The Full Plate Diet

Now and then some cool self-help book comes along and you respond with a sense of "Hurrah!  At long last!  Something that makes sense for my life!"  Or sometimes it's "Hurrah!  I've been doing this, but now I'm seeing it in a different light, with ways to do it even better!"

I first met up with this book when our administrative team was reviewing it during a meeting; Human Resources was suggesting that we buy a copy for every employee in our organization.  It was written by two doctors and a nutritionist from an organization that we're acquainted with to some degree:  Lifestyle Centers of America.

I was curious.  I turned a few pages and was mightily intrigued.  The writing was crisp and tight and seemed to have a wry smile to it, the photos were bright and inviting. The lists were clear and the schematics were attractive. It was easily understandable.  But better than all that was the premise:  you can eat a full plate of food, do not have to count calories, and will lose weight.  Who could resist that?

No, I didn't flip a lid and start spouting rubbish.  Stay with me here.

What's the catch?  The catch is that you have to count grams of fiber (you're shooting for 40+ grams per day), drink at least six glasses of water per day, and stop eating when you're no longer hungry.  But hey, folks, when it comes to adding food high in fiber I rather like the idea of trying to reach a number, rather than trying to limit yourself to a number (as with calories)!

I borrowed the book and brought it home, and have been reading it bit by bit.  It's really fascinating and fun to read.  And it's changing the way I eat.  I've had such delicious meals today:  toast with peanut butter and applesauce for breakfast; salad with lots of yummy additives to it, boiled potatoes and gravy and cooked mixed veggies for lunch; and for supper there was whole wheat pasta with pesto and sundried tomatoes, and a bit of trail mix for dessert.  Yummers!

As I read over what I've written, it sounds like fluff.  This book is not fluff.  You can buy it at Amazon.com, or you can go to their website and read more about it here.  And rather surprisingly, the Full Plate Diet website has a way for you to access the book for free, as well.  Go check it out. And may you be inspired toward a more healthy diet.