Do the Martini Diet

Despite its self-indulgent name, the Martini Diet is not a license to drink an endless stream of martinis. Actually, the diet gets its name from the idea that every portion of food that you eat should fit into a 3-ounce martini glass––if it doesn't, you're consuming too much.

The easily visualized diet portions in this diet and the emphasis on quality food and exercise allow you to combine equal measures of indulgence and restraint.

Steps

What to eat

  1. Focus on quality. The first rule of the Martini Diet is to “eat only the very best.” Eating only the best means sticking to whole foods and avoiding harmful processed foods. While this will remove a lot of packaged and pre-made food from your diet, it will introduce you to a wide range of unprocessed foods for further exploration, including fruits, nuts, seeds, vegetables and quality meats.
  2. Avoid eating fast food. On the Martini Diet, you'll need to adhere to the Slow Food philosophy. In a nutshell, this means that food should only be prepared from the highest-quality ingredients and those ingredients should be fresh, and they should be from local sources. Cooking should be a source of pleasure and dining taken slowly, amid conversation, sharing with loved ones and friends, and eating mindfully.
  3. Avoid eating fat-free, no-fat or nonfat foods. According to the Martini Diet, fat-free foods are not foods; they are a process. And the evidence of their utility is weak at best anyway––they simply encourage you to eat bland food that has little place in the nutrient stakes.
  4. Avoid eating trans fats and high fructose corn syrup. Trans fats are found in shelf-stable items such as margarine, baked goods and fried foods like freezer chips, while high fructose corn syrup is found in many sodas, candies, cookies and cereals.
  5. Enjoy fats. Monounsaturated fats like those found in avocados and omega-3 fatty acids such as those found in fish are best, but even the fats found in cream and butter are good for satiety.

How to eat

  1. Minimize your overall intake. The second rule of the Martini Diet is to “eat somewhat less of the very best.” The Martini Diet does not provide exact guidance on how much to eat, but it does offer some suggestions for visualizing portion size.
  2. Eat a 3-ounce (85g) portion of every type of food. To go back to the martini glass comparison, 3 ounces is about the size of a martini glass. As the diet’s creator, Jennifer Saunder, says, your food should come a respectable distance from the top of the glass, like gin, rather than being mounded over the top.[1]
  3. Eat one-third of what you are served at a restaurant. Because restaurant portions are often huge in North America, cutting your consumption when eating out will trim a significant number of calories from your diet.
    • Better yet, share the uneaten food with your love, a friend or a child. There is something fun about doing this and you don't need to feel guilty for leaving uneaten food. Or, ask for smaller portions, such as choosing the appetizer size instead of main course size.
  4. Follow listed portion suggestions when eating desserts. For instance, eat only 1/2 cup of ice cream instead of eating a large bowl full of it. Or, simply go without dessert more often than not. You will get used to it because dessert is more of a habit than a necessity.

When to eat

  1. Make mealtimes your main––and only––eating times. Rule Number 3 of the Martini Diet is to “eat the very best only at mealtimes.” This means that you'll need to avoid snacking between meals as a way of conserving calories. At first this may seem like a challenge but seriously think about the times you snack––many of those times are likely to be driven by boredom, stress or pressure, or just because the item happens to be in your view. Retraining yourself to eat only at mealtimes is a great way to rein in the calorie intake.
  2. Sit down to a proper breakfast, lunch and dinner. Only eat at those times. It's also a good idea to turn this into a meal with others, so that you have time to exchange talk and enjoy their company.
  3. Avoid portable foods and drinks. For instance, do not carry bottles of soda or cups of coffee with you as you do errands. However, you can carry a water bottle with you––water helps to reduce food cravings and helps you to feel full.
  4. Eat at the table or in a cafe. Avoid eating in your car or while you're on the go. Any place that isn't made specifically for eating should be out of bounds––and sorry, that includes the couch! Making this a firm rule will help to prevent the ingestion of extra food that you're not often conscious of nibbling on.

Combat cravings

The Martini Diet offers many good tips for combating food cravings. The author calls them “Cinnabon Avoidance Techniques.”

  1. Always carry breath strips. Strong, mint-flavored breath strips should be popped into your mouth as soon as you feel a strong craving. Nothing tastes good right after eating a mint strip, which should be enough to kill the craving.
  2. Whiten your teeth. Wearing white strips during the times of day when you are most susceptible to cravings will make it physically impossible for you to eat.
  3. Set a beautiful table. Don’t hesitate to use your best plates and a vase full of flowers, even for a leisurely lunch. Setting a beautiful table helps to stave off feelings of deprivation.

Exercise

  1. Keep your exercise regime pleasant and desirable. Exercise on the Martini Diet is meant to be elegant. If you're uncomfortable at the gym, consider other forms of exercise––not every person is a good fit for gym workouts. The most indulgent forms of exercise either make you feel good while doing them, or come with an incredible wardrobe that inspires you to get out there and participate.
  2. Take horseback riding lessons. Posting while riding a horse is like doing an endless series of ballet plies, and currying and combing your horse afterward will give you a nice upper body workout.
  3. Try ballroom dancing. Dancing may burn as many as 396 calories per hour. It's also likely that you'll meet great people.
  4. Learn ballet. If you’re intimidated by wearing a tutu and tights in public, then try one of the New York City Ballet’s workout DVDs at home. However, there are good adult ballet classes with people of all sizes and shapes, so don't feel shy.
  5. Take ice skating lessons. Start with one session per week to build strength and leg muscle. During warmer months, skate indoors, and during the colder months skate outdoors.
  6. Try fencing. Fencing will help you to engage in a workout that is surprisingly aerobic while venting your bottled-up anger at the same time. It's also very graceful even as you attack your opponent.
  7. Engage in a vigorous walk. Walking is easy to do on the spur of the moment and requires no lessons or special equipment. It's elegant, you can wear whatever is comfortable and pleasant, and you might even get to know your surrounds better.
  8. Go swimming. Swimming allows you to experience solitude in the middle of a hectic schedule while still getting a fantastic workout.
  9. Enjoy exercise daily. Exercise should be as much a part of daily life as eating.

Tips

  • The body requires 15 calories per pound to maintain current weight. Multiply your current weight times 15 to find out the number of calories that you need per day to maintain your weight. To lose weight, you will have to either consume 3,500 fewer calories per week, or 500 fewer calories per day, or burn 500 calories daily through some form of strenuous exercise.
  • Don’t attempt to change all food behaviors at once. Instead, change one behavior every few weeks. Change breakfast, then lunch and then dinner. If you change all at once, then you are more likely to binge.
  • One drink of red wine per day is allowed at mealtime on the Martini Diet. However, try to cut down on alcohol, as diet and alcohol are not really two words you should see in the same sentence!

Warnings

  • One technique in the book that many dietitians disagree with is the idea of binging on something that you crave in hopes of destroying your craving. This technique may not be effective for most people.
  • Most dietitians recommend not limiting portion sizes of fruits, vegetables and salad, even if you are dieting. Eating fresh fruit (like an apple) for a snack often will reduce hunger at the next meal, and reduce thoughts that you are depriving yourself.

Things You'll Need

  • Martini glass for measurement
  • Horse to ride
  • Breath Strips
  • Teeth Whitening Strips
  • Fencing Equipment

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ Jennifer Saunder, The Martini Diet, http://www.amazon.com/The-Martini-Diet-Self-Indulgent-Fabulous/dp/1592330460
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