Day 6

I am allowed one cup of oatmeal or whole grains a day.  I decided yesterday would be the perfect time to start my day with oatmeal since I went to the dentist the previous day and I am not in a chewing mood. However, I usually top my oatmeal with brown sugar since it tastes much like cardboard when I just add water. Since I am not eating sugar, I improvised in a a most delicious way. I added sliced sweet strawberries and a finely diced medjool date. I kid you not when I say it was better than brown sugar. For lunch I ate the rest of my salad from the night before (chewing on the left side of my mouth). I snacked a bit on fruit and vegetables. Since Saturday night is usually date night for my husband and I, I was happy I had an excuse to stay in. I don't know if I would have the willpower to continue if I was out at one of our favorite restaurants. My dental visit gave me to perfect excuse to recuperate at home and order in. We ordered from a restaurant I found online that I had never heard of before. I did a little googling and came up with a Vegan restaurant, VEstation. I had a bowl of vegetable curry with soy chicken. Tony had the same with the addition of a spicy noodle dish too. I thought it was delicious but Tony was very quiet. I didn't pay much attention to his carefully guarded bowl through dinner.  After dinner when I was doing dishes I noticed that he left most of his food in his bowl. There was an especially large mound of soy chicken. Poor guy. He's being very thoughtful helping his wife get healthy.

Day 5

Food on hand and preparation of ingredients are key elements for success. I drove in a circle earlier this week trying to decide where to buy my groceries. I buy different things at various markets and I truly couldn't make up my mind where I should start. I'm glad I settled on Costco. In the past I have opted for Gelson's for a few quality produce items. I buy a small amount and pay a lot more but I feel confident that my food won't sit in the back of the refrigerator rotting. I finally made my decision to head to Costco and stock up. I'm glad I did. You can't beat the quality of their fruits and vegetables and the cost is always right. I love their vine ripened tomatoes and sweet white onions. I refrigerate the onions and find that it makes them even sweeter for salads. I also love their bags of sweet multi colored peppers. Usually I hesitate when buying their large bags of romaine lettuce. I wonder if we can really go through so many heads before they go bad. This week's shopping trip I decided to just go full board. I even bought a large bag of spinach. I am happy I did. It has made this week of salad making convenient and easy. And, there will not be one bit of waste.

Day 4



Today is the start of my 4th day of the "Eat to Live" health plan. I am extremely surprised and proud of myself for sticking with this eating plan for as long as I have. Anyone who has been following me for the last few years knows that my attention span for a new way of eating usually lasts about a couple of hours. Dr. Fuhrman says that I should give it 6 weeks for the health benefits to really kick in. Since today is the start of the weekend, it will be a real test of my commitment. Also, I have a dentist appointment today. I am the worst patient in the world. I have dental anxiety. In the past, when I finish a dreaded task, I reward myself with food and drink. It's like a little celebration. Hopefully, I will break that pattern tonight. Now for the description of my delicious salad from last night as promised. I cut up a big bowl of romaine lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, onions, avocado, and pretty colored peppers. Meanwhile I pan roasted mushrooms in their own juices, (no oil or cooking spray), and I roasted garbanzo beans in the oven. I added those to the salad later because both are high in purines and not welcome food for my husband who has gout. The star of the salad was the dressing. I blended rice vinegar, balsamic vinegar, 1 garlic clove, 1 Medjool date, sea salt, pepper, onion powder and oregano, and a teaspoon of almond butter. I added a bit of water for consistency and drizzled all into the salad. It was absolutely delicious.

Day 3

Hmmmm. I am exhausted tonight. I thought I was supposed to have increased energy. Oh well. I have done a lot today. I would actually probably be asleep by now if I had eaten a bowl of pasta for dinner. I am pleased to report that I just completed one more day of super healthy eating!  I started my morning with a big bowl of delicious fruit. It actually kept me satisfied until about 11:30 when I ate the rest of my salad from the night before. Then, I went to work and seriously didn't think about food once until dinner time. While I was cooking, I ate a huge bowl of crunchy, sweet, sugar snap peas and was very happy. Dinner was a big salad that was so delicious, it deserves it's own post tomorrow. I didn't even miss my usual salad dressing. Good night for now.

Day 2

So, I made it through another day! Hurrah! It really hasn’t been as terrible as I thought it would be. I was anticipating getting a giant headache from “bad food” withdrawal, but I guess I normally really don’t eat that poorly.  I am eating so many good carbohydrates, that the bad ones that I am used to eating, (sour dough, croissant, English muffins)   are not missed as much by my body.  Even my mind isn’t missing them that much yet.  I have to admit, so far my husband has been a real help. He has never been on a diet a day in his life, yet he has graciously supported me the last couple of days. Last night we had salad for dinner again with a non-oil dressing. I guess you could say we had steamed broccoli for desert. Not one word of complaint by him was uttered. I don’t feel much different yet health wise, but I am happy that I am actually giving this a real try. I have to admit, so far more than anything I have missed my olive oil. My salads have been good and different than what I am used to, but I would enjoy them much more with my usual dressing.  However, I am going to hold on to Dr. Fuhrman’s teachings and not deviate. Today I need to buy some flax seed to sprinkle on my salads.  Although I will be spending   extra calories on something that I have no desire to even eat, I am doing it for the potential health benefit. I need to remember I am eating this way to get healthy, and the smaller dress size is an added bonus.

Day 1!

I did it! I completed my first day as a Nutritarian. I could have probably made my meals a bit more interesting, but I was called back to work right when I was leaving the house to go to the Farmer's Market. I ended up making dinner with what I had on hand and I even passed up a late night invite to meet my daughter for a glass of wine. I made a kale and cabbage salad with a strange non oil dressing, and my husband ended up loving it.Our hot entree was corn on the cobb. I actually was quite full, however I understand why Dr. Fuhrman named his book Eat to Live, and not Live to Eat. Well, at least I got through Day 1!

I am a Nutritarian.

Good Morning.

After several months, I decided to log in today to reacquaint myself with my blog, my diet, and my past. The first thing I noticed is that I somehow lost a few postings from earlier this year. I am not sure why they disappeared or where they went, but oh well. I am not going to worry about lost entries when I really didn't show enough interest to keep up on my writing in the first place. Today is a new day and I am on a new eating journey. I am almost finished reading Dr. Fuhrman's book, Eat to Live. He basically believes in high nutrient based eating for health reasons, and if a person follows a diet like that they will naturally lose weight. It makes a lot of sense. So, I have decided to give it a try. I did a little bit of shopping yesterday at Whole Foods and bought a few products like Kale, apples, and almond butter. I was so weak from hunger that I cut the shopping short and went home and rested and decided to continue my shopping today. Unfortunately, my dryer broke and I have an appliance repair man coming today so I can not go out until he leaves. That gives me one more day of an excuse of not going full board into this plan. However, I did start my morning off with a crisp green apple and a bit of almond butter. At 2:00 pm Dr. Fuhrman will be on the Dr. Oz show. I already have the DVR ready to record.