Day Two of Using Myself as a “Diet” Guinea Pig

I got up on Tuesday dreading the thought of day two of The Rice Diet. I decided last night that if I was as miserable today that I was going to stop this diet after I made it through day 2. That really should tell you a lot about what I think about day 1. But I am trying to be open-minded and give it chance which is extremely difficult for me at the moment.

In case it wasn’t obvious I wanted to tell you why I am doing this. How often do you hear girlfriends say they are on the “South Beach Diet”, “Cabbage Soup Diet”, “Clean” or some other diet and you have no idea what it actually entails? That happens to me all the time, what better way to understand the diet than to try it for a few days. Thankfully our library had the book.

Additionally I love my friends and when they are thinking about a diet I want to see if it is healthy and sustainable. Since The Rice Diet was originally run by the Duke University I assumed it was healthier than most diets. Day one was miserable and not healthy in my opinion. Day two thru six shifts the focus from fruit to veggies, thank goodness, and appears to be more nutritionally sound. However only time will tell right? We will see how I feel by the end of today.

By following this diet for a couple days I am hoping that all of you are getting a good idea of what it is like on this diet. This way when I review it since you have seen the meals and read my reactions to it as I was doing it I am expecting the review will have more meaning for you. At least that was what was in my head when I decided to write about it.

Breakfast on day two of this diet is 2 starches and 2 fruits. Really, again? I seriously want savory oatmeal this morning which means that I am feeling more than a little cranky as I type this which is not good. The thought of food is not the least bit appealing to me which might be why this diet works. I decided to make Dan’s breakfast and contemplate what I can eat that might be remotely nutritious. *ugh*

For Dan’s breakfast I made him a green smoothie but this time I changed it up a little. I added cooked quinoa to his smoothie for protein and reduced the walnuts a little. According to Dan the texture was more smooth and consistent, the overall flavor was less green but he missed the fat from the walnuts. Men! I added the quinoa to increase the protein (without resorting to overly processed protein powder) and to reduce the fat in the smoothie. Wouldn’t you know he would miss the fat? I think I will try to slowly back off the walnuts and see how that goes. Also as soon as I am back to my usual eating habits I will try adding cooked quinoa to my green smoothies.

After I got Dan’s lunch packed we both went out the door. He went to work and I decided to go for a walk in the neighborhood. When I tried to get Dan to move this morning to go for a walk he said he hadn’t slept well. I am guessing that is because he exercised last night after dinner just before bed. It is never a good idea to exercise before bed, but it is also not a good idea to skip exercise. Last night the exercise won out.

It was a little cold this morning (53 degrees) but not terrible. However once I got moving I was comfortable. I took my IPod and listened to health podcasts while I was getting my blood pumping. I am always surprised by how many people I see also out for a walk no matter what time I decide to head out the door. Just as a reminder the reason I go for these walks is because moderate exercise has been shown to improve the functioning of the immune system. Personally I can’t think of a better way to start my day than boosting my immune system. ;-)

Next it was time for a little TRX exercise and then breakfast. It is such a bad sign when you are dreading the idea of eating. This diet has me in a bad mood and I am only on day two. *rolls eyes*

I had to check the book again to confirm what I was supposed to be eating and it turns out I was wrong about the 2 starches and 2 fruits today. Instead it is supposed to be 1 starch, 1 non-fat or non-dairy milk and 1 fruit. *bleh* Honestly that doesn’t sound any better to me but probably because I am not much of a non-dairy milk girl. I decided to turn the allotted food combination into a smoothie. First I had to make almond milk to use in the smoothie. To increase the overall calorie count a little instead of 7 cups of water to 1 cup of almonds I used 4 cups of water to make my almond milk.

Breakfast became ¼ cup of dry oatmeal that I processed in the blender, 1 cup almond milk, 1 cup wild blueberries, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon powdered ginger,1 tablespoon freshly ground flaxseeds and ice. Okay I will admit the flaxseeds were not part of the program but I don’t like skipping that so I added it in. I am starting to wonder if I can tweak this diet to make it more nutritionally sound. However other than the flaxseed I want to stick with the program since I decided that a few days eating differently can’t do much harm.

The food allotment for lunch was 3 starches, 3 veggies and 1 fruit. I was still thinking of savory oatmeal so I made that which used 2 of the starches and 3 of the veggies. For the last starch I had a small serving of the quinoa and lentils from last night. My fruit serving was an orange. This seems much more reasonable than yesterday doesn’t it? If I had stopped after the first day I wouldn’t have gotten to this meal which seems much more reasonable in my opinion.

One thing I have learned over time is that everything and everyone that comes into your life has something to teach you. This diet that my friend mentioned is a perfect example. I have been reminded that I am impatient by my reaction to day 1. If I had listened to my inner voice and bailed on day 1 there may be a lesson that I missed learning, other than I am impatient. ;-) So far this plan has forced to me to eliminate nuts and seeds (except for my daily tablespoon of flaxseeds which I refuse to give up) from my regular diet. I have known for a while I needed to reduce my nut and seed consumption and by the middle of day two that fact is very present in my mind. Isn’t it interesting that something that I thought was not what I wanted still brought me a gift? I find things like this fascinating.

Dinner on the Rice Diet is the same as lunch 3 starches, 3 veggies and 1 fruit. I decided to make something very simple for dinner which was leftover Indian red lentil and tomato soup from yesterday over quinoa. I missed being able to put some sliced almonds on top but I made up for by stirring in a little freshly grated garlic and a squirt of fresh lemon juice. For my fruit I had an organic Braeburn apple.

Overall day two of the diet was much closer to how I would have eaten naturally only with more grain and less nuts and seeds. This was not the result I expected from day two on this plan. I am planning to write up my review of the overall plan sometime this week.

Happy Thoughts:

Tuesday was a good day for me. I was productive, though I didn’t get through all the items on my Tuesday to-do list. However I do have many things to be thankful for and here is my list today:

• It was nice to start my morning going for a walk. It is amazing what such a simple action has on my mood. I am not sure if it is breathing fresh air or the sun but I love starting my morning outside. Of course it is also nice to know that I am ramping up my immune system at the same time.

• I came across an article that I thought was well written and wanted to share it with you. This specific slideshow was written for prostate cancer but applies to all cancer. It is a good summary of cancer development, and goes into reasonable detail about modifiable risk factors.

• I am thankful that The Rice Diet has reminded me that I need to be aware of my overall nut and seed consumption while still consuming omega 3 fatty acids (flax, hemp, chia) and selenium (Brazil nuts).

• Today I am thankful for my library. Last week I brought home a DVD from the library by Jack Canfield called “Activating the Law of Attraction” and it is very interesting. It is so interesting that I am going to get Dan to watch it with me before I take it back. If you are interested in the power of intention/thought I would recommend you check to see if your library has the DVD.

• Did you notice the cherry blossoms starting to bloom in the picture of the water tower? I am thrilled that we are finally definitely having spring weather.

Signing out:

I am trying to have my post up before Dan arrives home from work. It is one of my goals that spend more time with my sweetie.