The rule of three is a principle that suggests a threesome of something is better than the sum of other numbers.
Whether it’s three meals and three snacks for a balanced diet, the suggestion to eat every three hours or to include at least three food groups with every good meal, the rule of three is prevalent when it comes to preparing and consuming food.
It’s also important in basic survival: the rule of three can refer to the length of time one can survive under a series of unfortunate circumstances — from three minutes to three hours, three days or three weeks.
But, we ask somewhat jokingly, how long can you survive without sugar or bread? That’s a different sort of dire straits. Still, if you’d like to eat well and perhaps slim down ahead of summer, try eliminating three specific items — sugar, for instance, could be one — for just a single week and see what happens.
What would you like to cut down on? Here are three suggestions:
- Sugar – replace sugary drinks with naturally flavored water or herbal tea.
- Dairy – use coconut oil instead of butter and replace dairy milk with a nut milk such as almond, cashew or walnut — they’re all delicious.
- Bread – use lettuce leaves instead of bread on a sandwich, and try cucumber slices instead of crackers. Order a tostada instead of a burrito, and don’t eat the fried tortilla bowl. You love pizza? Opt for a vegetable crust instead of wheat or try having a small salad and putting your pizza toppings on it, and simply discard the crust — it is still really satisfying.
You don’t have to never have these things again but, if you cut them out just three times a week, you will see a difference and perhaps even lose the cravings.
Have an idea for three? Let us know!
“A pattern can be called a pattern only if it has been applied to a real world solution at least three times.”
Lisa Wobler teaches yoga and owns Yosemite Dreams.
