how about leafy greens and low calorie fruit?

guille · Post by **guille** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 3:39 am

are leafy greens and low calorie fruit included in the only 3 plates idea?

i mean, they take a lot of space and have almost no calories, not to mention they dont make you feel satisfied if eaten by them selfs,

i was thnking of having one plate of common food and apart from it a plate of leafy greens for digestion

and in the case of the low calorie fruit , i will explain what i do with it(its specialy useful if one feels hunger)

if i get hungry between meals, as tends to happen, i drink a big swig of water then eat a very very small amount of fruit(must be low calorie fruit) and then another big swig of water, that stops hunger completely for more less 2 hours, and can be done many times a day because the calorie amount is almost non existent

and i like to eat fruit, but in the case of low calorie fruit i dont know if making it part of the 3 dishes, takes too much space and fills nothing

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 8:59 am

Yes, leafy greens and fruits are included in the three plates.

However, when I started I didn't realize there was a one plate rule. I ate one serving of whatever was being served. If there was an extra plate for salad, that was okay. I still put salad on a separate plate most of the time. My plates tend to be half vegetables, one-quarter protein and one-quarter starch.

Urban Ranger · Post by **Urban Ranger** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 12:41 pm

Yes, it counts in the plate. For me, b/c I want the healthy foods and b/c I want to lose weight -- and am losing weight -- filling my plates with gorgeous, healthy, vibrant foods is doing it.

I build a plate with a protein, a fruit and/or veg, and fill in the gaps. One thing that is very important is to have variety on the plate. With plenty of filling protein, fiber, and variety, I find I feel much more satisfied for a much longer time. An example: this morning for breakfast I will have a scrambled egg with cheese and tomato on 1/2 a piece of toast, peanutbutter and jam on the other half, a very small dish (that fits on my plate) of dried cherries and walnuts, and a banana. I like all that food, there is plenty of protein, plenty of fiber, and plenty of variety. All the portions of those foods are small and they all fit on a plate. This will keep me satisfied for a while and they are healthy foods. For supper I could have kale sauteed with carmelized onions, a toss of diced tomatoes and cubes of mozz cheese drizzled with olive oil and a bit of s/p, a square of browned polenta and a protein (in my case vegetarian protein like beans some such). I get lots of different good foods that are healthy and I get variety that is very satisfying. All on one plate.

When I'm hungry between meals, I drink a hot or cold drink. In the early days, I needed a lot of milk. Now I don't.

Post by **reinhard** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 1:42 pm

You're obviously free to make any modifcations you want, but under "orthodox" vanilla no-s, all solid food needs to fit in your three plates.

Why? Two reasons:

1) Habit. It's very easy to slippery slope from health snacks to unhealthy ones. Today it's a leafy green, tomorrow it's dark chocolate, the day after it's a twinkie. Habit needs clear rules.

2) What happens to those 3 plates if you don't feel the need to stick plenty of space-consuming healthy veggies on them? My guess is they will be a lot less healthy and more calorie dense than they would be otherwise. So you get more calories between meals AND more calories at meals.

You may be able to navigate these dangers -- but I certainly wouldn't be able to.

Best of luck, whatever you decide,

Reinhard

gayoc · Post by **gayoc** » Sat Oct 09, 2010 4:36 pm

As we all know that leafy greens are very good for us to maintain our weight as they are low in calories. Aside form that they are also useful in reducing the risks in different forms of cancer and heart diseases. But anyway, you should have to follow balanced diet as you plan for it.

levictoria · Post by **levictoria** » Sat Oct 09, 2010 5:35 pm

I think that you really should just keep it on those three plates. Its really a visual thing to see all the food you are eating at once. Also, if you start putting salad on a separate plate, you may put too much unhealthy stuff on your other plate. I'm pretty sure you won't lose weight that way...and that is the reason you're doing this, right?