Junk food cravings can sneak up on us—and all too soon, become part of our daily routine (Pizza for dinner and the leftovers—topped with a fried egg—for breakfast? Don't mind if we do.) That's why we were intrigued when we learned about the simple "reset" that Daphne Oz, food writer, cook and co-host of The Good Dish, swears by to feel her best and still savor the occasional indulgence.
The Wellness "Reset" Daphne Oz Follows to Feel Great
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Published Apr 28, 2022
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William Morrow Cookbooks/Background: amguy/Getty Images
In Oz’s new cookbook, Eat Your Heart Out: All Fun, No-Fuss Food to Celebrate Eating Clean, you’ll find 150 recipes, along with tips for low-maintenance wellness. The former The Chew co-host is also a certified holistic health counselor and natural foods chef. “I don’t really do the whole deprivation thing,” she writes. “I know from experience that when we focus on how not to eat, we miss the mark—for health and for happiness.”
Enter her "reset." Relying on intuition and what feels good instead of gimmicky diets, Oz eats clean for five days a week (meaning no gluten, no refined sugar and limited dairy) and whatever she wants on the other two days.
“Whether you’re looking to lose weight, reestablish healthy habits (or break bad ones) or just free up a little headspace that can get bogged down with constant negative self-talk, self-defeating patterns and food fear that has no business being in your crazily delicious life, this is a formula that works,” she asserts.
Oz takes gluten out of the equation to reduce inflammation and improve her digestion, sleep, mood and skin. Instead of bread and baked goods, she fills her plate with nutrient-dense, fiber-rich foods in their place and dodges processed, packaged foods (even if they are gluten-free). She skips refined sugar, but still eats fruit and uses date syrup and coconut sugar to sweeten recipes in a pinch. As for dairy, she only uses a small amount of goat or sheep milk yogurt or cheese when needed. Once the weekend hits, all these foods are back on the menu.
The two-day break also helps reset your metabolism so it’s running optimally instead of slowing down in response to the light days, she says. “Treating yourself to some favorite bites on your days off will ensure that you see eating well the rest of the time as a privilege and not a punishment,” Oz writes.
Need dishes to fill your five days on? The cookbook—which contains recipes like Barbecue Pulled Chicken with Crispy Smashed Japanese Yams, Feel-Good Turkey Meatloaf and Banana Brûlée—is available in bookstores now, as well as on Amazon.
