3 Weeks down and looking forward to more.

Well, this is our first entry. We meet Dominique about 2 months ago and knew then that we had to do something. Combined my wife and I need to lose about 280 or so pounds. We thought we knew nutrition and thought we were eating okay. We were wrong.

We weigh ourselves once a week. At the 3-week mark we are both down 9 pounds. I have not been hungry at all and my wife only briefly. What a way to lose weight. We don't have to worry about portion control (okay, we do with the trail mix) but other than that we eat however much we like of the good foods.

We both loved meat, but it has not been that hard to give up. Because I failed to take lunch into work two days I ended up eating a subway sub (Buffalo Chicken). Other than that transgression there has been no other meet in my diet. I also have given up on Diet Coke. I loved diet cokes. I had cravings for diet coke. There were times I would get to work and just have to have a diet coke. Since I have been on this diet, I have not had any cravings and have not had any diet coke at all! I have a hard time believing it is just the diet, but who knows. My water intake is still lower than it should be but much better than it was.

I know in the end, my wife and I will go back to eating meat. It is just a part of who we are. But I think we will balance it out much better than what we have in the past.

Thanksgiving is coming up and we know we will enjoy that time. We plan to eat Turkey and all the trimmings on that day. We will just start by eating healthy foods first then go in for the meat and leave a little room for a small variety of deserts.

Something that you should know is that I am a cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with rectal cancer back in January of '08. After two surgeries, chemo, radiation and all, I am all clear. This was one of the areas Dominique took into account when she came up with our diet.

Since my surgeries, I have been unable to go up to a buffet more than once without getting too full or almost sick. One of the advantages I guess of the surgeries. Anyway, when we had the Vegan buffet at Vespucci a month ago, I went up 3 times and didn't have to worry about it. I also felt full, but not uncomfortable or anything and it was all healthy food! Yum! And what a difference over what I have been able to do recently.

Anyway, back to Dominique. She has taken a lot of time with us to go over our likes. This has helped her and us get recipes for food that we like. After two weeks we both realize that we typically like the food a little more spicy than what Dominique was doing for us. Not a worry as it is always easy to add spices to food rather than take spices away.

I'm sure we will chime back in from time to time. We look forward to the weeks and months ahead as we have a plan and a method for getting us there. We can't help but thank Dominique enough for helping us down this road.

B & H

3 Weeks down and looking forward to more.

Well, this is our first entry. We meet Dominique about 2 months ago and knew then that we had to do something. Combined my wife and I need to lose about 280 or so pounds. We thought we knew nutrition and thought we were eating okay. We were wrong.

We weigh ourselves once a week. At the 3-week mark we are both down 9 pounds. I have not been hungry at all and my wife only briefly. What a way to lose weight. We don't have to worry about portion control (okay, we do with the trail mix) but other than that we eat however much we like of the good foods.

We both loved meat, but it has not been that hard to give up. Because I failed to take lunch into work two days I ended up eating a subway sub (Buffalo Chicken). Other than that transgression there has been no other meet in my diet. I also have given up on Diet Coke. I loved diet cokes. I had cravings for diet coke. There were times I would get to work and just have to have a diet coke. Since I have been on this diet, I have not had any cravings and have not had any diet coke at all! I have a hard time believing it is just the diet, but who knows. My water intake is still lower than it should be but much better than it was.

I know in the end, my wife and I will go back to eating meat. It is just a part of who we are. But I think we will balance it out much better than what we have in the past.

Thanksgiving is coming up and we know we will enjoy that time. We plan to eat Turkey and all the trimmings on that day. We will just start by eating healthy foods first then go in for the meat and leave a little room for a small variety of deserts.

Something that you should know is that I am a cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with rectal cancer back in January of '08. After two surgeries, chemo, radiation and all, I am all clear. This was one of the areas Dominique took into account when she came up with our diet.

Since my surgeries, I have been unable to go up to a buffet more than once without getting too full or almost sick. One of the advantages I guess of the surgeries. Anyway, when we had the Vegan buffet at Vespucci a month ago, I went up 3 times and didn't have to worry about it. I also felt full, but not uncomfortable or anything and it was all healthy food! Yum! And what a difference over what I have been able to do recently.

Anyway, back to Dominique. She has taken a lot of time with us to go over our likes. This has helped her and us get recipes for food that we like. After two weeks we both realize that we typically like the food a little more spicy than what Dominique was doing for us. Not a worry as it is always easy to add spices to food rather than take spices away.

I'm sure we will chime back in from time to time. We look forward to the weeks and months ahead as we have a plan and a method for getting us there. We can't help but thank Dominique enough for helping us down this road.

B & H

October 2009 Newsletter

The Zizania Newsletter for October is on line. Dominique talks about the fatty acids, essential and non-essential, good and bad.

Autumn Vegetables

Healthnews.com has a "list" feature, like David Letterman. This week it's "The Best of the Fall Vegetables".

1. Avocado
2. Beans
3. Broccoli, broccoli rabe, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts
4. Garlic
5. Leafy Greens
6. Jerusalem artichoke
7. Leek
8. Root vegetables: parsnip, celery root, rutabaga, turnip, beet, carrot
9. Salsify
10. Snow pea
11. Sweet potato
12. Winter squash, pumpkin

I have a few quibbles with this list. Mostly, the point of an article like this should be to encourage people to eat locally-grown produce. How can avocados be number 1? In the places where avocados grow, there isn't really anything I would call autumn. I think "salsify" is a verb, not a vegetable. And how on earth, halfway through October, can it take you to the end of the list to think of pumpkins?

Johnny Cash was a vegetarian?!

It looks like the term "plant-based diet" is getting out into the mainstream. The York Daily Record up in Pennsylvania published an article about the apparently-increasing trend towards getting meat out of your diet. Lots of anecdotes, a list of grocery stores in the York Area, a list of famous people who are/were vegetarians, but the most useful part is a list of things to keep in your pantry.

NY Times vs. Meat

The New York Times Magazine had an interesting article today. It's about the ethics of eating, in the context of a Jewish family where meat comes and goes. I don't agree with all of it, but what's the point of reading if you agree with everything the writer says?

Finally, a limit to the American appetite

Turns out, you can easily get your recommended daily allowance of irony on a vegetarian diet.