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I recently received the June 3, 2013 issue of People Magazine.  Because I was interested in the articles they were featuring on the cover, I was totally surprised when I flipped through the magazine and saw that the main focus of this issue was about the little topic noted on the top of the cover:  Summer's Hottest Celeb Diets!

Because I'm currently practicing the Forks Over Knives nutritional program, I was really interested to see what crazy diets celebs were on and to see if anyone was doing the same program I was.  The long and short of my findings: their diets are, indeed, crazy and nobody is doing Forks Over Knives--which I found really disappointing.  Not because I needed to be justified by a celebrity, but because I don't really consider the Forks Over Knives food program a diet so if a celebrity was doing it I'd consider them to be making a smart, healthy, long-term choice that could positively influence others.  But alas, my hopes were dashed.  

Let's see:  we've got Nicole Richie and Selma Hayek doing multi-day juice cleanses, Kerry Washington taking Thermo Bubbles (a fat-busting supplement), J Lo eating two days of fruits and carbs then two days of proteins and veggies then all four food types plus healthy fats for the rest of the week, Jennifer Love Hewitt eating all her meals within an 8-hour window, Chaz Bono and Ashley Greene having meals delivered, and Patti Stanger (Millionaire Match-Maker) sprinkling Sensa on everything.  Ahhhh...what we Americans will do for a beautiful body.

But, I'm no different from them or the millions upon millions of others who want an attractive body and are willing to adjust the way they eat to get it. I haven't ever done extreme diets, but I have been known to stock my freezer with Lean Cuisine and Weight Watcher meals, count my daily intake of calories and fat grams, and limit my portions even if that kept me moderately hungry most of the time. To each their own. This blog entry is not meant to judge others about their diet choices (OK, maybe the celebs a little bit) or advocate for the "one diet everyone should be on." But, it would be crazy for me to go on an extreme nutritional program, blog about it, and NOT share my perspective on all of the diet craziness.

Throughout the course of my Forks Over Knives experiment, I’ve had one consistent frustration.  Believe it or not, it has nothing to do with the bizarre foods I’ve tried, the plethora of hours I’ve logged at off-the-beaten-path grocery stores or the pining for forbidden foods.  Nope.  My frustration lies with one word:  diet.

For me, when I hear the word “diet” the first thing I think of is someone’s desire to lose weight.  They go on a “diet” to trim down.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with this…with either the word or how my mind associates it.  But, if I’m
truly honest with myself, almost as frequently as I associate the word with weight loss, I also associate it with vanity.  This is because I assume there is one primary reason most have for losing weight:  to look better.  I know this is not always the case, but it is much of the time and it has been for me in the past.  Maybe I’ve come to this assumption because media outlets tout weight loss to be the goal of diets rather than a wonderful side-effect of taking better care of ourselves. 

The truth is, the purest sense of the term “diet” doesn’t have anything to do with weight loss.  The first two definition entries for "diet" in Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary are: a) food and drink regularly provided or consumed and, b) habitual
nourishment
.  But our society’s fixation on being thin combined with the barrage of perpetual exposure to all-things weight loss (books, cookbooks, magazines, multi-media advertisements, weight loss programs, weight loss pills, etc.) make it nearly impossible to NOT associate "diet" with the more appropriate term:  dieting.  Which leads me to my frustration…

I did not begin the Forks Over Knives experiment with the goal of losing weight.  Would it be a nice benefit?  You bet.  But that was not where my interest lied. I wanted to know what it was like to eat differently.  I wanted to see how hard or easy it would be.  Having given so much attention in my life to my outward appearance, I wanted to know how much an extremely pure diet would affect my inward health.  The Forks Over Knives concept appeared so extreme and yet so beneficial that six weeks of my life seemed appropriate to sacrifice in order to satisfy my curiosity.  To me, my intent with this experiment was depth-driven--the exact opposite of shallow vanity--which I was proud of.  So when anyone innocently approached me saying something like, “So, I hear you’re on a diet,” I cringed inside and pathetically attempted to succinctly articulate what
I was doing. 

You probably saw me struggle with this throughout my blogs. I never knew what exactly to call this Forks Over Knives thing.  I varied my writing to include such terms as: “experiment,” “trial,” ”whole foods plant based way of eating,” "regimen,” “diet,” or (my least favorite) “nutritional program.”  I particularly struggled with the terminology I used around the kids (John’s and mine).  As far as values go, I really don’t want to emphasize the importance of looks to the children.  They’re going to get enough of that perspective on the world without my intervention.  So when I began the Forks Over Knives program, I gave special care to the way I explained to them what I was doing and why I was doing it and I tried to
use the term “nutritional program” as much as possible—without grimacing.

The results were interesting.  On one hand, I had my sweet little six year old son.  Because he doesn’t know any better, he just uses the term ‘nutritional program’ with the casualness of any other word.  We’d be on a walk and he would randomly ask, “So mom, how’s your nutritional program going?”  There was also the evening I was trying to decide where to go for dinner.  He wanted Chuy’s (his favorite restaurant) but I told him I wanted to eat somewhere healthier to which he animatedly whined, “WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THIS NUTRITIONAL PROGRAM?!?!  NOW WE’LL NEVER EAT ANYWHERE GOOD!!!”

Then there’s John’s 10 year old daughter, Sarah.  She is a beautiful, smart and amazingly wise child. She listened quietly and intently to my explanation about my Forks Over Knives experiment, how it would change what I could eat and what I hoped to learn at the end of this all.  At the time I really didn’t know if she understood or if she cared at all about it because she didn’t say anything or ask any questions.  But several weeks into things, I was casually discussing some random
aspect of it with John and the kids and she stopped to correct me when I accidently used the term "diet."  “You mean nutritional program,” she said.

This short and sweet correction was significant.  For many, this would be a side comment gone undetected.  But for me, this was semantic validation.  Not because Sarah said the right word, but because my sensitivity to the words I used actually made a difference in the way an impressionable young lady received my message about “dieting.”  Many would tease me for the time I spend taking things seriously and fretting over random details like wording.  And that’s perfectly
OK.  It counters my serious nature by making me laugh.  But in this case, I fervently stand by my sensitivity.

What we say matters.  How we say it matters.  When we diet—and most all of us will at some point--it’s important to do it in a way that promotes the message of healthy living.  This small example with Sarah proves this point.  She understood the
difference and knows my choice has to do with my health not my image.  As a society, I believe we need to start asking ourselves how dieting is being perceived by our future generations.  Do the young ones see it as us trying to fit into summer swimsuits or to look good for the opposite sex?  Or do they see it as us improving how we take care of ourselves?  And is our language about dieting supportive of the positive messages, or counter to it?  What are we
emphasizing?  It’s my firm belief that if we didn’t change a single thing about how we diet in this country except for the message as to WHY we’re dieting, we’d finally make some lasting progress with our country’s relationship to food and our physical health.

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With some disappointment, I had to take a blogging break.  I know what you all were thinking....that I'd gone off the wagon and was too ashamed to admit it, right?  Nope.  This extreme vegan is still alive, kickin' and eating her kale chips.  Not only am I still doing this, I am almost at the end of week #4 of my experiment.  Have I cheated?  Absolutely!  I may be disciplined, but I am NOT superhuman.  Pulled brisket tacos?  Check.  Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich?  Check.  Grilled ham and cheese, corn chowder, Gorgonzola spread on baguette, and chocolate pudding? Uh huh.  And all within 24 hours (give a girl a break---I was having a rough day).  But, I hopped right back on the morning after.

I paused from blogging because of the time it consumes.  Balancing this crazy diet is time-sucking enough, but doing a daily blog was bound to get me at some point.  I didn't want it to, but it got to the point where I couldn't decide whether I was tired because of the diet or because I was up late blogging.  If this experiment was to go the distance, I needed to modify.  So I did.  The break has proven to be a good choice for me and definitely helped me stay committed.  Thanks to all of you that have contacted me wondering where the blogging went.  Now, let's catch-up.
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Starting with weight, my lowest point so far happened last week at 114.5.  That is 4.5 lbs lighter than when I started!  Not too shabby.  I don't weigh myself often, but when I do I find I'm currently hovering around 115 lbs.  I'm cool with that.  And I'm now fitting into some cute clothes I haven't been able to wear for years.  Happy happy!  My next official weighing (at 4 weeks) will be Friday so we'll see where I stand. 

I've also had some funny diet-related incidents; like feverishly interrupting a girlfriend at lunch to tell her I had to go to the bathroom...IMMEDIATELY!  Or explaining to a dinner party of ladies that I'm currently an extreme vegan while I shoved a fist-full of geona salami in my mouth.  Then there was my dear friend Kate who, while visiting last weekend, asked if she was on Candid Camera when she refused to believe I was "going vegan."  We hadn't chatted recently and she doesn't use Facebook much so the poor thing had no idea.

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The diet has gotten much easier, too, thanks to one little word...PESTO.  Remember that Fine Cooking Magazine that I spoke of earlier?  Well, I finally got around to modifying their recipe for the dish that made the cover and it was fantastic!  Not only did I love it, John did too.  I only had to make two changes, 1) roast the tomatoes and asparagus in a tray of vegetable broth rather than olive oil, and 2) replace the olive oil in the pesto with extra-firm tofu.  I had no idea what I was doing with that, but thought it might work.  Presto pesto!  Delicious and enough for five more servings.  I found making pesto to be so easy (never done it before) that on the same afternoon, I decided to brave a pesto recipe from the Forks Over Knives cookbook...an extremely risky endeavor given my previous results from this cookbook.

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Their recipe called for one avocado, a bag of arugula, a bag of spinach, bunch of basil, bunch of parsley, 5 garlic cloves, miso, vegetable broth and hemp seeds.  I left out the miso and hemp seeds and, since I had earlier success with it, added tofu till it seemed to be the right consistency.  It took me forever to cram all of those leafy greens into my Cuisinart but I can finally say I've got a winner recipe from that damn cookbook.  As you can imagine, it was extremely fresh and flavorful.  The recipe made so much that I pulled-out a mini-muffin pan, filled each cup with the pesto, froze it and can now pull one serving size from my freezer any time for a quick lunch or dinner.  Throw some olives, sun dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers and a sprinkle of toasted nuts on top and you've got a happy, no-longer-starving vegan on your hands. 

The most common question I've received from people who learn I'm doing this crazy nutritional program is, "How do you feel?"  Here, in no particular order, are my experiences, thoughts and feelings:

1)  I haven't slept this good since I took beautiful, drool-filled naps in college.  A guy in the Forks Over Knives documentary mentioned his sleep improving, but I dismissed it thinking my sleep was fine.  Well, if my sleep used to be fine, now it's extraordinary!

2)  Dining at restaurants is going OK.  It kinda sucks to be on a dinner date with your son at his favorite restaurant, Chuy's, watching him dine on beef tacos and re-fried beans while I nibble away at my so-called vegetarian enchilada (it was really just steamed veggies rolled-up in a blue corn tortilla).  Ugh.  But, there has yet to be a restaurant that hasn't at least been vegetarian-accommodating and a few places have surprised me with their fabulous vegan choices (thanks Meridian Cafe).

3)  I've never been on an anti-depressant, but I feel like I'm on one now.  My mood/disposition/outlook on each day is noticeably better.  I have no idea what to attribute it to, but I'm not complaining.  I do remember a women in the Forks Over Knives documentary (who had breast cancer and was on the diet) stating that even though her prognosis was unknown and she should probably be depressed, she felt great.  I remember watching and thinking she was just one of those "attitude is everything" kind-of people, but now I think differently.  My mind feels lighter and my friends are noticing.  Last week at a dinner, a friend told me I looked "radiant."  The comment caught me off-guard because I don't think I've ever been told that before.  But once I considered what she said and how I was feeling, I found myself attributing her comment to my recent healthy choices and their side-effects.  

4)  I don't miss food the way I thought I would.  Yes, I pine for my vices, but not as often as you'd think.  I try to satisfy cravings as quick as possible with something either sweet (like freeze-dried fruit, which is AWESOME) or savory (like soy sauce flavored brown rice crackers dipped in sweet salsa).  It's also a life-saver to have my "cheat days" or "cheat moments."  Indulging when I want or absolutely need to (for my survival, of course) has truly made this diet something I'm considering a permanent switch to (yes, I said it). 

The cheat days/moments make this nutritional program manageable, too.  It will be a cold day in hell before I stick to something long-term that makes attending a dinner party or dining with my honey an extremely selective, uncomfortable, hungry event.  That is not a part of my life I'm willing to sacrifice.  But carefully selecting my "cheats" has been a little fun.  It keeps me focused during diet-strong days and gives me something completely indulgent to look forward to.  I haven't enjoyed dining nearly as much as I have since beginning this nutritional program.

5)  Some limitations are just too hard.  The Forks Over Knives nutritional program requires you to eliminate oil, any type of refined sugar and only use salt "to taste."  While I appreciate these and understand the reasoning behind their banishment, it's too hard for me.  Especially the salt and sugar.  Let me offer a few examples as to why.  Yesterday I needed garbanzo beans.  Trader Joe's offered two kinds, organic and regular.  Both contained the same three ingredients--garbanzo beans, water and salt.  Or consider freshly-made salsa from the grocery; oil isn't normally in it, but either sugar or salt typically is.  If I have to hydrate my own garbanzo beans or make my own fresh salsa to be true to this diet, I'd prefer to graciously fail.  Not because I feel the diet is so extreme in this regard, but because the makers of our food give us so little chance to be as healthy as we'd like.  In part, I blame this on them.

But it's also important to enjoy my food, and the addition of salt and sugar significantly contribute to this.  So, since my initial lab results showed my to be a perfectly healthy 38-year-old, I've decided to screen products for their quantity of sugar and salt, but not eliminate them from my basket because of them.  

6)  Washing dishes is a completely different experience.  When you're not eating or cooking with oil, there's hardly a time where dishes need little more than a light rinse.  Who knew?

7)  Being supported helps.  Luckily, the world I live in is a very supportive one.  While no one else is participating with me, there is no one repetitively teasing me or giving me a hard time.  Inquiries into how it's going have been frequent (even from Brody and John's kids) and so many have reached-out with supportive information.  I've been given recipes and ingredient tips, been directed to support groups, received cookbook reviews, and even been versed on the best blender for my smoothies.  John even bought me a juicer for Mother's Day.  This is all so encouraging.

Discovering information online has also been a big help.  Who knew there's a whole world of celebs that are trying this?  Bill Clinton (thanks Duke), James Cameron, Carrie Ann Inaba...even Ozzie Osbourn (too funny...he'll try ANYTHING) are trying this.  Countless others have watched the Forks Over Knives documentary and are chiming-in with their support.  I think the reason for the overwhelming interest in this documentary and it's research is summarized best by a text I got from my sister.  She watched the movie and typed, "Very interesting.  It's nice to know we have some control."  And, in this crazy world that seems to be forever bombarded with scary medical findings that make me feel like I'm doomed to eventually get something, I couldn't agree more.
 
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Smoothies in the morning are the best part of my dining day.  I've always enjoyed them as an option for breakfast but now they're down-right essential.  Starting out each day with the right food cocktail is exponentially more important now that I'm on this diet.  The beauty of making a smoothie is that you can play around with all the different things that "should" go into it (to make it nutritionally significant), blend it with enough sweetness and voila!  Something sweet that goes down really pleasantly.

Before I started the Forks Over Knives diet, my smoothie ingredients included frozen fruit, a banana, yogurt and whatever fruit juice I had on hand (my favorite was orange juice).  But look at me now!!  Today, my smoothie contained the following:  coconut water, avocado, wheat germ, flax seed, chia seeds, frozen edamame, spinach, almond milk, strawberries, agave nectar, some new melon Brody picked-out, toasted almonds and ice.  And it was...drum-roll please...really good!  You wouldn't think it would be, though, based on the foreign-sounding list of ingredients.  Agave nectar?  Chia seeds?  Frozen edamame?  Time to start googling...

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Agave nectar:  Never heard of it.  I did buy a bottle of it, though, during my first grocery run because I knew I'd need the sugar (since my jumbo-sized bottle of honey is retired).  At Trader Joe's they only had one kind but when I went to Whole Foods, they had an entire section dedicated to agave nectar choices.  Apparently there's a whole world of agave nectar-loving people out there.  Maybe there on this diet too?  Nah...doubtful.  So what's an agave?  I've heard of agape...

This picture is of a blue agave plant.  They grow in Mexico and this is where the agave nectar comes from.  In Spanish, this plant is called an agave tequilana.  Hummmm....more googling....yep, as I suspected.  This is ALSO the plant that produces tequila.  How's does that happen?  The same plant that produces a nutritional product that's approved by the most natural of the naturalists, also produces one of the most toxic drinks that, most likely, strips you of your nutrients...either during the burn going down or during the burn coming back up.  Crazy. 

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Chia seeds:  I originally bought these about a year ago.  I was strolling through the store and saw this great display.  The accolades this little seed gets sold me and I threw a few tablespoons into my smoothie the next day.  After that, I moved them to the abyss that is the back of my top shelf.  I used way too many of them and they have this gel-like quality (once wet) that makes them stick to each other and all over your glass.  Not pleasant.  

I pulled them out for the Forks Over Knives diet because 1) they were a nutritional item I actually already had in my pantry and didn't have to buy, 2) I thought they may be OK in smaller quantities, and 3) all my food was sucking anyway, so why should I care if I add another disappointing food to the mix?

Since I am so nutrition-sensitive now, I use chia seeds every day.  We've worked it out.  And that's a good thing because they're crazy-good for you.  According to a February ABC.com article appropriately titled, "Why is Everyone Eating Chia Seeds?" one expert explained, "It's a high source of fiber.  Chia will keep you fuller longer and prevent you from overeating. You have that feeling of fullness in your stomach because when you wet chia seeds, they form a gelatinous substance that takes longer to digest."  Two tablespoons of chia seeds contains (among other things) 4 grams of protein and 11 grams of fiber. That is 1/3 your recommended daily amount!!  Cha-cha-cha-chia!!

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Edamame:  Never been a big fan.  I've tried them boiled and salted in the shell before but when it comes right-down to it...they're a bean.  And if you've been reading my blog regularly, you know I don't like them much.  But when your body is sending you clear signals of what it needs, you can only overlook that for so long. On my last trip to the store, I stopped to read the nutrients on the back of a frozen bag of shelled edamame.  Five grams of fiber (20% recommended daily intake) and a whopping 13 grams of protein per 1/2 cup!!!  For comparison sake, one egg only has 7 grams of protein.  I threw it in my cart and figured I'd find something to do with it.  Today was my first test.  I put a generous handful into the blender just to see if they would screw-up the good smoothie I had in the works.  Just like spinach, you can't even taste it.  Wahoo!  Score one for Tracy.  And, for the first time on this nutritional program, I'm happy to say that my smoothie kept me full all the way to lunch.  No snacking necessary.  How does that saying go?  "It's progress, not perfection." 

 
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This rather gross picture represents the foods that we humans get the vitamin B 12 from.  I stole the picture off WebMD which also said the following about the essential vitamin: "Vitamin B12 is found in animal products such as meat, shellfish, milk, cheese, and eggs. Strict vegetarians (vegans) who do not eat animal products...are at increased risk  for developing anemia and should take a supplement containing vitamin B12." Great.  Yet another essential nutrient I'm probably not getting enough of.

Unlike protein and tryptophan though, I knew this one could happen.  Both my doctor and the Forks Over Knives How To Companion Book suggested a supplement be taken while on this nutritional program because the vitamin B 12 is essential for energy production.  I just haven't wanted to take it.  When I have in the past, it's made me feel jumpy; like I've had few a really strong cups of coffee.  But I'm gonna have to change my tune.  For the last several nights, I have gotten at least 8 to 9 hours of sleep only to be totally spent the following day.  And we're talking really good, deep sleep.  The kind indicated by big blanket creases across your face.  But good sleep hasn't been enough to keep me alert through the day.  Crazy isn't it?  That getting a good night sleep might not be enough.  I've never associated the feeling of being "rested' with anything other than sleep. This makes me wonder a bit about the other aspects of my life that are directly affected by diet, yet I associate them to something else.

Problem:  Tired                                                                        Problem:  Depressed
My natural thought:  Not enough sleep                                  My natural thought:  Just been "one of those days"
Food-related possibility:  Need more vitamin B 12                Food-related possibility:  Serotonin low

Problem:  Restless sleeping                                                  
My natural thought:  Stressed & busy mind                           
Food-related possibility:  Need more tryptophan 

If you consider a typical American's solution to these "problems" though, food is not even part of the conversation.  When was the last time someone told you they went to the doctor about feeling depressed and they were told to increase their protein (serotonin is produced with the help of protein)?  Instead, if we're tired we have caffeine.  If we're depressed we take an anti-depressant.  If our sleep is restless, we pop an Ambien.  I'm not saying that these are bad solutions.  I am the first to admit I've done this.  But it would have been nice to know (before the meds) what I could have done naturally.  Not that I would have done it...but it would have been nice to know.  And I'm glad I know now.
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I found my fromagerie (left)! Le Cordon Bleu diploma in hand (right).
Speaking of depression...it's a tragedy to admit that due to this insane experiment of mine I no longer enjoy my favorite past-time:  eating.  I love food so much that, on a recent trip to France, my agenda included taking a cooking class at Le Cordon Bleu and finding the best fromagerie (cheese shop) in Paris.  I even spent half a day looking for Rue Cler because I heard it had the best street market in the city (it fell a little short of expectations). 

I have now been reduced to staring at photos of what once was and looking forward to "cheating" by way of a turkey sandwich.  What the hell was I thinking?  These days I dread feeling hungry because I know that means I have to eat to make that feeling to away.  Nowadays, I eat to live and for no other reason.  This has been a strange adjustment.  Where once I used to look forward to every meal and get excited about the things I could cook and how yummy they'd be, I now just throw random stuff in a bowl (stuff I know has the nutrients I need), pour some type of vinegar or runny sauce over the top and force it down.  The downside, of course, is that there is no pleasure.  But there is an upside too (thank God).  It's kind-of like exercise.  You hate to do it but you always feel great afterwards.  Once I've eaten, I'm really proud that I've remained on the diet, I hardly ever feel tired --which used to be common for me, and I enjoy knowing I've eaten the right things that are going to optimize how my body works and how I feel.  And I do feel good.  Not great yet, but (aside from my amateur nutrient challenges) solidly good.

Most people that have been on the Forks Over Knives nutritional program for a while report "never feeling better."  That's encouraging because something has to keep me from falling off the wagon.  "Never feeling better" is something to live for, I guess.  But when you hear really enthusiastic people swearing they'll never go back to their old ways, it helps.  For a week now I have been trying to contact members of the Esselstyn Nutritional Program support group.  To translate this, Dr. Esselstyn was one of the three doctors featured in the Forks Over Knives documentary so this is an actual SUPPORT GROUP for the diet.  This is nuts!  Anyway, I finally heard back from a lady yesterday who wrote the following: "Tracy, I cried first wk.  but after 15 mo. would never change.  Feel great, half the pills and BP good!!!"  It's life-changing personal stories like this that remind me how important this diet can be, how respectful I want to be of it and how much I want to give it a fair shot.  Even if it is just for six weeks.

 
I've got 20 minutes for writing tonight.  Why?  Because it's been one of those days.  The kind where you breath in at about 7 a.m. and then take your first breath out at about 8:30 pm.  If I don't go to bed pretty soon tomorrow is gonna be another "one of those days."  What's really tough about this Forks Over Knives diet is that when I typically have a rough going day, I make dinner really easy...and usually that means not healthy.  But by that point in the evening, my focus is just on ending the day as quickly as possible.  This boils down to, 1) feeding us and, 2) getting us in bed.  On these nights, changing into pj's and brushing teeth are optional because they delay goal #2.  Tonight, Brody got a frozen pizza that looked incredibly amazing and smelled like Napels and I got some brown crap over rice. 
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Today I went back to Trader Joe's.  I spent $94 and my goal was to get fresh produce, some convenient meals, and ingrediants to try another recipe.  This Punjab Eggplant stuff was one of the things I bought.  It's an Indian dish I have never heard of before and, I hate to say it, I think it breaks the rules.  It has sunflower oil and salt in it.  But today I wasn't so strict while in the store so it's home and waiting to be taste-tested with the rest of my new stuff.  Salt is something I struggle with on the diet.  Partly because I am a total salt-lover and eliminating it has been difficult and also because using "salt to taste" (as instructed per the Forks Over Knives How To Companion) is a little vague for my Type A brain.  If I'm going to use "salt to taste" in almost everything savory on the diet, why is it not OK in a pre-made food like this one? 

I also bought something called Farro.  Ever heard of it?  It's this little grain in my hand that looks like a deyhdrated Sugar Smack.  I thought the grain looked pretty promising for being added to salads and stuff and it packs a whopping 10 grams of protein per serving so in the cart it went.  The guy at check-out said you could use it the way you use rice.  I'll keep you posted.

But what I'm really excited about is the pasta dish I am going to try this week.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am beginning to believe that the better foods and recipes for this diet are derived from modifying an already awesome recipe rather than using one from the Forks Over Knives Cookbooks.  While in Home Depot on Monday, I purchased the most recent volumn of my favorite cooking magazine, Fine Cooking.  Actually, I purchased a special edition of the magazine that highlights the best foods for the upcoming season.  These quarterly editions they title "Cook Fresh."  On a side note, I cannot recommend this magazine enough and, trust me, I have done my homework on cooking magazines.  Did I adequately mention how much of a foodie I consider myself to be?

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The "looks like a vegetarian meal" on the front prompted me to grab it from the stand.  Once I glanced through a lot of the recipes, it seemed there were several I could easily modify to meet the Forks Over Knives diet restrictions and still have excellent flavors.  So I am going to put my recipe theory to the test later this week by attempting to make this recipe on the front.  It's Linguine with Roasted Asparagus and Almond Pesto.  Sounds pretty good, eh?  Well, let's not jump to any conclusions yet.  This here diet has a history of completely debunking my preconceived ideas about what recipes might be good.  Exhibit A:  Southwestern Mac and "Cheese."  Exhibit B:  Curried Rice Salad.  But third time's a charm, right?

I'm going to follow the recipe but modify the way I roast the tomatoes and asparagus and also modify what ingredients are used in the pesto.  I'm actually going to attempt a hybrid pesto using ingredients listed from the Cook Fresh recipe and the pesto recipe in the Forks Over Knives Cookbook.  At this point, I am cautiously optimistic.  More to come.....


 
I've had wonderful support thus far on my diet.  People are writing in with supportive words, food suggestions and humorous jabs at my rather ridiculous experiment.  It's also encouraging to see that 75-100 people are reading my blog each day.  I'm flattered and surprised.  Thanks for your interest.  I'll do my best to keep it lively.

There has also been a developing theme to the feedback: a misunderstanding of what this diet is and it's various limitations.  For example, my sister texted me last week to suggest a delicious snack for me:  "Dark chocolate covered cranberries and raw almonds!  Yum!"  But I can't have that stuff due to the sugar in the dried cranberries (they frequently have added sugar) and in the chocolate.  I also had a good friend call who was playfully concerned:  "You goin' vegan on me now?"  I paused before responding to consider her question, then disagreed with her that it was a vegan diet.  Then after a few minutes of discussion, I changed my mind and agreed that it was, in fact, vegan.  But I was wrong.  This is not a vegan diet.

So I dedicate this blog to clearing-up the confusion about the Forks Over Knives nutritional program.
The term most often used to describe the Forks Over Knives way of eating is "plant based whole foods."  The first time I heard that (in the documentary) I actually thought they meant "Whole Foods"...like I needed to shop there cause all their stuff was approved for their program.  My, I've come a long way.  What they could say in place of "whole foods" is "minimally processed."  The developers of this program believe that food from plants and minimally processed foods give us all we need to live a healthy life.  So, what does minimally processed mean?  I think this is best defined by giving some examples.
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1.  WHEAT:  the more your process it, the greater its nutrients are stripped and replaced with other processed ingredients.  This is why the diet limits you only to items that contain whole wheat flour.  But, you have to be careful.  If your like me, you may have picked-up a box of pasta that says it's made with whole wheat...which is better for you than enriched white flour...but, there are other ingredients added to that whole wheat pasta which make it considerably processed despite its whole wheat claim.  Check this out for yourself the next time you are getting spaghetti.  The label will say "Made With Whole Wheat" but the ingredients will list much more than just whole wheat.  This is why it took me three grocery stores before I could find pasta that had only one ingredient:  100% durum whole wheat.  Thank goodness its texture and taste was really good.

2. OILS:  Overall, the diet does not support using oils at all.  As stated directly from the Forks Over Knives How-To Companion book, "...most oils do come from plants, but they have been stripped of most of the nutritional properties they once had.  And although some nutritionists recommend olive oil, why cook with the most concentrated form of fat on the planet when you can choose from many other liquids?"  Thus, when oil is absolutely necessary---and this does NOT include for frying, salad dressings or in any products you may buy that contain oil---somewhere in my reading I saw using safflower oil, grapeseed oil or walnut oil are the best options.
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Honey bees. Animal or insect?
3.  SUGARS:  Again, the regular white kind is really, really, processed.  Stripped of anything good for you.  Due to this, the diet wants you to avoid this and replace it, when necessary and sparingly, with substitutes like agave nectar and pure maple syrup.  What I have found interesting is that none of their approved recipes allow for the use of honey.  With all the arguments that support the use of local raw honey (like it can help with allergy symptoms) and the fact it's a one-ingredient product, I was shocked with its absense amongst the recipes.  I mentioned this to the employees at the LIFEbar in Rainbow Blossom who gave me their thoughts on it.  They said that there are some who consider honey bees animals and, therefore, honey is off-limits because it's an animal product.  Personally, regardless of whether this is allowed or not, I find this argument way too extreme for my taste.  Hell...this whole diet is, but I draw the line at honey.  For cryin' out loud. 

These are just a few of the heavy-hitters to be aware of.  Others include salt, preservatives and additives.  Basically, they want you to eat things that are as true to their natural state as possible.  So picture yourself going through a grocery store trying to avoid items with sugar, virtually any kind-of oil, only specific kinds of wheat, no salt, etc.  THEN,  you have to be aware of "ingredient splitting."  According to the authors of the Forks Over Knives How To Companion book, "ingredient splitting" is a common practice used by food manufacturers to "make it seem as if certain foods are included in lesser quantities than they really are."  For example, I may not see "sugar" in the list of ingredients, but it may say cane sugar, corn syrup, beet sugar, or fructose.  All these are processed sugars that the diet discourages.  Another example is dairy.  I can't have that either.  Perhaps "milk" won't be on the label, but it the following words all are considered dairy ingredients:  casein, whey, albumen, caseinate, sodium caseinate, rennet, or rennin.
All of the other foods that are considered off-limits on this diet are similar to vegan restrictions:  don't eat anything that has a face or a mother.  This means I am not eating any type of meat, fish, seafood, dairy or egg product.  If you've been perplexed as to why I am having trouble at the grocery and why cooking at home is so frustrating, I think you've probably got a better understanding now.  I have to watch-out for all this stuff in my food!!!

The big difference between this diet and a vegan one is the allowance for non-animal, processed foods (such as sugar, oil, wheat, salt, etc.) within a vegan diet.  What I'd give to drizzle some olive oil over veggies, sprinkle them with salt and roast them in the oven.  A vegan could totally do this, but not me.
 
The scale was my first visit today.  Let me re-cap:  I weighed 119.5 at the beginning of this, I weighed 117.5 after the first week, and I weighed 120.5 after my gluttonous day on Friday.  What is my starting point going to be for the week?  Turns out I'm starting at 117.0.  How about that?  Proof that indulging a bit didn't set me back---at least weight-wise.  There's always a chance my insides are singing a different song but I can't see those, so right now I just don't care.
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Yesterday began my focused attention on adding more protein to my diet without using the powdered stuff.  I settled on trying two new things:  seitan and black beans.  The seitan was kind-of an accident.  While strolling through Whole Foods--trying to resist the urge to by another container of their guacamole--I glanced through their "fake meat" section.  You know the one.  It's that refridgerated end-cap with boca "this" and tofu "that" which most people whisk past in feverish pursuit of the glorious cheese section.  Well, since cheese is only a pipe dream for me, I decided to stop and look a bit.  Like usual, I picked-up a lot of different things, read the ingredients which revealed some Satan-like substance like olive oil, and put most things back.  This package, however, I put in my basket.  It's called seitan (pronounced see-tan).  It looked like the latest attempt at "ground beef" and one serving contains 30% of my recommended daily value of protein. 

Once home, I pulled out my frying pan, crumpled the seitan--it does indeed look and act like ground beef--and fried it up.  (Side note:  frying is a bit of a loose concept on this diet since oil is a no-no.  A Teflon pan is a MUST and the diet Gods suggest you "fry" by sprinkling water over what's in the pan until your stuff is cooked).  On a whole wheat tortilla I spread the last of my Friday guacamole and added yellow pepper strips, pea sprouts and my Italian-flavored seitan.  It was damn good.  Crunchy and chewy with lots of flavor.  Making a satisfying meal on this diet is a little like throwing darts in the dark:  you point yourself in the right direction and hope you hit somewhere close to the target.  I'd gotten close enough this time.  A meal like this gives me hope that the Forks Over Knives diet can be sustained in a satisfying way.  I'm not necessarily concerned about this for me, but there are many who need this diet to sustain or improve serious health conditions and my hope is that they don't have to eliminate something as wonderful as the pleasure of food in order to succeed.  This little wrap scores one for the food lovers of this crazy diet.  It filled my gut, satisfied my need for good-tasting food and is Forks Over Knives diet-approved (I think).  This seitan stuff--which apparently is quite common in other parts of the world-- is made of water, wheat gluten, soy sauce, whole wheat flour, garlic and spices.  Of course, the soy sauce could be an argued ingredient, but I choose to ignore that fact.

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On to the black beans...  I can handle them in small quantities, like as part of a soup or in a burrito with other stuff, but their dry and pasty qualities don't really excite me.  One serving is 8g of protein.  The typical woman needs 46 grams of protein every day so a serving of black beans would cover about 15% of that. 

While strolling through grocery-store #2 yesterday, Rainbow Blossom, John suggested black bean burgers.  He's been wanting to make his recipe of them for me for a while so we decided to give it a try.  Once we started talking about his recipe, though, we discovered that the binding ingredient he uses (mayonnaise) is illegal.  He found a vegan black bean burger recipe online and we decided to try that but it required wheat flour (didn't have) and canola oil (also illegal).  Finding myself completely frustrated, again, by the limitations of this diet, I said screw-it to the recipes and decided to do it my own way.  It worked.  Lots of spices, finely chopped veggies, lime juice and hummus (to bind it together) worked to give me my second, tasty, protein-filled meal of the day.  Wahoo!  I added some runny salsa and raw sweet corn on top to give the burger more moisture and some sweetness.  I could eat this a lot so I'm putting it in my arsenol.

Side Effect Update:

If you've regularly been reading my blog, you are aware of my complaints about side effects as I wean myself from my regular diet (which I assume is similar to the diet of the every-day, normal, American) to the Forks Over Knives way of eating.  Depression, anxiety, restless nights of sleep, moodiness, feeling "like I'm in a fog," have been par for the course thus far.  But since my sinful Friday, I have felt perfectly normal.  And note that my sinning was, in fact, only on Friday.  Saturday morning, I was up doing smoothies and weird snack foods once again.  I've been sleeping great, my mood has been consistently pleasant, and the crappy anxiety has settled down.  I have to wonder how much of these symptoms were side effects of sleep deprivation (which could cause all the symptoms) but even if that were the case, I feel comfortable attributing the diet to the trouble sleeping.  So eventually, it's all coming back to the diet.  I'm so relieved and really appreciate "Benny" calling-out this cleansing process and telling me it would only take about a week.  He was right and I can now say I'm back to normal and feeling good.

What is NOT normal, nor in any way feeling particularly good, is my gas.  Yes, I've said it.  I have to.  Something this pronounced cannot be ignored.  The beans, the copious amounts of fruits and veggies combined with strange foods I've never heard of before are all getting to know one another in my lower intestine.  They party all day and all night and then escape when you least expect it, leaving a nasty trail of stink.  The problem is that I can't escape myself.  I can warn others or go to another room so this embarrassing issue is kept quiet, but (despite my trying) I cannot run away quick enough to spare myself.  It is AWFUL and like nothing I've ever smelled before.

The stench of my bum and my breath are two things I'd love to find an answer to.  If anyone has suggestions, there are a lot of people who would welcome your help ;)
 
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Last night could not have been any better!  Ahhhhh.  I feel like myself again...no small feat these days.  Should I just go straight to the food?  Four types of artisinal ham, oysters on the half shell and vodka tonics with homemade tonic water all at Garage Bar.  We then walked a block down to Decca and kept on going...steak tartare, pork cheek, foie gras with cherry compote (Sensational!  It was the actual liver, not processed at all), chocolate cake and coffee ice cream.  It was a really special night of dining.  We ran into friends, imbibed on wines and liquors and beer, and rounded-out the night by taking in some live music.  Damn it felt good.  Then we finished the night off by killing that pack of turky hot dogs I've been eyeing in my fridge. 

Maybe it is the diet or maybe the food last night was really that good (John said it was) but every single bite was savored...sometimes with my eyes closed.  Not only was the evening great, but once I started cheating yesterday (beginning with that Chicken Tikka Naan Sandwich) my day just kept getting better and better.  About an hour after I had downed that cheesy, spicy, magical sandwich, I was tired so I laid down and took a nap.  I woke-up 90 minutes later with drool on my pillow and a sore throat (a sure sign I was snoring).  I slept better during that nap than I had ever since starting the Forks Over Knives way of eating.  It was incredible how different my sleep quality was.  It set me up great for last night's fun.

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Me & my sis, Christine
But before I went out last night, I had to make peace with two recent
conversations I'd had about my diet.  One was on the phone with my sister, Christine, on Thursday.  Chrissy, who has always been mindful of what she eats and sticks to a very healthy diet, suggested I increase my protein.  She said adding a hard-boiled egg to her morning meal made a huge difference in how full she felt until lunch.  Could a lack protein be why I felt so sluggish and always hungry?  Then yesterday afternoon, I spoke with my dear friend Cara about my crazy-awesome nap and she made a casual comment about tryptophan.  You know the drug...the one that puts us all to sleep after Thanksgiving?  But her comment got me thinking...  Is it possible that I am not getting enough tryptophan in my
diet which could be causing my restless sleep?  

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Cara & Me
I googled tryptophan and guess what I learned?  Turns out tryptophan is not  something our bodies produce.  It's something we have to get through our diet.  And tryptophan is found in...anyone want to take a guess?  Protein!  But here's the fascinating part: for all the light jokes we make about tryptophan "kicking in" after we eat our turkey dinner, it's actually an extremely important chemical in our system.  Once we've consumed tryptophan, our body uses it to make serotonin and melatonin (among other things).  Well how about that?!?!  I've been complaining all week about being depressed and sleeping like crap and now I have a biochemical explanation! 

To better explain seratonin, I took this excerpt directly from WebMD: "Of the approximately 40 million brain cells, most are influenced either directly or indirectly by serotonin. This includes brain cells related to mood, sexual desire and function, appetite, sleep, memory and learning,temperature regulation, and some social behavior."  Some of us might also be familiar with serotonin because of it's interaction with the plethera of anti-depressants on the market.  Who knew?  And, of course, melatonin is directly linked to good sleep.  You can buy it over the counter to contribute to
a good nights sleep.  How crazy is this?
I'm sure that I have probably heard many news stories that have covered the information that I just relayed to you, but because this topic directly affects me right now, it is finally sinking into my brain.  With this diet being as limited as it is, my sources for protein are greatly reduced and the foods I can eat that contain a lot of protein I don't like too much:  leafy greens and beans, so I have pretty much been avoiding them.  Ugh.  I could always do the protein powder, but --according to doctors supportive of the Forks Over Knives nutritional program-- I shouldn't need to supplement my diet if I'm eating
right.  I'm going to have to give this some thought.  In the meantime, I'd like to thank my lady friends for showing interest and looking out for me.  Love, t.
 
9 a.m.
When I'm hungry, it's not the actual hunger sensation that gets to me the most.  No one likes a growling belly, but I can deal with that.  It's the anxiety I get from being hungry that really kills me.  This manifests in the form of jumpiness, light depression, restless nights of sleep, inability to concentrate for very long...just an overall sense of "un-calm".  I HATE IT.  It is my biggest issue with this diet.  So on this "Steaks Over Sprouts" day of pleasure, I absolutely refuse to go the entire day (and probably a few hours into my date tonight) before beginning to feel anxiety-relief from eating whatever I want. 

After finishing an early-morning errand, I make a bee line to Whole Foods.  I grab a few diet-friendly items (including their guacamole---absolutely sinful!!!) and the item I actully came in for.  U ready?  Their Chicken Tikka Naan Sandwich.  It's just too good to describe so I won't, but know that if it's gonna be my first cheat item of the day it's probably pretty good.  And it's got all the heavy-hitters in it:  milk, chicken, cheese, canola oil, cream cheese, sour cream, buttermilk, eggs and sugar...just to name the major players.  No wonder I love it so much!!  I am so EXCITED!!!
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So I'm sitting here, chomping on some guac and blogging...waiting for my sandwich to finish warming in the pan...when I smell something.  Perhaps it's because I haven't really cooked anything in a week that it took me about five more minutes of chomping and blogging before I figured out what that smell was.  My sandwich!!!!!!!!  I run to the kitchen, fan away the smoke that's coming from my frying pan and try to absorb the fact that this sandwich is...dare I say it...not edible!!!  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

So now I'm sitting here laughing and blogging about my freakin luck.  The only reason I'm not crying and blogging is because there was a second half to the sandwich that is currently warming up (with hawk-like supervision).  I'm not much into signs and stuff, but could this be one of them?  Could my day-off from kale, black beans and expensive snacks I'll ultimately throw away be a sin and the diet Gods are sending me an early-morning sign?  Only the rest of the day will tell...

11:16 p.m.
OK guys.  Date night is over.  I've had the most wonderful night.  Lots to share, but I've had a few drinks and am really tired.  Just want to call it a night.  So.....sorry to cut you guys short but I am going to bed.  I've got a full belly & am really optimistic for a great night of sleep!!  Thank you so much for reading and sending me your thoughts.  This is a really fun experiment. 
 
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I've come to the end of week #1 of my Forks Over Knives nutritional program.  Brody, yet again, was the photographer who took my updated photo.  No, I did not crop my head off on purpose.  I will officially weigh-in tomorrow morning, but according to the scale this morning, I have lost two pounds.  And I am very proud to say that I did no cheating!  That's a miracle considering the s**t I've tested out this week.  Let's see, first there were two "thumbs down" recipes from my Forks Over Knives cookbook -- Southwestern Mac And "Cheese" and Curried Rice Salad.  If you happen to know anyone who is also doing this diet, just tell them that I preferred water over those two meals...threw most of it away.  Then there was a vegan falafel burger...or as John called it, the "Feel Awful" burger.  I had it doused with homemade hummus, lettuce, tomato, and onion and it was still horrendously dry and bland.  Had such high hopes...  I had some kind of pumpkin seed bar whose poor experience went something like this:  rip open package, smell, bite, chew, throw away...all in a matter of 30 seconds. 

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And to round it all off, I tried Manna bread today.  See this blob to the right?
This is Manna bread.  According to John, "manna" is a word from the bible that described what some people ate as they traveled a long distance.  He was far more descriptive than I, but for now my bible-for-dummies version will have to do.  John went on to say, that the word (in Hebrew, I think) actually means, "What is this?"  My thoughts exactly

I was so intrigued by this insight that I googled "manna" and according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, manna is: 

a: food miraculously supplied to the Israelites in their journey through the wilderness
b: divinely supplied spiritual nourishment
c: a usually sudden and unexpected source of gratification, pleasure, or gain.  

Here are my thoughts on each of these definitions as it pertains to the bread of the same name: 

a:  way to go John! 
b:  arguments could be made for how this bread was actually supplied to me, but I'm quite certain this bread can only spiritually nourish me if I eat it.  Since I did not get through my first slice, I have to say that if this bread did anything to my spirit, it crushed it
c: wrong

But let me give this diet a fair shake.  For as extreme as it is and as mainstream in food as I am, I have survived decently.  Every time I was ravishingly hungry, it was not because there wasn't something to eat.  It was because I didn't feel like making it or because I didn't want to eat any of my options. I think that will all improve as the weeks go buy.  Also, aside from hunger, my side effects have been manageable.  Yes, I've been extremely tired, moody, weepy and frustrated which is not fun at all, but it seems to be leveling out a bit.  What has surprised me, though, are some of the side-effects I was worried about that I have not experienced at all.  For example, I sometimes suffer from migraine headaches.  My triggers include dehydration and hunger.  I haven't had even the slightest hint of one coming on.  I also haven't had any cravings.  OK...so I did really have to restrain myself from devouring the nuked turkey dog on a biscuit that Brody had before bedtime tonight...but, in general, I'm not lying in bed dreaming about fried chicken or Oreo cookies, or drooling over food my friends have eaten in front of me.  It hasn't been like that.

I've also discovered a lot that is good and will help me going forward.  For example, I now will keep baking potatoes, cans of diet-approved soup, and whole wheat pasta at-the-ready.  All three of these things can be prepared quickly and can have virtually any kind of ingredients added to them to enhance their flavors.  I'll also spend more time "winging-it" with meals rather than making stuff from the cookbook.  While the two meals from the cookbook totally failed, my hummus, roasted vegetables, pasta primavera, potato and soup concoctions have all worked out really well.  I'm quickly learning that it's better to modify a recipe that I already enjoy than to pick one of theirs.  So far, my chances for success are much greater that way.  Finally, it has been really important to have something to look forward to.  For me it has been date night...tomorrow.  There have been several times in the last few days where I thought about cheating just a bit.  Weak moments that I knew would pass if I could only dig in my heals and keep focused.  What helped me stay disciplined was knowing that I could cheat tomorrow and I will do that without any guilt knowing I have earned it.

Neither the book nor the doctors mention anything about cheating or splurging.  I can't see how they could without it being completely contradictory.  For me though, a pretty healthy woman just trying something healthier, I can stand to indulge in some food pleasures.  It will be good for my spirit, my sleep and my probability of success during this six week trial.  So here's to my gluttonous Friday which I might affectionally call, "Steaks Over Sprouts."

    Author

    Hi!  My name is Tracy Thomas and I'm a 38 year old woman living in the wonderful city of Louisville, Kentucky.  I'm a mom, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a girlfriend, an employee and a volunteer.  Curiosity is at my core which lead me to the Forks Over Knives documentary and this crazy experiment of mine.

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