Have you heard of the Scandi Diet? I hadn’t until very recently. It’s claimed to be the most simple diet yet invented, and reading about it, that’s claim does seem to be true…
Suzy Wengel, a Danish dietitian who’s the CEO of a biotech company, believes she has the answer to weight loss and healthy eating. In her book “The Scandi Sense Diet,” she details a plan that the beauty and health blog Get the Gloss called “the simplest diet in the world.”
Under the diet, each meal should consist of four handfuls of food — one handful of protein, one of carbohydrates, and two of vegetables — plus a spoonful of fat.This means no calorie counting or weighing food portions, which can be difficult if you’re on the go or don’t own kitchen scales.This means no calorie counting or weighing food portions, which can be difficult if you’re on the go or don’t own kitchen scales.
Wengel, 39, found inspiration for her book through her personal experience. She told Business Insider she lost 88 pounds in 10 months and kept it off by deploying her handful strategy at mealtimes.
“I weighed around 220 pounds (15.7 stone) when I was at my heaviest (after giving birth to my second child) and now I am around 132 pounds (9.4 stone),” she said in an email. “My weight has been stable for over six years using the principles in ‘The Scandi Sense Diet.'”
Here are photos of Wengel before and after her dieting:
A post shared by Suzy Wengel (@senseslankmedfornuft) on
“I repeatedly lost 44-66lb and put it back on again, gaining a little more weight each time,” she said in the caption. “After seventeen years I finally stopped yo-yo dieting and #overeating.
“There is no magic behind my method and tools – just a healthy and balanced view on diet and exercise.”
Wengel estimates that with this diet a person could lose on average about 1 to 2 pounds a week. She says the handful plan translates to roughly to 1,500 calories a day for women and 2,000 for men.
And the good news is you can still factor in a glass of red with your spaghetti Bolognese (by swapping out pasta), as well as cook with oil and butter.
What does a 4-handful meal look like?
If you’re tempted by the diet and looking for some recipe inspiration, Wengel told Business Insider there were more than 44,000 pictures on Instagram with the hashtag #sensekost that show what “Scandi Sense” meals look like.
Here are some of Wengel’s snaps that could work for a full day of eating – spaghetti Bolognese included – along with the handful content written in each of the captions.
Breakfast
A post shared by Suzy Wengel (@senseslankmedfornuft) on
- Handfuls 1 and 2: asparagus, green salad.
- Handful 3: two eggs, an extra egg white, and a half handful of white Puck cheese.
- Handful 4: saved in favour of a little more protein.
- Fat: oil to fry egg and 30 grams of roasted pine nuts.
- Seasoning: salt, pepper, chilli, and garlic.
Does this sound like the sort of diet you could stick to? I know that I’ll be giving it a try.
Please comment below and let us all know what you think about it – Thanks
Featured image: courtesy of Instagram
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The Scandi Diet Explained