vegetarianesque

[johno]

Houseoddysey and I are working on starting a loosely vegetarian diet. We'd love to have others join in. We are still working out details, so feel free to advise about restrictions, etc.

[lavandulagirl]

Like I said on the idig thread, Johno, we're pretty much already eating that way. I think you're going to see a marked difference in the way you feel. I'll be happy the contribute veggie recipes, if you have a yen for something.

[johno]

I'm fresh out of yen. Will US dollars be okay?

[lavandulagirl]

You can pay me in Canadian Loonies if you want! (Do they even mint those anymore, Blue?)

As you know, Johno, I am quite free with my advice and opinions. I suppose I can let you have the recipes for nothing... after all, you haven't tasted them yet!

[houseodessey]

LG, please post recipes since you're feeding your family this way already. I am limited so I'd really appreciate it.

Johno, I like the paleolithic diet's principles as they make sense to me. If you have to cook it, don't eat it, as man couldn't do so before they had fire and fire is a relatively recent thing for us. I think that we've evolved past that which is why I think we can't be truly healthy vegans (like gorillas and chimps, although they both have occasional flesh), either. I've settled on mostly raw veg, plus occasional cooked meat and grains to give us the stuff we can't get on raw veg.

I planted a bunch of southern greens and cowpeas today so I'm going to have to make an exception for cooking them in pork product without actually ingesting the pork. That is, unless someone knows how to make them delicious in other ways.

[lavandulagirl]

One tip I can definitely put out there is to have a good supply of diverse fruits and vegetables available to you all the time, especially if not everyone in the house is completely on board with the idea. You can get torpedoed really easily if there are no quick snacks of this kind, but there are chips, or the fixings for gooey grilled cheese sandwiches, or whatever.

[bluelacedredhead]

No Grilled Cheese's?? How would I live?? I just finished posting on a (non-gardening) forum from southern MO about all the things you can add to a grilled cheese to make it better, ;D

And as much as I like veggie's, it wouldn't work at my house. Someone hates rice. Will only eat it about once a month if forced to..Won't eat squash or sweet potatoes..And good grief, you can't put mushrooms on the same plate as eggs: they don't go together, don'tcha know..
He gets fussier the older he gets too...At what age do you think a Second Childhood really starts to kick in??

And Yes Lav, we still have Loonies as well as Twoonies and at some point in the future there will be a Five Dollar Coin.
Less expense for the mint in the long run cuz they don't spend so much reprinting paper money. And oh yeah, it keeps wallet manufacturers and clothing manufacturer's working as well...All those coins are murder on pockets and change purses.

[johno]

Okay, houseoddysey, and anyone else who wants to join in, let's start on Sunday. Sunday will be the free day, but at least we will have all day Sunday to think about it and get psyched up and prepared. This means we should agree on some rules of thumb by then.

Here are my suggestions:
*Every other day, fish or eggs are allowed as a protein source at one meal.
*Dairy products allowed as necessary?
*Non-animal fats are good fats (e.g. avacado, nuts, olive oil, flax seed oil, and so on)
*Carbohydrate sources should be raw fruits and vegetables instead of grains more often than not - rice being the exception

That's all I can think of this early in the day. What do you think?

[houseodessey]

Sounds good to me, Johno. I think we need a way to chart our progress, too but we'll have to state our motives. Mine is weightloss. I'm assuming yours is related to your BP problems and perhaps cholesterol but could easily be mistaken. I am not too shy to post my weight/stats online but some people may not want to do so. Some people also may not want to air their health concerns publically, either.

Perhaps we should just PM that type of info and use this forum for support and ideas? Let me know on that and I'm ready to begin. I made a really good oven fried catfish last night just to start practicing a new healthy eating style. Let me know if you'd like the recipe.

[johno]

I'm not shy... I'm 5' 10" and 230 lbs. I have a history of heart disease on both sides of the family. Since the spinal cord problem, I am much less active, hence the heaviest I have ever been. I'm now taking blood pressure medicine or I almost blackout. Yeah, weight loss is my goal... I'd like to aim for 200 lbs. for starters. At my so called "ideal weight'" I look like a skeleton, so I'd like to eventually get back down to my college weight of 185 lbs. The extra baggage isn't too good for my herniated discs, either...

I think once per week on the scale is about right, don't you? Daily fluctuations can drive you nuts. Meanwhile, we can discuss diet change practicalities, successes and failures, any changes we think we should make to the plan, etc. throughout the week. How about Sunday as progress report day? Maybe that will keep us from going too crazy with the free day...

Inquiring minds want to know... or, we can be private... whichever is fine by me.

[houseodessey]

Cool. I'm 5'6 and 160 lbs currently. Before I quit cigs, I was 128 and a bit waifish at that weight. Honestly, if I could get to 140, I'd be right as rain.

Sidenote: Have you tried the dandelion/hawthorn pills. They have really turned my BP around. I am astounded at how much better I feel. If you need meds, I totally understand, but if you haven't checked the herbs out, please do, in addition to your regular meds, of course.

I'm excited to start our challenge!!!

Edit: I think we should weigh AND measure every 2 weeks, starting this Sunday. Since I've been working in the garden, I haven't lost an ounce, but I've lost over an inch on my waist and thighs just from the exercise. I think both are very important to our health, so let's do chest, waist, hips, thighs and calves as well as weight. (I'm sure guys call these areas different manly things but I'm sure you get the gist.)

[cannaisseur]

Just my two cents...
Mostly you should check the inches like Houseodessey mentioned. Weight loss is a odd thing. When you start eating right, and start exercising, you tend to burn fat, and gain muscle. as I am sure you know, muscle weights more than fat. So you might start to look trimmer, without a big reduction in weight.
I remember a couple of pointers: 1) Don't mess with simple carbs- sugar, bleached flour, most store brought breads, etc. Stick with complex carbs, and eat most of these during the morning time, to afternoon. As you move more later in the day, consume less carbs and fats, and stick mainly with protein. 2) Don't listen to people who tell you to eat once a day if you can do that; cause it won't work. Try to split your meals into six, which will help to burn fat by speeding up your metabolism. If you only eat two or three meals, your body is not only slowed down, but tends to store because of the long time between meals. You also tend to eat more, which compounds it even further. 3) What is the best time to burn fat? In the morning right after you wake up. If you can, at least go for a small brisk walk(work up to a 45 min jog if possible) when you wake up, and make sure you only consume water. No food, or juice or anything with calories. Since your body has not received any food within the last eight hours or so because of sleep, you are in a burning mode. Plainly put, there is no energy in your blood stream, so it must take from stores(fat) to supply the muscles. 4) Drink lots of water. Stay away from coke, even diet types if you can. Water has been shown to aid quite well in weight reduction, as it moves toxins and generally keeps the body hydrated for maximum energetic levels.

[houseodessey]

Those are all great suggestions. Thanks.

Have you started your culinary adventure, Johno?

I had an Amy's veggie burger for lunch on a whole grain roll with just a tiny amount of mayo and paper thin cheddar cheese. My husband asked if it was okay to put in the compost. I said "yes" and he said, "that figures, since they seem to be made out of bark"

[lavandulagirl]

That's funny - we're having veggie burgers for dinner tonight. On bulgur wheat rolls I made today. Topping them with homemade aioli, some kind of cheese, and sliced veggies, like toms, lettuce and onions. Maybe some grilled mushrooms, too. I steam whole green beans til they're warm but still crispy, and we eat them like fries. We'll slice up some cantelope, too.

I'll post the aioli recipe in the recipe thread for whoever wants it.

[johno]

I had a banana for brunch, so far. I had a nutritious drink of coffee. I've been forcing myself to stumble around the garden and get some exercise... Drinking water right now... I plan to eat celery w/ peanut butter shortly...

I haven't taken measurements yet (are we still posting that?), but I was surprised yesterday morning that I was up to 235 lbs. I guess this was a good time to try to start losing weight!