I used a convection toaster oven and kept my piece of chicken breast as whole and round as possible to help retain moisture. At 375F, my chicken breast cooked to perfection around 15 minutes (give or take a minute). Since my diet was limited, I tried to get only organic, hormone free chicken.

As for the broccoli, most of the nutrition is in the florets (not the stems). The stems contain mostly fiber, sugar, and water. If you’re measuring out 2 cups per meal, any volume occupied by stems means less nutrition that could have been filled with florets. Choose broccoli that have dark colored, almost purple florets. Try and buy organic, but if you do, inspect under the florets carefully at the grocery store for grey mites and cabbage worms. Make sure you soak the broccoli under water for 30 minutes. Some forums have suggested adding salt and/or vinegar to encourage bugs to detach from the broccoli. The nutrition in broccoli leaches into the water as you boil it, so blanching it quickly in boiling water will help retain your essential vitamins and minerals.

Ultimately, your meals may look something like this.

The first thought that may be crossing your mind is: “There’s no way I can eat the same thing every day, three times a day!”. But here’s a bit of reassurance; I enjoy eating very much. Prior to this diet, I ate out for more than 75% of my meals consuming all kinds of foods: Korean BBQ, Afghan, Greek, Indian, Fast Food, Diners, Chicken/Waffles, Beer/Chips, Wine/Cheese, Steak, Burgers, Movie Popcorn, everything under the sun.

Through this “withdrawal” experience, I came to realize how much food was like a drug. It was easy the first week on this diet, but it got harder until I hit the peak of my cravings on the 3rd and 4th week. But here’s the thing, after the 4th week it became a non-issue…at all. Granted, I knew I could not eat just chicken breast and broccoli for the rest of my life, but food no longer occupied my mind. It’s like my body just threw in the towel and said “Screw it, you win!” and at that point, I had finally attained a REAL freedom to eat whatever I wanted.

I hope the same will happen for you.