Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Question:
How much does this diet plan cost?

Answer:
Nothing. eatTHISdiet™ - Original and eatTHISdiet - Comfort Food Diet are FREE. There is no cost to the end user.

Question:
Can I have dessert with eatTHISdiet?

Answer:
Desserts are an important part of eating well and eating healthy. The key making dessert part of your healthy diet is that you should consider desserts as a special part of your life. They are not something that should be eaten every day.

If you are using eatTHISdiet to lose weight, then dessert should be considered a serving that you substitute for another portion maybe once a week.  For more information, visit the Dessert Guidelines.

Question:
What are the guidelines on fruit?

Answer:
There's a fruit guide posted on the site, but in general your piece of fruit should not be more than about 100 calories.

Question:
I am not following the plan to the letter meal by meal. I don't think any diet plan can be followed that way -- it's just not practical.

Answer:
I agree and the key is to mix and match to your taste. The shapes (red square, yellow triangle, blue circle) are the keys to helping substitute other meals. You might consider trying some meals that you have not have thought of before. Part of the plan is designed to help expose you to a wide variety of ingredients as well as teach some key concepts about cooking and eating healthy.

Comment:
I've found the portion sizes on this diet to sometimes be way too much. One cup of the beef stew is plenty; same goes for the roasted eggplant soup.

Answer:
The plan is designed to be satisfying and have portions that are realistic. If you want to eat less, by all means this is fine.

Question:
Can you substitute chicken breast when the recipe calls for salmon or other fish? I don't like fish.

Answer:
For a lot of recipes this should work just fine. Not every recipe has been tested for this, however. You might try some of the recipes with fish. One early user of eatTHISdiet “hated all fish” but because the plan has creative recipes and teaches you how to cook fish properly she now eats fish all the time (she still doesn’t like clams though).

Question:
I was also wondering whether you are expected to reach your goal weight at the end of 6 weeks because I noticed this plan only give you meal plans for 6 weeks and then are you supposed to go to your maintenance meal plan?

Answer:
There are now two plans posted and each of them are six weeks long. The original plan has more creative “gourmet” recipes and the newest plan has comfort foods. One thing I have learned in working with people in designing menus for them is that we all find our favorites and tend to repeat them. If you repeated these two plans twice you will get through six months of menus. I am working on more plans now.

Keep in mind that you can also substitute other recipes of equal servings. There are hundreds of recipes on the web site and you can find the Dinner Menu Index here.

Say if you don't like fish and you're supposed to have the Salmon with Parmesan Crust. You can see on that recipe page that it's a Square 2 (dinner that serves two) and takes 30 minutes. Then if you go to the Dinner Menu Index and look at the Square 2 listing and look at all the recipes with (30) after them, you can substitute one of those recipes instead. Like Mushroom and Prosciutto Pizza or Chicken with Tarragon Mustard Cream. (Of course if you want to do a recipe that takes longer, you can.)

Question:
Can I really lose 6 lbs a week on this plan?

Answer:
Hmm… I am not sure where that idea may have come from but this is not the goal of the diet. Everyone loses weight at a different rate and the most I like to see patients lose is not much more than 2 pounds a week. If you are losing more than two pounds a week, consider using the plan with more calories than you are on.

Activity has a lot to do with weight loss as well and if you are exercising, you will not only be healthier but will find it easier to lose weight. There is research to support the recommendation that you discuss an exercise or diet plan with your doctor. I think that this is sound research and good advice.

Question:
The serving sizes of soup are sometimes too much for lunch if I am allowed more than a single serving?

Answer:
If you are allowed 2 servings at lunch and the menu calls for soup it may be too much soup for you to double (or triple!). In that case you can have a half of a sandwich (which equals one serving) or a whole sandwich (since that is two servings).

For instance, if you get three servings at lunch, have a serving of soup and a whole sandwich.