Another Soapbox Day...Oh, Quit Whining and Just Read It!

Tater soup makin's

Yesterday I had a 9:00 a.m. appointment for a blood draw to check my blood lipids. I was told not to eat or drink anything for 15 hours. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, what with my being asleep for about half that time and full  for several hours due to two bowlfuls of the wonderful potato soup LG made for dinner. But, I left the lab with a shopping list in hand and didn't actually eat anything until after 12:30 p.m.. It's a good thing that LG said she'd meet me at The Tofu Hut in Lacey for lunch, or I might have been found at the closest doughnut shop jamming fritters and maple bars down my throat as fast as they'd go.

As it was, we had a very filling and healthy lunch of veggies, rice noodles and tofu...whew! I have to tell you that I've read lots of statements from newly-minted vegans saying how they quickly developed an aversion - even a revulsion - to things-not-vegan. Their brains so embraced the new and healthy way of eating that they joyfully renounced their previous meat infested omnivorism. I'm happy for them. They are much, much healthier for that decision. I could say the same thing about me, but my assertion would fall easily under the heading of bulls@#t. I truly do enjoy the food we've been eating and I DO intend to keep on with much or most of the tenets of this 4 week Engine 2 Diet. But...62 years of dietary heathenism and hedonism have left a deeply etched love for meat, fat, sugar and a pornographic delight of all things "greezy." If I allow myself to get too hungry - and 18 1/2 hours between meals put me there - I would gleefully scarf down the first schmoozieburger with fries and shake that crossed my path. Yes, I seek the wisdom and self-control of the Greek Orthodox monks who eat only two purely vegan meals a day and are nearly free of the illnesses and ills of our modern society...but I am weak.

Soup in the pot

On the other hand, I'm feeling really great and I have to say the roll of "reserve energy" located between my chest and hips is definitely smaller. I'm also looking forward to seeing what - if anything - has happened to my blood serum. But - as I confessed early on in this adventure - my motives are primarily silly, veneer-thin, ego-driven and associated with how fat I feel and look. OK, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I really do pine for those days of running and 5% body fat...I felt so strong, healthy and happy. No, I know 5% ain't going to happen ever again, but neither is 25%!

Soup-as-a-meal is certainly one transition that's taken hold for me. I'm surprised and delighted to find that a tasty and hearty vegan soup can stave off hunger for hours. And, when the pangs do return, I can eat just about any Engine 2 Diet authorized food with only moderate impact on my weight loss.

Eating a vegan diet isn't a cure-all. There are lots of "vegan" foods that aren't inherently "good" - highly processed sugar and flour, vegetable oils, corn syrup are all vegan by definition, but they generally aren't very healthy. The other day a person told me she knew a woman who was an avowed vegan and who was patently unhealthy - obese, diabetic, lethargic and hypertensive. Rather than assuming the unhealthy person had lied about her veganism, I assume she simply has chosen the wrong balance of vegan foods she crams in her [vegan] pie hole. The beauty of the Engine 2 Diet form of veganism is the caveat that the dieter make extreme efforts to keep those unhealthy foods off one's plate. (No, you it isn't OK to just eat them directly from the container either.)

Pretty and pretty good

 We're making some pretty decent food choices nowadays and we're getting some amazingly great feedback from our bodies and brains. My dad is battling the onset of Alzheimer's and has high cholesterol and blood pressure. The potential of some hereditary inclination to follow suit has become one of my primary motivations to stay healthy as long as possible. Just in case, I have a long-term care program for myself. It involves a map of Mt. Rainier, a pair of snowshoes and a bottle of Maker's Mark...oh, don't go all "Ohhhh...jeez, Mac" on me.

Second half awaiting consumption

 It's been about 3 hours since breakfast and I'm just starting to feel an inclination to eat again. Fortunately, I have a ready mid-morning meal - the second half of the giant bowl of cooked cereal, bran, flax meal and fruit (banana and blueberries.) LG makes a really generous pot of breakfast and gives me about 2/3 of it, knowing I'll save some and perhaps not head to closest bakery when I get to town.

I've been rambling, hoping the doc would call with my lab results. I guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow to hear the news. Enjoy your day and eat something good for.