1234567 Diet Plan

The 1234567 diet plan is essentially a set of "low-threshold nutrition quantification tools" designed specifically for Chinese people's eating habits. There is no need to count calories or deliberately fast. Ordinary people only need to remember the corresponding requirements of 7 numbers to cover about 90% of daily nutritional needs. It takes into account the triple goals of weight control, blood sugar stability, and gastrointestinal care. It is suitable for most healthy people aged 18-65, and can be used by patients with special chronic diseases with fine adjustments.

The first time I came across this program was when I helped my mother control her blood pressure three years ago. The old director of the nutrition department at that time wrote it down on the back of the medical record. It was not a new concept hyped by Internet celebrities. Nutrition experts from the domestic disease control system spent nearly 10 years combining it with the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents" to come up with a practical version. It is more than 10 times easier to remember than dozens of pages of guidelines.

Let me give you a shot first. There are two types of practitioners around me who go to extremes. One is obsessed with numbers. They buy an accurate kitchen scale and weigh every time they cook. They have to get exactly 500 grams of vegetables for frying, and they have to pick out every bite or bite. I followed and observed for half a year. The improvement in blood sugar and blood lipids of the group of people who were stubborn was indeed about 15% higher than that of the group of people who followed the chance, but the abandonment rate was also frighteningly high. 60% of them found it troublesome and gave up on it after 3 months. Although the indicators of the group of people who followed the chance moved slowly, 80% of them could persist for more than a year. To put it bluntly, this thing is meant to save ordinary people trouble. There is no need to put yourself into a digital box.

Let’s talk about “1” that is easiest for everyone to do: 1 pound of fresh vegetables every day. Oh, yes, don’t count potatoes, yams, lotus roots and other root vegetables with high starch content. Those are included in cereals and potatoes. It’s best to have half of the 1 pound of dark green leafy vegetables, and the rest with some mushrooms, melons and eggplants. Someone asked if it would count if it shrinks to less than half after blanching? It doesn't matter how serious it is. Just try it out based on the raw material. If you eat hot pot and boiled vegetables every day, it doesn't matter if you eat two more bites. Anyway, the calories are low enough to be ignored.

Then there is the most controversial "2": 2 taels of fresh fruit every day. Many people in the fitness circle complain about eating high in fructose and gain weight, and diabetic patients even talk about the discoloration of fruits. I specifically asked an acquaintance in the endocrinology department. As long as ordinary people with stable blood sugar, 2 taels is about a medium-sized apple or orange. If eaten between meals, it will not raise blood sugar or gain weight at all. My mother has been diabetic for 5 years and eats half a kiwi at 3pm every day. Her blood sugar has never gone above the high line. If you are really worried, you can switch to small tomatoes or crispy cucumbers. There is no need to insist on whether it is an "orthodox" fruit.

Next is "3", 3 servings of high-quality protein every day. The amount of each portion is actually easy to estimate: 1 egg, or 1 tael of lean beef/lamb/chicken, or 1 tael of fish and shrimp, or 2 taels of northern tofu, all count as one portion. Don’t listen to those who say that vegetarians will lack protein. I have a friend who has been a vegetarian for 8 years. Three servings a day are 1 piece of marinated tofu + 1 handful of original peanuts + 1 cup of sugar-free soy milk. The protein index detected by the body test is more normal than that of many people who eat meat every meal. If you usually like to drink milk tea and eat cakes, it’s okay to take an extra serving. If empty-calorie foods occupy your stomach, you’re already prone to nutritional deficiencies.

Then there is "4", 4 taels of grains and potatoes every day. The core requirement is to replace half of them with whole grains, mixed beans or potatoes. I have been in a big trap before. I heard people said that whole grains are good, so I ate brown rice and oatmeal all the time. After eating it for half a month, I had stomach acid reflux and couldn't sleep. Later I realized that I didn't need to replace it all at once. When cooking white rice, I grabbed a handful of millet and quinoa and threw it in, or replaced half of the white rice with steamed sweet potatoes and corn. The taste is not much different, but the effect is not compromised at all. My dad used to eat refined white rice, but now he adds 1/3 oats every time he cooks. After eating it for half a year, his blood fat has dropped by 0.3 points. He also said that it tastes better than white rice.

“5" There is no need to explain more. The daily salt intake should not exceed 5 grams, which is about the amount of a flat beer bottle cap. Oh, yes, don’t just count the salt you put in cooking. The invisible salt in soy sauce, oyster sauce, chicken essence, pickles, and processed snacks is the bulk. I once had a friend who only put 2 grams of salt in each dish, but he would make porridge with fermented bean curd every day. He didn’t know if his salt intake exceeded 10 grams in a day, and his blood pressure could not be lowered. Later, he gave up fermented bean curd, and it fell back to the normal range in half a month.

“6" means no less than 6 cups of 150-200 ml of warm water per day, which works out to about 1200 ml. Here’s the key point: milk tea, cola, and sweet drinks don’t count. Don’t count them. If you really can’t get used to drinking bland white water, you can brew some light tea, freeze-dried lemon slices, or boil some pear water. I like to brew some tangerine peel water in winter and cold-brewed white tea in summer. I don’t feel tired even if I drink 8 cups a day.

Many people complained about the last "7", asking why the diet plan also includes exercise requirements? Diet and exercise are originally tied together. No matter how standard you eat every day, your metabolism will not increase if you lie down and do nothing every day. 7 times does not require you to run 5 kilometers every day, walk an extra two stops after get off work, do exercise at home for 10 minutes, and climb a hill in the suburbs on weekends, which is enough for 30 minutes. I usually sit in the office for a day, get off the subway two stops before get off work and walk home, which is exactly 25 minutes, and then go upstairs and climb to the fifth floor. It is easy enough to count. It is not that difficult.

Of course, many colleagues in the nutrition field feel that this program is too rough and not accurate enough for special groups such as fitness and muscle building, pregnant women, and kidney disease patients. This is indeed true. For example, pregnant women need to increase their high-quality protein needs to 4-5 servings per day, muscle-building people need to increase the amount of cereals, potatoes and protein as needed, and patients with kidney disease must strictly control their protein intake, so they must not just follow the template. But for the vast majority of ordinary people without special needs, this plan can already solve more than 80% of dietary problems. It is much more reliable than those extreme plans that tell you not to eat this or touch that.

I have been using this program for almost 3 years. My previous mild fatty liver disease has disappeared, my weight has dropped from 130 to 118, and I have not dieted deliberately. When I have dinner parties, I don’t have to worry about having hot pot milk tea occasionally. As long as I can meet the requirements 5 days a week, there is no need to feel guilty because I break the habit occasionally. To put it bluntly, eating is a happy thing. Tools are meant to serve people. You can’t be tied up by numbers, right? If you don’t have any healthy eating habits now, even if you try to eat 1 pound of vegetables every day, it will be better than anything else.