64 the rice diet renewal
meals, fi nd others to cook with, and discover other cost - effective
ways to have your healthy meals prepared.
Your Dieta Journal
Your Dieta Journal is an invaluable tool to help you become
mindful of what you eat and to record your progress in actualizing
your intentions. It will allow you to understand and keep track
of your food intake and daily exercise regime and will introduce
you to a new and effective way of noticing your thoughts and
feelings. Through journalizing, you can assess and visualize where
you are and where you want to be with your food and lifestyle choices.
For anyone who is diabetic or familiar with that food exchange
system or the one outlined in my previous books, you may want to
convert your portions into these familiar serving sizes. Otherwise,
simply documenting your food and guesstimating serving sizes will
greatly enhance your ability to consume consciously. Commit to
doing so every day for one month.
For those of you who do not want to concern yourselves with
the fact that a teaspoon of oil averages 5 grams of fat (and thus
45 calories) and is often found naturally within every ounce of ani-
mal product and cereal and to a lesser degree in most servings of
vegetables and fruits — you don ’ t have to. It is certainly easier to be
healthy and lean if you choose simple, whole foods and limit your
high - fat foods to 1 – 2 teaspoons of oil per day or a couple of table-
spoons of nuts or seeds per day. Remember that eating processed
foods with hidden fats, sodium, and sugar is a recipe for obesity
and chronic disease!
Take a look at the sample Dieta Journal on the next page. The tallies
stand for the following: S, starch; V, vegetables; Fr, fruit; P, protein;
D, dairy; and F, fat.