The GM Diet

The GM Diet (AKA The Special Occasion Diet)

Preface: 

Ever since I fell off of the Medifast bandwagon (whoops) I have been kind of stuck in a "diet" rut. I know, I know, that word DIET, it's EVIL. But, at the end of the day the word itself can be a noun OR a verb and as a noun it actually means "The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats." so when you think about it this way, it's really about what you are choosing to eat (good OR bad!)...

That said, my "diet" over the last few weeks (months???) has turned in to grab it, cook it and eat it. Not a very good plan for someone who really needs to lose a few pounds.

*sigh*

I have been thinking about a few different ways to jump start my weight loss again and find some motivation, but NOTHING was appealing to me. Then, BAM! Last weekend as I was mindlessly pinning I ran across a pin that said this: 7 Day Cleanse = lose 10-17 pounds. This is an amazing 7 day meal plan/guide to lose pounds and totally cleanse your body.

I vaguely remember a sister in law trying this cleanse (diet) and after I read it over I instantly felt compelled to give it a try.

YES! Something I think I can do!

So here goes nothing....

THE GM Diet

 

The background: 

The following diet and health program was developed for employees and dependents of General Motors, Inc. and is intended for their exclusive use. This program was developed in conjunction with a grant from U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. It was field tested at the Johns Hopkins Research Center and was approved for distribution by the Board of Directors, General Motors Corp. at a general meeting on August 15, 1985. General Motors Corp. wholly endorses this program and is making it available to all employees and families. This program will be available at all General Motors Food Service Facilities. It is management's intention to facilitate a wellness and fitness program for everyone.

This program is designed for a target weight loss of 10-17 lbs per week. It will also improve your attitudes and emotions because of its cleansing systematic effects. The effectiveness of this seven day plan is that the food eaten burn more calories than they give to the body in caloric value. This plan can be used as often as you like without any fear of complications. It is designed to flush your system of impurities and give you a feeling of well being. After seven days you will begin to feel lighter because you will be lighter by at least 10 lbs. You will have an abundance of energy and an improved disposition.



UM, did you read that? Yes please!

What to eat:   

 

For EVERY Day: You must drink 10 glasses of water every day for all 7 days. Follow the diet strictly, no added beverages, alcohol, or dressings. You may use seasoning.

Day 1: Fruit only. (No bananas yet) Eat as much water based fruit as possible. If you can manage to eat cantaloupe and watermelon only on this day, you can lose up to 3 pounds by the end of the day.

Day 2: Vegetables only. Raw or cooked. You are encouraged to eat until you are full. You may start the day with a large baked potato with one slice of butter.

Day 3: Fruits and Vegetables. No potato or bananas.

Day 4: Bananas and milk. Three glasses of milk, up to 8 bananas, and an unlimited quantity of "GM's Soup". (Recipe Below)

Day 5: FEAST DAY! Beef and tomatoes. You may eat up to 20oz of lean beef today. (Steak, Roast, Ground Beef...) And 5 whole tomatoes. Drink an additional 2 glasses of water today.

Day 6: Beef and Vegetables. Today you may eat an UNLIMITED amount of beef and vegetables.

Day 7: Brown rice and vegetables. Eat to your hearts content. Drinking fruit juice on this day is also encouraged.

GM's Soup Recipe

 

- 28 oz of water
- 4 packets of Lipton's French Onion Soup Mix
- 6 onions
- mushrooms (to your content)
- tomatoes (to your content)
- green peppers (to your content)

*Note: one blog said that the soup can really contain any veggies you like (HOORAY!)

Every blog I read said after day 7 you should have lost 10-17 lbs! WOOT!

Also, it's safe to continue, starting over with day 1... so keep that weight loss going!


I also read some other notes that I should mention:

You MUST drink at least 10 (some say 12-14) glasses of water a day (prepare yourself to go to the bathroom a LOT)

NO alcohol or other drinks - however I read you can have carbonated water, black coffee and tea

NO dressing except malt, white or wine vinegar, squeezed lemon, garlic and/or herbs. No more than one teaspoon of oil.

Details and How and Why It Works

Day One you are preparing your system for the upcoming program. Your only source of nutrition is fresh or canned fruits. Fruit is nature's perfect food. Fruit provides everything you could possibly want to sustain life... except total balance and variety. 

Day Two starts with a fix of complex carbo-hydrates coupled with an oil dose (the "pat" of butter). This is eaten in the morning for energy and balance. The rest of day two consists of vegetables which are virtually calorie free and provide essential nutrients and fiber.

Day Three eliminates the potato because you get your carbohydrates from the fruit.Your system is now prepared to start burning excess pounds. You might still have cravings which should start to diminish by day four.

Day Four - bananas, milk and soup sound strange. You're in for a surprise. You probably will not eat all the bananas allowed. But they are there for the potassium you have lost and the sodium you may have missed the past three days. You will notice a definite loss of desire for sweets. You will be surprised how easy this day will go.

Day Five - beef and tomatoes! The beef is for iron and protein, the tomatoes are for digestion and fiber. Lots and lots of water purifies your system. You should notice colorless urine today. Your allowance calls for the equivalent of five "quarter ponders". Do not feel you have to eat all this beef. You must eat the six tomatoes.

Day Six is similar to day five. Iron and protein from beef, vitamins and fiber from vegetables. By now your system is in a total weight loss mode. There should be a noticeable difference in the way you look today, compared to day one.

Day Seven - Your system is now under control and your body will thank you for the flushing and cleaning you just gave it!

----

Personal notes:
 
Today was day one for me. Because I am a busy, working mom I was able to stay distracted most of the day. I drank 2 big glasses of Iced Tea for breakfast and grabbed a pre-made fruit tray on my way out. I split the fruit with the BF at the office and tried to focus on eating melons since that's what the diet recommends, but my plate had purple grapes, pineapple and red and green apples too. I had a big cup of black coffee (I love my coffee and I've grown accustomed to black already, so this was no biggie).

For lunch we ran over to Jamba Juice and I had a 100% fruit smoothie (YUM!)

After work we had errands to run so we stopped at the store and grabbed more fresh fruit. For dinner I ate a tomato (that's fruit, right?) and a Synergy organic and raw drink.

I have been chugging water ALL day. I hope I got in my 10 glasses.

I feel pretty good, a little hungry but more I think because I am cooking food for the kids and it looks/smells good. But I feel good. I also already feel some cleansing happening. I have been to the bathroom 100 times today.

Overall, not too bad and I am looking forward to day 2 - I am more of a veggie than fruit kind of gal, so day 2 will likely be a breeze for me.

I'll keep you posted. Comment if you have any questions for me :-)

Cauliflower Pizza Recipe for Medifast

Cauliflower Pizza Recipe for Medifast

Ever since Chris and I started Medifast I have been scanning the web for lean and green Medifast recipes. I found a few recipes for Cauliflower Pizza and I decided I had to try it. It was a little time consuming and requires some dedicated and finesse, but it was SO worth it. It came out freaking delicious and it more than satisfied my cravings for pizza or other “cheat food”.

So, so, so good!

So, here you have it –

Medifast Cauliflower Pizza Recipe with Pictures

What you need:

Crust:

1 cup shredded cauliflower (2 Greens)

1 oz low fat ricotta with 2 - 3 g of fat/oz (1/8 Lean)

1 oz light mozzarella with 3 - 6 g of fat/oz (2/8 Lean)

OR

2 oz of one or the other cheese

1/4 cup Egg Beaters (1/8 Lean)

1/8 tsp garlic powder (1/2 Condiment)

1/4 tsp dried basil (1/4 Condiment)

OR

1/4 tsp of dried Italian Seasoning

OR

Use ½ tsp total of all of your favorite seasonings – I added Garlic salt

Toppings:

1/2  cup diced tomatoes from the can - less than 5 g of carbs per 1/2 cup (Instead of counting this as a Green, I counted it as a condiment so I could have "green" toppings)

2 oz light three cheese blend 3 - 6 g of fat/oz (1/2 lean)

1/2 cup of your favorite greens (peppers, mushrooms, spinach, etc)

Recommended for Cooking:

A food processor or automatic chopping device (I have an old school Chopster) – If you don’t have, you will need a cheese grater

A digital food scale or at very least a big measuring cup

Pizza Trays or Baking Sheets

Parchment Paper

Cooking Spray

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 (one user did it at 400, another user said 440 – I did 425)

*Note, oven temperatures vary – so watch your crusts!

Steam your cauliflower – be careful not to overcook it. You want it to be tender NOT mushy. Drain it, cool it…. (be patient, you want it to cool off). Then grate 1 cup. Trust me on this one, using a food processor/Chopster is worthwhile – manually grating it would suck.

Mix your grated cauliflower with your eggbeaters, seasonings and cheese.

Prep your pizza pan or cookie sheet with parchment paper (NO wax paper – parchment only) and spray generously with cooking spray.

Evenly spread your mixture onto the paper so that you make a nice round cauliflower crust – thinner will make it crispier. It should be about the size of a round dinner plate (about 10”).

Bake for about 20-25 min (it should start to brown). *Note – just watch your crust – I read 40 min per side and I read 15. I did about 25.

Remove, carefully flip and bake for another 15-20 min. Don’t overcook it, but let it brown. If you leave it in a little longer the edges will burn, that’s okay, you want your crust to be crispy!

Remove.

Add your tomato sauce. I processed my chunky tomatoes to make a spread – you can also use your favorite no-sugar-added pizza sauce.

Add your cheese.

Add your other toppings. I wanted a variety, so I used:

·         Low fat ground turkey – precooked
·         Spinace
·         Mushrooms
·         Fresh Tomatoes
·         Bell Peppers

Just a little of each thing.

Other ideas: Olives, turkey pepperoni

Now put it back in the oven under the broiler and watch it  carefully – keep an eye on the cheese and once it’s melted and your veggies wilt, it should be done.
*Note: At this point remove the parchment paper, otherwise it will burn!

I let mine rest for a minute the edges did taste a little burnt (some users said it may look burnt but doesn’t taste burnt – mine did) so I cut off the edges a tiny bit, sliced it into 4 pieces and put it on a dinner plate.

*Note – each Pizza is about 405-420 calories each (less if you use low fat cheese and take it easy on the toppings)

This whole process took like 2 hours, so by the time it was done I was STARVING.

We picked it up and ate it like a “real” pizza. I don’t think we talked once the whole time, except to say “OMG, this is so good!”.

It was AMAZING and worth the process, although next time I will do what some other users did and make a whole bunch at once and then wrap them in foil and freeze them. Since they will be fully cooked (you can even add the sauce and cheese) you can top it with fresh veggies (or freeze them too) and cook it for about 15 min to heat it from frozen at 425 degrees. Much easier than the 2 hour process again (which BTW, is the only reason I haven’t made this again yet).

I hope you enjoy! If you try it, let me know how it turns out! 

Healthy Affirmation of the Day: I Am Worth It

"I am worth the effort it takes to become healthier, happier and more energetic"

Say this to yourself throughout the day.

Yes, it's hard. This is not a DIET, it's a choice to change your lifestyle. It's not going to be easy every day. Some days you will wonder if it's worth it. The answer is YES.

YOU are strong enough.
YOU are capable.
You want this.
You want to feel good.
You want to look good.
You are worth it.
You are worth the effort it will take.

Baked Spinach & Mushroom Frittata - Medifast Recipe

So, I have now over the last week spent at least 5 hours researching recipes and shopping for ingredients for the lean and green meals for the Medifast diet. I think the best part about the diet for now is the lean and green - so I find it extremely important to make it fun!

Tonight we had our 6th lean and green. I found a recipe for Baked Spinach & Mushroom Frittata, I modified it as follows:

Baked Spinach, Tomato & Mushroom Frittata - Medifast Recipe

2 cups of egg beaters (egg whites)
1 cup of baby spinach
1/2 cup of fresh mushrooms sliced (I used portabella)
1/2 cup of tomatoes (I used heirloom) 
1/4 tsp of onion powder (I didn't have this so I left this out and use pepper)
1/4 tsp of garlic powder
1 tbsp of grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese
2 tsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (healthy fat for the day)
*Optional: 1 tbsp of salsa and/or hot sauce (such as Sriracha)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425

Slice tomatoes and mushrooms
Saute spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms in 1 tsp of olive oil
Lower the heat once everything begins to wilt....add onion and garlic powder

In a separate baking dish (I used what I had - a square, glass dish. Another used a pyrex pie pan) use remaining 1 tsp of olive oil to coat (Next time I will probably just spray the whole dish with Pam cooking spray). Shake and measure out the 2 cups of egg beaters and pour into pie pan (or whatever cooking dish you are using). Add sauteed tomatoes, spinach and mushrooms to the eggs and spread out evenly. Top with Parmesan Reggiano cheese.

Bake at 425 for 15-25 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before eating.
*I added a tablespoon of salsa on top before eating - and some Sriracha (Because everything is better with hot sauce!)

This ends up becoming a huge fluffy delicious frittata.  It makes a BIG portion, so don't be alarmed if it ends up looking huge. The nice thing about baked egg whites is they are fluffy and filling, so if you are in the mood for some comfort food or something hearty, this is a nice choice.


Since I am cooking for 2 I doubled the recipe - Here are my pics:

Sauteing my veggies:

Veggies added to the egg whites, ready to go in the oven:

Fresh out of the over (the double portion took about 25 min. in this smaller pan and almost overflowed!) - smells yum!!

I cut the double portion frittata into fourths and gave us both 2 pieces. As you can see I added the salsa to the top:

 

A close up of my plate, notice the Sriracha:

It was seriously filling and I practically didn't finish it. This is definitely a lean and green you could split into 2 meals.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

The Beginning: Because You Have To Start Somewhere

A lot has happened over the course of the last few years. Relationship changes, office changes, houses changes, blah, blah, blah... you get the point. Over that time I found some vices and used them to make myself feel better when times were tough. Slowly I have been able to let go of things I could see were holding me back... so, now, on to the next thing.

What is the next thing you are asking?? 

You guessed it: Food.

Well, not just ANY food, obviously. But bad, food. You know, the kind that makes you fat.

 I've been in kind of a rut for a while now, feeling down on myself for the weight gain and lack of self discipline. I haven't been happy with the way I look in pictures, my clothes, the mirror. After a few different failed diet attempts (more on that topic later) I just thought screw it.... and started eating and drinking whatever I wanted. I knew my bad eating habits couldn't go on forever, but I wasn't sure what to do next... Different people were saying:

"Eat whatever you want, just workout more"

"Just try low calories and don't eat past 7 PM at night"

"I just skip lunch"

"Cut out carbs"

"Just try ________ diet"

But no! Nothing seemed to fit!

So, now what?

Well, after several family members recently lost weight with the Medifast Diet (more on Medifast later) I decided to also give it a try. Chris, my boyfriend, and I started the plan on Tuesday this week. We both loooooove food, eating out, coffee, wine, trying new things.... so, we knew this would be a challenge. We ordered the food a week and 1/2 beforehand (it takes about 5-7 days to come in) and we knew it was a bad idea to start on the weekend before Labor day, so we decided to start on Tuesday.

Clearly it may have been smarter to start a week ahead with lean and green meals - prepping our bodies for the serious cut back in calories. But, we didn't. In fact, we pigged out instead. We had fast food burgers and shakes. We went out to eat and had fried pickles, Mai Tais, smothered mashed potatoes, New Orleans Beignets... yum. Monday we BBQ'ed hot dogs and burgers, ate chips and had 2 bottles of red wine.... it felt like the "last supper". As fun as eating all of this might seem, to be honest, at the end of the weekend I felt bloated and well, fat. I was tired and actually woke up in the middle of night in pain. My stomach was NOT happy! 

I weighed myself that night and holy festivus! I knew it was time. My final indulgence had come to an end and I was ready for the new, lighter, healthier eating.

Tuesday morning we both weighed ourselves and I wrote down the numbers. We had to rush to work so we grabbed a bar, ate it and downed a glass of water. The bar wasn't bad, in fact, it was pretty yummy. I am not one to eat a big breakfast anyways, so a bar works perfect for me. Once I got to the office I was craving coffee bad. I drink coffee every day, so I emailed my sponsor to find out how coffee would impact my weight loss. She let me know that the program allows up to 3 cups of coffee or other caffeinated beverage a day. YAY! Of course I normally grab a coffee with some cream, but hey, I'm going hard - so I drank it black.

I won't bore you with every detail of everything I ate that first day. We had a shake, soup, another bar and headed home for dinner. I was actually really excited for the 5th meal - lean and green. But, I wasn't prepared. I knew we had some fish in the freezer and some veggies in the fridge. I was tired from the day so I pulled everything out, followed the quick guide for portions and simply pan grilled everything on the stove top and added some simple seasoning. It was good - but nothing to get excited about. Still, we were happy to be eating "real food" and ended the night with our final Medifast meal... feeling good.

That night I immersed myself in the blogs... I started researching Medifast lean and green recipes. I spent the night reading forms, boards, reading up on tips. I started a journal. I wrote down recipes, tips, a shopping list... I was excited!

The program recommends a weekly weigh in, but Chris and I decided, what the heck - and started weighing ourselves daily. To my surprise and delight after following day ONE to a T, on Day 2 I weighed in 2 pounds lighter and Chris 7 pounds! Clearly water, the scale we are using, etc can influence weight and what reads of the scale - but still!!! If you have ever tried to lose weight before, you know it's discouraging when you weigh in and nothing has changed. So, for day 1 to already start to see results, we were motivated!

Day 2 we did roughly the same thing. Bar, black coffee, lots of water, shake, more water, bar and home for the lean and green. I was feeling a little cranky and Chris and I were both SO hungry by the time lean and green came I thought I might die. I ran to Trader Joe's and picked up a variety of lean meats, veggies and spices from my list. I wanted to cook something yummy - not just OKAY. I wanted to make the lean and green something to look forward to, something special. The night before I found a recipe for Medifast Taco salad that I found here: http://www.getskinnybehappy.com/medifast-recipes/lean-and-green-taco-salad-recipe/ - it was yummy. The taco seasoning I used ended up being SUPER spicy (which I love, Chris, not so much). I used heirloom tomatoes and fresh salsa over a bed of greens (all portioned and within the quick guide guidelines). I would make it again.

It's now day 6. We haven't cheated. No extra portions, no extra meals, no "cheat" foods... Chris is down a total of 12 pounds. I am down 6. WOOT!

I decided to start this blog for:

Medifast tips and tricks

Lean and green recipes and pictures

Documented mood swings

My (and Chris) successes and setbacks

Random thoughts on dieting,  working out and living a healthier life

If you have any questions, comments, concerns or anything else to contribute, please do!