Monday, August 11, 2014

A Week Goes By

I have made little if any progress. I did stick with the Vegan Menu meals for dinner, but each recipe makes enough for at least four people and I had a tendency to overindulge. I do not like the portion-control method, which is one advantage of no-oil, whole-foods plant-based meals, but nobody can eat as much as they like and expect to lose any weight. That is, if the meal has the full range of ingredients needed for your body. If I just ate broccoli I could eat as much as I could hold and I would indeed lose weight.

I saw a dramatic representation of this concept when we had a rabbit many years ago. I don't recall how we acquired this rabbit. Some kind of adoption, rescue, something like that. When we first got it I fed it lots of carrots and other vegetables. But it lost weight. To the point where I was worried and brought it to the vet. Poor thing needed grains, needed that hay or whatever it is, grasses. Once it was getting "rabbit food" it was fine. Similarly with humans. We would lose weight if we just ate carrots. But that would not be good for our bodies. I need to be more cautious about my intake of the necessary starchy foods. On the other hand, of course, the starchy foods make us feel full. So they are an advantage in weight loss, if we don't ignore our stomach signals. I think I have ignored mine for so long that my stomach has no clue whether I am hungry or not.

Back to the plan from here on. I am clearly starting off shakily. I did enjoy five delicious meals and I recommend the Vegan Menu to those who can benefit from a meal plan. The plan does not include breakfast or lunch, only offers five dinners per week, but in a way that makes it easier. I can commit to making five meals a week from a meal plan, but might not do so well if I were to follow a meal plan with 21 meals in it. Here is what my meals looked like:








All of the meals were good, but the Creamy Italian Kale Soup (last photo) was phenomenal. SO delicious. I ate way too much of that right off the bat. A good choice for converting an omnivore to veganism, though.

This week I decided to make half-recipes. Perhaps this will help me fight that tendency to eat it all in one or two sittings. Of course I am using a different week's worth of recipes, too. More exploration. 

In the exercise department, I have made a tiny tiny bit of progress. You may remember that I have been dealing with a persistent wound, an infected dog bite. It has thrown me off my usual routine. But I am now determined, wound or not, too get back into it. I am getting a referral to a wound care specialist so that wound should get to healing soon, for good.  

Yesterday I joined a docent walk. It was the Oso Flaco boardwalk, two miles total. Nearly flat. A nice way to ease on in. Today I went back to physical therapy, at last! I feel good about that. I am, here and now, committing to at least a half-hour of exercise daily for at least five days a week. This will help convert a few of those fat calories into energy, I trust.




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