I'm pretty much following this food pyramid now
Ironically, I didn't know this pyramid existed before finding it on youtube, a little after Christmas
2025, about 6 months after I started my new diet regimen. But it summarizes the changes I made nicely.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks0hHmkXXuo
click on the image below to expand it for better viewing,
Switched to eating way more beans and lentils
Most fast food revolves around Salt, Sugar and Fat. This diet focuses on Fiber, Flavor, and Feeling Good. It will take time to adjust, but over time you WILL crave food that makes you feel good. It's weird.
eating mostly bean and lentil based dishes seems to have made my appetite manageable (finally!). More fiber helps me feel full longer. I wrote how to cook beans/lentils in your Instant Pot, click here.
I've cut way back on rice, pasta, refined flour as well as manufactured processed food. First, it was healthy, home made, rolled oats based cookies to replace store bought, and then eventually fruit instead of cookies. Give yourself time.
Anyway, I highly recommend the following recipes, most are from https://www.rainbowplantlife.com
- hummus (skip the drizzle part)
- shepherd's pie (brown lentils)
- lentil bolognese italian
- I use Carbe Diem pasta or barilla protein +
- lentil based meatballs (my tweaks to the recipe below, they're TASTY!!!)
- i cook 1/2 cup dry brown lentils in 2 cups of water with a heaping teaspoon of Italian Herb Better than Bouillon base on the stove top
- while lentils cook, I saute onions in olive oil. after they start to brown/carmelize, add the garlic, after 30 seconds add the italian season with a dash of red pepper flakes
- I cut up leftover whole wheat sourdough I make, and I use an egg and real parmesan cheese
- for Curries/Soups, I use a slotted spoon to save a few scoops of textured pieces after cooking is done, and then I just puree the rest in a blender. I prefer creamy, thick soups and curries vs they gritty/gravel texture you get with lentils sometimes.
- red lentil curry (mix with roasted vegetables)
- butternut squash lentil curry (I roast the butternut squash, onion and garlic )
- mexican lentil soup
- spicy honey vinaigrette for salad stuff
- tastes good with this Chili Sesame Peanut Sauce (add at the last 30 seconds so it doesn't burn, or after plating) . Sometimes I have tofu with Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce too. Tasty!
- black bean patty recipe , with this Southwest sauce I've found a grid style potato masher helps if you mash about half the beans and mix again before forming the patties.
- indian sweet potato black bean burger recipe
Dessert Options
- Sometimes I make these Baked Beans for dessert, Recipe here I usually have a 1/2 cup portion for dessert. Lasts me and Jacqui a week quite often. dessert after lunch and dinner too.
- Healthy, Filling Peanut flavored Ice Cream recipe click here. It actually has a lot of navy beans in it.
- Cold Oatmeal premixed with tasty Protein Powder, click here
- Almond Flour Based Protein Bars recipe
Instead of sugary soda...
I make a liter of plain seltzer water via our SodaStream, and then add 1-1.5 ounces of the sour mix below. I typically drink about 4 liters per day. Drinking 4 liters is half the sugar in a 12 ounce can of coke.
Whiskey Sour Mix recipe: using a 4 cup pyrex measuring pitcher, pour 1 cup of boiling water over 1/2 cup of sugar and mix until dissolved, then add 1 cup of lime juice and 1 cup of lemon juice. Mix again and store in fridge. A batch of mix usually lasts me a week and a half . I use the big bottles of Real Lemon and Real Lime from BJ's.
Limit Ultra Processed Food, even Bread
Last but not least, I make two loaves of home made 50% whole wheat sourdough bread weekly. Rounds out any amino acid deficits from eating mostly bean/lentils, and the sourdough yeast improves digestion. I have a half/full slice 2-3 times a day, usually with BJ's wellsley brand natural peanut butter. https://amybakesbread.com/half-whole-wheat-sourdough-artisan-bread/
Snacks
- dark chocolate covered almonds from BJ's (wellsley brand)
- roasted, unsalted peanuts in the shell (the shell will slow you down, but a handful is still 160 calories!)
- wasabi coated almonds (the salt/spices will slow you down)
- a peeled and cored apple, grapefruit, peach, etc
- home made, sharp cheddar cheese crisps
- search online for recipe, i pat with paper towel to help get rid of the oil after baking
- a slice of 100% sourdough rye I make with a thin schmear of Nutella and a couple pecans on top
- VERY much like a cookie, but way more fiber
- click here for rye recipe
- 1 inch squares (~50cal) of this Almond Flour Based Protein Bars recipe
- Dates (not for general snacking)
- super calorie dense, but I use them to avoid bonking
- they pack well when doing outdoors stuff (hiking, biking, jogs...)
Exercise
Zone 2 workouts in the morning (easy biking, brisk walking) for 1 hour while fasted or before eating carbs/fat. Zone 2 means you can still talk, but you don't want to talk too long or you'll get out of breath. Depending on age, that's like 120-135 bpm on your heart rate monitor.
Focus on creating routine. Consistency matters much more than trying to walk/bike a certain number of miles. No sprinting, no super long rides, no tough mt hikes at first. On the days you're tired or need a rest day, just go for an easy walk or do some meal prepping in the kitchen for a couple hours. The goal is to create the habit of exercise every day until it feels weird not to. No more sitting or lying down all day; that should only happen when you're sick.
I don't mean to sound hard core. In fact, if you're sucking wind and can't talk while working out, you're pushing way too hard. If you keep it Zone 2 on an empty stomach, you'll convert body fat to glucose via gluconeogenesis during your workout and drop weight faster, but push too hard and you'll break muscle tissue down, which will trigger massive hunger later on to repair the damage; possibly gaining weight as you put on muscle. Again, easy biking. brisk walking.
Maintaining muscle mass as you lose weight keeps your metabolism high; meaning you burn more calories, making losing weight and keeping it off easier. Muscle also helps aging well, keeping your mobility. Your metabolism doesn't slow as we age, but we lose muscle unless you do the work to keep it. My goal is to be that weird, fit & spry 80 year old that freaks people out.
Side note: I've never been a morning person. I could only make these changes because I'm retired and don't have kids. I often workout around 9a.m. after just having a soy milk protein smoothie. So....yeah. Sorry if my advice isn't helpful at all. I understand. It wouldn't have worked for me when I was doing the 8-5, Monday-Friday grind.
Find indoor exercise options for bad weather days (no excuses when it's too hot, too cold, too wet, too sunny, too windy, etc)
As your weight nears your goal, you can start adding more intense exercise occasionally, but make sure you eat about 100-200 calories of carbs per hour when you do it. Glucose fuels your heart and muscles, take care of them! Your body can't convert fat to glucose fast enough at zone 3 or higher. and again, do NOT risk injuring yourself. Go slow at first. Build muscle. Train! Injury can cause HUGE setbacks to losing weight.
I started very slow jogging on nearby trails using hiking poles once I got below 250lbs. I probably could have walked faster than my jogging speed at first. The trails are rough with lots of tree roots and rocks. Once I got under 220, I was finally strong enough to jog with no poles, but I'm still slow and that's ok. My goal is being active into my 70's, not to win races.
Check your weight and BP daily
Daily weigh-ins keep me on track. When I stop weighing myself, I find it super hard to step on the scale again. It's like a dread that slowly builds. The longer I go without checking my weight, the more I don't want to know. I get fat and happy over Winter, and eventually work up the nerve to do my annual Spring weigh-in/freakout. Denial is a helluva drug. So for me, falling out of the daily habit causes more anxiety than just checking every morning. Do whatever keeps you healthy and less stressed IMHO.
Our annual vacation in Maine kept be from really piling on the weight. I'd weigh myself in March so I'd have time to drop 10-20 pounds, so I wouldn't sink my kayak. But over the years, I was noticing the winter weight gain was getting worse, and it was getting harder to get under 270 before my vacation.
I think what also helps is having a weight goal that's realistic. My goal is a max weight of 220lbs(100kg), while staying in the 210-215lb range most of the time. <220 lbs also tends to be the max weight for a lot cross country skis and carbon fiber bikes. So <220 gives me a comfortable "enjoy your life" buffer. BMI says my max "healthy" weight should be 190. Not going to happen.... let me just add a firm, NO! Also, I'm getting older, so having an extra 10-20 lbs is good for when I inevitably get sick or have an age-related health issue.
My last advice is to make weighing yourself as unavoidable as possible. My scale is in the kitchen where I can't ignore it. If my scale is upstairs in my bedroom/bathroom, I'd forget to weigh myself before going downstairs for breakfast, and I'd be too lazy to walk back upstairs to check. Lame, I know. Also, I weigh myself while still wearing my sleep clothes first thing in the morning. I'll occasionally do a differential (el bucko vs clothed), so I can do the math in my head to know the "real weight". Usually when my sleep outfit changes, Winter vs Summer, etc.
I record it all in this Google Spreadsheet
[from the future!!!] nearly a year later I check my BP about once a week now that it's always below 120/80. I've gone from 145/95 to almost always below 110/70 when I check it now. Still doing daily weight checks.
Side Note: Tracking weight helped me to eventually figure out that after super long, hard rides (>2 hours), I'd retain nearly 2lbs of water for a couple days no matter how healthy I ate. My body was retaining water to help with muscle recovery. Who knew? Also raises my BP a little too. Makes sense
Like this example below. I was super annoyed to weigh in a pound heavier the day after doing a super hard bike ride chasing my friend on his new ebike on my regular fat bike. I went to bed hungry. I ate a healthy hummus wrap instead of giving in to a beer and pizza craving after the ride, but STILL woke up a pound heavier the next day. Then about 2 days later, that weight disappeared, and I ended up weighing a half pound less.
I blather on more here too weight loss strategies
Weight Maintenance
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