41 Months A Vegan with a Picture!!! #lifelonglearner #eatmoreweighless #eatlikeahorse

Lasagna, fresh spinach and mushrooms with homemade creamy garlic dressing

       It is now 41 months since I doubled down on my own life and became a whole foods plant based, little to no oil vegan. It worked better than anything else I've ever tried and without really working all that hard I've lost 110 lbs and kept it off. No more yo yo  dieting for me!
     That's a picture of my dinner tonight at the top of the page. No animal products and no oil at all.  The recipe for my lasagna has given me consistent results every time.

I did change one thing this time. Instead of letting the mozzarella substitute get thick and cold, I poured it on while hot and creamy.  It was much easier than trying to spread it over everything. Between that, the fresh spinach and mushrooms with creamy garlic dressing and the watermelon I left the table feeling very full!

     Last Saturday I ran in a 5K race for the American Cancer Society. My time was 32:09 putting me 1st in the "60 and over" category (the only one there over 60 was me).  When I got there the shirts were being given out. This was the conversation:
Phil: "What size are you?"
Me: "Medium."
Phil: "I only have large."
Me: "I'll take the medium."
Phil: "OK. Large it is then!"
Me: "Thank you."

That's me on stage after the race, second from the left, next to my new friend, Phil, smiling and swimming in my new, sweaty, size large t-shirt. We had a blast!
     If you are curious about the health benefits of a whole foods plant based diet watch the movie FORKS OVER KNIVES on Netflix or on your computer. It may be your 1st step in the pursuit of a much healthier, much more active life.

 

   

Show my 13 year old niece a little vegan generosity! #charitypitch #relayforlife

Support The Cause

     As you know each month for the past 3 years I write to journal my progress in the vegan voyage with the intent to inspire you to take control of your health using your fork.

     This time I'm asking for your support. For the past 4 years my remarkable 13 year old great niece has been working hard to raise money for the American Cancer Society. This year, June 3rd,  I'm running the Relay For Life 5K race and making a donation to this worthy cause. You are all invited to join me for the race!  Your tax deductible donation would be greatly appreciated. Any amount is welcome. Let's see if we can work together and harness the power of the internet to make a difference in the lives of people of all ages who are fighting for their health. Thank you in advance.

Please click the link below to help.

http://mobileacs.org/2q9gZB7

40 Months A Vegan !!! The adventure continues... #foodismedicine #Eatlikegorilla

 

Michael Greger, MD How Not To Die.  Joel Kahn, MD The No BS Diet 
and Dr. Kalmus at Vegfest Michigan 2017

  Hard to believe it, but it has already been 40 months since I chose to take control of my health by changing to a Whole Foods Plants Only diet.  My motivation at age 58 was to lose the excess weight I had picked up over the past 20 years. That and not die or develop the diseases associated with obesity.  Losing weight is so much harder than putting it on. At the time, my goal was to be realistic and lose 50 lbs. That seemed like an achievable goal.  I didn't ever see myself getting back to the shape I was in at the end of high school and through undergrad when I had a 32 inch waist. At that time I was eating whatever I wanted but I was very active; playing tennis and bicycling in the summer and playing racket ball during the winter.  As time went on, I got a little less active each year but didn't bother to change my eating habits. I would see my personal physician for regular checkups and he would give me prescriptions for pills to lower my cholesterol and to lower my blood pressure and then tell me to lose weight. I would ask him how and he would say: "You know how. Eat less and exercise more." Well that was just frustrating because apparently I didn't know how, I weighed 284 lbs and I was asking for help. Throwing it back on me; telling me I know how was not helpful.

     I do know how to read though so I started looking for a plan that would help me achieve my goals in the safest, least painful, cost effective (cheapest) and sustainable way possible. I also need to understand what I'm doing, why it makes sense to do it and the science behind it to back it up. With all that in mind, I was able to narrow down my choices. There are a lot of diet plans out there! Everything from self help books, hypnosis, Doctor monitored plans that include pills, hospital or office based nutritionists, weekly Weight Watchers meetings, meals and supplements to buy or have delivered all the way to Bariatric surgery.

     The first option I could cross off my list was bariatric surgery. It certainly isn't the safest, least painful or cost effective choice. It isn't necessarily the the most sustainable choice either considering the number of people who manage to put a significant amount of the weight they have lost back on in the 5 year follow up period.
     I had joined Weight Watchers before and it worked while I was going but I never reached my goal weight and my bad habits returned when I stopped attending the meetings. The other options that also require someone else to provide meals, pills or attend regular appointments were also not for me. Long term, I would be inconsistent and get tired of the expense.
     That leaves self help. I was already motivated, I just needed to chose from the myriad of approaches to weight control. I didn't want to be caught up in a fad diet, calorie counting or in something with tons of rules. I may follow the rules for a period of time but long term, not so much.
     I was given some direction by Joel Kahn, MD. He had me watch the movie Forks Over Knives.
I could relate to the testimonials. The rules seemed simple enough:
"Eat whole foods, just plants and not too much."
I had some learning to do about the meaning of  "whole foods" vs processed foods like white rice and bleached flour. The processing takes out the fiber. That's the healthy part! Oil is also a processed food with no fiber. It takes 40 olives to make one tablespoon of olive oil. Again all the fiber is removed and all that is left is the fat. Fiber makes you feel full and fat makes you... FAT!!
     The only thing I spent money on initially was a vegan cookbook. It gave me the basics of cooking without processed sugar, oil, eggs, milk or white flour. Once I got an idea of how things worked I started gathering some recipes and getting comfortable with the ingredients. When I started cooking, there was no stopping me. Chopping, mixing and cooking are relaxing activities and when you finish you get to eat your work!  I found myself experimenting like I was in chemistry class. The food was delicious! I was eating more than before and losing weight!
Over the following year I also lost my high cholesterol, high blood pressure and sleep apnea. The most expensive thing I had to do was buy new clothes. My BMI was 45 when I started and is now 28! My Doctor, who told me "you know what to do" is amazed now that I really do know what to do! That goal of losing 50 lbs blew past in a rush and I lost 110 lbs.
You can amaze yourself the same way I did. Click on any or all of the links in this blog and start.
Nobody is going to do it for you and it only works when you decide to take control and depend on yourself!!!

     

39 Months A Vegan. Forks Over Knives published my story!!! #eatlikeahorse #veganwriter #helloitsme

Here I am, vegan for 39 months, staying away from oil, losing the weight equivalent to the star of a boy band and writing about the experience. I never know if it makes anyone stop and think.

This month FORKS OVER KNIVES has me featured as a "success story".

Thanks for the positive feedback, FOK!

Better Than Best Gluten Free Vegan Zoodle Spaghetti Ever! #fatfree #oilfree #Glutenfree #lowSodium #eathealthytobehealthy #KosherPareve

Best Zoodle Spaghetti Ever!

Picture of the original recipe 2 years ago with Mushroom Caps and Snap Peas

Zoodles are a really great alternative to wheat noodles! If you have Celiac disease or are one of the gluten free recipe followers then you should be good with Zoodles. Click here for everything you need to know and 10 more recipes!! This is a reworking of a recipe I came up with 2 years ago, but this time I didn't add much salt over what was in the cans for the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste. You can if you want. I also cooked my onions and garlic in water instead of oil and I made up a cheese substitute which eliminated the oil in the packaged kind. Instead I made up my own adding nutritional yeast, Tapioca flour and potato starch to thicken it.


Makes 2 servings.

Delicious Recipe for Spaghetti Sauce

(This is a big pot of Marinara sauce.  I use about 2 cups for this dish and put the rest away for another day.)
Tomato Sauce:
29 oz.Tomato sauce, 12 oz.Tomato paste, 28 oz. Diced tomatoes, 4 cloves garlic, 1 onion, 2 chopped stalks kale, 1 dash Black Pepper,  12 chopped pitted dates, 4 TBS oregano, 2 TBS Rosemary, 4 TBS basil, 4 TBS nutritional yeast. (you may want to add 1 TBS of salt or to taste).

In a large pot bring 2 to 3 cups of water to a boil. Add the chopped onion and garlic with the spices. Let it cook until the onions become clear, then cook uncovered to reduce the water. Add the rest of the above ingredients, bring it back to a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer covered for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

Veggie Zoodle Noodles:
 3 Yellow Zucchini Squash, 1 Green Zucchini, 1 Carrot, 4 Mini Sweet Peppers
Use the Spiralizer  to shred the carrot and the zucchini then slice the peppers into thin strips.

Cheese Substitute
Boil 1 large or 2 small peeled and cut up Yukon gold potatoes in salted water until soft. Save the water, mash the potatoes.
In a separate bowl,  mix 3 TBSP of nutritional yeast, 3 TBSP Tapioca flour, 1/8th tsp turmeric and 1/4 tsp of smoked paprika. (Mixing the dry ingredients keeps the Tapioca flour from clumping.)
Mix in the potatoes, 1/2 TBSP lemon juice, 2 TBSP white vinegar, 1/4 tsp Tabasco and 3/4 cup of starchy water from the potatoes. Put it in a blender on high until it thickens. Add more water if it's too thick.

Mix the veggies with about 2 cups of the Marinara sauce and the cheese substitute. More if you prefer.

Using an 8 x 8 inch glass casserole dish, add the mixture. Cook it for 50 minutes at 375 F.
Let it cool to absorb the liquids then serve.

I found I had a bit more liquid than I liked, so I put in a piece of Rye Bread to absorb the extra and then removed the bread. (I ate that too.)
You Celiac people can use gluten free bread to do the same thing.
I like to refrigerate it over night to let the flavors mature then heat it in the microwave on high for 2 minutes.

You may enjoy:  Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease

Got any suggestions?
Enjoy!

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Was that so hard?

Three years and 1 month a vegan! #sustainableweightloss #eattolose #veganforlife #eathealthy

Seitan, cooked mixed veggies, quinoa and homemade whole wheat bread

It's now officially 37 month since I got away from animal products and joined the whole foods plant based, no oil movement. That 100 lbs I was trying to lose is gone and has stayed gone for almost 2 years. I didn't know I was part of a movement. It just kind of happened around me and I got sucked in.
It was absurdly easy to do once I accepted the fact that meat and dairy products were killing me and I could be ridiculously healthy without them.
     I was 58 years old, more than 100 lbs overweight and, after years of struggling with it, I had resigned myself to the fact that I always was and always would be fat.  I had given up on myself and had embraced the fact that this was me and there was no point in fighting a war that was never going to be won. That sounds so depressing.
     But that wasn't the end of the story. Lets break it down. A war is composed of individual battles. These battles are 90% mental and 10% mental. To come out the victor you have to win more battles than you lose. Each and every piece of food you eat is a small battle. I decided to win them one at a time. So I armed myself. First I had to gather intelligence. Starting with my friend, Joel Kahn, MD who has a rather large internet presence, I started reading. He was also kind enough to let me pick his brain when I needed a little more direct encouragement. I watched the movie Forks Over Knives and that took me from thinking: "There's no way I'm ever going to do this" to the realization that "I HAVE TO DO THIS!!!" As soon as I reached that tipping point, which took me about 3 months of mental preparation, I was committed. I picked up a vegan cookbook to help me learn something about cooking without oil and what to use as substitutes for eggs, butter and processed sugar. I had to "unlearn" what I thought were healthy eating habits and accept that I could get everything I need for great health from plants.
     On to step 2 - preparing for the transition.
     I set January 1, 2014 as my starting point. Prior to that date I collected a list of appropriate groceries and I practiced with a "Meatless Monday" a few times. I started drinking just water or black coffee. I increased my water drinking too. Simple enough. I'm lactose intolerant so I was already avoiding milk and cheese. In order to help myself manage time I made pretty big batches of the things I could use in multiple recipes, like tomato sauce, home made salad dressing, cooked vegetables, vegetable soup, veggie soup stock, chili, veggie burgers  and cheese substitutes. That way I could just grab a few things out of the fridge to throw together during the week. A breakfast of oatmeal made with almond milk mixed with blueberries, raisins, strawberries, dates or dried cherries along with a banana and a cup of black coffee was simple enough to make and filled me up nicely. (I make enough for 3 days at a time and store it in a container until I'm ready to use it.) As I learned more about nutrition I added 2 tablespoons of milled flaxseed for the omega 3 fatty acids and cinnamon to help control blood sugar and cholesterol. If you keep your blood sugar from spiking and troughing you won't feel as hungry.
For lunch I had a lettuce wrap and a pear with a glass of water. I made a bunch of them over the weekend. Cooking ahead of time is a big help. Around 3:30 I needed a snack so I had an apple and a cup of black coffee. For dinner there was veggie noodle spaghetti marinara left over from the weekend along with an oil free salad. Around 9:30 I ate some air popped popcorn.
The next morning I had a rather large smoothie for breakfast with a cup of black coffee. Around 11:00 I ate a banana. At 1:00 I ate a huge "salad sandwich". For dinner at 7:00 there was baked falafel and an oil free salad. Around 9:30 I finished off a fresh fruit salad. You get the idea.
     I collected and modified or just plain made up about 25 recipes that were filling, nutritionally sound and delicious. Some of them I could eat everyday, like oatmeal or smoothies. Some of them were very time consuming and would occupy hours of the weekend. I find cooking to be a relaxing and rewarding escape so I don't mind spending hours doing it. When things come out well I feel like I've accomplished something and I want to share. If they don't come out as planned, I eat it anyway.
     When I mentioned before that I got sucked in to this plant based whole foods life, I was referring to Plant Based Nutrition Support Group.  Dr. Kahn introduced me to Paul Chatlin, the founder of the group. He asked me to share my story. I started to attend the monthly meetings and I wound up volunteering becoming a contributing writer. The meetings are remarkably helpful. I thought I was doing really well before I started to participate with the group, but they took me to a whole new level. Not only do they provide a wide variety of recipes, but they also bring in nationally known, well published experts to lecture monthly and to answer questions. They offer small groups where you can sit down with a few other people who will help you learn to cook, answer your questions and give you encouragement. They helped me get over a weight plateau when during one of the meetings I

realized that I was eating way too many almonds and sunflower seeds. I leaned to read and understand food labels. I got a good handle on my cooking skills and got the encouragement I needed to keep moving forward. I went from a totally sedentary omnivorous couch dweller
to a medal winning whole foods plant based 5K runner in about 2 years. This works!  
     Everybody makes mistakes. I learned to accept mine, learn from them and move ahead with the help of members of the group. Whether you decide to go all in like I did to optimize my health or if you have a focused goal like kicking Type 2 Diabetes,  losing 20 or 120 pounds or focusing on just not dying from food related illnesses like heart disease this is a great place to start. Anyone can do this. Your food bill and your waste line will both get smaller! Make a commitment and start feeling good about yourself!

YES YOU CAN!!!

 
  

It doesn't have to be complicated. Quick mashed potatoes and green beans. #vegan #eatlikeahorse #eattolose #foodismedicine #kosher #pareve #glutonfree

Steamed green beans, sweet red peppers, mashed potatoes with tomato

I tend to make cooking complicated, but I can make it simple as well.  Above is a picture of my messy desk and my lunch. All the essential amino acids are included. I made 2 generous servings the night before along with dinner and brought half with me to the office to warm in the microwave on a paper plate. Simple, fast, filling, tasty and nutritious with no animal fat and no oil.

Quick Mashed Potatoes

Prep and Cook time:  12 minutes

Makes 4 servings

4 Medium Yukon gold potatoes

2 Roma tomatoes

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

Wash the potatoes. Wrap them in moist paper towel. Microwave them on high for 7 minutes. While they cook cut the tomatoes into quarters. Strip out the seeds then roughly chop them up. With the skins on, mash the potatoes. Mix in the tomatoes and spices. Serve hot.

Green Beans 

Prep and Cook time: 20 minutes

Servings: 4

6 generous handfuls of green beans

1 sweet red pepper

1/4 of a yellow hot pepper sliced into rings

2 TBSP white vinegar

1 clove finely chopped garlic

1 tsp salt

Wash all the veggies. Remove the seeds and ribs from the peppers. Chop the peppers roughly. Cover the bottom of a pot with 1/2 inch of water. Add the beans and peppers. Pour on the vinegar. Put all the seasoning and garlic on top.  Steam or boil for 12 to 15 minutes or the desired tenderness is reached. Drain and serve.

(I also added some Thyme and basil, but that's me trying different things.)

I ate 2 servings of each with a salad for dinner. Even I was impressed with how filling it was! Plenty of roughage, protein, resistant carbohydrates and even some Omega 3 fatty acids in each serving. 

You have to eat. Eat well to stay well!