The simple plate

Why diets end

Every diet I tried worked. All of them. For three weeks. Then came a week of reserve duty, or a tournament, or just a long day — and everything fell, because the plan was built for a perfect day.

What holds isn't a plan. It's a rule you can apply to any plate, in any restaurant, at any hour.

The rule: half, quarter, quarter

Look at the plate:

• Half vegetables. Any form — salad, cooked, stir-fried, from a tin.
• A quarter protein. Eggs, chicken, fish, tofu, legumes, cheese.
• A quarter carbs. Rice, potato, bread, pasta — yes, pasta too.

That's it. No scale, no app. In a week when you're in control it's easy. In the bad week it's still possible, and that's the whole story.

Three habits that hold the rule

1. Water before the meal. One glass. Half of our "hunger" is thirst.
2. Protein in the morning. Eggs, yoghurt, cottage cheese — a breakfast with protein removes the 11 am snack without effort.
3. Green in the morning. I start the day with a green sachet in water — maca, matcha, spirulina and moringa. Not instead of vegetables, on top. It's the small thing that tells the body today will be fine.

What about sweets?

Eat them. After a meal, not instead of one. Dessert after a plate full of vegetables and protein does something completely different to the body than a croissant on an empty stomach at 10 am.

The goal isn't a perfect plate. The goal is a plate you can repeat tomorrow.

An important note

I'm a coach, not a dietitian. What's written here is what works for me and the families I work with. If you have a medical condition, are pregnant or have small children — the dietitian and the doctor come before any blog.

This week

Seven days, one meal a day by half-quarter-quarter. Just one. Watch what happens to the rest.