BREAKFAST , LUNCH  & DINNER!!  Did you get them right?

Barack Obama and many presidents before him have often talked about our health care costs as being the single biggest problem facing our nation. Yet, the exquisitely simple solution is right under our noses — it’s the two hundred bites of food that we put in our mouths every day.

U.S. government numbers projecting that our cost of health care as a percent of GDP will exceed 20% in 2015 -- up from 5.2% in 1960

We know this from mountains of scientific and clinical evidence; Dr. Campbell states in the “Forks over Knives” movie that if everyone in this country shifted to a whole foods, plant-based diet; that 70 to 80% of our health care dollars would disappear. And that whole process begins with breakfast — our first meal of the day.

Our 4-Leaf Program was designed to help everyone consume the greatest possible portion of their calories from the healthiest foods available — whole plant-based foods in nature’s package. So let’s start with breakfast. In our health coaching business, we have found that some clients have difficulty implementing this new way of eating 100% from the start. So, in those cases, we make it a three-step process — logically beginning with breakfast:

Sailors Daily Oatmeal - complete with lighthouse and book of knots

• It’s the first meal of the day
• It seems to be the same thing every day for most people
• It’s easier to control than other meals
• There are many very tasty 4-Leaf options.

So, we recommend that our clients take a few weeks and begin by just developing a 4-Leaf morning routine that they can live with. I recently invited a new client, Erica, to my home to see what I have chosen for my morning routine; and she really seemed to like the following two dishes that have become a permanent, and very enjoyable, part of my day:

 Eating healthy in the morning…first course is fresh fruit only

Eating healthy in the A.M. — “Sailors Oatmeal” at mid-morning

After our meal, my instructions to Erica were to spend the next two weeks working on a morning routine that will work for her — FOREVER. Then, with that new healthy habit firmly in place, we will tackle lunch. The good news is that with her new breakfast habit, replacing bagels and cream cheese with fresh fruits and whole grains — she will already be tripling the number of daily calories that she will be getting from “whole plants in nature’s package,” the natural diet for our species.

J. Morris Hicks, the "big picture" guy when it comes to how we feed ourselves

By the time she nails down her lunch routine in the next four or five weeks, she will be covering two-thirds of her daily calories and will be gaining a real good “feel” for what what a 4-Leaf meal looks like. By the time she gets to her dinner routine in about six weeks, she will be well on the road to vibrant health, her ideal weight and a joy of living and eating that she may have never felt before.

Just in case you’re wondering about the mountain of evidence mentioned earlier, then you may want to start here:

Common ground among medical experts…the foundation of our “4-Leaf” program

If you like what you see here, you may wish to join our periodic mailing list. Also, for help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4-Leaf page. From the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

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—J. Morris Hicks…blogging daily at HealthyEatingHealthyWorld.com

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