The Struggle Continues

I believe anyone who has been on any kind of diet or eating plan will agree that once you’re told you can’t have something suddenly you desperately want it. I think it’s that way with many things in life. When I decided to take this challenge I knew it would be hard so my cravings are to be expected. What bothers me about it is the cost (fresh organic food is EXPENSIVE) and the restrictiveness of it. Most diet plans fail simply because they are too restrictive and people can’t stay on them for a long time. If we would only listen to our bodies and cut out the excess sugar and fat we would find that we are satisfied with less food and stay that way for a longer period of time. Trouble is we rarely listen to our bodies.

So here’s how the Pavel plan works: choose foods that are as fresh as possible, organic when possible, raw and in their original form. Avoid white sugar, white flour, white, white, white. Make each meal consist of lean protein, good carbohydrates (veggies, fruits) and good fats (raw nuts, olive oil, etc.). Eat six small meals per day containing all of these things. Sounds pretty easy, right? Well, yes and no. It’s amazing how much bad stuff is in the foods we eat and how much of it we consume.

So what have I eaten? Yesterday I started with my normal breakfast which is a protein shake from the gym. It contains whey protein, fresh fruit and a little bit of a healthy oil blend. I love it and prefer it to most breakfasts. My mid-morning snack was a protein bar simply because it was convenient and I hadn’t done all my grocery shopping. Lunch was another shake. At this point I mentioned to Pavel that most people enjoy EATING and not slurping their nutrition from a straw. He said that I needed to change my mindset; that I was eating for nutrition and not for enjoyment any more. Ok, maybe that’s how we’re supposed to eat, but I don’t think it’s realistic. Anyway, I admit that by 3 p.m. I hadn’t been hungry and had felt quite satisfied with what I’d consumed. I then had a late afternoon snack of fat-free cottage cheese with sunflower seeds and a clementine. Steve got home early so we went to the store to plan dinner. I had suggested grilling some chicken and sweet potatoes with steamed broccoli but Steve found a great recipe for a lime chili chicken dish that is all made in a Dutch Oven. Sounded good to me. We bought all the ingredients and came home to start the prep. Steve browned the chicken in the Dutch Oven with a little olive oil, then removed it and browned chopped red peppers, green chilis, onion and garlic. He then browned the brown rice in the all the leftover juices. Once that was done, everything went back into the pot, water and spices were added and it was left to simmer for about 40 minutes. Right before serving, Steve added fresh lime juice and it was ready. Yum! This was one of the best dishes I’d ever eaten! And it was healthy and Pavel-approved! So the first day wasn’t too bad, really.

Now we’re on day two. Again, I had a shake for breakfast and it was great. No complaints here. I did wait too long for lunch but Steve and I managed to create a delicious sandwich: grilled sliced turkey on whole grain bread with fresh avocado spread. However, that was it. While I was satisfied, I still wanted something else. Ok, I wanted chips with my sandwich which is part of my problem. A couple of hours later I was hungry again so I had some cottage cheese (which I really like) and two clementines.

Tonight we’re attending a party and I’m nervous about all the food that awaits me. Too many temptations and I know it’s going to be hard! My game plan is to eat the chicken/rice leftovers right before we leave and only have veggies at the party. I think if I don’t take that first bite of anything I would be tempted to eat, I’ll be ok. My other strategy is to stay away from the food table and concentrate on talking to the guests.

Good grief. Only 24 hours into this thing and I’m about to come unglued.