Bread: The Star Of The Show

In the first phase of the diet, bread has a starring role, and the majority of our meals consist of sandwiches loaded up with vegetables. They are so easy to fix and taste delicious, and most importantly, they fill you up, so you are totally satisfied. We started this diet the first time not really knowing how we would eat 10-12 slices of bread in a day, and lose weight at the same time, but had a definite willingness to try it. Towards the end of the two-week induction, we had figured out all the little details that made our meals something that we looked forward to. I will share those ideas with you, but you will also find your own style of preparing the food to suit your taste buds.

We found the Sarah Lee Delightful 100% whole-wheat bread to be very tasty, but any low-calorie bread that is whole wheat is acceptable. 

Next we spread on Laughing Cow Light cream cheese; one triangle over two slices of bread. It's a good substitute for mayo, and at 35 calories and 1.5 grams of fat, how can you go wrong? I hate dry bread! As my Dad would say when asked if he wanted butter on his bread "Of course, I'm not in Prison." I carry on that fine tradition, only I use cream cheese now instead of butter.

What vegetables you put on your bread is your own personal preference. We like to build up our sandwich so it really feels like a meal, so we put on every vegetable we can think up. What kind of veggies you might ask?

Raw: Spinach leaves, grated carrot, sliced cucumber, tomato, alfalfa sprouts, mushroom, bell pepper

Pickled: sliced beets, dill pickles

Cooked: caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, sauteed zucchini, baked garlic cloves

Remember I said I would share tips for making the food taste better? Here's the secret; caramelized onions. The diet calls for us to have three tablespoons of olive oil a day, use some of that oil and saute chopped/sliced onions very slowly (up to 45 min) so that they release their natural sugars. They add a sweet roasted flavor that is so delicious you won't miss having meat on your sandwich at all. Cook up a lot, you can keep it in the fridge and spread on cold (don't knock it till you've tried it) Check out caramelized onion on youtube for further help.

The other secret ingredient is garlic. Cut the tops off raw garlic and drizzle with a little oil and bake covered until it is soft. Squeeze the garlic out of the cloves and mash to a paste with a fork. Spread a little (or a lot) over the cream cheese for an even more flavorful sandwich.

Roasted red/green peppers also taste awesome on sandwiches. Cut the peppers in thirds lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Brush with olive oil and place under the broiler until they are charred. Once they are cooked place them on a plate and cover with plastic wrap and cool in the fridge for 20 - 30 minutes. When they have cooled, the skin will peel away from the pepper easily. Slice them up and put on your sandwich.

We use this sandwich as the base of our diet, and eat every three hours. It is very satisfying and we never feel hungry. If you are used to eating a diet high in fat and sugar, your taste buds will need some time to fully appreciate the flavor of eating raw and roasted vegetables. By about the fifth day I found myself really tasting my food, and fruit became a delicious treat. So give yourself some time to adapt to this new way of eating, all the pounds you will drop in those first few days will give you the incentive to keep eating this way.