It’s easy to put on a few pounds when you travel a lot. Those big hotel breakfasts, a lunch meeting, another meeting over dinner — even if you are dedicated in using the hotel gym, the calories add up.
The New York Times‘ Mark Bittman has a plan in his new book, Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating. In short, Bittman’s plan is to eat like a vegan until 6 at night and then do whatever you want. That means oatmeal instead of eggs and bacon at breakfast, perhaps a rice and bean burrito (no cheese) at lunch, etc. Not easy, but Bittman lost 35 lbs. in short order and cut both his cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
The good thing about Bittman is that he isn’t doctrinaire. The plan he used worked for him; he simply advocates thinking about food choices more consciously so that you can find a plan that works for you. Eat less meat and dairy, make your diet more plant-centric — that is the core principle.
The other benefit of Bittman’s approach is that reducing meat consumption actually helps the environment. Commerical meat production is second only to transportation as a source of greenhouse gasses in the U.S.
Hear a lively interview with Bittman with Tom Ashbrook on The Connection. You can see him addressing the TED Conference on YouTube. We also enjoy his blog.
