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Breakfast
Three or 4 days a week, a glass of fresh fruit or vegetable juice along with fresh or stewed fruit (without sugar) served either 'au natural' or with a good dollop of low-fat yoghurt. And on the other days, to ensure boredom is kept away, you can choose from any of my suggested morning dishes, which are guaranteed to excite even the most jaded of palates.
The Main Meal of the Day
This meal can be served either at lunch or dinnertime – whichever suits. But, most importantly, because this is the day's prime focus, do serve a decent-sized portion.
A Light Meal
This could be a bowl of soup, stirfried or steamed vegies with rice, or even a simple salad. Aim to do this 3 or 4 days a week. But, once again, to keep boredom at bay for the other days, I have suggested a number of exciting options.
Snacks
Try batons of celery and carrot, chunks of cucumber, wedges of the best tomatoes, well-washed baby radishes, baby spring onions, topped and tailed green beans and snowpeas, etc. Prepare small quantities of any of these daily and keep them in the fridge.
No-Nos
Junk food/deep fried food/butter/fat on meat/soft drinks/desserts/sweets/cream/ beer/excessive oil/indiscriminate snacking and, sadly, too much wine or cheese.
Treats
A very small amount of your pet fancy, but only once a week. For me this is, on most occasions, 1 or 2 Godiva chocolates.
Dining Out
As you know, this diet is about sensible, healthy eating rather than about cutting out every enjoyable foodstuff known to man. So, eating out is not a no-no, but a little care needs to be taken. First of all, don't polish off the bread basket the minute it arrives at the table. And, secondly, while almost any restaurant can whip up something low in fat at the drop of a hat, with a little advance notice a chef will always go to a lot more trouble and something spectacular could eventuate. So, a phone call before wouldn't go amiss. However, in either case, don't expect the restaurant to come to a stop in the middle of a busy night and either change the whole menu just for you or even explain the fat and sugar content of each and every dish.
Takeaway
While fat-filled junk, such as burgers, pizzas, souvlakis, fish and chips, and the like are unacceptable, there are some takeaways which are fine. Stick to the Asian establishments, keep it simple (steamed or stirfried) and keep away from the heavier sauces, deep fryers and excessive coconut milk or cream.
Sweets & Desserts
A piece or two of fresh, ripe fruit is, to me, a far healthier and more acceptable alternative.