This blog has been sadly neglected this past month. We have strayed far from our healthy eating goals recently, and I decided to just take a break from the blog and kept hoping that I'd snap back, and once again focus on healthy eating. Never happened.
But this week, we found out that my husband, Chuck, has improved his health and I think it's at least in part due to the plant-based diet. Chuck hasn't been exercising, he hasn't changed anything other than his diet and yes, he does occasionally eat foods not on our plant-based plan. So we were not sure if the changes were helping us or not.
His employer this past week provided a health check right at the office. They had the same program one year ago, and at that time, we saw a lot of room for improvement in Chuck's health. This year, there actually has been improvement! We are extremely encouraged about the effectiveness of the plant-based diet, which we based on the Forks Over Knives program.
Chuck weighed 235 pounds this time last year and, according to the results of this week's testing, he's down to 194 pounds. And that's about all he needs to lose, really, now he just wants to firm up and to do that, he needs to exercise. But he's not planning on giving up on the plant-based diet, either.
His body mass index decreased 2.6 points, from 29 to 26.5. The health care worker doing the check up told him the ideal is 25 or lower, so he hopes to change that. His cholesterol reading went from 160 down to 150, and his waist went from 43 inches down to 40 inches. His glucose (blood sugar) reading showed significant change, down to 73 this year from 142 last year. But Chuck said that immediately before testing last year, he had downed a big piece of sugary birthday cake, so he doesn't get too excited by this change.
The only area that showed no change was his blood pressure. However, his doctor has recently halved the amount of blood pressure medication that Chuck is taking, so I'm taking it as a win -- with half the meds, he's still keeping a healthy blood pressure!
Okay, so that's all well and good and I'm proud of Chuck for sticking with the plant-based diet and seeing real results. But, like I said, this past month, we have pretty much given into our old patterns of fast food and just eating whatever we find in front of us, without thinking about our health.
These great results have encouraged us both to get back on track. We are putting together a grocery list today and we're going to get back to eating healthy. I had actually gained back five pounds (I have lost 25 pounds since changing my diet) but I've lost two of those little devils, so overall, I've gained three pounds. I want to lose those back, of course, and keep my eye on the 50-pound loss I had set as a goal previously. Chuck, as I said, really doesn't need to lose more weight, but he needs to decrease his BMI and he needs to keep everything else under control.
We're trying to set small goals for now, because honestly, baby steps work best for us, but in addition to getting our diet back in shape, we both want to start exercising more (in my case, that would be exercising AT ALL). So I'm gonna hop back on my treadmill, which I just realized last night has been sitting idle for nearly a year!!! When I was walking everyday, I felt better, I was happier, and I could walk with far less back pain. All of that has reversed to the same levels I was at before I started walking. Not good. And Chuck has a very sedentary job in computers, so he doesn't get much exercise either. I'm not sure what he's going to do, but he's also planning to change that, so he can tone up and firm up and regain some strength.
And I'm recommitted to keeping this blog updated. I have some new foods to try, even a new cookbook I'm planning to check out, and I am going to try to develop a better grocery-shopping plan, too. I'll let you know how we're doing on all fronts as the weeks go by. Wish us luck!
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Plan to Succeed
No good news this week, which nearly meant no blog post this week. But I think I should be honest here, and honestly, I ate a bunch of crappy food this week.
I don't feel horrible about it, but I don't feel good either. Some of the food was delicious, like dinner at Cheddar's Restaurant. I had "Spasagna", which is a baked spaghetti-lasagna dish that is the ultimate comfort food for me. It's a huge serving and I only ate half. And I chose marina sauce instead of meat sauce. Still, there is a lot of cheese in this dish and cheese is dairy and dairy is not part of my new diet plan. Plus I ate a nice and buttery piece of garlic bread.
I ate the leftovers the next day for lunch. And that night we had a pizza for dinner. A nice, thick pizza with hamburger and mushrooms. Still not good. Last night, we had dinner from our favorite vegetarian restaurant and today I ate such a small amount of food, with no protein whatsoever, that I was absolutely starving at dinner time. All I could imagine eating was a big Italian sandwich from the deli. With lots of meat and cheese. And it's greasy. And utterly delicious. Another bad choice.
Not a scrap of fruit has passed my lips today. Nor a vegetable, unless you count the splash of tomatoes on my sandwich. No smoothies, no whole-foods or plant-based foods, for the most part. So nothing from the Forks and Knives plan.
So, why this big deviation from my usually healthy choices? I'm not sure. I haven't been keeping up my food log. Uh-oh! And I have been pretty disorganized this week. Oops! And I just haven't given a damn. Rats! A three-step plan for disaster when you're trying to eat healthy food.
I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to get back on the Forks Over Knives plan. I've had a taste of my old lifestyle and it was delicious! But boy oh boy, I do not want to gain that weight back. Those lovely 25 pounds are gone and I want them to stay gone. And I am getting closer to getting off of some of my medications. That's my biggest goal, after all.
So I will do my best to get back on track as soon as possible. Tomorrow, I'm going for a bunch of fruit, at least a couple servings of veggies and no meat! no dairy! no eggs! no oil! no junk food! And maybe in a couple weeks, I can report another five pounds lost. I can tell you all that I feel better, I have more energy. That would be awesome.
And I need to re-commit to getting back on the treadmill. I am spending far too much time on Facebook, as fun as it is, and I need to get more active.
So I have a plan, right? Yeah, but I had a plan this week too and wow did it go haywire! All I can do is try. Set myself up to succeed. Get organized, make a menu, chop some veggies, have fruit available, and, most important of all, keep the food log up-to-date. I am convinced this is the secret to my success with this plan. It keeps me aware of what I'm eating. When I let it slide, I find my good habits sliding too.
So back to the food log, back to the original plan and hopefully, back to healthy eating. Wish me luck.
I don't feel horrible about it, but I don't feel good either. Some of the food was delicious, like dinner at Cheddar's Restaurant. I had "Spasagna", which is a baked spaghetti-lasagna dish that is the ultimate comfort food for me. It's a huge serving and I only ate half. And I chose marina sauce instead of meat sauce. Still, there is a lot of cheese in this dish and cheese is dairy and dairy is not part of my new diet plan. Plus I ate a nice and buttery piece of garlic bread.
I ate the leftovers the next day for lunch. And that night we had a pizza for dinner. A nice, thick pizza with hamburger and mushrooms. Still not good. Last night, we had dinner from our favorite vegetarian restaurant and today I ate such a small amount of food, with no protein whatsoever, that I was absolutely starving at dinner time. All I could imagine eating was a big Italian sandwich from the deli. With lots of meat and cheese. And it's greasy. And utterly delicious. Another bad choice.
Not a scrap of fruit has passed my lips today. Nor a vegetable, unless you count the splash of tomatoes on my sandwich. No smoothies, no whole-foods or plant-based foods, for the most part. So nothing from the Forks and Knives plan.
So, why this big deviation from my usually healthy choices? I'm not sure. I haven't been keeping up my food log. Uh-oh! And I have been pretty disorganized this week. Oops! And I just haven't given a damn. Rats! A three-step plan for disaster when you're trying to eat healthy food.
I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to get back on the Forks Over Knives plan. I've had a taste of my old lifestyle and it was delicious! But boy oh boy, I do not want to gain that weight back. Those lovely 25 pounds are gone and I want them to stay gone. And I am getting closer to getting off of some of my medications. That's my biggest goal, after all.
So I will do my best to get back on track as soon as possible. Tomorrow, I'm going for a bunch of fruit, at least a couple servings of veggies and no meat! no dairy! no eggs! no oil! no junk food! And maybe in a couple weeks, I can report another five pounds lost. I can tell you all that I feel better, I have more energy. That would be awesome.
And I need to re-commit to getting back on the treadmill. I am spending far too much time on Facebook, as fun as it is, and I need to get more active.
So I have a plan, right? Yeah, but I had a plan this week too and wow did it go haywire! All I can do is try. Set myself up to succeed. Get organized, make a menu, chop some veggies, have fruit available, and, most important of all, keep the food log up-to-date. I am convinced this is the secret to my success with this plan. It keeps me aware of what I'm eating. When I let it slide, I find my good habits sliding too.
So back to the food log, back to the original plan and hopefully, back to healthy eating. Wish me luck.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Self-esteem
Following a diet or food plan should be a matter of figuring out your nutritional requirements, considering your personal tastes and preferences and then just following that plan. As mentioned in an earlier blog, I keep a food journal. We try to do weekly menus. It should be simple.
But it's not. Oh, if my life is on an even keel and no surprises crop up, it works pretty well. It's when I get distracted that I stray off the plan, I eat some meat or I just can't resist french fries. It's not amusing, though it sounds funny "I slipped last night, I just couldn't resist the fried calamari! So delish!"
Almost every time this happens to me, I could resist. There is that moment when I could say "no, I don't want that in my body. Hand me some celery" or whatever. I've found, by keeping the log and reviewing it, that if I'm having a rough day emotionally, I have a hard time sticking to the plan.
My biggest stumbling block is self-esteem. Last year, I went to a "mystical fair", where various psychics, mediums, tarot readers, etc, were offering their services. First, I found a psychic and got a reading. Her first words were "It's really weird, but I'm getting that you're too hard on yourself. That you need to stop putting yourself down."
Dead on. If she had said "you have brown eyes" she couldn't have been more accurate. I moved on to have my tarot read. This psychic studied the cards and looked up with a puzzled look on her face. "For some reason, I'm getting that you are too hard on yourself. You're really into putting yourself down."
Blink. I nodded and my husband, who was standing nearby, let out a loud laugh. I was slightly chagrined. Two psychics, both of whom had never met me before, and they're telling me I'm too hard on myself, that I have poor self esteem. Without even knowing me!
This past week, I had a little problem in my life (since resolved) and was whining about it on Facebook. At least four, maybe more, friends said "You have such poor self-esteem!"
Wow. I really have to work on this! And no surprise, my diet this week has been pretty messed up. I've had meat, cheese, fries, all the things I've eliminated from my diet. And I still haven't got myself up on that treadmill. My goals are not being reached!
So it's a self-fulfilling prophecy -- I don't feel good about myself, so I eat poorly, then I feel queasy, I feel "fat", I feel bad about "cheating". Then my self-esteem drops a little more, and it spirals out of control. The only way for me to stop it is to face it and fix it.
It doesn't matter if I slip once in a while. It doesn't make me a "bad" person, it just means that this one time here, I chose to not follow my plans, which will lead me to meeting my goals. It's not the end of the world. It's not even the end of my diet. It's a stumble. So I have to say to myself "You ate meat for dinner. You are committed to not eating meat. Tomorrow, don't eat meat!" Without adding any self-bashing. That is hard for me, but those words I put in my head and sometimes let slip out of my mouth are not good for me, and are just as important as the food I put in my mouth.
So, it's back to making a plan and sticking to it. To not let drooping self-esteem keep me from getting healthy. To realizing that I am worth the hard work, that I can do it, even if it's tough, even if I'm feeling low, I can choose to eat healthy foods.
But it's not. Oh, if my life is on an even keel and no surprises crop up, it works pretty well. It's when I get distracted that I stray off the plan, I eat some meat or I just can't resist french fries. It's not amusing, though it sounds funny "I slipped last night, I just couldn't resist the fried calamari! So delish!"
Almost every time this happens to me, I could resist. There is that moment when I could say "no, I don't want that in my body. Hand me some celery" or whatever. I've found, by keeping the log and reviewing it, that if I'm having a rough day emotionally, I have a hard time sticking to the plan.
My biggest stumbling block is self-esteem. Last year, I went to a "mystical fair", where various psychics, mediums, tarot readers, etc, were offering their services. First, I found a psychic and got a reading. Her first words were "It's really weird, but I'm getting that you're too hard on yourself. That you need to stop putting yourself down."
Dead on. If she had said "you have brown eyes" she couldn't have been more accurate. I moved on to have my tarot read. This psychic studied the cards and looked up with a puzzled look on her face. "For some reason, I'm getting that you are too hard on yourself. You're really into putting yourself down."
Blink. I nodded and my husband, who was standing nearby, let out a loud laugh. I was slightly chagrined. Two psychics, both of whom had never met me before, and they're telling me I'm too hard on myself, that I have poor self esteem. Without even knowing me!
This past week, I had a little problem in my life (since resolved) and was whining about it on Facebook. At least four, maybe more, friends said "You have such poor self-esteem!"
Wow. I really have to work on this! And no surprise, my diet this week has been pretty messed up. I've had meat, cheese, fries, all the things I've eliminated from my diet. And I still haven't got myself up on that treadmill. My goals are not being reached!
So it's a self-fulfilling prophecy -- I don't feel good about myself, so I eat poorly, then I feel queasy, I feel "fat", I feel bad about "cheating". Then my self-esteem drops a little more, and it spirals out of control. The only way for me to stop it is to face it and fix it.
It doesn't matter if I slip once in a while. It doesn't make me a "bad" person, it just means that this one time here, I chose to not follow my plans, which will lead me to meeting my goals. It's not the end of the world. It's not even the end of my diet. It's a stumble. So I have to say to myself "You ate meat for dinner. You are committed to not eating meat. Tomorrow, don't eat meat!" Without adding any self-bashing. That is hard for me, but those words I put in my head and sometimes let slip out of my mouth are not good for me, and are just as important as the food I put in my mouth.
So, it's back to making a plan and sticking to it. To not let drooping self-esteem keep me from getting healthy. To realizing that I am worth the hard work, that I can do it, even if it's tough, even if I'm feeling low, I can choose to eat healthy foods.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Healthy weight loss
The new lifestyle is still paying off! I have lost five more pounds! That's 25 pounds total, folks! YES!
Ok, let's face it, that's just a start, I have a long ways to go and, anyway, weight loss is not my primary goal. Being healthy is my goal.
So guess what? I'm feeling healthier too! How about that? My blood sugar readings have gone down, thank you very much. I'm moving around more easily, which is very important to me.
You know that tired old saying "Nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels?" Pfft. Because chocolate tastes pretty good. Focusing on weight loss is not going to motivate me to eat right, it just isn't. But the idea of not dying young, not incurring some life-threatening disease, yeah, THAT is motivation to skip the chocolate and sugar and meat.
I want to suggest again that everyone view the documentary called "Forks Over Knives". I watched in on Hulu, for free. It's available lots of places, just google it. It's got a lot of facts and figures but lots of WOW moments, too. Like seeing a man adopting the Forks Over Knives plan and being able to ditch all but one of the multiple medications he had been on. Like the woman who had breast cancer and her doctor sent her home to die. Then she found the doctors who advocate Forks Over Knives. Years later, she is healthy and hale and cancer free. (I'm not saying FOK cured cancer. No. It made her healthier, though)
And, the one that hit me closest to home was a young single mom who had been diagnosed with diabetes. So, she was going to be on insulin. She had kids to raise. She was overweight. A couple months on the FOK plan, her diabetes was under control, she had lost weight and she had energy and verve. Yeah, that's what I want -- verve!!
Last year, my blood sugar reading was a smidge over the top number. A smidge, like .1, that's all. My doctor prescribed Metformin, which helps control blood sugar, and sent me to a diabetes educator. She spent an hour and a half showing me all the dangers of diabetes and, over my objections, fitted me out with a blood sugar monitor, to be used twice a day. WHY? I'm .1 over the limit. How about I try changing my diet first? Welllll, it seems that when someone is obese (which I am) you're so much more likely to get diabetes, that's it's a good idea to just scare the hell out of you, slap you on meds and punish you with twice-daily bleedings.
I went with it for a few weeks. My readings were uniformly regular, and right in the healthy range. Imagine that. Soon I was freaking out. I would dread that stab in the finger, I don't really like seeing my own blood and if my "numbers' were the least bit elevated I was panicking.
I was convinced they'd have me on insulin injections if I didn't toe the line.
In total frustration I went back to my doctor and told him I was stressing out. He looked puzzled and said "You don't need to check your blood sugar daily. I just wanted them to give you some information so you would be aware. Stop taking your blood sugar readings if it's upsetting."
Oh boy. Torn between anger and relief, I stopped doing the readings. And I was pretty darned miffed at having went through that for weeks, for NOTHING. Talk about the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing!
Since I started the FOK plan, I do occasionally pull out the blood sugar meter and check my levels. They are lower than they were last year, of course, so that means they are very good. My goal is that I can quit taking Metformin and just control this with diet and exercise.
I know some people really do need the daily blood tests, they do need insulin, they are in grave danger if they do not control their diabetes. But do we have to scare every overweight person with the specter of a lifetime of diabetes, even when they are not showing signs of diabetes -- other than being overweight?
When I visit my doctor, and I've done this for years, I explain to him that I realize I'm overweight, hell, I'm obese. It's not a surprise to me. I have had heart tests, my ticker is just fine. I have high cholesterol, yes. I have high blood pressure. I am not dying, nor am I close to dying. Both the cholesterol and the blood pressure are likely to be controlled through diet and exercise. I'll take the meds for those problems, but if FOK can help me control those issues, I want off those drugs!
I had a hysterectomy a few years ago and my doctor warned me that my weight might impact my recovery from surgery. What? How's that again? The surgery was vaginal, so there would be no cutting through my layers of flab. I don't have asthma or anything like that. How would weight impact my recovery. He really didn't give me a good answer but he asserted: That weight is gonna kill you!
He was sitting a foot away from me, in a rolling desk chair. By the time I got done explaining to him just how offended I was by his weight-blaming, he was backed into a corner and saying "well, that's a good point" and casting desperate looks at my husband. After the surgery, as soon as the doctor came to see me, I told him "And my weight didn't cause any problems, did it?" He laughed and said no, it didn't. HA! And I loved my doctor, he was gentle and my surgery was amazingly easy. He just follows the health community's "FAT IS A KILLER" line.
Don't assume all your problems can be measured in pounds. If you want to lose weight, bully for you. It's probably a wonderful idea. But if you lose weight by eating unhealthy, processed foods, are you getting healthy or just putting bad food into a smaller body? When you have tried those fad diets, have you kept the weight off?
Watch the documentary, think about what you REALLY want for your body, then make a decision to become a healthy person, who just so happens to lose weight and feel better all over!
Ok, let's face it, that's just a start, I have a long ways to go and, anyway, weight loss is not my primary goal. Being healthy is my goal.
So guess what? I'm feeling healthier too! How about that? My blood sugar readings have gone down, thank you very much. I'm moving around more easily, which is very important to me.
You know that tired old saying "Nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels?" Pfft. Because chocolate tastes pretty good. Focusing on weight loss is not going to motivate me to eat right, it just isn't. But the idea of not dying young, not incurring some life-threatening disease, yeah, THAT is motivation to skip the chocolate and sugar and meat.
I want to suggest again that everyone view the documentary called "Forks Over Knives". I watched in on Hulu, for free. It's available lots of places, just google it. It's got a lot of facts and figures but lots of WOW moments, too. Like seeing a man adopting the Forks Over Knives plan and being able to ditch all but one of the multiple medications he had been on. Like the woman who had breast cancer and her doctor sent her home to die. Then she found the doctors who advocate Forks Over Knives. Years later, she is healthy and hale and cancer free. (I'm not saying FOK cured cancer. No. It made her healthier, though)
And, the one that hit me closest to home was a young single mom who had been diagnosed with diabetes. So, she was going to be on insulin. She had kids to raise. She was overweight. A couple months on the FOK plan, her diabetes was under control, she had lost weight and she had energy and verve. Yeah, that's what I want -- verve!!
Last year, my blood sugar reading was a smidge over the top number. A smidge, like .1, that's all. My doctor prescribed Metformin, which helps control blood sugar, and sent me to a diabetes educator. She spent an hour and a half showing me all the dangers of diabetes and, over my objections, fitted me out with a blood sugar monitor, to be used twice a day. WHY? I'm .1 over the limit. How about I try changing my diet first? Welllll, it seems that when someone is obese (which I am) you're so much more likely to get diabetes, that's it's a good idea to just scare the hell out of you, slap you on meds and punish you with twice-daily bleedings.
I went with it for a few weeks. My readings were uniformly regular, and right in the healthy range. Imagine that. Soon I was freaking out. I would dread that stab in the finger, I don't really like seeing my own blood and if my "numbers' were the least bit elevated I was panicking.
I was convinced they'd have me on insulin injections if I didn't toe the line.
In total frustration I went back to my doctor and told him I was stressing out. He looked puzzled and said "You don't need to check your blood sugar daily. I just wanted them to give you some information so you would be aware. Stop taking your blood sugar readings if it's upsetting."
Oh boy. Torn between anger and relief, I stopped doing the readings. And I was pretty darned miffed at having went through that for weeks, for NOTHING. Talk about the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing!
Since I started the FOK plan, I do occasionally pull out the blood sugar meter and check my levels. They are lower than they were last year, of course, so that means they are very good. My goal is that I can quit taking Metformin and just control this with diet and exercise.
I know some people really do need the daily blood tests, they do need insulin, they are in grave danger if they do not control their diabetes. But do we have to scare every overweight person with the specter of a lifetime of diabetes, even when they are not showing signs of diabetes -- other than being overweight?
When I visit my doctor, and I've done this for years, I explain to him that I realize I'm overweight, hell, I'm obese. It's not a surprise to me. I have had heart tests, my ticker is just fine. I have high cholesterol, yes. I have high blood pressure. I am not dying, nor am I close to dying. Both the cholesterol and the blood pressure are likely to be controlled through diet and exercise. I'll take the meds for those problems, but if FOK can help me control those issues, I want off those drugs!
I had a hysterectomy a few years ago and my doctor warned me that my weight might impact my recovery from surgery. What? How's that again? The surgery was vaginal, so there would be no cutting through my layers of flab. I don't have asthma or anything like that. How would weight impact my recovery. He really didn't give me a good answer but he asserted: That weight is gonna kill you!
He was sitting a foot away from me, in a rolling desk chair. By the time I got done explaining to him just how offended I was by his weight-blaming, he was backed into a corner and saying "well, that's a good point" and casting desperate looks at my husband. After the surgery, as soon as the doctor came to see me, I told him "And my weight didn't cause any problems, did it?" He laughed and said no, it didn't. HA! And I loved my doctor, he was gentle and my surgery was amazingly easy. He just follows the health community's "FAT IS A KILLER" line.
Don't assume all your problems can be measured in pounds. If you want to lose weight, bully for you. It's probably a wonderful idea. But if you lose weight by eating unhealthy, processed foods, are you getting healthy or just putting bad food into a smaller body? When you have tried those fad diets, have you kept the weight off?
Watch the documentary, think about what you REALLY want for your body, then make a decision to become a healthy person, who just so happens to lose weight and feel better all over!
Friday, August 10, 2012
Green smoothies and cookies
Part of the adventure of our new, healthier lifestyle is trying out recipes. Some go straight into the trash can but some are keepers. Some recipes we've even shared with friends, who aren't vegan, and they love the recipes!
We make a green smoothie from the Forks Over Knives book and it is really delicious and satisfying. What a great way to get a big dose of veggies and fruit in one tasty drink! Especially since it includes kale, one of those veggies that are incredibly good for us but not so easy to fit into our diet. Blueberries, spinach, flax seeds -- all good for you and all contained in one simple, quick drink.
So we have a green smoothie several times a week and my husband bragged about them at work so much that a coworker has now started making them for her teenaged sons and herself. She even makes them ahead of time, puts them in the fridge (with a lid on the container) and her sons drink them when it's convenient.
Our most recent find is a recipe for cookies that are to die for! They're sweet, they're moist and chewy and it is suggested that you eat them while they're warm, so hey! Good excuse for eating ALL the cookies at once! Well, maybe not. You might do better to freeze the ones you don't eat immediately, then, when you want one, just pop it out of the freezer and into the microwave for about 30 seconds (or use your oven to warm them up, I just like the speed of the microwave). Warm and gooey deliciousness in no time!
I took some over to my parents and they enjoyed them, especially the gooeyness. These would, I think, be good for anyone on any kind of eating plan, except of course someone allergic to peanuts. They're called Chick Pea Cookie Bites and they're made from chick peas (aka garbanzo beans), peanut butter and chocolate chips.
These cookies do not contain flour, sugar or eggs and they're very simple to make. I won't claim they're low-calorie, because they do contain peanut butter and chocolate chips. But everything in these tasty tidbits is allowed on the Forks Over Knives eating plan, so we are extremely happy about them!
Here's the recipe for Chick Pea Cookie Bites (from the website texanerin.com)
1 1/4 cups canned chick peas (garbanzo beans), well-rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. natural peanut butter
1/4 cup honey (we use agave nectar, same amount)
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt in peanut butter is unsalted
1/2 cups chocolate chips (we use semi-sweet)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all the ingredients except for the chocolate chips in a food processor and process until smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and the top to get the little chunks of chick peas and process again until they're combined. Put in the chocolate chips and stir by hand if you can or pulse once or twice. The mixture will be very thick and sticky. With wet hands, form into 1 1/2-inch balls. Place onto a Silpat or parchment paper. If you want them to look more like normal cookies, press down slightly on the balls. They don't rise much, so they look pretty much the same going in the oven as they do coming out. Bake for about 10 minutes. Yields about 14 cookies.
As I said above, these are best eaten warm.
*One note: The recipe calls for natural peanut butter and I thought I'd let you all know that we now make our own peanut butter, in our Vitamix blender. Cheaper than store-bought peanut butter and absolutely delicious. Not as creamy as Jif or Skippy, but plenty creamy enough to spread on toast. We buy unsalted, dry roasted peanuts. It takes 3 cups to make a pint-sized Mason jar full of peanut butter. Very simple to do and good for us.
Here's the green smoothie recipe from Forks Over Knives:
Gene's Green Machine Smoothie
(makes 2)
2 cups plant-based milk (we use soy)
1 banana (optionally frozen)
1/4 cup frozen blueberries
2 large leaves of kale
1/2 cup spinach (raw)
1/2 cup English cucumber (optional)
1/2 Tbsp. flax seeds and/or 1/2 Tbsp. hemp or chia seeds
1 date, optional
Ice (optional, but it makes the drink colder, so we use it!)
Blend all the ingredients until smooth and no chunks remain. Add more milk or water to get the consistency you prefer.
And when it says "no chunks remain", listen up! You don't want chunks of kale or spinach in your drink. So blend, blend, blend. We do not use the date or cucumber, we do use flax seeds but not the hemp or chia seeds. I prefer to give you the original recipe and you can adjust to your tastes, but just so you know, we have made a couple changes.
I hope you enjoy these recipes and if you try them, please let me know!
We make a green smoothie from the Forks Over Knives book and it is really delicious and satisfying. What a great way to get a big dose of veggies and fruit in one tasty drink! Especially since it includes kale, one of those veggies that are incredibly good for us but not so easy to fit into our diet. Blueberries, spinach, flax seeds -- all good for you and all contained in one simple, quick drink.
So we have a green smoothie several times a week and my husband bragged about them at work so much that a coworker has now started making them for her teenaged sons and herself. She even makes them ahead of time, puts them in the fridge (with a lid on the container) and her sons drink them when it's convenient.
Our most recent find is a recipe for cookies that are to die for! They're sweet, they're moist and chewy and it is suggested that you eat them while they're warm, so hey! Good excuse for eating ALL the cookies at once! Well, maybe not. You might do better to freeze the ones you don't eat immediately, then, when you want one, just pop it out of the freezer and into the microwave for about 30 seconds (or use your oven to warm them up, I just like the speed of the microwave). Warm and gooey deliciousness in no time!
I took some over to my parents and they enjoyed them, especially the gooeyness. These would, I think, be good for anyone on any kind of eating plan, except of course someone allergic to peanuts. They're called Chick Pea Cookie Bites and they're made from chick peas (aka garbanzo beans), peanut butter and chocolate chips.
These cookies do not contain flour, sugar or eggs and they're very simple to make. I won't claim they're low-calorie, because they do contain peanut butter and chocolate chips. But everything in these tasty tidbits is allowed on the Forks Over Knives eating plan, so we are extremely happy about them!
Here's the recipe for Chick Pea Cookie Bites (from the website texanerin.com)
1 1/4 cups canned chick peas (garbanzo beans), well-rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. natural peanut butter
1/4 cup honey (we use agave nectar, same amount)
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt in peanut butter is unsalted
1/2 cups chocolate chips (we use semi-sweet)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all the ingredients except for the chocolate chips in a food processor and process until smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and the top to get the little chunks of chick peas and process again until they're combined. Put in the chocolate chips and stir by hand if you can or pulse once or twice. The mixture will be very thick and sticky. With wet hands, form into 1 1/2-inch balls. Place onto a Silpat or parchment paper. If you want them to look more like normal cookies, press down slightly on the balls. They don't rise much, so they look pretty much the same going in the oven as they do coming out. Bake for about 10 minutes. Yields about 14 cookies.
As I said above, these are best eaten warm.
*One note: The recipe calls for natural peanut butter and I thought I'd let you all know that we now make our own peanut butter, in our Vitamix blender. Cheaper than store-bought peanut butter and absolutely delicious. Not as creamy as Jif or Skippy, but plenty creamy enough to spread on toast. We buy unsalted, dry roasted peanuts. It takes 3 cups to make a pint-sized Mason jar full of peanut butter. Very simple to do and good for us.
Here's the green smoothie recipe from Forks Over Knives:
Gene's Green Machine Smoothie
(makes 2)
2 cups plant-based milk (we use soy)
1 banana (optionally frozen)
1/4 cup frozen blueberries
2 large leaves of kale
1/2 cup spinach (raw)
1/2 cup English cucumber (optional)
1/2 Tbsp. flax seeds and/or 1/2 Tbsp. hemp or chia seeds
1 date, optional
Ice (optional, but it makes the drink colder, so we use it!)
Blend all the ingredients until smooth and no chunks remain. Add more milk or water to get the consistency you prefer.
And when it says "no chunks remain", listen up! You don't want chunks of kale or spinach in your drink. So blend, blend, blend. We do not use the date or cucumber, we do use flax seeds but not the hemp or chia seeds. I prefer to give you the original recipe and you can adjust to your tastes, but just so you know, we have made a couple changes.
I hope you enjoy these recipes and if you try them, please let me know!
Friday, August 3, 2012
Ups and downs
My life has been very jumbled up lately. A number of things happening, but nothing really getting accomplished. And as my life goes, so goes my eating habits, as you have seen. So it's been a sort of mixed results week -- some good work on the new lifestyle, some conscious decisions to veer from the path.
I don't enjoy telling you all about my less-than-perfect eating; I'd love to be able to say "I'm doing great on this eating plan, never even miss my old favorite foods!"
It's been a couple months and I have missed certain foods. And I have indulged in comfort eating, self-medicating with really bad food. And I've had days where only the BEST foods, the healthiest, the tastiest, the freshest, have passed my lips.
Changing your eating is no small feat. You have to re-learn to grocery shop, re-learn to cook, re-learn to think about food. It's not two vegetables and a meat anymore. You aren't going to just grab a donut on the way to work, or fast food after a long day. You have to plan to do well, to eat well.
Being humans, we don't always have time or energy to plan well. So we mess up, we find ourselves half way across town, hungry, knowing when we get home we'll have at least 30 minutes of cooking ahead of us before we can eat. So it becomes a struggle.
I am determined to keep fighting and moving toward my goals. I plan to eventually be 100 percent vegan. I know the junk food doesn't do my body any good. I know I feel better when I eat healthier food. Now, I just have to keep my feet on the ground and keep heading in the right direction.
I'm going to try in the next few blog posts to share with you some tips on grocery shopping, planning meals, finding recipes. But the goal of this blog is always going to be sharing my experiences as I transform from an enthusiastic meat-eating, soda-drinking slob, to a more health, grain-eating, vegetable-loving vegan.
On another note, but sort of related, I ran across this very funny blog post and really need to share it with you all. It truly expresses the confusion I've felt since beginning this whole foods adventure.
Here's the link:
http://www.nwedible.com/2012/08/tragedy-healthy-eater.html
And, for some fun while learning new recipes, check out the Vegan Black Metal Chef. This guy has a great sense of humor and his recipes are great. He shows on video how to create healthy, vegan dishes. You really ought to check out his "Hail Seitan" video. Hilarious.
Here's that link:
http://veganblackmetalchef.com/videos/hail-seitan/
Have a great week and remember -- EAT YOUR VEGGIES!
I don't enjoy telling you all about my less-than-perfect eating; I'd love to be able to say "I'm doing great on this eating plan, never even miss my old favorite foods!"
It's been a couple months and I have missed certain foods. And I have indulged in comfort eating, self-medicating with really bad food. And I've had days where only the BEST foods, the healthiest, the tastiest, the freshest, have passed my lips.
Changing your eating is no small feat. You have to re-learn to grocery shop, re-learn to cook, re-learn to think about food. It's not two vegetables and a meat anymore. You aren't going to just grab a donut on the way to work, or fast food after a long day. You have to plan to do well, to eat well.
Being humans, we don't always have time or energy to plan well. So we mess up, we find ourselves half way across town, hungry, knowing when we get home we'll have at least 30 minutes of cooking ahead of us before we can eat. So it becomes a struggle.
I am determined to keep fighting and moving toward my goals. I plan to eventually be 100 percent vegan. I know the junk food doesn't do my body any good. I know I feel better when I eat healthier food. Now, I just have to keep my feet on the ground and keep heading in the right direction.
I'm going to try in the next few blog posts to share with you some tips on grocery shopping, planning meals, finding recipes. But the goal of this blog is always going to be sharing my experiences as I transform from an enthusiastic meat-eating, soda-drinking slob, to a more health, grain-eating, vegetable-loving vegan.
On another note, but sort of related, I ran across this very funny blog post and really need to share it with you all. It truly expresses the confusion I've felt since beginning this whole foods adventure.
Here's the link:
http://www.nwedible.com/2012/08/tragedy-healthy-eater.html
And, for some fun while learning new recipes, check out the Vegan Black Metal Chef. This guy has a great sense of humor and his recipes are great. He shows on video how to create healthy, vegan dishes. You really ought to check out his "Hail Seitan" video. Hilarious.
Here's that link:
http://veganblackmetalchef.com/videos/hail-seitan/
Have a great week and remember -- EAT YOUR VEGGIES!
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Tough times
The past week has been rather hectic and we have slid right back into some of the bad eating habits we had before starting the Forks Over Knives diet plan. We have had fast food twice, restaurant food three or four times and generally struggled to eat well. Not the kind of news I enjoy reporting on this blog, but I can't lie to you all, we are having a tough time being vegans.
All is not lost, of course, because we can just get right back on track at the next meal. One burger from McDonald's has not undone all the good we're doing by eating a plant-based diet. And most of the restaurant food we've eaten has come from restaurants that provide vegan menus. Like I said a couple of weeks ago, we are doing SO much better than we were two or three months ago, I refuse to be discouraged.
Yes, I am a little frustrated that we didn't stick with it, but I'm not ready to give up.
One thing I do that helps me see what I need to work on and where my weaknesses are, as well as what things I'm doing RIGHT, is keeping a food log. It's just a notebook where I list everything I eat, not calories or anything else, just a list of food. And I try to keep track of my emotions and physical symptoms, just to see how those factors are affected by diet.
I also make a quick note of any exercise I do. Because of ongoing back problems, I am starting over, doing a series of stretches every day to get me to the point of walking on a treadmill every day. I need a lot more exercise than I'm getting.
I believe a food log is a good idea for anyone, on a diet, needing to diet or whatever. We do not realize how much food we eat in a day, and some days, we've found that we didn't eat much at all! And surely not enough to get all the nutrients we need. Try it for a week, or even a couple days, write down absolutely everything you eat, then you'll see why it helps us so much.
Basically, with this lifestyle change, I have three goals: First, get healthy enough to be able to reduce the amount of medication I need; second, feel better, physically and emotionally; and third, lose weight. And that is in order of importance. I know I am healthier -- I just feel better for one thing, but I've also been tracking my blood sugar levels and they're significantly lower than they were six months ago.
I've lost over 20 pounds since starting FOK, but I've lost 32 pounds since when I was at my heaviest. That's great, but I do have a long ways to go to feel fit. I have promised myself a little treat (not food!) when I have lost 50 pounds, and I plan to keep those little treats going right until I reach my goal weight.
I will admit that some of my "slips" were more in the form of "little rewards" because I've been so good about watching my diet. Dumb! It's not a reward, it's allowing myself to veer off a path I have set for myself. And I will also admit that every time I've eaten fast food, I ended up with an upset stomach. It is so completely not worth it!
I have managed to resist one thing -- Pepsi. I love Pepsi. Nothing better on a hot day than an ice cold Pepsi. And I haven't had one since I started the FOK plan. It's been incredibly tough at times, because everyone in my family drinks Pepsi. I am drinking a lot of water and iced tea, but it ain't Pepsi. I'm hoping that if I ever do succumb to Pepsi's siren call, it will taste terrible to me. I'm afraid it won't though, so I'm doing my best to just stick to water.
On the positive side of the last week's insanity, we did find a couple new dishes we can make quite easily. We've started using a meat substitute from Yves Veggie Cuisine (available at Whole Foods). It looks and tastes like ground beef that has been browned. It's made of soy and a serving provides 10 grams of protein, which is very important.
Getting enough protein is essential and to eat vegan, one must keep track of their protein intake, even though it's quite simple to get protein from beans and other foods. This week, we used the Yves meatless ground product to make tacos. I could not tell the difference between these tacos and traditional hamburger tacos.
My two nieces were at our house when we cooked these and they both ate two tacos. A sure sign of approval! We also use the meat replacement in our pasta sauce. My husband said it was nice to eat something that was familiar, even though we've enjoyed the tofu dishes and other meatless dishes. We were meat eaters a long time, and we still enjoy at least pretending we're eating meat. That's probably silly, but, hey, it works!
The biggest lesson we've had from this lifestyle is not giving up. Some days I'd really like to just eat a freaking candy bar, and some fries, and a pepsi, then some pizza . . . . and on and on. But I know that what I really want, in the long run, is to reach my three goals: get off the meds, feel healthier, and lose weight.
Reaching my goals is going to be far more rewarding than any candy bar or pizza. Still, if I indulge, I'm not giving up. I'm committed to this lifestyle plan and, along with my husband, I'm sticking to it!
All is not lost, of course, because we can just get right back on track at the next meal. One burger from McDonald's has not undone all the good we're doing by eating a plant-based diet. And most of the restaurant food we've eaten has come from restaurants that provide vegan menus. Like I said a couple of weeks ago, we are doing SO much better than we were two or three months ago, I refuse to be discouraged.
Yes, I am a little frustrated that we didn't stick with it, but I'm not ready to give up.
One thing I do that helps me see what I need to work on and where my weaknesses are, as well as what things I'm doing RIGHT, is keeping a food log. It's just a notebook where I list everything I eat, not calories or anything else, just a list of food. And I try to keep track of my emotions and physical symptoms, just to see how those factors are affected by diet.
I also make a quick note of any exercise I do. Because of ongoing back problems, I am starting over, doing a series of stretches every day to get me to the point of walking on a treadmill every day. I need a lot more exercise than I'm getting.
I believe a food log is a good idea for anyone, on a diet, needing to diet or whatever. We do not realize how much food we eat in a day, and some days, we've found that we didn't eat much at all! And surely not enough to get all the nutrients we need. Try it for a week, or even a couple days, write down absolutely everything you eat, then you'll see why it helps us so much.
Basically, with this lifestyle change, I have three goals: First, get healthy enough to be able to reduce the amount of medication I need; second, feel better, physically and emotionally; and third, lose weight. And that is in order of importance. I know I am healthier -- I just feel better for one thing, but I've also been tracking my blood sugar levels and they're significantly lower than they were six months ago.
I've lost over 20 pounds since starting FOK, but I've lost 32 pounds since when I was at my heaviest. That's great, but I do have a long ways to go to feel fit. I have promised myself a little treat (not food!) when I have lost 50 pounds, and I plan to keep those little treats going right until I reach my goal weight.
I will admit that some of my "slips" were more in the form of "little rewards" because I've been so good about watching my diet. Dumb! It's not a reward, it's allowing myself to veer off a path I have set for myself. And I will also admit that every time I've eaten fast food, I ended up with an upset stomach. It is so completely not worth it!
I have managed to resist one thing -- Pepsi. I love Pepsi. Nothing better on a hot day than an ice cold Pepsi. And I haven't had one since I started the FOK plan. It's been incredibly tough at times, because everyone in my family drinks Pepsi. I am drinking a lot of water and iced tea, but it ain't Pepsi. I'm hoping that if I ever do succumb to Pepsi's siren call, it will taste terrible to me. I'm afraid it won't though, so I'm doing my best to just stick to water.
On the positive side of the last week's insanity, we did find a couple new dishes we can make quite easily. We've started using a meat substitute from Yves Veggie Cuisine (available at Whole Foods). It looks and tastes like ground beef that has been browned. It's made of soy and a serving provides 10 grams of protein, which is very important.
Getting enough protein is essential and to eat vegan, one must keep track of their protein intake, even though it's quite simple to get protein from beans and other foods. This week, we used the Yves meatless ground product to make tacos. I could not tell the difference between these tacos and traditional hamburger tacos.
My two nieces were at our house when we cooked these and they both ate two tacos. A sure sign of approval! We also use the meat replacement in our pasta sauce. My husband said it was nice to eat something that was familiar, even though we've enjoyed the tofu dishes and other meatless dishes. We were meat eaters a long time, and we still enjoy at least pretending we're eating meat. That's probably silly, but, hey, it works!
The biggest lesson we've had from this lifestyle is not giving up. Some days I'd really like to just eat a freaking candy bar, and some fries, and a pepsi, then some pizza . . . . and on and on. But I know that what I really want, in the long run, is to reach my three goals: get off the meds, feel healthier, and lose weight.
Reaching my goals is going to be far more rewarding than any candy bar or pizza. Still, if I indulge, I'm not giving up. I'm committed to this lifestyle plan and, along with my husband, I'm sticking to it!
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Vitamix Value
I'm not a cheapskate, really. I like expensive things, like really nice handbags, good shoes, a wonderful restaurant meal. All kinds of spendy things. But when it comes to my kitchen, I get all 1950's housewife-ish and start worrying about my "pin money". I've always bought those $10 mixers at Kmart, $30 blenders at Wally World, stuff like that. Even when I was a Pampered Chef representative, I bought only because I got a discount. Without the discount, I would have been buying their wonderful carrot peelers for $5.
Then, my dad bought a really nice Mixmaster at a garage sale and it was fabulous! I was so jealous! But the odds of me finding a nice Mixmaster at another garage sale were slim. That Christmas, my hubby bought me a brand new Mixmaster! Woot! Woot! It was worth every penny.
So when I started preparing for my new vegan lifestyle, I knew I needed a new blender (I used mine so little that I had given it away!). We wanted smoothies and we did have a nice smoothie machine. But it couldn't handle veggies and denser fruits. Not if you want a really smooth smoothie. My friend Chance, who has been my mentor in all this healthy living, told me his family had a Vitamix and loved it.
I checked it out on the Internet and nearly lost my mind. A Vitamix, brand new, is about $400. That's $400, yes. Wow. And that's just a basic version. There are more expensive versions.
My little 50s housewife thought "Oh, dear! this will eat up all the money I've been saving for a new pair of kitchen curtains!" And then some!
But my husband did some more research and he dug into it and, ultimately, he determined the Vitamix was the way to go. OKAY, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? He really is a cheapskate so this amazed me. He then showed me all the positive reviews the machine got from users, showed me all the capabilities it had, assured me we could afford it, and before long, convinced me we indeed needed a Vitamix.
He found one on Vitamix's website, vitamix.com, that had been reconditioned and check this out -- it was RED! I love red! It cost about $350 but we were determined by then.
When the Vitamix arrived, we were like little kids getting a puppy on Christmas. We praised it's attractiveness, we pored over every detail, we took it for a little test run and then praised it for being so darn smart! One of the first things Chuck made was peanut butter. Just roasted unsalted peanuts, whirled around in the Vitamix then slathered on your toast! We keep it in a jar in our fridge and it is so good!
And of course we make smoothies. Fruit smoothies, fruit and veggie smoothies, green smoothies and even a chocolate smoothie. One night Chuck made orange sorbet and it rocked! In other words, the Vitamix has met every expectation we had and was totally worth the money. It also juices, shreds veggies, blends, does all sorts of handy things.
Please go to the website to check out all the facts and features, but they really are great. And we use it at least once a day, sometimes more. It comes with a great cookbook that you can find on ebay for a whole lotta money. The cookbook tells you how to make soups, sauces, juices, smoothies and many other healthful dishes.
The machine itself is amazing. It's really a simple machine, easy to use, not a bunch of crazy settings. It's easy to clean up, easy to use, just very useful. Of course, a Vitamix isn't just for vegans, it would be a huge asset in any kitchen.
Here's our favorite Vitamix smoothie recipe (pictured above):
Banana, Orange and Carrot Smoothie
1/2 banana, peeled
1 orange, peeled and halved
1 baby carrot
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup cranberry juice
1 cup ice cubes
Place all ingredients into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid. Select Variable 1. Turn machine on and quickly increase speed to Variable 10, then to High. Blend for 1 minute or until desired consistency is reached.
See? Really simple! If you're trying this recipe in another blender, you need to chop up your fruit into smaller pieces. You might have to blend it longer, as well.
Then, my dad bought a really nice Mixmaster at a garage sale and it was fabulous! I was so jealous! But the odds of me finding a nice Mixmaster at another garage sale were slim. That Christmas, my hubby bought me a brand new Mixmaster! Woot! Woot! It was worth every penny.
So when I started preparing for my new vegan lifestyle, I knew I needed a new blender (I used mine so little that I had given it away!). We wanted smoothies and we did have a nice smoothie machine. But it couldn't handle veggies and denser fruits. Not if you want a really smooth smoothie. My friend Chance, who has been my mentor in all this healthy living, told me his family had a Vitamix and loved it.
I checked it out on the Internet and nearly lost my mind. A Vitamix, brand new, is about $400. That's $400, yes. Wow. And that's just a basic version. There are more expensive versions.
My little 50s housewife thought "Oh, dear! this will eat up all the money I've been saving for a new pair of kitchen curtains!" And then some!
But my husband did some more research and he dug into it and, ultimately, he determined the Vitamix was the way to go. OKAY, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? He really is a cheapskate so this amazed me. He then showed me all the positive reviews the machine got from users, showed me all the capabilities it had, assured me we could afford it, and before long, convinced me we indeed needed a Vitamix.
He found one on Vitamix's website, vitamix.com, that had been reconditioned and check this out -- it was RED! I love red! It cost about $350 but we were determined by then.
When the Vitamix arrived, we were like little kids getting a puppy on Christmas. We praised it's attractiveness, we pored over every detail, we took it for a little test run and then praised it for being so darn smart! One of the first things Chuck made was peanut butter. Just roasted unsalted peanuts, whirled around in the Vitamix then slathered on your toast! We keep it in a jar in our fridge and it is so good!
And of course we make smoothies. Fruit smoothies, fruit and veggie smoothies, green smoothies and even a chocolate smoothie. One night Chuck made orange sorbet and it rocked! In other words, the Vitamix has met every expectation we had and was totally worth the money. It also juices, shreds veggies, blends, does all sorts of handy things.
Please go to the website to check out all the facts and features, but they really are great. And we use it at least once a day, sometimes more. It comes with a great cookbook that you can find on ebay for a whole lotta money. The cookbook tells you how to make soups, sauces, juices, smoothies and many other healthful dishes.
The machine itself is amazing. It's really a simple machine, easy to use, not a bunch of crazy settings. It's easy to clean up, easy to use, just very useful. Of course, a Vitamix isn't just for vegans, it would be a huge asset in any kitchen.
Here's our favorite Vitamix smoothie recipe (pictured above):
Banana, Orange and Carrot Smoothie
1/2 banana, peeled
1 orange, peeled and halved
1 baby carrot
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup cranberry juice
1 cup ice cubes
Place all ingredients into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid. Select Variable 1. Turn machine on and quickly increase speed to Variable 10, then to High. Blend for 1 minute or until desired consistency is reached.
See? Really simple! If you're trying this recipe in another blender, you need to chop up your fruit into smaller pieces. You might have to blend it longer, as well.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Top 5 Discoveries
Big news for this week: I've lost five more pounds. Yay, me! And that makes a total of 15 pounds for me and nearly 30 for my hubby. And my blood sugar ratings have went way down. Amazingly so! As I have said before, it would be great to lose weight, but my main goal is to get off of some the medications I take -- for instance the medication which is intended to help prevent me from getting diabetes, Mitformin. I don't want to take it. I want to manage my food and exercise so that I don't need that pill every day. One step closer!
Okay, with the personal stuff out of the way, I want to talk about some of the products I've adopted in the past few weeks. In trying to adopt the Forks Over Knives way of eating, my husband and I have explored a lot of websites, a lot of recipes, a lot of nutrition labels. We still have so much to learn, but we have found some things that, even if we totally failed at going vegan, we would still use those items.
Let me tell you about them:
Agave Nectar-- Agave nectar is a product of the same plant from which tequila is made. (Got your attention, didn't I?) The agave nectar has an appearance similar to honey, but it has a thinner consistency and a light taste. We use it a lot in smoothies and I even made a quick fruit salad and drizzled just a tad of agave nectar over it -- delicious! It contains some good minerals and vitamins and I found this explanation on a website: "The carbohydrate in agave nectar has a low glycemic index, which provides sweetness without the unpleasant "sugar rush" and unhealthful blood sugar spike caused by many other sugars. Agave nectar is a delicious natural sweetener that can be used moderately - by dieters, some diabetics, and health conscious cooks - to replace high-glycemic and refined sugars." http://www.allaboutagave.com/health-benefits-of-agave-nectar.php
Soy Milk -- To tell the truth I've been drinking soy milk for a few years, but my husband only came on board when we started the Forks Over Knives plan. We both think soy milk tastes better on cereal with a hint of sweet that keeps you from missing all that nasty processed sugar. We also use it in smoothies, recipes, anywhere we would have used cow's milk before. We like Silk brand soy milk. http://silksoymilk.com/
Vegetable Stock -- You know about chicken broth and beef broth. They're yummy. They have that wonderful meaty flavor. I was pretty dubious about what a vegetable stock would taste like. Never should have worried! It has a full, healthy flavor and works in soups and other dishes that need a little more juice. Best thing is it comes in resealable containers, unlike the old cans of chicken broth I used to buy. This is the link to the brand we buy: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/178
Tamari -- Tamari is made from soy beans, as is soy sauce. However, Tamari has a lighter, less salty flavor. Right from the first taste, we both agreed it was much better than traditional soy sauce. It is used in recipes and as a condiment. We use Sang-J Organic Tamari, gluten free. Check out this website for a very complete explanation of Tamari: http://www.san-j.com/faq.asp
Earth Balance Spread -- This has been my very favorite "substitute" food yet. At first I was just doing without butter, because of the no-dairy restrictions of the Forks Over Knives plan. That got old fast! My husband found Earth Balance Spread at the store at about the same time as I was discovering it on the Internet. It comes in a tub like margarine, but the taste! It is very creamy, a tiny bit sweet, and completely NOT greasy. It is made from soy beans. We use it on toast and bread and just anywhere we would use butter. I have not baked with it or cooked extensively with it. I've seen recipes using Earth Balance, though. You really need to try this stuff. http://www.earthbalancenatural.com/
I hope our experiences help you out as you explore a whole food, plant-based diet. My advice, always, is that you research these suggested products on your own and not just take my word for it. I have researched them but, hey, we are all different, I don't know what your particular needs are. And I'm not a doctor or any kind of expert. I am simply sharing my journey, hoping to inspire and to encourage others to try a healthy diet.
Okay, with the personal stuff out of the way, I want to talk about some of the products I've adopted in the past few weeks. In trying to adopt the Forks Over Knives way of eating, my husband and I have explored a lot of websites, a lot of recipes, a lot of nutrition labels. We still have so much to learn, but we have found some things that, even if we totally failed at going vegan, we would still use those items.
Let me tell you about them:
Agave Nectar-- Agave nectar is a product of the same plant from which tequila is made. (Got your attention, didn't I?) The agave nectar has an appearance similar to honey, but it has a thinner consistency and a light taste. We use it a lot in smoothies and I even made a quick fruit salad and drizzled just a tad of agave nectar over it -- delicious! It contains some good minerals and vitamins and I found this explanation on a website: "The carbohydrate in agave nectar has a low glycemic index, which provides sweetness without the unpleasant "sugar rush" and unhealthful blood sugar spike caused by many other sugars. Agave nectar is a delicious natural sweetener that can be used moderately - by dieters, some diabetics, and health conscious cooks - to replace high-glycemic and refined sugars." http://www.allaboutagave.com/health-benefits-of-agave-nectar.php
Soy Milk -- To tell the truth I've been drinking soy milk for a few years, but my husband only came on board when we started the Forks Over Knives plan. We both think soy milk tastes better on cereal with a hint of sweet that keeps you from missing all that nasty processed sugar. We also use it in smoothies, recipes, anywhere we would have used cow's milk before. We like Silk brand soy milk. http://silksoymilk.com/
Vegetable Stock -- You know about chicken broth and beef broth. They're yummy. They have that wonderful meaty flavor. I was pretty dubious about what a vegetable stock would taste like. Never should have worried! It has a full, healthy flavor and works in soups and other dishes that need a little more juice. Best thing is it comes in resealable containers, unlike the old cans of chicken broth I used to buy. This is the link to the brand we buy: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/178
Tamari -- Tamari is made from soy beans, as is soy sauce. However, Tamari has a lighter, less salty flavor. Right from the first taste, we both agreed it was much better than traditional soy sauce. It is used in recipes and as a condiment. We use Sang-J Organic Tamari, gluten free. Check out this website for a very complete explanation of Tamari: http://www.san-j.com/faq.asp
Earth Balance Spread -- This has been my very favorite "substitute" food yet. At first I was just doing without butter, because of the no-dairy restrictions of the Forks Over Knives plan. That got old fast! My husband found Earth Balance Spread at the store at about the same time as I was discovering it on the Internet. It comes in a tub like margarine, but the taste! It is very creamy, a tiny bit sweet, and completely NOT greasy. It is made from soy beans. We use it on toast and bread and just anywhere we would use butter. I have not baked with it or cooked extensively with it. I've seen recipes using Earth Balance, though. You really need to try this stuff. http://www.earthbalancenatural.com/
I hope our experiences help you out as you explore a whole food, plant-based diet. My advice, always, is that you research these suggested products on your own and not just take my word for it. I have researched them but, hey, we are all different, I don't know what your particular needs are. And I'm not a doctor or any kind of expert. I am simply sharing my journey, hoping to inspire and to encourage others to try a healthy diet.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
True Confessions
Most people I know would tell you that I'm a pretty honest person. Sometimes, too honest. I tell the good and the bad, even if it makes me seem a little crazy. I was going to just skim over this past week and tell you all about the yummy meals we made and my first ever shopping trip to Whole Foods and then you would say "My goodness, that girl has her stuff together. She is really grooving on this vegan stuff." And that would make me happy because, for one thing I freaking love it when people say "grooving".
However, that little angel on my shoulder clobbered me upside my head and said "Tell the whole story, girlie, or I'll smack you again." One tough angel.
So here's the truth. I ate meat this week. More than once. And french fries. Twice. And I felt guilty about it. And slightly nauseated. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be. But damn, I wanted that greasy, salty food soooo badly!
Okay, now you know the horrible truth: I'm not perfect. Surprised? Yeah, me neither. It's just frustrating when I find myself wanting to veer off of my vegan path. I have so far to go to get healthy! And these stumbles aren't making the journey any shorter. Since I've always been rather pessimistic, a stumble can become a huge step backwards in my head. And I start thinking about giving up on the changes I've started making.
It's only been a month or so that we've been trying to adopt a vegan diet. We've had our ups and downs. We don't understand all the ins and outs of what we're "supposed" to eat or even how to cook it. We're still learning a lot.
My husband has lost nearly 30 pounds. I've only lost 10 and, yes, I know men tend to lose weight faster. But it's another little chink in my armor. So I think "Why am I doing this? I am not losing weight, I keep craving junk food, and I can't keep my pantry stocked because I don't always know what to buy! I'll just quit, just go back to eating whatever sounds good at the moment."
Luckily, my husband is an optimist and when we eat meat or french fries, he just sees it as "we ate meat" or "we ate fries". It is not a catastrophe. He does not fall into a dark, deep funk. He just goes right back to eating the "good" stuff at the very next meal. Without any freaking out. When I told him I was considering just giving up, he was puzzled. "Why? We're doing great!" Um, are you eating the same food I am? Yes, he is. But he sees us eating healthy about 75 percent of the time. That's not "screwing up 25 percent of the time", like it appears in my mind. He is excited because we have went from eating healthy zero percent of the time to eating healthy 75 percent of the time.
Well, damn. That's pretty good thinking there, husband. So I am going to go right back to eating veggies and fruit and healthy proteins and healthy carbs, etcetera. I'm not going to beat myself up over eating ONE cheeseburger. After all, I used to eat two or three cheeseburgers every week. Wow! I am doing so much better! I had vegan soup for lunch today, full of great vegetables and legumes. For dinner, I made a tofu and veggie stir fry served over brown rice.
Good for me! And for my hubby. We want to be healthy and have a long, happy life together. So we will do it. It just takes time and dedication and a lot of research. We're working on it!
Oh, and my first trip to Whole Foods was amazing, but overwhelming. That is one huge store! So many options, so many choices. Lots of good healthy food, but I realized I still need to do some research -- I wanted to buy some protein powder, to add to smoothies. So I envisioned these jars of protein powder, maybe the size of a jar of instant tea? Um, no. All we found were these BUCKETS of protein powder, like I've seen in health food stores at the mall and figured only bodybuilders eat. I need to do a little more reading about protein, as you can see.
And today I discovered the Whole Foods website, which contains a ton of recipes. Check them out if you're looking for healthy recipes. Here's the address: http://wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/
However, that little angel on my shoulder clobbered me upside my head and said "Tell the whole story, girlie, or I'll smack you again." One tough angel.
So here's the truth. I ate meat this week. More than once. And french fries. Twice. And I felt guilty about it. And slightly nauseated. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be. But damn, I wanted that greasy, salty food soooo badly!
Okay, now you know the horrible truth: I'm not perfect. Surprised? Yeah, me neither. It's just frustrating when I find myself wanting to veer off of my vegan path. I have so far to go to get healthy! And these stumbles aren't making the journey any shorter. Since I've always been rather pessimistic, a stumble can become a huge step backwards in my head. And I start thinking about giving up on the changes I've started making.
It's only been a month or so that we've been trying to adopt a vegan diet. We've had our ups and downs. We don't understand all the ins and outs of what we're "supposed" to eat or even how to cook it. We're still learning a lot.
My husband has lost nearly 30 pounds. I've only lost 10 and, yes, I know men tend to lose weight faster. But it's another little chink in my armor. So I think "Why am I doing this? I am not losing weight, I keep craving junk food, and I can't keep my pantry stocked because I don't always know what to buy! I'll just quit, just go back to eating whatever sounds good at the moment."
Luckily, my husband is an optimist and when we eat meat or french fries, he just sees it as "we ate meat" or "we ate fries". It is not a catastrophe. He does not fall into a dark, deep funk. He just goes right back to eating the "good" stuff at the very next meal. Without any freaking out. When I told him I was considering just giving up, he was puzzled. "Why? We're doing great!" Um, are you eating the same food I am? Yes, he is. But he sees us eating healthy about 75 percent of the time. That's not "screwing up 25 percent of the time", like it appears in my mind. He is excited because we have went from eating healthy zero percent of the time to eating healthy 75 percent of the time.
Well, damn. That's pretty good thinking there, husband. So I am going to go right back to eating veggies and fruit and healthy proteins and healthy carbs, etcetera. I'm not going to beat myself up over eating ONE cheeseburger. After all, I used to eat two or three cheeseburgers every week. Wow! I am doing so much better! I had vegan soup for lunch today, full of great vegetables and legumes. For dinner, I made a tofu and veggie stir fry served over brown rice.
Good for me! And for my hubby. We want to be healthy and have a long, happy life together. So we will do it. It just takes time and dedication and a lot of research. We're working on it!
Oh, and my first trip to Whole Foods was amazing, but overwhelming. That is one huge store! So many options, so many choices. Lots of good healthy food, but I realized I still need to do some research -- I wanted to buy some protein powder, to add to smoothies. So I envisioned these jars of protein powder, maybe the size of a jar of instant tea? Um, no. All we found were these BUCKETS of protein powder, like I've seen in health food stores at the mall and figured only bodybuilders eat. I need to do a little more reading about protein, as you can see.
And today I discovered the Whole Foods website, which contains a ton of recipes. Check them out if you're looking for healthy recipes. Here's the address: http://wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Soup's On!
I am still experimenting with new vegan recipes and, some recipes work, some don't. Earlier this week, we tried a soup mix that is cooked in the crock pot and let's just say it was . . . and I'm trying to be kind here -- horrible.
I'm glad I didn't try this soup mix in the first couple weeks of our vegan experiment, because it would have turned me off of vegan-ism altogether. The broth was blah, the dried veggies never did plump up and overall, the taste was just not good. (I'm not going to give the brand name of the soup, because it is made locally and I don't want to damage a small businessperson's reputation. I may have done something wrong in preparing the soup, who knows?)
Luckily, I have a much better soup recipe which is vegan and delicious! I got the recipe from the Forks Over Knives book, which contains about 100 recipes. The soup contains lots of fresh veggies, beans, fresh herbs, vegetable broth and it all turns into a filling, delicious pot of soup that will feed us for two or three days, if we are so inclined.
I'll post the recipe at the bottom of this blog post and, even if you're not eating vegan, try this soup -- it's really good. Even my definitely-not-vegan Mom liked it. You will also develop nice bicep muscles cutting all the veggies you need for vegan recipes, so that's a good thing, right?
This recipe calls for cannellini beans, which I had never eaten before. They are so good! Creamy and soft, they are one of the best beans I've ever eaten. Beans are a great source of protein, they fill your stomach and there are so many varieties, you can easily find at least one that you love. Beans also digest more slowly, which helps prevent spikes in your blood sugar. (Check out http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/beans-protein-rich-superfoods for good information on beans and all the good things they do for your body.)
Here's that soup recipe, and again, it comes from the "Forks Over Knives" book, which is available on Amazon.com or by visiting the forksoverknives.com website, which has additional recipes.
Hearty Minestrone Soup
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
6 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup chopped green beans
1 1/2 cups chopped potatoes (peeled)
1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage
One 14.5 ounce can chopped tomatoes
One 8 ounce can tomato sauce
One 15 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
One 15 ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cups parsley, chopped
1 1/2 TBSP basil
1/2 cup uncooked whole wheat pasta (or brown rice pasta)
Black pepper to taste
Put onion, celery, carrots and garlic in a large pot with 1/4 cup of the broth. Cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally for 2 to 3 minutes, until vegetables soften slightly.
Add remaining broth and green beans, potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, tomato sauce, chickpeas, canellini beans, parsley, basil and pepper to pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and cook for 45 minutes.
Add the pasta, stir well, and continue to cook for another 15 minutes or until pasta is tender.
I served this with some whole-wheat bread and we were quite full and satisfied. Didn't miss the meat AT ALL!
I'm glad I didn't try this soup mix in the first couple weeks of our vegan experiment, because it would have turned me off of vegan-ism altogether. The broth was blah, the dried veggies never did plump up and overall, the taste was just not good. (I'm not going to give the brand name of the soup, because it is made locally and I don't want to damage a small businessperson's reputation. I may have done something wrong in preparing the soup, who knows?)
Luckily, I have a much better soup recipe which is vegan and delicious! I got the recipe from the Forks Over Knives book, which contains about 100 recipes. The soup contains lots of fresh veggies, beans, fresh herbs, vegetable broth and it all turns into a filling, delicious pot of soup that will feed us for two or three days, if we are so inclined.
I'll post the recipe at the bottom of this blog post and, even if you're not eating vegan, try this soup -- it's really good. Even my definitely-not-vegan Mom liked it. You will also develop nice bicep muscles cutting all the veggies you need for vegan recipes, so that's a good thing, right?
This recipe calls for cannellini beans, which I had never eaten before. They are so good! Creamy and soft, they are one of the best beans I've ever eaten. Beans are a great source of protein, they fill your stomach and there are so many varieties, you can easily find at least one that you love. Beans also digest more slowly, which helps prevent spikes in your blood sugar. (Check out http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/beans-protein-rich-superfoods for good information on beans and all the good things they do for your body.)
Here's that soup recipe, and again, it comes from the "Forks Over Knives" book, which is available on Amazon.com or by visiting the forksoverknives.com website, which has additional recipes.
Hearty Minestrone Soup
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
6 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup chopped green beans
1 1/2 cups chopped potatoes (peeled)
1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage
One 14.5 ounce can chopped tomatoes
One 8 ounce can tomato sauce
One 15 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
One 15 ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cups parsley, chopped
1 1/2 TBSP basil
1/2 cup uncooked whole wheat pasta (or brown rice pasta)
Black pepper to taste
Put onion, celery, carrots and garlic in a large pot with 1/4 cup of the broth. Cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally for 2 to 3 minutes, until vegetables soften slightly.
Add remaining broth and green beans, potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, tomato sauce, chickpeas, canellini beans, parsley, basil and pepper to pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and cook for 45 minutes.
Add the pasta, stir well, and continue to cook for another 15 minutes or until pasta is tender.
I served this with some whole-wheat bread and we were quite full and satisfied. Didn't miss the meat AT ALL!
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Bumbling with Balsamic
It is definitely not cool when I look at my life and feel like I’m in a bad sitcom. One where a middle-aged, overweight woman and her long-suffering husband, after years of devotion to the Fast Food Gods, decide suddenly to become vegans. Oh, my, the kooky shenanigans that would bring about! It’s the classic fish-out-of-water (or fish-out-of-the-deep-fryer) story. We don’t know a lot about vegan eating, we were both raised on white bread and fried food. And now we have to eat grains, tons of veggies and fruit and NO dairy or meat and very little oil.
Like many other times in our lives, when faced with a decision, hubby and I chose the goofy route and hoped for the best. We don’t prepare well, we just plunge in and hope no one is harmed in the process.
So, we’re in the middle of this sitcom moment in my life. The script calls for me to eat a healthy lunch. There is next to no food in the house, because we have cleaned out all the processed, unhealthy food to make room for healthy foods like greens, veggies and fruit. Except that we haven’t done so well on the grocery shopping and I’m facing a fridge containing only a small clump of kale and some Romaine lettuce. And no salad dressing. I’m willing to eat a lot of veggies, but not dry Romaine.
After a dream sequence where I get in the car and drive to McDonald’s, stuffing my face full of salty fries and juicy hamburger, I snap back to reality and decide to eat a salad, come hell or high water. I tossed some fresh strawberries (they had been hiding behind the kale) on top of the romaine, then hit the pantry looking for a salad dressing solution.
Unfortunately, I found my bottle of balsamic vinegar. Now, I’ve had balsamic vinegar before. At restaurants. Even at my mom’s house. For some reason, my brain did a disconnect and I decided to sprinkle the vinegar on my salad in lieu of dressing. And I got a little heavy-handed with the sprinkling.
I put the first forkful of salad in my mouth and immediately starting choking. Hm, something must have went down the wrong way. I grabbed my water glass and tried to drown whatever was choking me. Then, slightly recovered, I took another bite. Wow, that balsamic is STRONG, I thought. Then I started choking again. There was no drowning this damned thing. I coughed until suddenly I felt my belly turning cartwheels. Oh, no! So I made a mad dash to the bathroom and that’s all you need to know about that. Except that by time I was done in there, I needed a shower and I still hadn’t had any lunch.
It turns out that one does not simply eat balsamic vinegar. One must add it to oil and other things to make a dressing. Which I would have reasoned for myself if I hadn’t just taken a 5-year-sabbatical from cooking. So, big laughs at the fat lady nearly choking to death on salad. End scene.
Since the balsamic overdose didn’t kill me, I soldiered on, sent my hubby to the store for more groceries, and called my friend Chance for support. He was quite bewildered by my using balsamic as a salad dressing. Well, how could he understand? He’s not a fish out of water. But he encouraged me to keep working on the healthy eating and maybe lighten up a little about what I can and can not eat. His wife even sent me a recipe for a nice quinoa salad I can have for lunches. And it includes a great salad dressing.
We’ve gotten much better at identifying what is edible and what is not, but it really was a process. Some things called “vegan” haven’t thrilled our tastebuds, others have just rocked. Next time, I’m going to share with you the Minestrone Soup that has become our favorite vegan meal. Full of great vegetables and lots of flavor. Now I’m off to make myself a nice salad. (Add laugh track here.)
Friday, June 15, 2012
A New Leaf
Here’s an idea: Take every thing you know about cooking, about food and set it aside. Then empty your fridge of all non-healthy foods. Then clean out your pantry. Replace those foods with nice, healthy foods. Okay, start cooking.
Could you do it? It sounds pretty simple, actually it sounds exciting! I thought it would be a snap myself, but guess what, I don’t know beans about eating healthy or cooking healthy. I am learning a new language (and Rosetta Stone doesn’t have tapes for this one!), I’m learning new cooking methods, I’m reading labels all the time and, sometimes, I’m making such a mess, I’d kick me out of the kitchen if it didn’t mean we’d go hungry. Because the hubby has no idea what I’m doing either. Nothing new there, I’m rather quirky. But hey, quirky ain’t cute when you’re hungry.
Where did this all begin? It began with my health issues. I’ve been overweight for a long time. It frustrated me at first but after a while, I just thought “Who cares? I have better things to do than diet. I’ll worry about the weight later.”
The thing is, I didn’t really see that extra weight as a health issue. Being fat didn’t feel unhealthy. I didn’t have any health issues. I knew I was having a terrible time finding cute clothes, but I wasn’t worried. My health was still okay. And I was younger - age plays a role here too.
Then, I went through a tough time in my life and had to quit working and stay home. I wasn’t happy about it, but it was necessary. Unhappiness and self-doubt led me to just completely lose interest in cooking.
Well, if I wasn’t cooking, and my hubby has little experience cooking, something was bound to go wrong, right? It did. We became junk food junkies. We ate hamburgers, french fries, tacos, pizza, any junk food, sometimes eating fast food for every meal of the day. And almost no vegetables or fruit.
Of course I gained weight. I packed on 50 more pounds in a pretty short time. And I got older. I started having some health problems. High cholesterol, high blood pressure, high blood sugar. Then I developed a bulging disk in my back, not a weight problem, but it left me with a very sore back and limited my already limited exercise. And the pounds just packed on.
And the doctors prescribed a lot of medication. At last count, I take about 16 pills a day. So, with all those health issues, plus some emotional issues, that’s a lot of medication going into my 50-year-old, not too great body. What would I be like in 10 years? 20 years? The thought scared me, honestly.
Then my friend Chance told me to watch a documentary called “Forks Over Knives”. The documentary promotes the idea that the best way to be healthy is to eat a whole foods, plant-based diet. Even before watching the documentary, Chance had me half-convinced that this was a great idea, because after seeing the movie, his family’s dietary changes resulted in lowering his cholesterol level by 100 points. 100 points! And that happened in about six weeks.
Forks Over Knives showed people who were even more medicated than I am who were able to discontinue all medications just by eating a healthy, whole foods, plant-based diet. Hmm, 16 pills a day or give up meat? A bellyful of pharmaceuticals or a belly full of delicious vegetables?
So we watched the video and listened to Chance and even read a couple books. Then we took the plunge and here we are, eating a (mostly) whole-food, plant-based diet. We have turned over a new leaf (a lettuce leaf, it turns out, but whatever works!)
It’s not all been smooth-sailing and I can guarantee I’ll have more adventures. But two weeks later, I’ve had some success, lost 5 pounds, feel better in general and just knowing I’m eating better makes me happier. But there are some questions: How long can I do this? Will my life-long love of beef derail my plans? Will my husband get sick of legumes, leafy greens and smoothies? Or will we stick with it, and end up healthy, happy and ready to live a nice long life together?
Stick around and find out. Maybe I can help you get through your own switch to a healthier eating style, or maybe I can just make you laugh -- laughter is the best medicine, right? Either way, check out this blog from time to time for updates on my new lifestyle.
Could you do it? It sounds pretty simple, actually it sounds exciting! I thought it would be a snap myself, but guess what, I don’t know beans about eating healthy or cooking healthy. I am learning a new language (and Rosetta Stone doesn’t have tapes for this one!), I’m learning new cooking methods, I’m reading labels all the time and, sometimes, I’m making such a mess, I’d kick me out of the kitchen if it didn’t mean we’d go hungry. Because the hubby has no idea what I’m doing either. Nothing new there, I’m rather quirky. But hey, quirky ain’t cute when you’re hungry.
Where did this all begin? It began with my health issues. I’ve been overweight for a long time. It frustrated me at first but after a while, I just thought “Who cares? I have better things to do than diet. I’ll worry about the weight later.”
The thing is, I didn’t really see that extra weight as a health issue. Being fat didn’t feel unhealthy. I didn’t have any health issues. I knew I was having a terrible time finding cute clothes, but I wasn’t worried. My health was still okay. And I was younger - age plays a role here too.
Then, I went through a tough time in my life and had to quit working and stay home. I wasn’t happy about it, but it was necessary. Unhappiness and self-doubt led me to just completely lose interest in cooking.
Well, if I wasn’t cooking, and my hubby has little experience cooking, something was bound to go wrong, right? It did. We became junk food junkies. We ate hamburgers, french fries, tacos, pizza, any junk food, sometimes eating fast food for every meal of the day. And almost no vegetables or fruit.
Of course I gained weight. I packed on 50 more pounds in a pretty short time. And I got older. I started having some health problems. High cholesterol, high blood pressure, high blood sugar. Then I developed a bulging disk in my back, not a weight problem, but it left me with a very sore back and limited my already limited exercise. And the pounds just packed on.
And the doctors prescribed a lot of medication. At last count, I take about 16 pills a day. So, with all those health issues, plus some emotional issues, that’s a lot of medication going into my 50-year-old, not too great body. What would I be like in 10 years? 20 years? The thought scared me, honestly.
Then my friend Chance told me to watch a documentary called “Forks Over Knives”. The documentary promotes the idea that the best way to be healthy is to eat a whole foods, plant-based diet. Even before watching the documentary, Chance had me half-convinced that this was a great idea, because after seeing the movie, his family’s dietary changes resulted in lowering his cholesterol level by 100 points. 100 points! And that happened in about six weeks.
Forks Over Knives showed people who were even more medicated than I am who were able to discontinue all medications just by eating a healthy, whole foods, plant-based diet. Hmm, 16 pills a day or give up meat? A bellyful of pharmaceuticals or a belly full of delicious vegetables?
So we watched the video and listened to Chance and even read a couple books. Then we took the plunge and here we are, eating a (mostly) whole-food, plant-based diet. We have turned over a new leaf (a lettuce leaf, it turns out, but whatever works!)
It’s not all been smooth-sailing and I can guarantee I’ll have more adventures. But two weeks later, I’ve had some success, lost 5 pounds, feel better in general and just knowing I’m eating better makes me happier. But there are some questions: How long can I do this? Will my life-long love of beef derail my plans? Will my husband get sick of legumes, leafy greens and smoothies? Or will we stick with it, and end up healthy, happy and ready to live a nice long life together?
Stick around and find out. Maybe I can help you get through your own switch to a healthier eating style, or maybe I can just make you laugh -- laughter is the best medicine, right? Either way, check out this blog from time to time for updates on my new lifestyle.
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