What I Learned From The 3 Ingredients Rule

We just finished up a fun little 2-week low carb mini-challenge based on the Three Ingredients Rule. Basically you eat 3 ingredients or foods max on your plate for any given meal. You can see all of my 3IMAX daily food diaries here.

This was a fun challenge. I tend to eat simple as a general rule anyway, but I did learn a few interesting things doing “3 Ingredients” 15 full days in a row…

First, I lose weight faster!
That’s a plus. 🙂

Second, it makes you super conscious of your low carb meal choices – which foods and ingredients you choose for every meal. Knowing you can only have 3 things on your plate, you tend to eliminate extras that inflate your carb count for the day – and some of the things that tend to be “known weight stallers” (cheese, nuts, dairy, cream cheese, etc).

Third, by elimiminating a lot of those “extras”, and eating “super simple”, I really learned to ENJOY the natural flavors of my foods – using only olive oil, salt or real butter to cook with or flavor the foods I ate.

It helps if you choose a fatty fish like Salmon – which is naturally flavorful. Or fatty steaks like Ribeye that offer much more flavor and better texture than Sirloin. I also love seared yellow squash and zucchini – salted and browned in olive oil. No parmesan coating, etc – just beautiful salt!

The next time I do “3IMAX”, which I plan to do again SOON, I’m going to get even more strict. This time I’ll include my coffee (because my current creamer has way too many ingredients), I’ll count Daisy Brand cottage cheese as the 3 ingredients it is (instead of one), etc. I have a feeling I’ll see even better results. 🙂

And it will give me an opportunity to do some more experimenting with things – like getting a “perfect coffee” down, one that is more healthy to enjoy daily.

I’m a big fan of “food science” and I like some of the things I’ve read about “mono meals” (one ingredient foods per meal) too. Experimenting is fun! As long as it’s healthy experimenting, of course. 🙂

On that note, look what I found on Amazon today:
225 Simply Great 3-Ingredient Low Carb Recipes

Perfect! 🙂

If you participated in the 3IMAX mini challenge, I would love to hear what YOUR experience was, or anything you learned during the challenge. I know some people had a hard time getting their meals down to just three ingredients – while others loved how easy & simple it was.

There’s nothing easier than sticking to real foods:
“meat & greens + healthy fats” is my general rule.

We’re kicking off a NEW Low Carb Challenge on Monday, so be sure to join us!

Get The Low Carb Challenge Details

See you there. 🙂

Best,
Lynn Terry,
aka @LowCarbTraveler