Gillian McKeith's Food Bible (26 page)

Eat a variety of whole, natural foods. Expand your possibilities. Buy the basic ingredients and prepare meals from scratch whenever possible.

Slooow down. Eating at a hundred miles an hour on the run causes stress to your body. Savor each morsel and give your body time to digest and absorb the nutrients.

Get to know your body. Really think about how you feel. Are your eyes bright or are there deep circles underneath? Are you feeling full of energy or a little strung out? Choose what you eat accordingly.

Try not to eat big meals in the evening and keep it simple. Eat
more
food in the earlier part of the day. For a restful, vitality-enhancing night’s sleep, go easy on red meat and stimulants and opt for soups and salads, veggie stews, and herbal teas.

Aim to eat some fruit on an empty stomach each day. This could be first thing in the morning, mid-morning as a snack, or 30 minutes before lunch or dinner.

Have vegetables or salad with lunch and dinner. In the evening they should make up half your plate. They are also useful as snacks with dips or just to munch on. The best ways of cooking vegetables include steaming, water stir-frying, baking, and roasting. Soups and casseroles are also good ways of incorporating vegetables into your diet.

Do not eat animal protein more than once a day. If you have fish, chicken, or eggs for lunch try to have some vegetable protein in the evening. I prefer fish, as it also contains the essential fats and is easier to digest than other animal proteins. Go for wild or organic wherever possible.

Start experimenting with pulses if you don’t already include them regularly. They can be eaten cooked or sprouted in salads, stews, casseroles, soups, and stir-fries. Cooked pulses can easily be made into dips with just a few other ingredients.

Include raw nuts and seeds daily. They are a perfect snack and can be sprinkled on salads or cereal. Nut butters are also useful as spreads or mixed with lemon juice and herbs to create dips or sauces. Cold-pressed oils are great in salad dressings; just mix with lemon juice or cider vinegar.

Eat some raw foods every day.

Let’s look at how to put this all into practice with some meal and snack ideas.

Breakfast ideas

Smoothies or fruit salads. These are my favorites, although I often will follow with oatmeal about half an hour later.

Soaked muesli: use oat, millet, rice, or buckwheat flakes and add nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and cinnamon as desired. Soaking overnight makes the muesli more digestible. Soak in rice or oat milk or a mixture of water and plain soy yogurt.