Living Plant Based

One of the most freeing things about going plant based is not feeling guilty about eating potatoes. Lots and lots of potatoes.  I love them. Any color, any shape, any way.  I probably should explain the guilt thing though. You’ve probably guessed that I was an Atkins person at one point after my first statement.  Oh, the forbidden potato on Atkins. Or any carb reduced diet.  The poor potato was, and still is, made to be the enemy of so many diets.  I get the concern over white potatoes and how we prepare them.  I’m not here to tell you that you now have free reign to eat as many fries and milk based mashed potatoes as you want.  Sorry, frying food and adding dairy isn’t good for you even when the base food is.  I can tell you that I’ve never eaten as many potatoes in my life as I have in recent months and the scale sure thinks it’s a good thing. My go to way to eat potatoes these days is to oven roast them.  I try to buy a variety of d...

So, I'm going to keep it real in this post.  I'm not perfect. Never have been, never will be and no desire to be.  That goes for my eating too.  I figure today's adventure was a good reminder of why I chose to eat like I do. So here's the story: I have had a rough few days at work.  This means that eating is sketchy at best.  Yes, I should make time to eat. But I don't.  One day, I'll figure out how to find that balance. One day.  Today's form of crazy meant I'd had absolutely no calories outside coffee with soy creamer until noon.  I'd been running around all morning between classrooms. I don't think I sat once so I was actively burning calories I hadn't fueled on.  Of course, we all make great food choices when you're starving.  So, when my boss offered to pick up food from the taqueria around the corner I said yes.  And I didn't make a sensible choice.  Chicken nachos it was. I'm not sure anything was plant based or even...

One of the many reasons that I failed to make the transition to plant based before was because of salads.  Not because I don't like them, I love them, but because I'd be super hungry about 30 minutes after eating.  And of course, I didn't make good choices then.  I read some where that a "regular salad" is a calorie negative food.  Basically, you burn more calories making and eating the salad than it gives you.  Makes sense why my early versions of salads lead to so many failures. Here's what I figured out.... make the salad a calorie positive meal.  It needs bulk. Plain lettuce and veggies don't cut it.  The simplest solution for me - open a can of beans, rinse well, and dump them on.  Not a gourmet solution but it sure works quickly and in a pinch.  The difference of adding bulk to my salad has been huge.  Now, I'm experimenting with what that bulk should be.  I found that cooked and cooled potatoes work for me especially since ...

When I decided to go plant based, I did a lot of research. I read a lot of literature.  I tried to find blogs.  There weren't many and as the weeks have gone by in my current transition, I wanted to change that in my small way.  This won't be a pretty blog. It'll be real.  It'll be sarcastic.  I'll mess up.  Often.  But I wanted to share my journey in hopes that someone who is where I was a few weeks ago and many times before that will gain perspective and strength.  And then again, maybe I just like to hear myself talk. So, let's start with the basics: Why? I was diagnosed with melanoma almost 5 years ago, shortly after my 40th birthday.  Much research later, there's too much science out there to say this is best for me as someone whose body cannot fight cancer cells effectively. What? I try to eat completely plant based, whole food.  I'd like to be oil free but I'm not there yet.  It's super limited so I hope to eliminate i...