Eating for fat old people....

We have finally decided to get very serious about changing our diets, before we are confined to hover-chairs... Its not that we eat particularly badly, but we do eat a lot of takeout food and we do eat too much food. And as a result, we have experienced the 'middle-age hip spread' year by year, and find ourselves of significantly larger 'carriage' than in days gone by....

We have chosen to base our diets on the World's Healthiest Foods, by George Mateljian. In part because I lost a good deal of weight following it back when Mr. Muffin Puff Cake was born, in part because all of the recipes actually turn out really deliciously, and in part because it seems to be a sustainable program that can be followed for the rest of our lives.

The program can be summarized along the following guidelines:
Drink green tea instead of coffee (haven't quite mastered this one).

Alternate your day's breakfasts with protein (generally eggs) and complex carbohydrates(oatmeal or muesli).

Eat 3 fruits a day.

Eat one serving of nuts per day.

For lunch, eat a salad with a source of lean protein (chicken, fish, eggs, beans).

Eat one serving of hard cheese or plain yogurt each day.

Precede each dinner meal with a plate of fresh chopped vegetables and a light dip (hummus, garlic dip etc.)

For dinner eat 6oz of lean protein (fish, chicken, lamb) with a side vegetable or two.
At least two dinners per week should be vegetarian.

Drink one 4oz glass of red wine or unfiltered grape juice per day.
Do not eat any processed foods.
Do not eat white flour, pasta or potatoes.

The website is great because it contains hundreds of recipes and so you have lots of variations on this theme, if you want to join in, go check it out.