Week X: White Out

The next two diets are extreme examples of will power. Neither are realistic or long term ways of eating. Instead they represent opportunities to demonstrate your volition and to modify challenges in ways that will work in your present life. Since adherence to the absolute discipline proposed by this week's diet "White Out" is unlikely to work, might even be unhealthy, you must alter the challenge and adopt it to your needs.

This week we omit all white foods, specifically dairy, starches and sugar. A list of white foods includes: milk and all milk products however colored they might be by fruit or later processes, potato, rice, pasta and anything made with flour or sugar. The point is to avoid refined carbohydrates and milk fat.

Make it Real:
The important part of this week's challenge is your choice of modification. It is important to the success of this endeavor that you take a moment to foresee possible pitfalls and decide beforehand how you'll meet them. Compromise is not failure if you've made it part of your strategy.

One modification for this extreme diet is to only undertake it every other day of the week, three days out of the five weekdays.

Another strategy is to choose just one or two white foods that most impacts your current diet. For instance, if you know that your downfall is french fries, remove that item. If it's bread that is usually the undoing of your best laid plans then take that one food out of this week's meals.

Yet another possible adjustment to the White Out diet is to limit the time of day in which you will engage the diet rather than hold to the challenge for every meal. Breakfast foods are typically composed of cereals, breads and dairy, so rather than fight to find an alternative to that meal, you might take on the White Out challenge only from noon onward.


Food for Thought:
As the week begins, have you a plan in mind that tailors this diet to your life, or are you improvising your modifications? Chances are, diet compromises grasped at the last minute haven't worked well or  consistently in your past.

Have you selected the most difficult or the easiest white foods to eliminate from this week's meals?

Conversely, have you taken on more than you can handle? A slide into failure is more damaging than commitment to a smaller but more attainable task.

Notice on which side you find yourself when a food is "almost" white. Bread that appears dark, but is made from white flour for instance. Do you eat it or do you tell yourself, "When in doubt, leave it out"?