If you haven’t noticed the trend, I’m starting the Education section of this blog by going over the stuff I’ve done in the past. I’m not including my 2010-2011 as it’s own post, though I’ve mentioned it a few times. The reason that’s not getting it’s own post is because I basically starved myself thin, eating only 700 calories a day and working out several times a week.
Not a method I’d recommend, and so not one I will do more than allude to as a cautionary tale.
Today’s post is another flash back to 2015. It was 5 years after my 2011 weight loss, and I had gained back nearly every pound that I lost. By this time, I was back up to 200.4 lbs, and struggling because I didn’t want to starve myself thin again, but wasn’t sure how to healthily lose the weight. I had tried Garcinia Cambogia, to no effect (at least no positive effect). Now it was time to try diet.
I met a friend on MyFitnessPal at the time, who talked to me about a lean and green diet that had been working for him. This is a slightly lower carb take on the default “fat free” recommendation of nutritionists for the last 60 years or so. I decided to try it.
This was really hard for me, because I am not really a vegetable eater and am a huge fruit fan. This diet wants the opposite of that: more veggies and less fruit.
So, in deference to my fussy nature and my desires to be fit, I adapted my own version of this diet. I was eating some foods that I don’t like. There’s no getting around that. But I was also finding the least evil of all the evils. Below is the unaltered list that I was given and that served as my starting point:
Lean and Green
No: breads, rice, pasta, potatoes, beans, sugar, fruit
Meat
Leanest – 7 oz portion (2 healthy fat servings):
- Fish: Cod, Flounder, Haddock, Orange Roughy, Grouper, Tilapia, Mahi Mahi, Tuna, Catfish
- Shellfish: Crab, Scallop, Shrimp, Lobster
- Ground Turkey: Must be more than 98% lean
- 14 egg whites, 2 cups of EggBeaters, Boca Burger, Morningstar Farms, or Gardenburger (less than 6 grams of carbs per patty)
Leaner – 6 oz portion (2 healthy fat servings):
- Fish: swordfish, trout, halibut
- Chicken: breast or white meat without skin
- Ground turkey: must be 95-97% lean
- 2 whole eggs plus 4 egg whites
- 15 oz tofu (extra firm)
Lean – 5 oz portion (no healthy fat servings required):
- Fish: Salmon, Mackerel, Tuna, Herring, catfish
- Chicken: Dark Meat
- Ground Turkey: 85-94% lean
- Lean beef: beef steak, roast beef, ground beef
- Lamb without fat
- port (chops or tenderloin)
- 3 whole eggs (max: 1 time per week)
- 15 oz Tofu (firm or soft)
Green
Lower Carbs:
- Fresh/Raw Greens (1 cup serving): Collard and Mustard Greens, Watercress and other green leaves, endive and spring mix, spinach, lettuce (all types)
- Greens (1/2 cup serving): kale and turnip, cooked spinach
- Other (1/2 cup serving): celery, cucumber, mushroom, radishes, bean sprouts, summer squash, asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, fennel bulb, zucchini
Higher Carbs:
- 1/2 cup servings: broccoli, red cabbage, peppers (green, red, yellow), cookneck squash, green or wax beans, turnip, kohlrabi, okra, scallions, straightneck squash, red ripe tomato, spaghetti squash
Extras:
- 1 tbsp: Olive Oil, Yellow mustard, Soy Sauce, Balsamic vinegar, diced onion, low CHO dressing with less than 4 grams of CHO
- 2 tbsps: hot sauce, red or white vinegar
- 5-10 black olives
My experience:
It worked. I started losing weight. But it wasn’t sustainable. I was hungry a lot, I hated what I was eating (fussy eater, remember?), and I couldn’t make myself maintain course. It took all the enjoyment out of life. I was constantly trying to figure out what I was allowed to eat, tracking every single thing I put in my mouth, dreaded eating out or at friends houses…I was basically thinking about food, strategically, through the majority of my day.
So, yes, if these are foods that you enjoy, they could help you lose weight and/or get fit. But if these aren’t foods you enjoy, as they weren’t for me, then find a better way. I promise you, they are out there. And I’ll be sharing what I find, as I find them!
