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| Livliga Live Vibrant 2016 Book Review |
I love the first of the year when I can try out new methods
to inspire me and renew my commitment to living a healthier lifestyle. This
year I picked Rocco Dispirito’s The Pound A Day Diet to explore.
There is lots to like about this book. It is definitely
designed to help you get organized. It lays out clearly a weekly plan with all
meals and snacks accounted for to cover a 28 day program. The “why” of the
program is explained in terms of the particular foods chosen, the goal of the
calories per day and the psychology of enjoying a higher calorie day each week
as part of the overall program.
The challenges come when you actually start implementing the
plan. The first thing I found is that the grocery lists provided do not always
map to the actual meal plan and recipes. I discovered it was better to go to
the recipe and make my lists; otherwise I ended up buying way too much or didn’t
have the right foods on hand.
The second thing I found in preparing the meals and snacks
each day is that it requires a “from scratch” approach each time you eat. This
takes a lot of time and also does not account for leftovers. This works well if
you have a family of four eating each meal or have the time to commit to
assembling each meal. I found I have to modify the plan. We ended up eating
leftovers from the night before every other day for lunch, which made it much
more doable. I also ended up focusing on the snacks that could be made ahead of
time, still being mindful of the overall calorie count. This made more work for
me.
You can tell a lot about a chef from his recipes. The Pound A Day Diet shows that Rocco
Dispirito has a sweet tooth. Most snacks are sweet and dessert like. It is also
obvious that he is Italian—there are many pasta recipes! Although I like
desserts and pasta they are not things I crave everyday, several times a day. I
ended up wanting more variety.
What I learned about
the plan:
It needs more color in each meal and more variety of foods
It needs more vegetables as part of each meal
A big water bottle filled with ice and slices of lemon helps
manage my hunger between meals
What I learned about
myself on the plan:
I can work with my hunger between meals
I do not have an unlimited amount of time to fix meals, even
when I am totally focused on healthy eating
I do not live for one pot meals; I much prefer the visual
appeal of a protein, vegetable and grain on my plate
Favorite Meal:
Chicken Enchiladas, page 188
Turkey Alfredo, page 164
Beef and Broccoli Stir-fry, page 170
Favorite Snack:
Banana Cream Smoothie, page 100
On the go snack: Apple and cheddar cheese, page 128
Surprise favorite: Green Monkey Smoothie, page 102
Best Discoveries:
It is possible to live on 850 calories a day and stick to it
It is possible to lose weight, especially if you stick to
this plan
Miracle Noodles
are a great find!
An additional way for you to get organized for right-sized
eating and long-term healthy eating, no matter what diet plan you choose, is to invest in healthy lifestyle
dinnerware that uses the psychology of eating and subtle serving sizes in its
very design. Livliga is the only
dinnerware that does this! A great way to invest in real change and a positive
mindset.
Here's to Living Vibrant in 2016!
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