10 Bites A Day - a diet for over-40 & Sedentary

[shelley]

I'm often asked what I eat, since I give out so much advice on nutrition. And the answer is rather strange, because really, I don't eat very much!

Even after ensuring the best metabolic functioning possible thanks to monitoring my thyroid and cleansing my liver, my caloric needs are very few. This is in part due to being older and no longer growing, but mainly it's due to having gone beyond the roller-coaster of drama and emotional addiction and having a very sedentary lifestyle - which is one of the things that will change this year.

We use tons of proteins to make up the chemicals that make us feel anger, rage, frustration, adrenaline, sadness, etc. We use very little to feel joy, because joy is a state of balance and not just emotional proteins.

And it doesn't take very many calories to sit in an office chair or walk two small dogs.

So what I'm currently on I call the "10 bites a day diet" because I don't eat much more than 10 bites a day, I really and truly don't. I eat about one meal a day plus snacks spread out. Maybe one day a week I will "pig out" but that's about it.

For instance, most people have 8 ounces of protein with 2 sides and a bread for dinner, plus dessert. That's what most of middle-America does, anyway. If I have that kind of meal chances are I eat it off a salad plate, not a dinner plate, no second-helpings, no bread and no dessert. I eat what I can hold in one hand, not two.

Breakfast is either the Cleansing Drink or Protein Shake with two eggs or fruit or often just my cod liver oil and herbal tea.

Lunch can be just about anything depending on what's in the fridge that week. It changes or at least cycles from week to week. This week it's slices of a really good kosher turkey breast and pasta salad with tomatoes, onions, olives and bell peppers. YUM. And I have two bagels, my bread ration for the entire week.

Snacks are usually slices of cheese because I need the calcium and the fats.

Our culture is very big on 3 big meals a day and tons of snacks. I don't find that to be very realistic, and the statistics support this - 3 out of 5 people in the US are obese. Not just overweight, obese. To be obese you have to be more than 40 pounds overweight.

So if you're over 40 and are planning on being supremely lazy AND thin, start thinking about how you can adapt your diet to the 10 Bites a Day diet. Don't skimp on either protein or fats most days or your cravings will go crazy. Do take in super-foods and certain supplements to make up for the lack of nutrients. And don't try this diet for very long unless you are willing to abstain from taking offense, getting mad, gossiping, or any other emotional extreme.

[Invincible]

Great advice Shelley!

I used to be able to eat tons and not put on weight. Now, I have to have a decent meal at lunch and not too much at night or my weight soars.

Mind you, rebounding can help a lot, but I've been a bit lazy lately.

[alien]

You mentioned cheese for essential fat intake, as I am (mostly) vegetarian (although been eating slight amounts of seafood for omegas) I used to get my fats from cheese and dairy but since having severe Candida I tend to get sick and diarrhea from diary. What do you feel about soy cheese? I just purchased some soy cheese then thought about how it may affect my Candida.

[shelley]

I don't recommend soy cheese because it's made from soy, which is entirely too estrogenic. And it's not a real cheese, it is just soy processed like crazy in order to have the same consistency as cheese.

You have a lot of choices with cheese. There's a post on it in the Kitchen forum. You just have to find the one that works for you. Most candida people can't have cheese except for small amounts of aged parmesan or romano. Definitely not as a snack. Diarrhea is due to lactose intolerance, which is not such an issue with aged hard cheese, because then the cheese is fermented so the milk sugars are gone. And you can take digestive enzymes to ensure it gets digested properly.

[itslaura]

Wow Shelley, I'm glad you posted your diet, but I can not imagine ever being able to eat so little. I am starving all the time. The past week or so, I've had a cleansing drink every morning at about 8:00 and by 9:00 (or sooner) I am ravenous. How can I work my way to eating less? (and not bite anyone's head off in the process?!)

[shelley]

Well, you may want to leave out the cayenne pepper from the cleansing drink, because that does tend to increase stomach hunger, but truly, you find what's best for YOU. I have the advantage of being a Vata, we don't get all that hungry all that often. Maybe once a day, if that! And I doubt you're as sedentary as I am LOL!

There are ways to reduce stomach hunger. Simply eliminate most pungent, hot spices, sour tastes, and eat bland or bitter food that is slow to digest, like applesauce and salad greens, spinach, and get plenty of good fats and calcium.

[Invincible]

Similar to you Shelley, I am never really that hungry (apart from at lunch time) but it's hard because I have 2 boys and a boyfriend to cook for - all 3 are always hungry at night.

[shelley]

ah - make them eat your lunch leftovers.

[Invincible]

I wish ... but then it's easier to cook than have war break out

[pinkcat]

This iss great advice, Shelley. I would feel "guilty" for not eating enough, thinking I'm neglecting nutritional needs. I now see I'm OK.

Regarding food amounts, I eat bread-plate-sized portions for breakfast and lunch. For dinner, I have a smallish bowl that I call "stomach size". I eat a bowl of anything that fits comfortably [in the bowl]. This works well for me! My husband, though, needs two bowls most of the time. (If I have cooked cereal for breakfast or cold cereal, I use my stomach-sized bowl.)

pinkcat