One of those days...

This was one of those days I had worried about when starting this diet.  A holiday brunch at a neighbor's house promised to hold many minefields to undermine my resolve of staying true to a (mostly) vegan diet.  Much to my amazement, when I got there I was more than happy to take a couple of helpings of fresh fruit salad, a very small 1/4 protion of baked French Toast, a tiny sliver of mushroom quiche and some coffee.  What I didn't indulge in was the mounds of bacon, ham, cheese grits, muffins, fudge, candies and rum cake.  The rich quiche was splendid and the French Toast, with its brown sugar and cinnamon, delightful.

Astoundingly, I didn't desire any more than what I had.  This is the key component of this new way of eating that amazes me; I no longer have a gnawing desire to overeat.  By eliminating animal products and animal proteins from my diet, my inner hunger gauge seems to have been reset at the original factory setting (so to speak).  It was the way I felt when I was a kid -- when you're full, that's it.  I'm no longer craving the great platefuls of food which I used to plow through with ease.

I went to the gym in the afternoon, putting in a fairly taxing 45 minutes on the elliptical machine, came home and helped Maya with dinner.  I'd told her I had a hankering for pasta, so she put together a super low fat tomato garlic sauce with whole wheat farfalle.  Also served was rainbow chard with garlic and white cooking wine and salad.  I had very little pasta, but thoroughly enjoyed the small portion, savoring each morsel.  Lastly, Maya whipped up my friend Dan Goldes' vegan chocolate mousse recipe:

1 cup non-dairy semi-sweet chocolate chips (many good commercial chips are vegan)
12 oz silken tofu
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I use almond milk)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
splash of Grand Marnier (Maya substituted Orange extract)

Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in microwave for 1 min. Stir and heat another minute. Stir again to smooth them out, they should be completel melted at this point.

Place the tofu in a blender. Add the chips, milk, vanilla and Grand Marnier. Process until completely smooth, pausing the blender to scrape down the sides and under the blade if necessary. Taste, add more Grand Marnier. Repeat.

Chill in serving bowl for at least an hour before serving.

(Adapted from The Joy of Vegan Cooking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau; Grand Marnier adaptation by Robert Rice.)

Dan's Mousse.  Thank you Dan!!

Aside from Leon's birthday and my birthday, I haven't had a dessert in 6 weeks.  The above portion went down without any guilt whatsoever.

I lost 3 more pounds this past week, bringing me finally from 304 lbs. into the 260's ..... 269lbs.  Here is a shot Leon snapped of me last week on the phone.  It shows, rater unflatteringly, how much work I have left to get to my goal weight of 185.  This week also marked the end of the "six week plan" from

Me at about 274lbs.  It's a process, right?  Right.  

Eat to Live.  I love being able to say I'm succeeding at something so positive.  On the cover of Fuhrman's book, it says: "Lose 20 lbs. or more in six weeks" in the tacky starburst at the bottom of the front cover.  Just the type of sleazy claim every publisher insists on plastering on the front of diet books.  Well, I'm pleased to report that I fall into the "more" category.  I lost 35 lbs. in six weeks following Fuhrman's precepts.  The Eat to Live way of eating has made a believer out of me.  While I readily admit a vegan-esque diet probably isn't for everyone, it sure as hell works for me.  I can say, unequivocally, that I feel better, healthier and more positive than at any time since my early twenties.

Follow it.  Trust me, you'll be a "more" too.

Now we begin the second 6 weeks.  It'll be exactly like the first 6.  We'll do six more after that.  By that time this way of life should be firmly ingrained in brain and habituated in my body.  Eat to live longer, eat to live fuller, eat to live more wholly.