There are essentially 11 categories of foods that we do not recommend in our programmes. Visit the “Daily Nutrition” page on our website to see the “Foods To Remove From Your Diet” for a comprehensive list.

It is imperative that you begin with at least these first five in Phase 1. Once you have settled in for a day or two then continue to Phase 2 on the next page to make the next 5 changes. 

The 5-In5-Out concept has 12 steps of “eating into” the WFPB eating regime. You can use as many steps as you need to in order to wean yourself off unhealthy foods.

Your aim is to make a change, slowly, so that you do not feel deprived or punished. This way you are more likely to stick to a healthy eating programme.

As you slowly start eliminating all the “banned”foods until your diet is “clean”, bear in mind the importance of choosing organic foods and where possible, foods that are locally grown. Visit local farmers’ markets to source your fresh produce. “Clean Eating” is about choosing your food wisely, eliminating preservatives, foods laden with pesticides, colourants, processed foods and fast foods – all of which are toxic and strain a body beyond its limits.

Following is a Step-by-Step programme as an example of changes you can start with. Select which five things you will change immediately and start those changes now. Then move on to the next five things and continue until your eating habits are ‘cleaned up’.

The Rules

Apply these changes, one at a time, until you feel that you can move on to the next change.

This will probably take about 2 weeks.

Focus as much energy as possible on each change for at least a day or two.

Use the 12 steps as a guide and stick to it.

If it seems too difficult, make a smaller change instead.

For example, instead of cutting out sweets, just cut out cakes and biscuits. Smaller steps make things much easier. There is nothing worse than a sugar addiction. But don’t use this as an excuse not to remove sugar from your diet. It is one of the most important steps to good health.

Always replace bad food with healthy food that you will enjoy.

The Step-by-Step section gives some examples – bear in mind that everyone has different tastes. Also, please understand that in the case of certain health challenges like diabetes, snacks such as fruit etc. need to be restricted initially until your blood sugar levels have stabilized.

Step-by-Step

1. Eat fruits/vegetables for snacks. If you tend to snack on junk food during the day, keep some fruits with you at all times. Remember, diabetics – fruits are restricted. Also, follow the general guidelines for the number of servings of fruit per day for general health imbalances. Better yet, fresh raw vegetables dipped in homemade hummus makes an excellent choice for those snack- attacks.
2. Drink water instead of soda. Replace canned drinks with water. We encourage you to add fresh fruit or herbs to the water to make it more enticing and enjoyable. Don’t forget your fruit allowance! If you just drink the water that is fine but if you eat the fruit, keep a tab on how much fruit you are eating in one day. Follow the serving guidelines.
3. Eat whole-grain bread. If you ate predominantly white bread, replace the white with whole-grain versions. Again, we encourage you to make your own and not use shop-bought breads. Switch to homemade sprouted grain breads or artisan sourdough breads.
4. Add fresh vegetables to dinner. If your diet does not consist of vegetables other than potatoes, you are encouraged to include some steamed or raw greens with dinner.
5. Cut out meat. Remove all red meat immediately. Unfortunately, there is no. compromise here. Then, cut back on the portion sizes of white meats and seafood and slowly eliminate these, replacing meats with beans, peas, lentils and whole green leafy vegetables to replace the animal protein in your diet.
6. Nuts instead of chips. If you normally snack on chips, try raw almonds. No more than 30g per snack, otherwise this will cause an EFA imbalance.
7. Coconut or nut mil ks instead of cows milk. If the coconut milk is too rich then try diluting it 20:80 or 30:70 with water.
8. Berries instead of sweets. This is a relatively easy change to make and it will provide the sweetness you are looking for. If the berries are picked fresh they can be frozen. Chewing on a frozen berry in summer is most refreshing and far healthier than sweets or chocolates. Remember your daily fruit allowance though!
9. Try some great vegetable-only dinners. There are so many good recipes available for vegetable dishes on-line. For the first couple of days we encourage you to eat one meal a day consisting of only vegetables. Try it! With a good basic menu such as our 10-day plan the switch will be much easier.
10. Replace coffee and ordinary black teas during the day. Drink lemon water first thing in the morning and half an hour before a meal. Switch to herbal teas which are healthier. Select chamomile for an evening drink, where possible. Rooibos tea is another good choice.
11. Honey. Make use of honey wherever possible instead of sugar. Even brown sugar, whilst espoused as being ‘ healthy ’, is still highly processed. Cut back on the number of teaspoons of sugar you add to drinks and food until you have completely removed sugar from your diet. Replace sugar with honey where necessary.
12. Fats. The easiest thing to change immediately are the fats / oils you use in your food and whilst cooking. Make the change immediately. Keep coconut oil for stir fries and olive oil for salad dressings etc.

Please feel free to contact us via the website for any further information or if you require specific advice with regard to the above programmes.

Download our “Eat to Live” booklet for a 10-day eating programme menu.

Download our “Eat to Live Recipes” booklet for the delicious recipes.

Yours in Good Health – The team @ Doctors Beyond Medicine