Eating Well, Eating Right

Plantstrong and vegan are great eating regimens. My body really responds well to the nutrition I'm putting in and the junk I am not!! But the brain is a whole 'nuther animal. My brain, when given just the slightest taste of sugar or other fat/oil-based food, loses all control. A little taste today, becomes more tomorrow, and a full-blown loss of control by the end of the week. I'm dramatizing a bit, but it FEELS like that. And that is the problem with the emotional and chemical addiction that sits in our brains - it FEELS REAL. It's almost like, if I don't have this sugar now, I WILL expire.

What I have managed to stick to is a vegan regimen. No dairy, no eggs, no fish. What I have trouble sticking with is the no oil plantstrong regimen - no nuts, no chips, nothing fried, no oil, no HFCS products, basically no candy. It's a bit draconian - but then I have been a wanton Roman for most of life, eating as I please and not worrying about tomorrow. Well, tomorrow is here and now I have to tow the line for a while.

I'm having a great supper of giant portobella mushroom caps filled with my own stuffing - I process a few mushrooms, and some veggies - I chose green pepper and leeks. Then stir in some Japanese bread crumbs (because they are vegan) and add just enough veggie broth to moisten a bit to keep the bread crumbs in. Then spoon that mix onto the mushroom caps. Put about a half/spoonful of veggie broth on the baking sheet and rub the cap on the broth. Keeps it from sticking while baking without any oil. I cook in in 350 degree oven for about 20 min. I should have cooked for 30 min tonight because the caps were thick and the green pepper releases a lot of water. Live and learn, but it is tasty! I would season with salt, pepper, and whatever your taste buds like, but I had a very spicy lunch and wanted something with just natural flavors!

I have a friend that has gradually gone vegetarian, mainly because he hangs around me and others who are vegetarians. But he has taken on a challenge to go dairy-free/egg free for a month. I promised that his palette would change for the better. He's already not into fried foods and a lot of oil, so I am hoping he has amazing results. We'll see how it goes!

Meanwhile, the clothes keep getting bigger as I keep getting smaller, slowly, but surely. Rome wasn't built in a day, so it will take time to deconstruct it :)

Onward <3

Happy Heart Healthy New Year!

January - a time of resolutions, diets, fads, commitment, failure. Many people have or will (including me) committed to resolutions to get fit, lose weight, only to lose steam by February and slowly give up. Radical change is hard, very hard. Willpower does not exist. Either you get over the addiction to whatever foods you are addicted to by stop putting them in your mouth or you won't. Either you will commit to your health and accept that you need to break the emotional ties you have built up with your food "friends" or you won't. If you are massively overweight (like me), you can't have your cake and eat it too. It won't work.

You can, however, ease into a plant strong regimen. But at some point, sooner rather than later, you will have to quit cold turkey certain food items.

Suggestions for you:
1. go vegetarian - heavy on the vegetables and whole grains, light on the cheese, dairy, and snacks.
2. If you are a sort-of vegetarian like I was (avoid meat), commit to 100% vegan for a few weeks. See if you don't notice a difference. 2 or 3 weeks in your life will not kill you, will not be a burden compared to the years you have indulged yourself.
3. If you are a vegan-ish eater, but still can't lose weight and are F-A-T (and I don't mean, oh I need to lose 10 pounds), then you probably need to drop the sugar, drop the processed foods (anything in a box - even all veggie), and drop the vegan cheese, vegan-aise, vegan yogurt, vegan ice cream - the fat and the sugar are killing any attempts to permanently drop the weight.

I indulged over the holidays - which for me meant eating a lot of seafood while in Seattle. Oh yum! Eating nuts and those Japanese wasabi snack mixes - because they were there! I even indulged in a chocolate bar - a 60% cocoa with caramel delicious heaven :D

But since I've been back home, I have gotten back onto my plant strong regimen.
Yesterday I had Mills whole wheat angel hair pasta and homemade sauce - Muir Glenn organic tomato sauce (no oil), organic diced tomatoes, shredded carrots, italian seasoning.
Tonight is Pacific Natural Organic Mushroom Broth with leeks, mushrooms, and fresh peas. I had a wonderful lunch at my neighborhood Cafe -- Bimimbap - a Korean dish with rice, spinach, tofu, lettuce, carrots, and other good stuff.

Since I've been home, I've had soy "ice cream" and some natural potato-veggie "chips." I'm easing back into normalcy and will cut out all unhealthy foods by tomorrow.

I do it because I am committed to my health and I like losing weight. Cheating is only killing me. I really don't have a death wish. The emotional satisfaction I get out of certain foods is omnipresent, but I can work on that. The chemical addictions I have reawakened can be tamed.

If you really understand what you are up against, you will be successful. If you just kid yourself, you will not succeed.

next up, physical activity. Have I said that before? hmmmm.

Onward!

Out of My Usual Element

I'm enjoying a much needed holiday vacation to visit my brother, staying at his house, and enjoying the regional fare. Trouble is, it is not a vegan household and I am succumbing to temptations. I had planned to eat seafood because it is a sin not to do so when you are in the great Northwest! I'm fine with that because I am not morally bound to veganism. I am subscribing to a plant strong regimen, which looks very, very similar to veganism.

But the seafood is the least of my worries. Snack foods, cheese, and other foods that are now off my list of edibles are all over the place. I have limited myself to nuts and the crunchy veggie Japanese snack mix.

They have a great juicer (which was a gift from me 2 christmas's ago), but I haven't used it. I would rather eat snacks. Why would I do this? I attribute it to the emotional connection to food.

There are 2 connections to food - chemical, that produces good feelings, addictive reactions - especially to items such as sugar, and emotional, that produces comfort, release of anxiety, is a response to stress, and allows you relive childhood memories, etc.

I'm definitely having an emotional reaction to food because I am out of my usual element and dealing with the stress of travel, living out of a suitcase, and the vagaries of staying with family. I get along very well with the family, love their company, and enjoy being here - so it is not a dysfunctional visit. But living at anyone's home is always a little off-putting. Reminiscing with my brother about growing up floods you with lots of emotional memories that would not occur on a day-to-day basis, and though my family is supportive of my choices - there is that defense mechanism - justifying their own eating habits, bombarding me with the "what CAN you eat" questions, and feeling a bit awkward about it all. Although they did stock the house with veggies and fruits in consideration of my desires! All of these reactions are my inability to manage emotions. So I am taking full responsibility for my less than strict adherence to my usual fare. But as things go, this is not a bender or falling off the wagon - it is but a slight detour and I'll not beat myself up about it. I'll have to do some work when I get back home - get off the sugar (candy canes are a friend during the holidays when so many treats are put in front of you), get off the oil from fish, snacks, nuts, and, get back into a plantstrong approach. I anticipate this is quite doable!

Onward!

Versatile Tapenade

Just experimenting a little and decided to try a little food processing while my Quinoa was cooking. I wanted to add veggies to the Quinoa, but tired of just the regular chopped and thrown in routine.

I put brown button mushrooms, red pepper, and red onion in the processor (I have the mini-Cuisinart, so I just fill it), and chopped fine, though not to the point of sawdust, lol.

I turned that into a bowl and added chopped garlic and chopped fresh tomato. I added some tamari sauce and it was like a tapenade! I could easily have added chopped olives, capers, or a little salsa to the mix to achieve variations on the flavor. Next time, I'll try something different and serve it up on toast or Kavli cracker bread. The consistency is what works well and I love tapenade!

I added the hot Quinoa to the bowl (I cooked a mix of red and white) and stirred it all up. Absolutely delicious.

Onward
<3

12 Weeks Plantstrong!

Dr. Esselstyn warns people who take up the plantstrong regimen that it will take about 12 weeks to get beyond the cravings and get settled into the new world of eating. Well, today I hit the 12 week mark and I am right on target!

Chemical cravings...gone
Emotional cravings...less intense, much less
Taste buds...able to enjoy all the new flavors
Mental outlook...excellent
Physical response...feeling great
Ability to find things to eat...my recipe repertoire is growing rapidly
Weight loss...every day
Ability to float through the workplace holiday buffet and desert table...flawless

I'm positively giddy with the unexpected returns on this program! I'm not saying everyone should do this or that everyone will respond the same way. But if you are obese, fat, overweight, large, hefty, etc., then you have nothing to lose by trying this out and seeing if it isn't amazing for you too.

No club to join or dues to pay or supplements to buy. Just real, whole food that will taste amazing in time. To date, my only expense is the $10 I spent on Dr. Esselstyn's book on my Kindle for Mac and the $17 paperback copy I bought and gave to a friend who really needed it. That's my way to pay it forward.

Onward!
<3

Flying Fat

I fly a lot. I can walk on a plane and know if the seats will be comfy or if I'll be squashed or if I'll need a seat belt extender or not. I just flew 4 segments on a round trip and did not need an extender once. Plant strong is resulting in weight loss. Ain't that a kick? :D

On my last flight, which was completely full, I had to take a middle seat and had to sit next to a woman younger than me who was larger than me. To say I was wedged in is an understatement. Worse, this woman says to me, "yeah, I'm a big girl, I'll try to lean out in the aisle." She was apologetic. I was stunned. I have never been apologetic. I might not like my size, but I am not going to apologize to someone for being as I am.

You might remember Kevin Smith (actor, director - Clerks) who got kicked off a Southwest flight for being too large. He claims he was in his seat and buckled in but they told him he either had to have 2 seats or none. Mortified, he stomped off and made a big PR thing out of it. The story raised a lot of conversation about who is too big to fly in the constantly shrinking airline seats. It's a game that people on the large end can't win. Kevin Smith is 400 lbs. Is that too big to fly?

So my dilemma is that as I sat next to this woman who lopped over onto my seat I could think only of talking to her about her eating habits. What food are you addicted to? Do you eat motivated by emotion? How many diets have you tried without changing your eating habits on a permanent basis? I never said those things, but I thought about it. I wasn't prepared to have that conversation. By prepared, I mean that the conversation has to be non-judgmental, affirming, hopeful, and supportive. I realize there is a line between support and evangelism. I believe that what I have come upon in this plantstrong approach is a potential answer for a lot of obese people who are addicted to food that no amount of "dieting" will overcome. I know that obese people have emotional relationships with food. Dieting won't overcome that either.

There was an article today about Kevin Smith because he had another airline incident though it was not related to his weight directly. He was late for a flight because he did not want to have people looking at him and judging him as they passed through first class. The comments on the news story are very revealing about how the non-obese view the obese. Indeed, the comments are all about judgment - get a trainer, push away from the table, etc. Essentially, the view is that if you are fat you are lacking in discipline, self-esteem, or other affirming qualities. The lack of affirmation is a byproduct for sure. My seatmate apologizing for her size is exhibit A.

Yes, I am doing something about my size that will be a permanent solution. But the answers were not easy to come by and took me a lot of trial and error to find. It's an answer that does not seem to be broadly embraced. I think about the South Beach diet and the "no carbs eat steak" diet and how wildly popular they are. People take them on, lose weight, go off them, gain weight, and do it all over again. Maybe that works if you have 20 pounds to lose, but not for the obese. The obesity epidemic needs real answers, honest talk, and science. How does this approach get disseminated?

Holiday Party Season - Road to Ruin? Hardly

I had to go to a big gala tonight as part of my job. It's a wonderful event, but the pitfalls for a plant-strong diet are enormous. In other years when I have gone, it has been a night filled with tasty, but unhealthy food, open bar, desert bar, and on and on. I figured I better have a strategy this year...

1. No drinking during the cocktail hour - club soda for me. Alcohol tends to cloud my judgment and weaken my resolve. I figured if I could hold the line on the canapes, I had a fighting chance the rest of the night!

2. Survey the food options and don't be afraid to say no. There was one canape that was all veggie, but the rest, I avoided with great aplomb :)

3. Dinner was tricky. Instead of the traditional plated meal, the dinner elements were served family style and was an odd combination of satay on a stick, pasta, asian slaw, seafood, and rice pilaf with veggies. As the bowls were passed around I scoped out what I could eat and went for it. Luckily, as a bowl emptied, servers brought another, so I had salad, rice and veggies to my delight! Wine at the table was less tempting because I had been on the club soda pre-game strategy. So a glass at dinner did not hamper my resolve to be plant-strong!

4. The desert was served at a buffet, so that was easy to avoid.

All in all - a winning strategy and I felt really good about my choices.

Onward
<3