Most people don’t know I am obsessed with old Hollywood actresses. My favorite by far is Audrey Hepburn. When I found out her son had written a book called Audrey at Home, I freaked out. I could not believe that a book combined my two favorite obsessions: Audrey Hepburn and food.
After reading the book, I thought, “Hey, why don’t I try eating like her for five days? She’s pretty fit, and I’m always looking for ways to eat healthy-ish, so why not?” After reading more details and researching what she ate, I figured out her eating habits. I then turned her habits into a set of personal rules for a couple of days.
Here are the rules: Have a small breakfast, eat a lot of fruit, no snacking in between meals, a piece of chocolate a day (apparently she had a giant stash), eat pasta everyday (Audrey loved pasta too), and only eat until 80% full.
The rules didn’t seem bad. I mean, there’s no going wrong with pasta and chocolate. The diet seemed pretty lax, and not too different from my normal meals. What could possibly go wrong?
Disclaimer: This diet is heavily based on the book “Audrey at Home,” and not her actual diet.
Day 1: It’s not as great as I thought.
The first day was hard, but only as hard as any diet. For breakfast, I ate something small but sweet since I knew Audrey ate things like croissants with jam. I settled for toast with honey and almond butter.
Breakfast kept me pretty full, so I lasted until lunch at my go-to college pasta place. Since I wasn’t really hungry, I only ate two-thirds of my marinara pasta.
The period between lunch and dinner was terrible, though. I typically eat an early lunch since I’ve got class at noon and study group meeting right after. So, yeah, it sucks.
Usually, I eat something small in between (such as hummus and carrots). That wasn’t allowed anymore, unfortunately, so I was literally starving. I remained so hungry throughout the day that I inhaled my small dinner.
After dinner, I was fine. I definitely felt less bloated at the end of the day, and happily finished off the first day with a piece of chocolate.
Day 2: Hey, this isn’t too bad.
I actually felt better on the second day of the diet. Mostly because I added some protein and greens to my pasta. The rest of my meals went pretty much the same. However, I did eat dinner a little earlier—and I ended with a slightly larger piece of dark chocolate.
I noticed that, even though I was eating more carbs than usual, I was feeling less bloated overall. I also didn’t feel as starved between meals. It could have been because I was eating earlier, or because I had more protein.
Day 3: I’m starting to get used to it.
By day three, I was finally getting used to the diet. I had no strong urges to snack in between meals. But even if I did, I’d drink a cup of water or tea, and it was fine.
Again, I was definitely feeling less bloated, even though I ate cheese pasta for lunch. I was eating about 3/4 of what I normally ate. Overall, I was feeling pretty great.
Days 4 & 5: I’m feeling great now.
These were probably the best days of the diet. Almost all my cravings to eat between meals were gone. I also had a high amount of energy throughout the day—probably the highest amount I’ve felt in a while.
I noticed that all my meals came in closer proximity to each other. I think it may be the combination of eating small portions and not eating in between meals.
Overall Thoughts
I loved this diet. It was very lax, and I liked how Audrey didn’t have to sacrifice the foods she loved to be healthy. Audrey’s secret was ultimately moderation. However, Audrey weighed around 88 lbs, due to her suffering long term effects from malnutrition in WWII, so moderation may have been just a strong part of her diet, not the reason why she was skinny.
#SpoonTip: It’s important to note that Audrey weighed only 88 pounds largely due to her suffering long term effects from malnutrition in WWII. Again, this diet was based on the book “Audrey at Home” and not her actual eating habits.
There were some negatives, though. I didn’t enjoy getting used to small carb-heavy meals with no eating in between. To solve that, I’ll be eating more protein and veggie-heavy meals, or I’ll add one snack.
I also think that, while pasta is yummy, eating it every day isn’t a good idea. I got sick of pasta by the end, so I think I’ll replace it with a rice and veggie dish, or a nice quinoa salad.
I’m definitely keeping one thing, though: I’m still going to eat a piece of chocolate every night.