by Dana James
THE ETHEREAL’S MEAL PLAN
Because Ethereals are better able to regulate their body weight—and may even have trouble keeping weight on—you are able to eat more healthy carbs than the other archetypes. Increasing the amount of starchy vegetables, legumes, and grains in your diet will increase your estrogen levels, which may help alleviate some of your other symptoms. Carbs also help the Ethereal feel grounded. Since you may be prone to feeling scattered—especially when out of balance—these foods help to keep you connected to the earth.
The guidelines below outline the general principles around which you should structure your meals. A ten-day plan, which incorporates these concepts, is here.
Step 1: Improve Your Daily Eating Regimen
Start each morning with a 4-ounce shot of aloe vera juice to help support your digestive system.
Ethereals are the only archetype who can start the day with a serving of good-quality carbs like warm quinoa with cinnamon and coconut milk or organic eggs on gluten-free toast. An Ethereal who eats only fruit for breakfast will find herself feeling more scattered later in the day.
Eat seven ingredients at lunch and dinner: three vegetables, one protein, two fats, and ¾ cup of carbohydrates. These meals should look like the food plate here.
Don’t forget to eat. Make time for your three meals and two snacks each day; otherwise your body will not get the nutrients it needs to function properly.
Wind down your evenings with a cup of tea designed for the Ethereal.
Take the supplements outlined in Step 3 below to restore and repair your gut microbiome.
Step 2: Choose the Right Foods
Specific foods can help to rebalance the Ethereal’s physical and energetic state. The suggestions below augment the general recommendations made in Part II to address the Ethereal’s particular concerns.
Eat cooked vegetables. Ethereals tend to gravitate toward more of a raw diet, but cooked vegetables are more grounding and easier on the digestive system. If you are deciding between a raw salad and wok-tossed vegetables, then the latter is a better choice. This doesn’t mean that the only vegetables you eat have to be cooked, but do include them in the diet. Root vegetables are particularly beneficial for the Ethereal because they keep you rooted to the earth.
Eat one white or purple fruit or vegetable daily. These colors are associated with the six, seventh, and eighth chakras, so incorporating these foods into your diet will help bring clarity to your intuition.
Add your carbs. If you are the rare Ethereal who is trying to lose weight, start by eating ½ cup of carbs at lunch and at dinner. This is twice the recommended serving for the other archetypes, but it is necessary for you to feel centered. You can also eat carbs for breakfast, like gluten-free granola, once a week. If you are eating for maintenance, you can up your intake to ¾ cup at breakfast and 1½ cups at lunch and dinner. You can eat two types of carbohydrates at meals, too. Think dahl with roasted yams, sprouted brown rice with black beans, or gluten-free tartine with hummus.
Eat red meat up to three times a week. Red meat is very grounding and helps with muscle development for the Ethereal. Try grass-fed steak, a lamb ragu over butternut squash noodles, and grass-fed bison tacos with sauerkraut.
Soy and dairy can be consumed, provided it is organic. Organic soy can help increase your usually low estrogen levels, so you can eat tofu and tempeh up to three times a week, if you desire. I recommend that all archetypes go on a dairy hiatus for four weeks, but after this period, you are the only archetype that can consume good-quality dairy on a regular basis because you are the least sensitive to dairy’s insulin response. High-quality, organic dairy products can be consumed up to three times a week.
Snack on nuts. Nuts are a great way for the Ethereal to feel grounded. You can have them twice a day—once as a snack and once in a meal.
Eat fermented foods at least once a week. Foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, miso soup, unpasteurized olives and pickles, kombucha, and kefir contain live bacteria that help replete a damaged microbiome. Add sauerkraut to organic eggs, have miso soup as a snack, or add kefir to your morning smoothie.
In summary, the Ethereal’s meal plan is the most abundant. Your focus should be on eating regularly and favoring foods that help you feel rooted to the earth such as cooked vegetables, red meat, legumes, grains, starchy vegetables, and nuts. If your microbiome has been damaged, fermented foods can also help you replenish the good microbes in the gut.
Foods to limit: Sweets
THE ETHEREAL’S FOOD PLATE
THE ETHEREAL’S TEA
The Ethereal’s tea is inspired by the Jazz Age in Paris when Zelda Fitzgerald was marginalized for her uninhibited and iridescent ways. This tea will leave you wild while providing enough earthiness to keep you sane. The lemongrass and ginger are energizing, while the burdock root supports liver rejuvenation and the absorption of nutrients. Orange peel helps fat digestion to improve skin clarity. These can be enjoyed any time of day, but this tea is especially good to drink in the evening to help re-center you at the end of the day. This recipe makes a single 12-ounce serving, but you can increase the quantities of the ingredients and store them in an airtight container for later use. All ingredients can be found online.
2 teaspoons burdock root
One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, chopped
1 teaspoon dried lemongrass
1 teaspoon orange peel
Combine the ingredients in a small pot with 12 ounces of hot water. Steep for 5 minutes, then strain into a tea cup. Add more hot water if the tea is too strong.
Step 3: Supplement Strategically
The Ethereal’s supplements are designed to decrease bloating, increase energy levels, and improve your mood.
Candida Control: This is a specific supplement by Enzyme Science that is designed to kill off pathogenic yeast in the gut microbiome that may be contributing to your bloating. Take this for six weeks and follow the instructions on the bottle.
Probiotic: Repopulate the gut microbiome with a twelve-strain probiotic. Look for at least 25 billion CFUs (colony-forming units) or find a fermented probiotic like Dr. Ohhira to help stimulate the growth of bacteria. Take daily.
B Complex: Take an activated B complex to help boost energy levels and regulate hormone levels. Look for the activated forms such as L-5-MTHF (folate), pyridoxine HCl (B6), and methylcobalamin (B12). Take one after dinner.
Magnesium Citrate: Magnesium citrate helps stimulate peristalsis to promote regular bowel movements and decrease constipation. Magnesium also encourages a deeper level of sleep. Take 300 mg before bed.
5-HTP: 5-HTP is the precursor to serotonin and if you are feeling blue or anxious, or can’t sleep, experiment with 50 mg before bed. If you are taking an antidepressant, check with your physician before taking 5-HTP.
When the Ethereal is in balance, you are at one with your strong spiritual side but have your feet firmly planted on the ground. You prioritize nourishing your body as much as you do your creativity and soul and have increased energy and attention that you can devote to your many pursuits. Your belly is free of bloat and your mood is balanced and calm.
EXERCISE SOLUTIONS FOR THE ETHEREAL
Since the Ethereal rarely needs to burn body fat, intense cardio classes aren’t necessary for her. If you’re an Ethereal, try TRX classes, barre classes, and Pilates classes, which will help reshape your naturally thin muscles. Use small weights and target a high rep count, and take any combination of these five times a week. You can also use exercise as an opportunity to connect with nature. Hike, surf, swim in the ocean, or take an outdoor tennis or yoga class. Opt for these on the days when you’re not taking other classes.
PART II
FEED YOUR BODY WITHOUT FEA
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Now that you know the formula for how to eat for your archetype, you need to know the details about how to incorporate various types of food into your diet and why. What specific foods should you eat and which should you avoid? What types of proteins, fats, and carbs should you favor, and why are they necessary for a balanced diet? Does when and how frequently you eat matter? What about treat foods? How can you enjoy them while still losing weight? The goal of this section is to arm you with the information you need to make better decisions about your meals without stressing or feeling like you constantly need to deprive yourself if you want to lose weight.
I also want to bust some of the most damaging myths about what makes a food “good” or “bad” so you can let go of your food fears and develop healthier, more sustainable eating behaviors. I’ve designed the Archetype Model to include as many different types of foods as possible. Too many popular programs these days eliminate foods that are good for you because there is a very small possibility they may exacerbate symptoms in people who are unwell. For instance, people with rheumatoid arthritis are often told to avoid tomatoes because they may heighten their inflammatory symptoms. This does not mean that tomatoes are inflammatory (in fact, they are not), but rather, in this particular disease, they may not be as beneficial as an alternative vegetable. For people who are healthy, tomatoes are a very enjoyable way to take in the phytonutrient lycopene. And who doesn’t love a fresh heirloom tomato salad with olive oil and sea salt?
Overly restrictive diets not only deny us beneficial nutrients, they also create an unnecessary fear around food. If you already struggle with negative feelings about your self-worth, you don’t need any additional anxiety when you sit down at the dinner table. You need a meal plan that fits around your life and gives you everything you need to be beautiful and brainy. While you may stick to a crash or elimination diet long enough to shed a few pounds, you’ll never maintain this program over the long haul; it’s just too limited. The Archetype Model is meant to be a lifestyle, and if you’re going to stick to a plan for the long haul, you need to feel like you’re not missing out or depriving yourself. You need to develop a peaceful, lasting relationship with food.
While each of the archetype-specific meal plans has been customized to address the issues most common to each archetype, they are all based on certain foundational truths and principles about how the body processes different foods. Understanding the role these foods play in our health will allow you to let go of any fears or misconceptions you may have been harboring that have caused you to see food as a source of anxiety instead of what it actually is: a form of nourishment that helps you achieve wellness.
CHAPTER 6
Food Fundamentals
While each archetype has a slightly different set of nutritional requirements, certain foundational food principles apply to everyone. Think of these principles as the foundation of the house, and the archetype-specific guidelines as the decor that reflects your personality. They are both essential for eating in a way that is supportive to your unique biochemistry. Some of the principles I include in this chapter will sound familiar—you already know you need to eat your vegetables—while others will be more surprising. All of these Food Fundamentals are easy to implement and serve as the base for eating for life. If at any time your archetype-specific guidelines feel overwhelming, just return to this chapter. This is a lifestyle diet, not a short-term fix or detox.
Both the Food Fundamentals and the archetype-specific meal plans are designed to incorporate as many different foods as possible. Your body is very smart and, because it needs a wide array of nutrients for optimal health, it will produce dopamine, the pleasure neurotransmitter, when you eat new foods. The only other way you produce dopamine from food is by eating sugar. So if you don’t want to submit to sugar cravings, eat a wide variety of foods! That being said, when I say “food,” I don’t simply mean “something that is edible.” Your diet needs to consist of real, whole foods—things that exist in nature—not the processed or packaged kind. Not only should you be eating real fruits, vegetables, fats, proteins, and carbs, but you should strive to consume the highest quality you can find. Opt for organic, sustainable, and/or grass-fed when given the choice. If that’s not possible, don’t sweat it. Just stick to the Food Fundamentals as best as you can.
THE FOOD FUNDAMENTALS
Only Eat Food You’d Photograph
This does not mean you need to Instagram every meal you eat (though if you want to, tag me!), but it does serve as a useful guideline by which to measure the purity of your food. When our meals are rich in bright colors and textures, we’re more attracted to them—and with good reason. The denser the color of a fruit or vegetable, the more phytonutrients (beneficial plant molecules) it contains. A green salad interspersed with yellow beets, red onion, and purple potatoes is more appealing to the eye than a white potato salad with mayo and celery. It also contains a greater array of phytonutrients, all supporting the body in a unique way. And you’ve probably noticed the difference in color between wild-caught salmon and the farm-raised variety. The wild-caught salmon contains the antioxidant astaxanthin, which protects your cells from free-radical damage and helps improve your skin’s elasticity and moisture levels. The farmed salmon doesn’t contain this antioxidant and thus has fewer beneficial beauty properties.
If you eat depleted food, that’s how you’ll feel, physically and mentally. When you eat pretty food, you’ll feel pretty. Similarly, if you want to be happy, eat food that has been made with joy—food made with love feels very different from a prepackaged frozen meal. In essence, match the energetics of the food to how you want to look and feel.
Fast for Twelve Hours a Day
Don’t panic—you will be sleeping for most of this fasting period! I want you to keep your meals to a twelve-hour period and fast for the other twelve hours of the day. That means if you eat dinner at eight p.m., you’ll eat breakfast at eight a.m. If you eat dinner at six p.m., you’ll eat breakfast at six a.m. When you fast for twelve hours between dinner and breakfast, your body’s metabolic processes are optimized, inflammation is reduced, and fat loss is enhanced. In a recent study, scientists found that mice who fasted for twelve to fifteen hours a day were thinner and healthier than those that were able to eat at all hours, even when they consumed the same number of calories.1
Do not, however, fast for sixteen hours (and restrict your eating to an eight-hour window) by skipping breakfast the next morning. This is a technique that some people use to control weight loss, but this strategy will ultimately backfire by interfering with the body’s ability to regulate its glucose levels. When you skip meals, your adrenal glands will respond by putting sugar into the blood even though you didn’t eat. That’s because you need to maintain a minimum level of glucose in the blood or you will become hypoglycemic. Your adrenal glands control your stress response, and skipping a meal depletes your supply of stress hormones, meaning you’ll have less stress hormones available to help you cope with the ups and downs of the day. Twelve on/twelve off is a reasonable schedule that feels easy to follow. Just make sure to finish your last meal or snack at least two hours before you go to sleep so that your body is not trying to do two incongruent processes—digesting food and sleeping—at the same time.
Eat Five Times a Day
To keep hunger at bay, I want you to eat three meals and two snacks—no more, no less—during the twelve hours of the day when you consume your meals. Do not graze; you’ll lose track of how much you eat. Eating scheduled meals and snacks will make it easier to monitor your food intake, and it will also help stave off cravings since you’ll be eating regularly. Work backward from the time you go to sleep to figure out what eating intervals work best for you. For instance, your meals might be laid out as follows:
EARLY RISER
6:00 A.M.
7:00 A.M.<
br />
10:00 A.M.
1:00 P.M.
4:00 P.M.
7:00 P.M.
10:00 P.M.
Wake up
Breakfast
Snack
Lunch
Snack
Dinner
Bed
NIGHT OWL
8:00 A.M.
10:00 A.M.
1:00 P.M.
4:00 P.M.
8:00 P.M.
10:00 P.M.
12:00 A.M.
Wake up
Breakfast
Lunch
Snack
Dinner
Snack
Bed