What to Eat

1. What to Eat • Vegetables (raw and cooked) • Fruits • Nuts, seeds • Lean, healthy meats, fish and eggs Animal products should come from healthy animals, (such as grass-fed, grass-finished beef). Always select fresh organic ingredients first, with frozen organic second. Try to get lots of food from local sources where you can meet the farmer and see the quality of the food. This way, you will get the most out of your food choices.

2. Don’t Eat • Diary Products • Sugar, Drinks with Calories • Grains • Refined oils, hydrogenated oils • Any refined, processed food (not in its natural state) Avoid processed foods, pasta, drinks with calories, hydrogenated oils, salt, MSG, artificial sweeteners, and other unnatural and/or poisonous ingredients. Remember, you are trying to re-establish your body’s normal hunger and taste mechanisms. Stick to real foods.

3. The Next Six Weeks • Use What You Have Learned • Create Routines and Skills • Planning • Shopping • Preparing • Eating I use simple formulas to mix and match real foods to make awesome dishes, meals, and meal plans. I don’t plan out everything in advance, but I will commonly pick a couple of things that I can make large amounts of and store for leftovers later. Plenty of meals are simply improvised at the time and these often turn into the best ones. The food always tastes good (almost always). I strive to not sacrifice taste OR high-quality nutrition. You will learn to do the same with practice over time.

4. The Matrix • Create Formats to Make Good Choices Easy • For Dishes • For Meals • For Your Days and Weeks • Plan Shopping and Storing • Short Term: 2-3 days (grocery or local fresh veggies, fruits, fish and meats) • Medium Term:1-2 weeks (things that store 1-2 weeks, like eggs, hard vegetables, nuts, etc.) • Long Term: 1+ months (frozen vegetables and meats, frozen berries bulk orders of nuts, seeds, etc.)

5. The Matrix • Create Formats • For Dishes • For Meals • Meal Prep. • Leftovers • Variety • For Your Days and Weeks

6. The Matrix • Dishes • Salads: leaves – chunks – fruit – fat/protein • Leaves: Lettuce, mixed greens, spinach, kale • Chunks: Tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, cukes, etc. • Fruit: Orange slices, apple, strawberry, berries • Fat/Protein: Avocado, nuts, egg, fish (salmon is a good choice), meat Chop ingredients into large bite-size pieces and mix in large bowl. I can often eat a full size bowl as my serving. Also, see below for the section on dressing. • Soups • Entrees • Smoothies

7. The Matrix • Dishes • Salads • Soups: leaves – chunks – liquid – fat/protein • Leaves: Spinach, kale, collard greens, etc. • Chunks: Tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, zucchini, etc. • Liquid: Tomato, vegetable broth, chicken stock, vegetable juice • Fat/Protein: Nuts, egg, fish, meat Soups are great to make big portions of to save. Leftovers make good choices easy to make because they are so convenient. It is great to always have meal-size portions of soup handy. • Entrees • Smoothies

8. The Matrix • Dishes • Salads • Soups • Entrees: leaves – chunks – sauce– fat/protein • Leaves: Spinach, kale, collard greens • Chunks: Tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, squash, etc. • Sauce: Vinegar, oil, tomato sauce, guac., olive/coconut oil, herbs and spices • Fat/Protein: Nuts, egg, fish, meat Chop ingredients into large bite-size pieces and cook in skillet. Cast-iron is nice for this type of dish. Categories can be omitted to make a simpler dish, of course. Try steam-frying to reduce the total calories if looking to reduce weight. • Smoothies

9. The Matrix • Dishes • Salads • Soups • Entrees: • Smoothies: leaves – fruit – liquid – fat/protein • Leaves: Lettuce, spinach, kale, collard greens • Fruit: Frozen or fresh berries, orange, banana chunks, etc. • Liquid: Water, almond milk, small amount of pomegranate or other juice • Fat/Protein: Nuts, seeds, coconut Chop ingredients into large bite-size pieces. If adding whole nuts or seeds, place those in first and blend fully. Then add the rest of the ingredients into blender, frozen ones first. One or two frozen ingredients give the smoothie a nice texture. A whole orange can help do the same thing. Blend fully.

10. The Matrix • Dishes • Salads • Soups • Entrees • Smoothies • Dressings: Liquid, fruits, nuts, oil, vinegar (bonus category) I will pick two to four different categories and mix or blend them up. First decide if you want the dressing to be more of a sweet or a savory flavor. Nuts like cashews or pine nuts can be blended, add garlic powder, a little almond milk to make a creamy dressing. Or, fruit blended with vinegar. Mix and match. I make sauces for main dishes modifying this same format.