Sugar...

...the white stuff. The refined bad for you stuff...today I crave it. I want chocolate bars, I want to eat that box of Turtles from Christmas. I want to eat those butter tarts in the crinkly Christmassy cellophane bags tied with red and green ribbons. I wonder if I will always struggle with this or if the cravings fade over time?

I've eaten some dried apricots to help with the sugar cravings meh! It's ok but I would guess it's like a smoker trying to quit by smoking but not inhaling, not sure how well that would work.

Oh well, it is what it is. If I want to reduce my cholesterol level, loose some weight, get some energy, and lower my "on the high side of normal" blood pressure then I gotta stick with this, I truly believe my life depends on it.

Looking forward to tomorrow ... looks like I have some kale to cook up.

What's missing?

I'm liking this new diet but for one thing ... the missing fat! Somehow the butter and the oil smooths out the food, makes my mouth feel somewhat silky! I'm getting some fat from nuts but it's not quite the same. This doesn't mean that I'm quitting ... quite the opposite. I feel good and not counting calories feels really good and eating whenever I'm hungry is a real treat.

Today I ate:

-1 slice of whole grain bread with tomato slices and pea shoots
-2 slices of whole grain bread with mustard, field greens and tomato slices
-1 banana
-2 oranges
-2 handfuls of trail mix
-3 slices of soya cheese and 10 rice and seed crackers
-1 cup of all bran with one cup of chocolate almond milk ... I know chocolate ... it tasted like dessert
-3 cups of root veggies (potatoes, yams and carrots) roasted with garlic, herbs and 1 tbs of olive oil.
-1 large green salad topped with ground flax seeds, tomatoes and yellow pepper

Seems like a lot of food ... well it was and I feel satisfied and I don't feel guilty, aah life is good!

On my way to a healthy new me....

Forget New Year's ... I'm going to change today! Big words I know. How did I get here? That's a two sided question. How did I let myself get so fat, so out of shape, so UNHEALTHY, that's one question and the other ...how did I decide adopting a veganish way of living was the way to go. Please note the word "veganish" ... I will explain in later posts.

A little while back I watched Forks over Knives documentary and it just made sense to me. Basically it talks about a healthy all plant, whole food diet. Lots of tests to back it all up. I urge you to watch the film. So starting today I'm giving up any food that has a mom and dad, be it meat or liquid.

I will try to document best I can the ups and downs of this new dietary journey very honestly. Today was easy ... but then I am excited about this new thing in my life and I just went out and bought a ton of fruits, veggies, nuts, soy milk and soy cheese ... my mind is turning and spinning at the prospect of cooking in a new way.

So far I have eaten:
- two slices of whole grain toasted bread, one slice with peanut butter and the other with sliced tomato and pea shoots.
- 3 cups of black coffee
- 1 banana
- 10 organic whole grain crackers with 3 slices of soy cheddar like cheese
- 2 glasses of red wine
- green salad with about 1/3 cup of trail mix, 1 diced tomato, 1/4 cup of ground flax seeds and 1 tbs of balsamic vinaigrette
- 2 cups of chick peas with about 5 cups of diced red pepper, eggplant, yellow and green zucchini, onion, garlic and diced tomatoes.
-1 apple
- a handful of pitted prunes and dried apricots
- green tea

Looks good doesn't it?

More tomorrow!