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I have never been one to fall into the diet culture and stay there. Yes, I have tried the Keto diet, Whole30, No-Sugar diet, and even intermittent fasting. Did one or two of those diets work for me? Yes, they did. Did I gain my weight back plus some? Fuck, yes, I did. I don’t particularly appreciate having the word “diet” in this blog post, but I cannot get around it. All of these diets set me up for failure in the end. They taught me about deprivation, restriction, looking at food as a threat, and making me believe I didn’t deserve to enjoy the yummy things. The dangerous part of all of this is the statement, “I am undeserving.” This lack of self-compassion needed to stop. So, the right place for me to start was to create My Daily Dozen Diary.
But first, I am deserving
Growing up, my relationship with food was not the best. Being ridiculed over what I chose to eat was not an issue in my home. Using food as an apology or a manipulative tool was the norm. When disciplinary actions got out of control, I received comfort food as an apology for the infliction of abuse. It quickly became an unhealthy gauge in what I believed I deserved. Unfortunately, this belief followed me into adulthood and crippled my ability to have self-compassion.
The first step in improving my food journey was the decision to try veganism. Some would say a vegan diet IS a restriction. However, I believe it is an ethical choice in which restriction has no place. I have enjoyed every step of the way and have used self-compassion tools to retrain my childhood brain on how I perceived myself. I now know I deserve to be me in what I see as my best form and in how I feel. It has been a long road, but I made it, Ma.
It is so much easier for us to have compassion toward others, but when we need it for ourselves, we are void of the idea. A great place to start is by telling yourself, “I am deserving.” You deserve to feel good and be the one to make healthy choices. You deserve to take the time to prepare a beautiful meal to feed your soul and wellbeing. Most importantly, you deserve to love yourself just as you are. Use food to heal yourself and not look at it as an enemy.
My Daily Dozen Diary
If you know me, you are aware of the love I have for Dr. Michael Gregor. His infinite wisdom and super sweet website, nutritionfacts.org, has been a real godsend for me during my food journey. His new app of The Daily Dozen has helped me get most of the nutrients needed into my body each day. As I worked through the first few weeks of using the app on my phone, I kept a running daily journal of how I felt. I noticed right away the energy I had by week’s end was tenfold. Was there some truth about eating the right foods? Absolutely!
The Daily Dozen is a list of twelve items to fit into your day through food and exercise for optimalism. Let me break it down for you right below.
Three servings of beans and legumes
- 1/4 cup hummus or bean dip, 1/2 cup cooked beans, split peas, lentils, tofu, or tempeh, or 1 cup fresh peas or sprouted lentils
- Peanuts are technically legumes, but Dr. Gregor groups them with nuts and seeds. He also places green beans (snap or string) in the “other vegetable” category.
One serving of berries
- 1/2 cup fresh or frozen, 1/4 cup dried: blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, acai berries, cherries, cranberries, concord grapes, goji berries, kumquats, mulberries
Three servings of other fruits
- One medium-sized fruit, 1 cup cut-up fruit, or 1/4 cup dried fruit: apples, dried apricots, avocados, bananas, cantaloupe, clementines, dates, dried figs, grapefruit, honeydew, kiwifruit, lemons, limes, lychees, mangos, nectarines, oranges, papaya, passion fruit, peaches, pears, pineapple, plums, pluots, pomegranates, prunes, tangerines, watermelon
One serving of cruciferous veggies
- 1/2 chopped, 1/4 cup broccoli or brussels sprouts, 1 T horseradish
- arugula, bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, horseradish, kale, mustard greens, radishes, turnip greens, and watercress
Two servings of greens
- 1 cup raw, 1/2 cup cooked Arugula, beet greens, collard greens, kale, mustard greens, sorrel, spinach, swiss chard, turnip greens
Two servings of other veggies
- 1 cup raw leafy vegetables, 1/2 cup fresh or cooked nonleafy vegetables, 1/2 vegetable juice, 1/4 dried mushrooms
- Artichokes, asparagus, beets, bell peppers, carrots, corn, garlic, mushrooms, okra, onions, pumpkin, purple potatoes, snap peas, squash, sweet potatoes/yams, tomatoes, zucchini
One serving of flaxseeds
- 1 T ground: brown or golden flaxseeds
One serving of nuts and seeds
- 1/4 cup nuts and seeds or 2 T nut or seed butter
- Almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, chia seeds, hazelnuts, hemp seeds, macadamia nuts, pecans, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts
One serving of herbs and spices
- 1/4 tsp of any kind
Three servings of whole grains
- 1/2 cup hot cereal or cooked grains, pasta, or corn kernels
- 1 cup cold cereal, one tortilla or a slice of bread, 1/2 bagel or English muffin, 3 cups popped popcorn
- barley, brown rice, buckwheat, millet, oats, whole-wheat pasta, popcorn, quinoa, rye, teff, wild rice
Five servings of beverages
- One glass or 12 ounces of
- teas: black, chai, vanilla chamomile, earl grey, green, hibiscus, jasmine, matcha, oolong, peppermint, rooibos, or white
- coffee, hot chocolate, water
Exercise
- 90 minutes of moderate-intensity or 40 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity
Exercise is yet another thing I used to feel I didn’t deserve to experience. For years, my self-compassion was nonexistent when it came to wanting to get healthy. I used to compare myself to others and say, “I don’t deserve to look like that thin woman.” It took some time to understand being “thin” was not the end goal. The finish line is accepting my body as it is and loving myself enough to know I deserve to FEEL awesome! Light yoga is my jam at the moment, and it gets my achy bones loosened every morning. Start with something light and work your way into more vigorous activity, if you are a beginner like me. The most important thing to remember is you deserve it!
To see Dr. Gregor’s Daily Dozen Checklist, you can watch a short video here or download the Daily Dozen app onto your phone. I promise you won’t be sorry!
My Daily Dozen Morning
For breakfast, I usually eat one slice of bread with avocado and chia seeds or top it with a serving of tofu scramble and fresh tomatoes. I have marked off at least four of my daily dozen before noon. GO ME!
My Daily Dozen Afternoon
During the work week, I make six snack containers to eat during the afternoon. In my job, I don’t get to eat lunch at the time as most people, so I must have something to eat for fuel. In my container, I knock out six of my daily dozen by adding fruit, a cruciferous vegetable, another vegetable, nuts, whole wheat pitas, and hummus (bean serving).
Meal Prep Go Time!!
On meal prep day, I roast a few vegetables to have on hand for quick buddha bowl builds. Meal prepping comes in super handy when I need to eat in a hurry in-between my lunch and dinner work hours. I won’t lie when I tell you it took me a minute to get used to eating reheated food. It’s a hilarious trait some of us have, but it’s authentic. I used to bypass eating “leftovers” because I felt I deserved better. But, you know what? By putting myself in that mindset, I deprived myself of essential nutrients because I would choose not to eat at all over having the reheated meal. What a way to self-sabotage!
My Daily Dozen Evening
For dinner, I will whip up a quick batch of Mexican Cauliflower Rice and create an epic buddha bowl with black beans, roasted red bell peppers, tomatoes, avocado, and cilantro. By day’s end, I’m hella-full and know I have fed my body what it needs to not lose my shit and give up on life. This is truly a game-changer, folks.
For great ideas to create your own buddha bowls, you can download my Buddha Bowl Brilliance chart here.
Watching what we eat can be looked at as a restricting diet. But for me, I see it is as the way I choose to love myself. “Potato Potahto,” my friends. Whatever the case, just eat the fucking potato.
Love,
Ruthie
