Days Seven & Eight

After one entire week of following the low fat vegan diet, I have lost 3.3 pounds. In addition to that, just from yesterday morning, I am down another half pound this morning. Weight loss is definitely a huge motivator, but as I have mentioned in previous posts, I am interested in feeling and being healthier overall.

One of my big lifelong downfalls in eating has been sugar--the processed and refined kind of sugar. Aside from one 8-ounce serving most days of Silk brand's chocolate flavored soymilk, I have not been eating sugary treats or adding sugar to any of my foods. It is a personal choice, because there are vegan sweeteners out there in which I could indulge. I have to admit that it actually has not been all that difficult to omit sweeteners since following this diet. As any sugar addict has probably read before, if one does not add sugar to her/his diet, the cravings should not be a problem. 

I would like to expand on that concept and say if you are eating foods that help maintain a healthy blood sugar level, you will not crave sugar nearly as much as when you allow it into your diet. When I followed the packaged food diets, high (animal) protein/low carb diets, and other calorie counting diets which allowed artificial sugars (eg. aspartame), I was in agony craving sugar around the clock. I would eat the foods allowed on the diet, and then within minutes, even seconds, start obsessing about sweet treats. My mind would race, my body would become restless, and nothing could stop the obsessive thoughts and desire for sugar. 

At some point in my lifelong quest to find the right way of eating for my body, I read in a few places that animal protein would stave off sugar cravings. It was recommended that a person up their protein intake and the cravings would just quiet down. For some of us, the sugar sensitives, that could not be farther from the truth. A low carb/ high animal protein meal brought out the sugar monster in me. 

Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. has written a few books on the subject of sugar addiction: Potatoes Not Prozac, The Sugar Addict's Total Recovery Program, and Your Last Diet. She has written other books as well, but those are the ones I have read. You really only need to read the first one to get all of the good information and science behind sugar addiction--the other books basically repeat themselves. In short, some people are genetically more sensitive to sugar and it's cousin, alcohol. A sugar sensitive person eating a sugary treat or an alcoholic beverage is much more profoundly affected by the substance than the average person. Alcoholics who quit drinking often turn to sugary foods or simple carbohydrates to get nearly the same high. 

DesMaisons prescribes a diet with high protein and complex carbohydrates to balance out the chemical imbalance between the brain chemicals dopamine, tryptophan, and serotonin inherent in sugar sensitives. She promotes animal products as the best source for protein, but she acknowledges and works with vegetarians as well. It is very interesting, and I recommend reading one of her books or visiting her website if you think you might have a sensitivity (addiction) to sugar or alcohol. I have followed her seven steps with some success, but I have to say, my current diet is working for me better than anything I have ever tried. Ever. 

Fruits are a part of my diet, and I eat them in their whole form to retain the fiber which slows the rate of sugar getting into the blood. When I crave something sweet now, I do not get shaky and obsessive, and a piece of fruit really satisfies the craving. I simply cannot express how improved I feel on so many levels. Sure, after some time between meals I get hungry, but I do not become the maniac I feel I have been while following the other diets I have tried in the past.

The vegan diet is a way of eating, not a fad or painfully restrictive food plan (unless you are addicted to meat and/or dairy, I suppose--suggested reading: Breaking the Food Seduction by Neal Barnard, M.D.). I am consuming a diet consisting solely of plant based foods. I do not count calories, I do not measure portion sizes, I simply eat vegetables, fruits, legumes, and grains. 

Here is what I ate: 

Day Seven:

Breakfast: Oatmeal, applesauce, and coffee with soymilk.
I cooked the oatmeal with unsweetened soymilk instead of water as usual, and added dried apricots, a pinch of nutmeg, and sprinkled it with cinnamon. I also added ~1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce on the side.   

Snack: Smoothie.
I used ~1/2 cup of orange juice (not from concentrate), ~1/2 cup of soymilk, 1/5 block of silken tofu, 1-2 cups kale, ~1/4 cup each frozen mango and mixed berries.

Lunch: The last cabbage roll!!
Details on how I made a pan of ten cabbage rolls are listed under dinner on Day One. 

Dinner: Veggies, beans and rice mix, Mandarin orange.
I peeled and chopped up a small sweet potato, and then microwaved it for a couple of minutes. In a pan, I poured in enough vegetable broth to cover the bottom of the pan (~1/2 inch high), and added ~1/2 cup frozen edamame. I chopped up a carrot, a zucchini, and 1/2 of a red bell pepper while I let the edamame cook. After a few minutes, I added the remaining vegetables (including the potato) and allowed them to cook for another three or four minutes. I believe I also added in some garlic powder at this point. I had between 1/8 and 1/4 cup of red kidney beans in the refrigerator and tossed them in to use them up. Once the veggies seemed cooked through, I added ~1/2 cup of already cooked brown rice to the mixture and tossed it in the pan until warmed through. I tossed in a big handful of micro greens, ate it straight from a bowl, and loved it! (Photos are posted under lunch section for Day Eight). I ate the orange whole--did not add it to the mix. 

Snack: Fuji apple.

Day Eight:

Breakfast: Oatmeal, toast with apple butter, coffee with soymilk.

I prepared the oatmeal as on all other days, but this time I added raisins instead of apricots. The toast is Ezekiel bread with just apple butter, no fats added. 

Lunch: Veggies, beans and rice mix on tortilla, chocolate soymilk.

This was fast food at its finest. I spread plain low-fat hummus on an Ezekiel tortilla and piled on the leftovers from the previous dinner. I considered eating it cold, but then I decided to pop the entire thing in the microwave for 30 seconds just to take the chill off. It was amazing! (Sorry the photos are a little blurry. I was really excited to eat!) 

Snack: Smoothie.
Same ingredients as previous day.

Dinner: Quinoa and veggies.
I cooked the quinoa according to package instructions, substituting vegetable broth for water. In a nonstick pan, I heated some vegetable broth and added chopped carrot, chopped yellow onion, and crimini mushrooms. After three to five minutes on medium-high heat, I added ~ 1 teaspoon Spice Island's poultry seasoning, chopped zucchini, chopped red bell pepper, and whole cherry tomatoes. I was totally winging it, and so to amp up the flavor, I decided to add ~2 tablespoons of Balsamic Vinegar, a couple of diced garlic cloves, and 1/4 cup of corn kernels. (The vinegar, tomatoes, and corn were inspired by Alicia Silverstone's fantastic Summertime Succotash recipe from her book The Kind Diet). I then added a few more tablespoons of vegetable broth and a handful of baby spinach, and placed a lid over the top to wilt the spinach. The final step was mixing in the cooked quinoa.

Now on to Day Nine....