm gonna do the detox too and will let you know how it goes. I've been limiting my sugar intake for a few weeks now and the hardest part for me is the headaches. Any suggestions for helping with that other than drink more water? Thanks again.

Unknown said...

To be honest, I have been terrified to detox! I think I would just be awful to live with. How long does the bad mood last would you say?

BTY, a new reader and future blogger(hope to be blogging by the end of the month) from Marietta! Just found your blog and really enjoying it!

Lori
lorimayinteriors.com

McMel said...

i was going to ask the same ? about pork, but A beat me to it. Thanks for the article- I found out about soy a few months ago and had no idea- especially since it's touted as the "alternative." It's so dangerous for children! Luckily we don't eat a ton of pork- occasionally bacon and even rarer sausage. Enough on that...

Hopefully someone didn't ask this already, but... Why coconut oil instead of olive oil?

Lesley said...

re: amy and lori
detox is not fun! BUT it's not like you have to drink all liquids or eat only flax seed oil. you get to eat as much vegetables (not starches) and protein as you want, as well as raw nuts. amy, with the sugar you really have to go cold turkey for 2 weeks. i found that after 3 days the headaches had gone away. cinnamon tricks your brain to think it's something sweet, so you may want to eat more of that. good luck! can't wait to hear more.

re: mcmel
hey girl! there is nothing wrong with olive oil, in fact it is very good for you. the only problem is the oil isn't stable at high temperatures, unlike the coconut oil. when olive oil is too hot it actually turns in to a trans fat. i still use it to cook, just not for long periods or at high temps:)

Meg Wilson McClendon said...

lesley, what do you eat for breakfast during detox, and there after?

Lesley said...

re: geogirl
you're looking pretty in that wedding dress!
ok i'm going to do a recipe centric post, but for now...
we eat a lot of turkey bacon and eggs for breakfast, as well as my fage yogurt with almond butter and preserves after the 2 weeks. we also eat oatmeal a good bit. it takes your body a while to process oats so it doesn't turn right in to sugar!

hope this helps!

Anonymous said...

les- another comment.
I would love to hear about your work lunches. What and how do you pack food?
You don't have to share on this now....maybe your recipe post. I have a hard time packing lunches...and I always end up messing up at that time of day.
Thanks so much.
Brit

E said...

This would so go over in my house. Husband loves eggs, we both love salads. Mmm.

Rachel Willis said...

Hi! Love your blog - read it almost daily from Kennesaw! Im wondering about the book you linked to that you used "Be Fat Forever" - its unavailable from amazon - can you verify the author b/c there are several other "fat free forever" titles. Thanks so much & keep writing!!
Rachel Willis
www.thehalfhippiemom.com

Lesley said...

re: rachel
thanks so much for reading! the link is correct, the book is just no longer available. if you want a book for ref., the south beach diet book is identical. just make sure to combine the knowledge of the book with awareness of eating good food, not artificial food.