How the Plan Works

It's very simple

This plan is VERY simple.
Each day you simply pick one breakfast, one lunch and one dinner.
If you really want to make things even easier, why not plan for a whole week in advance?
And that is all there is to it!
You will love these simple but tasty recipes so much that you’ll keep coming back to try others

Each recipe has been picked on 4 strict criteria

First of all, and most importantly, it has to taste unbelievably good. Just tasting okay was not acceptable.
Each recipe has to be easy to make – so much so that even a novice cook can make any of these. All ingredients are readily available from most food shops.
Each recipe must not contain too many calories nor too much fat. In fact, we’re so confident in our recipes that ANY combination of breakfast, lunch and dinner will work.
Each recipe will fill you up which should help with stopping you from snacking or grazing on food in between.

HOW IS THIS PLAN DIFFERENT FROM OTHER DIETS?

First of all, this is not a diet. It is an approach to healthy eating which is for the rest of your life. Just by following it, you will lose some weight because you will not be overfeeding your body which is what you have probably been doing up til now. However, not overfeeding your body does not mean you will go hungry or not feel full on this new life-long food regime.

And compared to diets, this plan does NOT make you drink certain shakes or take powders. It also does not restrict you to only eating proteins. High protein diets always make you yearn for carbohydrates. On this diet, you can have both. How is this possible? This plan is based on a theory called food combining – each of these recipes combine carbohydrates, proteins and fibre in proportions that are most likely to help you lose the pounds.

Once you get into the swing of it and start cooking for yourself, you will no longer feel rubbish inside from all the additives found in high calorie ready-made meals found in supermarkets. Instead, you’ll want to revisit the database of recipes time and time again because a) they are delicious, b) you know they are full of good ingredients, c) therefore you will feel better and d) more energised. Because these gorgeous recipes are healthy, this is why it is a health plan or a way of living – not a diet! It’s what most of us (whether fat or not) should be eating every day! Hopefully, sticking to this plan will lead you to a healthier path which is eventually internalised. Simply pick daily meals you wish to make thereafter for the rest of your life.

SOME DO's AND DONT'S

Some Do’s

Try and drink around 5-8 glasses of water per day. By all means add sugar free cordial.
Use the meal planner (see below) and buy all your shopping in one go.
Try and eat fruit PREFERABLY before each meal, but if you can’t manage that, then at least do it afterwards.
One third of each lunch or dinner meal should be made up of vegetables. Don’t worry, I’ve factored this into each recipe. Please, do not cut out the vegetable content of each recipe (unless you plan to replace it with another vegetable).
Do a bit of exercise – it needn’t be anything too strenuous. Just mild activity is okay. Perhaps a walk for 45 minutes every day.

Some Don’ts

You must not have more than 300ml of semi-skimmed milk a day.
You must not snack in between.
If you get hungry – keep well stocked with fruit.
As a whole – no cream, cake or candy. One piece of chocolate every now and then for those who really can’t do without is okay.

WHAT IF I GET HUNGRY

First of all, drink some water. Did you know that most of us on average are in a state of mild dehydration. And thirst mimics hunger! And when you are dehydrated, you feel hungry! Therefore, your hunger might simply be your body’s expression of a desire for water rather than food. So, drink a glass of water first if you feel hungry. Quench your thirst not your hunger! On average, try and drink around 5-8 glasses of water a day. Tip: use 5 small empty bottles of pop (i.e. the 500ml bottles) and fill them with water to keep tabs on how much you have consumed through out the day.
If you need to snack, snack on fruit or vegetables (like carrots). Keep plenty of these in your stock cupboard.
Look at the section on this website on ‘Snacks’ for more ideas.

SLIMMING WORLD FRIENDLY

Yes! All of these recipes are Slimming World friendly…

This is SLimming World friendly. Most of the syns marked on where possible.

Is this plan Slimming World friendly?

Yes it is. Although this side does not have an endorsement from Slimming World, each recipe has been carefully created to be in keeping with the food combining concept that is behind all Slimming World recipes. So, this site will provide you with amazingly delicious recipes that you can try in addition to the ones in Slimming World books and magazines. The thing about the recipes on this site is that they have been tried and tested and only those that are really incredibly tasty have been picked to serve you. Where possible, we have tried to indicate the number of ‘syns’ for each recipe (per portion/per person) for those of you following the Extra Easy plan – see the numbers in the brackets after the title of each recipe. If you belong to Slimming World, you will understand what the terms syns mean. If you don’t – then don’t worry about it.

BUT I CAN'T COOK?

Can’t cook or wont cook?

Listen, cooking is quite easy once you get started. You’ll find the recipes on this website are quite easy to do – we have left the complicated ones out! Don’t forget to look at the ‘great tips for basic cooking’ link on this home page.

And one other thing – if you think you can’t cook – well, you can! I thought I couldn’t cook once, but then once I got into it, I realised it wasn’t such a big deal and I made more of a fuss about it than anyone else!

The other thing to remember is that most ready meals in supermarkets and the like have lots of unwanted, unnatural and unhealthy chemicals in them – for examples, chemicals to preserve them and artificial colourings. These are not good for you. However, if you start cooking yourself, you will start eating food that is really good for you. You will feel better, look better and you will sleep better.

Trust me, I’m a doctor!

Dr Ram x

Other things on this website to help you
P.S. There’s other interesting material on this website too.

Hints and tips on what the medical research says – and not what some amateur pseudo-psychologist thinks!
Great tips on basic cooking.
A section on the truth about exercise (and how to get the most out of it).
Old wives’ tales – and move on.
Come and get clued up in order to get to a new slimmer you.

This website is gradually being constructed in my spare time (I’m a real doctor who works in the NHS for the most part of my day). Please bear with me whilst other pages are populated. This site is purely developed out of wanting to give something to you. It’s not love that makes the world go around – it’s contribution. And through contributing, comes love.
Bits to come: Mind talk, Everything about BMR, Latest Research, All about exercise, Old Wives’ tales.

HOW MUCH CAN I EXPECT TO LOSE?

Stick with this plan and there’s an extremely high chance you will lose weight (around 2 lb per week). Did you know that a lot of people who lose weight quickly (for example 3-4lb per week) will, after succeeding with their weight loss, put most of it back on within a year. We think this is because the body likes to get back to its ‘usual’ position and by losing weight quickly it thinks you are in a state of starvation – and thus it tries to store as much food as possible when it sees it. Therefore you should really aim for 1lb (max 2lb) per week weight loss. This small weight loss will not be noticed by the body and it will not therefore think you are in a state of starvation. And that means, it won’t store every ounce of food it sees. Don’t be frustrated, within no time, these small losses with soon add up to give a phenomenal punch to your weight loss journey. AND by losing it slowly, it will not feel like you’re on a diet or depriving yourself of something.

DO I NEED TO SEEK ADVICE FROM MY DOCTOR?

Only if you have an important medical condition like Diabetes or if you are pregnant or if you are not an adult. Please note that some recipes might contain ingredients that you know you are allergic to – in which case, stay away from making that recipe and move onto something else that is more agreeable. It’s not rocket science 🙂