On a day that’s all about indulging, it’s nice to lighten it up… just a little bit. Not too much, of course. Hot dogs and potato salad taste delicious, but that bloated feeling afterwards? Not so delicious, that’s for sure. Convince your crew to make some of this grilled chicken instead. Why?

One serving of chicken, about the size of the palm of your hand, contains 22 grams of protein. One serving only has between 100 and 130 calories, with very, very few of those coming from fat. Chicken is also a great source of iron, a nutrient that women tend to be deficient in.

So clear a little spot on the grill for a chicken breast or two.

Fourth of July Grilled Chicken

You’ll need…

• 3-4 chicken breasts (or more, depending on how many you’ll be serving)
• 2-3 limes, juiced
• 1-2 lemons, juiced
• 1-2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1-2 tablespoons hot sauce

Topping

• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
• 1 lime, juiced

How to make it…

In a small pan, place the chicken breasts so they aren’t overlapping. In a small bowl, combine the lime and lemon juice, soy sauce, and hot sauce. Pour over chicken breasts and allow to marinate for 20-30 minutes. Heat your grill to medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes on each side (or until done in the middle).

While the chicken is cooking, chop up the tomato, red onion, and jalapeño. Combine in a small bowl with the juice of one lime. When the chicken is done, serve with this fresh salsa on top and enjoy!

What do you do when you’re craving delicious, spicy quesadillas? Put down your car keys — there’s no need for Taco Bell (especially when you are sober…that stuff is nasty!). This awesome dinner for two is healthy, inexpensive and easy. No drive-thru required.

You’ll need:

Whole wheat tortillas
1 cup instant brown rice
1 can black beans
1 green pepper, chopped (or you can buy frozen, diced peppers to save time!)
1 onion, chopped
Corn (on the cob is in season, therefore inexpensive and delicious, right now)
Organic salsa (or a chopped tomato)
Mojo marinade/sauce (sold in bottles at the grocery store)
6-8 oz. of chicken, marinated in the Mojo
Cayenne pepper
Black pepper
Salt
Your favorite toppings (lettuce, cheese, sour cream, guac, etc.,)

How You Do It:
1. Fill a large pot with enough water to cover the corn, bring to a boil, then add corn.

2. In a deep skillet, sauté half the peppers and onion in canola oil spray, about 5 minutes or until they’re tender. Set aside about half of them, leave the other half in the pan.

3. Add the black beans (with sauce) and bring to a boil. Add rice and bring to a boil again, let it cook for about 5 minutes.

4. Cover the rice and beans, reduce heat to low.

5. For the chicken, the quickest way to cook it is on the grill or in a skillet on medium-high heat, for about 5 minutes on each side (just make sure the center isn’t pink). If you’re short on time, you can use frozen, diced chicken and just cook it in some Mojo sauce to skip marinating it.

6. Spray both sides of a tortilla with canola oil. Add toppings, chicken, peppers and onion, then fold in half.

7. Remove corn from water. Spread with half a tablespoon of butter and sprinkle with cayenne pepper.

8. Heat a small pan on medium heat, then add the tortilla with all the fixins’. Grill on both sides until it’s golden brown.

9. Serve with corn and black beans and rice, margaritas optional!

Whatever you do, do not not NOT go out to a Mexican restaurant if you decide to do The Detox Diet.Toward the end of my mostly uneventful week 2, I met with a friend for dinner and went with every intention of eating plain chicken and lots of vegetables. But as someone who hates lettuce (really, it can’t possibly be food), I was tempted by grilled chicken with pineapple salsa.

The menu didn’t tell me that the meal would come with rice, beans, and vegetables and enough of it to serve three people, but it’s also my fault for not asking what exactly my meal would be comprised of.

Also, I was totally weak so when my friend ordered guacamole, I had to try some, especially she after insisted that it was the best in New York City. And I can’t say that I’ve sampled Mexican across Manhattan, but it was really damn good.

But not nearly good enough to deal with what followed.

Halfway through dinner, my nose got stuffy. Then it started to run so badly that I had to run to the ladies room. By the time that I got home, my stomach was so twisted with pain that I thought it would explode.

Within 24 hours, my skin went from surprisingly nice to – just plain bad.

The lesson here: when you have eliminated so much, your digestive system needs to be treated with care. There is a reason why after two weeks you need to slowly reintroduce the foods that you’ve eliminated.

When you’re eating a steady diet that includes the seven most common allergens, you wouldn’t easily attribute anything like a breakout or a stuffy nose to your body reacting to food. After eliminating, you notice food sensitivities quickly – in my case, almost instantly.

Another thing is that my stomach couldn’t handle the fat of the guacamole. I’ve been eating olive oil with some of my meals, but that much fat sat like a brick.

It was overall just a bad scene. I hope that if you decide to do this diet, you will keep my Mexican dinner debacle in mind.

Reintroducing corn and dairy in week three was also not such a good scene. Week three marked the return of the stomach bloat. I’m not allergic to corn, sugar or dairy, but after reincorporating each back into my diet for two days, I saw the return of the bloat. Previous allergy testing has revealed a soy and wheat allergy, so I will continue to stay away from them. This week I will reintroduce nuts and eggs, though I don’t anticipate the same stomach issues I had with the corn, sugar and dairy.

The pros of this diet: It forces you to drink only water and stay away from sugar, chemical sweetners and caffeine. Your diet is clean; entirely based on fruit, vegetables and the leanest of protein. I’m a night eater and I was forced to eat more during the day, less at night and I needed to work on that.

The cons: I added food simply because on its own, the diet is very low calorie. I still lost weight and felt great by adding more fruit or vegetables when needed, but in general you never want to dip below 1200 calories a day. Anyone can lose weight on an 800 calorie per day diet, but honestly why would you want to?

Not only will your body go into starvation mode and hold on to the weight that you want to lose, when you transition into a more ‘normal’ diet (maybe with some changes based upon what your body needs and tolerates), you risk gaining weight simply because you’re eating a more appropriate amount of calories.

I recommend trying this plan if you’re concerned about the quality of your diet and you’re inclined to make changes or if you’re concerned about toxicity. The Detox Diet was not written for people looking for a quick weight loss fix; it was written for people who are looking to heal themselves and get healthier by using varying levels of detoxifying foods.

Your liver processes toxins, like the chemicals and additives in foods; not just diet foods that contain aspartame, but the hormones in milk and in meat, the pesticides on fruit and vegetables and alcohol. They slow down your lymphatic system and contribute to weight gain and sluggishness. If you’re considering making the change to organic foods, detoxing may be a great way to start.

Now that it’s nearly over, I can admit that I was bored on this diet; so bored that the next plan will be all about more food, more protein and working out.

I never want to see slow cooked oats again!