I feel great about this “Flat Belly Diet”, which honestly I don’t see so much as a “diet” but as a way that I will eat for the rest of my life. I’m still losing weight but at a rate of just .02 pound per day instead of 1 pound per day on a juice reboot. And, that is ok with me because I don’t feel deprived. I have energy and I feel like I can do this for the long term. What is fun is trying new recipes and being inspired by the recipes in The Flat Belly Diet book.

The most important thing to remember about this diet is that each meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack pack or dessert) should be less than 400 calories. So, you don’t have to count all your calories all day long but you should learn how to put together meals and snacks with less than 400 calories total. Build your repertoire of “go-to” meals and snacks so that grocery shopping is easier and you don’t let food go bad by buying too many different grocery items. The book is filled with these under 400 calorie recipes and they are not tasteless rabbit food meals either.

This morning I decided to switch it up from the breakfast tacos and make something else using the same ingredients that other recipes from the book use. This is what I made and boy was it delicious and filling!

Michelle’s Ham, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Sandwich
1 slice Tillamook Sharp cheddar cheese (90), 1 egg (78), 1 Thomas English muffin (130), 1 slice ham (30)
Total calories = 328
(Note: I didn’t use butter on the bread and I didn’t even miss it!) I did use an olive oil spray in the pan for browning the ham and then cooking the egg.

Also, I drank some leftover juice from yesterday which included a beet, celery, apples, a pear, lime and ginger root. Keep calm and juice on!

Now if I’m ever I’m hungry between meals, I can simply hack open a coconut for the juice and meat, or drink some juice (I always have some made in a jar in the fridge) or even have this new snack that I just learned how to make and it is wonderful.

Cottage Cheese Delight
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese with 3 strawberries sliced and 1 or 2 tbsp. of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

I never would have put chocolate chips in cottage cheese if it weren’t for this book but I’m so glad I did! Or instead of the cottage cheese, I have used Tillamook Vanilla Greek yogurt with the strawberries and chocolate chips as well and that is like a full-on dessert. Seriously.

I’m at 163.0 pounds currently. I know I said I wouldn’t blog again until I hit 159, but I couldn’t help myself. This food is just too delicious not to share with all of you. I started my journey at 168 pounds 14 days ago so I still feel like I’m on the right path and that is alright by me. So if I continue to lose a pound every three days, then this will be a success.