My (very experimental) new diet plan

It's so new, it's still shiny and smells like new car.  It's so exciting that it deserves bold and capitol letters.  It's...

My New Diet Plan!!!!!!!!!!

It's still very rough-draft, and it doesn't have a name.  So, I'll call it: 

Healthy-ish Semi-Intuitive Vegan Eating! 

Never mind, I'm going back to "it doesn't have a name".

I just needed something new, you know?  Just to get my head back in the game.  I had definately been falling out of healthy living for a few weeks.  And then, right when I was getting back on track after gaining a couple of pounds, I got sick and then my awesome brother visited (at the same time, actually...) and so I just have been feeling kind of "blah" about diet and exercise.

Enter- A New Diet Plan. 

Actually, what I'm about to describe to you probably won't sound very revolutionary to you, because it's pretty much a combination of things that have worked for me in the past.  It's very simular to the Weight Watchers Core/Simply Filling Technique in some ways, and has a few Intuitive Eating ideas thrown in.  Also, there is still some calorie-counting involved.  Oh yeah, and EXERCISE is still important. 

There are 7 Rules.  I will be following each and every one of these and will adjust them as needed, depending on how well this does or doesn't work.  Also, I will be using something that is very important when doing pretty much anything:  Common Sense.

Rule number 1:  Eat anything from the following two lists at any time, and always to satisfaction, no need to count calories for them.  Just listen to your hunger signals.

Healthy Foods

• any and all vegetables (including fresh, frozen, and canned)
• any and all fruits (including fresh, frozen, and canned)
• any and all beans/lentils (including fresh, dried, and canned)
• any and all whole grains
• 100% whole grain bread
• 100% whole grain pasta
• tofu
• seitan
• tempeh
• textured vegetable protein
• any light or unsweetened dairy-free milk
• air-popped popcorn
• plain shredded wheat

Not-as-Healthy, but still O.K.

• vegan veggie burgers
• any fake meat product (as long as it's not drenched in sauce)
• Lara Bars
• vegan "cheese"
• light bread
• Wasa crackers
• most condiments (no mayo or anything fattening)
• pickles, unsweetened
• calorie-free drinks
• sugar free gum

Rule #2: Eat some healthy fats every day from the below list, maximum amounts listed. Again, no calorie-counting for these, unless you go over the amounts listed.

Healthy Fats

• nut butter, 1 tablespoon
• olive oil, 2 teaspoons
• nuts, 1 ounce

Rule #3: You may eat up to one serving per day of each of the following, sans counting.

Special Snacks

• Luna OR Cliff Bar (any natural food bar, really)
• non-dairy yogurt
• dried fruit
• 100% fruit juice

Rule #4: Eat up to 1000 calories per week of anything outside of these lists. 

Rule #5: Choose 1 day per week that you eat entirely inutitively, ignoring ALL RULES on this list and eating whatever you wish but only to satifaction.

Rule #6: Exercise 6 days per week, 40-60 minutes per day.

Rule #7: Take a multivitamin daily, plus a B-12 supplement weekly.

Many things on the lists are foods that I don't regularly eat (vegan "cheese", tempeh, seitan, TVP, for example) but I felt the need to include them in the list because they are healthy-ish foods that I think one could eat to satisfaction.

What didn't make any of the lists and would have to go into that 1000 weekly calories or be eaten on Intuitive Eating day?  Chips, cookies, pizza, fries, Redvines, and any other foods that I'm just not willing to give up, even though they aren't the healthiest choices. 

Is Intuitive Eating day just an excuse to have the controversial "Cheat Day"?  No, not at all.  It is just a chance to truly practice IE, which is how I hope to eat all of the time some day.  For now, I need practice.  And since I still love Oreos and Ruffles, I need to the accountability of weekly calories (very much like WW's weekly points, yes?) and IE Day. 

I am on Day 2 right now, and loving this.  I have not even had to use any of those 1000 calories yet, because I'm so satisfied with all of the other foods.  I think that I will use those only if I truly want/need to.  I already have most foods that I already eat on the lists.

Anyway, I feel pretty vulnerable putting this all out there to you guys!  I hope that it helps to give you some ideas for healthy vegan eating, and that my rules aren't too confusing to read.

For now, I'm continuing to track everything on My Fitness Pal, even the foods that I don't have to count.  This is because I'm still experimenting with this plan and want to make sure that I don't go overboard with anything.  Yesterday, eating this way ending up being around 1700 calories total.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments about my "new" plan!  :-)