Less of a diet, more of a reboot...

Here’s a 5 day diet reboot. It’s great to do after a particularly hefty weekend or anytime you are feeling the need for an immune booster after a lot of holidaying or celebrating. I limit it to 5 days because it isn’t threatening. We can all stick to something for a mere 5 days, right?

For the reboot I’ve knocked out a short list of about 25 ingredients, many of which you already have in your cupboard, and all of which you can mix and match over the course of the week. The list is short and requires minimal prep work and cooking. Use your hand or a normal table spoon to portion control.

5 day shopping list looks something like this:

Box of 12 organic eggs

2-3 large bags of spinach, watercress or fresh greens that can be eaten raw or cooked

1 bundle spring onions

Ginger & Garlic, or combo mixed ginger and garlic paste

Cinnamon

Salt & Pepper

1 box Jordan’s porridge oats

1 large jar of chia seeds

4-5 apples

2 - 4 cartons blueberries and blackberries (can use frozen if not in season)

Lemons & Limes

Medium sized bag of almonds or mixed nuts

Cucumber

Assorted fresh veg that you can also stir fry, the greener you can keep it, the better – i.e. bean sprouts, onions, carrots, peapods, mushrooms, celery, red, orange and yellow peppers, broccoli, asparagus, green beans, edamame, corgette

4-5 medium avocados

Canned / jarred whole chick peas

Extra virgin olive oil

Coconut oil

Red wine vinegar (alternatively, you can just squeeze lemon or lime juice on your salad)

1 extra-large cauliflower, or several smaller ones

Several large pak choy

Coffee

Tamari sauce (gluten free)

Almond milk

Sesame seeds

Non-stick 1 calorie olive oil spray

How it works

You basically eat the ingredients in the list above, in different ways, for 5 days. Manage your portions based on your hunger. When you are full, stop eating. Try not to eat passed 7 pm so you get a good 12 hours of fasting in from dinner to breakfast. If you aren't hungry in the morning, don't eat breakfast. Coffee and tea are okay throughout. Green tea or matcha super healthy options.

If you can make it to your next meal without snacking, great. Or skip the afternoon snack and just eat your dinner earlier all week, if possible. Otherwise, if you are starving, eat an apple mid-morning or half an avocado in the afternoon. Both increase your ability to burn fat. The apple’s peel gives you all the benefits of ursolic acid, which increases your brown fat stores that in turn increases your overall calorie burn. Avocadoes have the good monounsaturated fats which help fuel the furnaces of your body to burn even more fat.

You can create your own recipes out of the above ingredients, but stick with some basic principles. For example, you can have 2 eggs every day, however you want and whenever you want e.g. for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Eat at least half an avocado every day, but never more than a whole one. You can have your salad at lunch, or at dinner. Eat 10-15 almonds each day. Make your lunch the night before to take to work the next day, and if you have to eat out during the 5 day programme, order a spinach salad with olive oil on the side. There is no meat over the 5 days; all of your protein will come from the eggs, nuts, chia seeds, chick peas and beans. Double up on the spinach if you are feeling hungry and eat that, or any green veg, to pad out your diet and to avoid hunger. If you don’t like spinach, then buy some lovely mixed greens that include watercress, one of the best anti-oxidants out there and eat that for your salad instead.

Below are a few sample ideas, and the rest you can create yourself. You will feel amazingly refreshed after 5 days if you stick to these simple ingredients.

5 Day Metabolic Reboot

Breakfast: Simple Porridge

Porridge oats with blueberries, blackberries, almond milk and cinnamon.

Lunch: Spinach Salad

As much spinach as you’d like, with a spring onion or two, 10 almonds (chop them up for a nice crunch throughout), a bit of chopped celery or cucumber, one or two hard boiled eggs, half an avocado, a handful of chick peas, and 1 tbsp. olive oil with whatever acid you choose: vinegar, lemon or lime.

Dinner: Stir Fry

Stir fried vegetables. Sauté whatever veg from the list you fancy and add in some Tamari sauce. You can also add an egg if you’ve only had one so far today. Meaning, chop up a hard-boiled egg and throw it in your dinner, or do a little scrambled one ala ‘egg fried’ rice style and shred some cauliflower to act as ‘rice’ for the base of your stir fry.

Breakfast: Spinach Frittata

1 egg scrambled with fresh spinach and mushrooms on cauliflower toast.

Lunch: Avocado & Egg

One whole avocado drizzled with 1 tbsp. of olive oil topped with salt topped with a fried or poached egg.

Dinner: Stir Fried Pak Choy with Sesame & Tamari

Brown some onions and celery in already sizzling ginger and garlic in about 1 tbsp. of olive or coconut oil. Then add in the pak choy. Next add in a handful each of chick peas, bean sprouts and the sesame seeds (tbsp.) with the Tamari sauce.

Since the dinner isn’t a huge one, soak some chia seeds the night before in almond milk and chill overnight to create a delicious pud. Top with berries, almonds and cinnamon.

You get the idea. Now only 3 days to go.

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