So you found the perfect New Years dress during all the Christmas sample sales, but now that you've been home stuffing your face for a week, you can't zip it and breathe simultaneously. Happens to us all. While many girls resort to what we commonly call "juicing"- I for some reason can not handle the thought of not chewing my food for four to seven days. My personal preference is to eat high quantities of low calorie foods that make you feel fuller, but are easily digested. This way you never feel hungry (read: grouchy). The science behind this diet is that the fiber in these foods fool your body into feeling fuller, while helping to rid your body of undigested fats.
Now that you're back to reality, late nights and busy schedules can sabotage your plans to start your diet - you find yourself starving and exhausted by the time you get home and don't have the energy. These are the times when you just want to take a bath and order in. Go ahead, relax. Call up your favorite greasy Chinese place and order Moo Shoo. It cures the craving but consists mostly of cabbage, which expands in your stomach and is highly water-based. This is my go-to when I am used to eating high quantities and have to trick myself into diet mode. Chicken or any kind of seafood are the leanest meat options.
So now that you're back to sanity, let's get down to grocery list specifics. We'll talk breakfast first. This is your most important meal of the day, because it gets your metabolism working early and keeps you from over-snacking later on in the day. Oatmeal and flax cereals are great filler foods that you can individualize every day to keep yourself from getting bored. One cup of any of these and you're good until lunch. Bananas, blueberries, honey, savory oats, the opportunities are endless. If you're into grits, you can get the irish oatmeal and they become a similar texture. Just don't put all the cheese and butter in them. If you love that buttery texture, go for a vegetable spread like Smart Balance. I shy away from most dairy products since they're the highest in saturated fat- with the exception of yogurts like Activia Light, which is one of my favorite snacks under 100 calories. You can also eat Activia as a parfait with fruits and wheat germ, giving you the sweet from the fruit without granola's high sugar content.
For lunch, I prefer a soup or a big salad. Just make sure there's nothing fried or cheesy involved. Sometimes dressings have cream in them - namely ranch and thousand island. Go for a vinaigrette - balsamic is tasty and anything with lemon helps to boost your metabolism.
If you've eaten an entire pecan pie in the past week and can't even zip your dress up right now, get a juice for lunch. I know what you're thinking: juices are disgusting. But they don't have to be. Choose a juice with a sweet base ingredient, like apple, a simple carb like carrot or beet, and sneak in a green. The easiest to tolerate is spinach because it doesn't have much flavor. I also like ginger in my juices- it gives it a kick and boosts your metabolism and energy level. (It also helps with the earthy taste of the beet) If you choose to juice for lunch, it's important that you give yourself a snack around 4:00. Otherwise you won't be able to make a smart decision by the time dinner rolls around.
This time of year, homemade soups are my favorite way to go. If your boyfriend/roommate/husband is used to home cooked meals, this is a smooth transition for them. If you don't have time to make soup, don't substitute store-bought soup. The sodium will bloat you and let's face it - canned soup is nasty. If you like the warm and comforting feeling of soups in the wintertime, make it yourself using low-sodium chicken broth, and save yourself some money by eating it for lunch the next few days. This is especially convenient for the working woman, just bring it to work! Remember, no cream girls! If the recipe calls for cream, substitute it with cream of chicken soup. It's 99% fat free and adds a delicious flavor to your soup.
If you're going out to dinner, do it tapas style. Mediterranean, sushi, and tapas are my all-time dinner favorites. They're the easiest menus to navigate on a diet. The main focus at dinner is to keep portions small, and to lean towards foods that digest quickly to give your metabolism time to digest them before you go to sleep. Hummus, cucumber salads, etc will make you feel full without packing on the pounds. The downfall with dips at restaurants are the huge basket of chips or pita that come along with it. It takes hours for your body to digest all of that! Carrots or cucumbers are the best option. If you're more moderate with your diet, ask for whole wheat pita. Whole grains have more a fibrous response in the body, making them easier to digest. Rice and quinoa are lesser evils of the carbohydrate family, since they have more fiber than most, which is why sushi is acceptable. No soy sauce, go for the ginger!
This is a pretty slim menu - I'll be the first to admit that I have those days when I get home and am positively ravenous. This is when I have my snack. If you love chips as much as I do, you can find a low calorie alternative in your grocery store isle to dip in your hummus and tabouleh at home. I like Pretzel Crisps and Pop Chips. Pop chips are low calorie rice chips with awesome flavors like sour cream and onion and barbeque. They're never fried, and always easy to find. I sometimes eat a singles pack of them as my snack or the Sabra packs of hummus.
I've given you plenty of real-life options that you should be able to apply to your life and see results. Remember, we don't want for you to lose any friends on this diet, only pounds. There's no reason to deprive your body of nutrients when it asks you for them. Just be sure to make good choices that will satisfy your body's needs. Don't forget to be active every day and drink LOTS OF WATER!! It keeps the process moving, to put it lightly. No one wants to stand next to the stinky girl at your fabulous New Years party! Follow this diet along with a solid cardio regimen, and you'll be loving that dress again before you know it!
Happy New Year ladies!
