Rice Diet: The Review – Thank Goodness that is Over

It was wonderful to wake up this morning and know that I was no longer going to be fooling around with The Rice Diet. I was cranky for various reasons, either not enough total food or too much grain and the GI discomfort that came with the excess grain. I am very happy to be back to my normal routine. However being on that diet for two days did force me to look at my overall nut and seed consumption which I am going to moderate just a little. I never measure my nuts and seeds but I am going to for a few weeks to make sure they haven’t exceeded what I consider a reasonable amount for me (1/4 cup) in a day.

Like Monday we woke up to a very gray overcast day. This wasn’t a big surprise since the weather people were calling for thunderstorms and rain today and tomorrow. Thankfully the rain was running north and south of us this morning which meant I could go for a walk. Once I made Dan’s breakfast (oatmeal with wild blueberries) and packed his lunch I decided to head outside to get my blood pumping and ramp up my immune system. I did a quick 1.5 miles before breakfast. It was a little cold out there this morning, 43 degrees. Needless to say capri yoga pants were probably not the best selection. Oh well, at least I wore my gloves. ;-)

While I was walking I was listening to my IPod which probably looks odd at my age, LOL. I also took a few pictures this morning to share with you. I love it when the cherry blossoms start to bloom. The picture above is the best one from this morning. It was gray and rainy and it is hard to get a good close up picture with a cell phone. However I think this gives you an idea of what the trees look like now. They should be in full bloom in about a week.

Here are my miniature daffodils in full bloom and covered in rain. I think these are so cute. They are only about 4 inches tall. There is something endearing about miniature things to me.

When I got home all I wanted for breakfast was salad. I guess that is because I couldn’t have it the last two days. I made a huge salad in a serving bowl that contained: organic baby spinach, a red bell pepper, a small amount of the lentil and quinoa salad I made on Monday and leftover Sicilian artichokes and peppers (which involved a tomato sauce with fennel) in tomatoes that Dan had for dinner last night (only his was hot and over quinoa). I finished the salad with a sprinkling of white chia seeds (for the omega 3). It is nice to be back to my own food. I missed salad the last two days. Since you were only allowed 3 servings of veggies that wouldn’t make much of a salad. I had at least that much in spinach alone this morning but only what they would call 1 grain serving (1/2 cup). *shakes head*

For a late morning snack I had a little bit of okara that I flavored with almond butter and fresh ginger and carrot dippers.

Lunch was a big green smoothie which I was craving. This smoothie included: 4 raw kale leaves and stems, small frozen banana, 1 tablespoon freshly ground flaxseed (for the omega 3), 2 Brazil nuts (for the selenium), ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon powdered ginger, 1 cup almond milk, ice and a little water to process. You may need to add a little stevia.

I was busy in the afternoon talking to a friend who wants to get a little healthier and increase her knowledge of nutrition and health. Can you imagine how much I loved this conversation? In my opinion there is nothing better than talking about health. ;-)

Like usual time got away from me today and I needed to make dinner in a hurry. I decided to make a batch of French Market Bean Soup (no oil or seitan sausage) in the pressure cooker. Since the soup has many different types of beans in it I cooked the beans for 20 minutes under high pressure and then the finished cooking the beans normally. Once the beans were soft I added the tomatoes, rehydrated dried mushrooms (for the immune boosting impact), flavorings (onion, garlic, no-salt seasoning, thyme and black pepper) and finished it with fresh lemon juice and zest. Thank you Sue for introducing us to this, it is one of Dan’s favorites and perfect for a cold dreary day like today.

We also had a small spinach salad with salsa, cucumber and marinated mushrooms topped with a few raw pumpkin seeds.

After dinner Dan was convinced that he hadn’t had enough calories today. I bet everyone knows what that means. If you guessed that he asked me to make a batch of strawberry banana soft-serve you would be right. Some things never change!

I can’t begin to tell you how much I missed my food over the last two days.

Rice Diet Review:

Initially I had planned to do a week of this before reviewing it but I couldn’t do it. Then I decided to do three days and in the end two was enough for me. If you were following along the last two days I am sure you know why I had to bail on this. This diet was not meant for someone like me that eats a healthy no oil, no salt diet with lots with produce.

Okay I probably should have stayed on this diet more than 2 days before writing the review but honestly I was missing my Brazil nuts, wheat germ and seeds. Day two of the diet was better than day one since it allowed veggies but I had been on it long enough. Here are my thoughts:

Pros:

• Focuses on whole food, no processed junk.

• By eliminating salt it should help anyone overcome their salt addiction.

• No oil is used in this diet which should also help people overcome their fat addiction.

• Restricts unhealthy animal protein to 3 ounces per week during the weight loss phase, and six ounces during the maintenance phase and that can be avoided completely by substituting beans or tofu (I added the tofu).

• Encourages daily moderate exercise.

• Promotes meditation to reduce stress thereby reducing stress eating.

• Provides a template for food journaling which is also encouraged.

• Discourages the use of artificial sweeteners

• Promotes eliminating soda due to the additives. Specifically soda is high in dietary phosphates which results in calcium loss and therefore bone loss.

Cons:

• The one day detox of starch and fruit is miserable because it does not contain enough food or variety of food to be sustainable even one day a week.

• Far too much grain per day in my opinion. I had trouble eating the amount of grain they suggested but since the overall calories were so low I felt like I needed to eat it.

• Why a limit on vegetables? This seems illogical to me. Vegetables are the nutritional powerhouse of the food world why would you ever want to limit them? The entire day’s allotment of vegetables on days 2-7 of this diet is one meals worth for me.

• Makes no distinction between sizes of people in the plan. For example men and women eat the same amount? That really doesn’t make any sense to me.

• No flaxseeds, hempseed or chia seeds is a problem.

• Total calories per day seems light 800 on day 1 (which happens once per week) and 1,000 days 2-6, with 1,200 on day 7 during phase one. Phase two isn’t much different. That can’t be enough calories for men or active women.

• Incredibly structured with allotments for all the food groups at each meal. I found this to be annoying but if you like structure this could be a plus for you.

• The book itself talks about people traveling back to North Carolina periodically to get a “diet tune up” which I interpret as they weren’t able to stay on it long term.

Overall, if you have a lot of weight you want to lose fairly rapidly and you like whole grains this would probably get the job done. I say probably because I didn’t lose weight on it, but I am only one person and was on it for a very short period of time. The one I think this diet is missing is the flaxseed (or chia and hemp) for an adequate amount of omega 3. Nuts and seeds as a condiment for a little textural variation and healthy fat would have also been a good idea in my opinion. I also think that raw undressed vegetables should be unlimited. Not too many people are going to overeat veggies.

I am curious, did seeing what I ate for two days on this diet help the review have more meaning?  If not do you have any suggestions on how to make this type of review more meaningful?

Happy thoughts:

• I am very happy to be back to my usual food. You have no idea how much I missed my veggies. The quantity of veggies that I typically eat in one meal was the total allowed for the entire day on The Rice Diet.

• It was great to get outside and get some fresh air before the storm rolled in.

• I love seeing the cherry blossoms starting to bloom. That is always a sure sign of spring in spite of how cold it was today. Brrrr!

• I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation with my friend early this afternoon and am thrilled that she wants to learn more about health and nutrition. She may be sorry so mentioned that because I will be suggesting as many books as she can read. ;-)

• Later today I had another great conversation about health that has my wheels spinning with ideas. Don’t we all love thought provoking conversations?

• I am thankful that Dan made it home safely from work before the thunderstorm started.

• We are planning a trip to DC to see the Cherry Blossoms in full bloom this year. Since we haven’t gone since 1997 I am really looking forward to this. Of course I will take lots of pictures to share with you.

Signing out:

I am looking forward to tomorrow. I have a few things on my to-do list that I am actually looking forward to. Crazy right, who looks forward to their to-do list? LOL, I always say that I am not right. I didn’t forget about the homemade tofu post, that is coming. I got busy and didn’t have time to make another batch of tofu to take pictures of but that should happen tomorrow. *fingers crossed*

I hope you had a wonderful Wednesday, I know I did. Talk to you again tomorrow.