Newbie Questions

[dell2149]

Hello all! I am on day 2 and I have some quick questions. I can't take vitamin pills so I take the chewy vitamins... are those allowed? Also I am used to eating every 3 hours because of habit and low blood sugar. I know you're supposed to only eat 3 times a day. Suggestions? Are there snacks I can have that are allowed? 

[ShannonM816]

Your chewy vitamins almost certainly contain some kind of sweetener. Unless you're taking them because you have a known vitamin deficiency that you're working with your doctor to correct, why not just skip it for 30 days? You should get a variety of vitamins and minerals from all the healthy foods you'll be eating.

 

You can work to change how often you eat. Plate up a full template meal and eat as much of it as you can, eating evenly from the protein, fat, and vegetables, and then when you're full, set it aside. When you get hungry, come back and finish that meal. Over time, you'll more than likely find that you can eat more of it initially and are less likely to need to eat between meals. If you do need to eat between meals, or just have long enough days that even if you ate every 4-5 hours, you'd need another meal, have mini meals of protein, fat, and vegetables.

 

When we talk about a template meal here, what that means is:

• 1-2 palm-sized portions of protein, the length, width, and depth of your palm. If eggs are your only source of protein in a meal, have as many whole eggs as you can hold in your hand, which is probably 3-4 for most people, and could be more.
• 1-2 thumb-sized portions of fat, or 1-2 heaping handfuls of olives or coconut flakes, or 1/2 to a whole avocado, or a small handful of nuts or seeds
• fill the plate with vegetables, which should be 1-3 cups of vegetables. You may find if you're having big salads that it needs to be more than that, as leafy greens tend to break down to nothing as you eat them.
• occasionally, have some fruit. A serving is about the size of your closed fist. Try to limit it to no more than 1-2 servings per day. Fruit is totally optional, you never have to have it.

Additionally, most people feel best if they have at least one fist-sized serving of starchy vegetables a day, but people who are very active, who are prone to depression or anxiety, or women who are nursing, pregnant, or in the week leading up to their period may need even more.