Week 5 Of Our Whole Food, Plant- Based, 45 Day SOS-Free Diet (No Sugar, Oil or Salt)
Week 5 Of Our Whole Food, Plant- Based, 45 Day SOS-Free Diet (No Sugar, Oil or Salt)
Our journey to greater health and weight loss continues.
We have not deviated from the diet, nor added any snacking.
If we wanted something sweet, we ate an apple or clementines, and if we were still hungry, we simply ate more of the same whole food dishes that we had made.
But I have also learned from personal experience, that the portions we eat, and the total caloric intake that we consume per day, will effect whether or not we lose weight.
To put it another way, the experts who claim that you can eat all you want, as long as you eat only vegetables, fruit, legumes and whole grains without oil or sugar, are not exactly correct.
I learned this fact firsthand this week, because this week we did not lose any more weight, even though we still ate the same wholesome foods.
I did more research and found out that it is still best to keep our daily caloric intake low, and that you can still overeat on this diet, without eating even one morsel of processed food, eggs, fish, dairy, sugar, any oil or animal flesh.
The basic concept behind this plant-based diet is “caloric density.”
The idea is that you do not have to count calories, but simply eat foods that give you high volumes of healthy, fiber-rich nutritional foods, that naturally have far fewer calories.
While there is no doubt in my mind that eating this way will promote greater health and can even reverse heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and inflammation, I do not think that eating it without limits can result in weight loss.
So this coming week, I intend to be more aware of my daily caloric intake and we’ll see what the scale will show next week.
To be totally fair, I have to admit that in a relatively short time, we have made great strides towards weight loss.
Each of us has lost six pounds so far, and I lost inches from my waist and hips.
To be exact, in five weeks I have lost 4 inches (10 centimeters) off my waist, and 3 inches (7.5 centimeters) off my hips.
I just wish that the scale would continue going down faster....
Day 29
Breakfast: A glass of grapefruit and pineapple juice with psyllium husk.
Lunch: A plate of roasted potatoes, roasted zucchini and steamed peas with mustard.
Dinner: A big plate of couscous made with carrots, onions, celery, sweet potato, zucchini, summer squash, kombu seaweed, white beans, corn and spices.
Dessert: Blueberries, blackberries and raspberries topped with chocolate mousse made from sweet potatoes, bananas, unsweetened cocoa powder, cinnamon, dates and a little hazelnut milk. Topped with a sprinkle of crunchy granola.
Comments on day 29 - Today was a big snow day.
A snow storm covered our area with snow, and there were many car accidents on the roads.
Day 30
Breakfast: A glass of grapefruit and pineapple juice with psyllium husk.
Lunch: A big plate of couscous made with carrots, onions, celery, sweet potato, zucchini, summer squash, kombu seaweed, white beans, corn and spices.
A bowl of red grapes.
Dinner: A big salad with lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, apple, orange and lemon.
A plate of steamed artichoke with mustard, with roasted potato slices.
Dessert: chocolate mousse made from sweet potatoes, bananas, unsweetened cocoa powder, cinnamon, dates and a little hazelnut milk. Topped with blueberries and a sprinkle of crunchy granola.
Comments on day 30 - Today I started packing for our diving trip to the Maldives.
I examined my diving equipment and gear, since I decided to bring my own equipment instead of renting.
I know that I might have to pay extra for it, to transport it on the seaplanes that we will fly from resort to resort.
We ordered the Covid test kits that we need to take before departing.
Day 31
Breakfast: A glass of Lemon, grapefruit and pineapple juice with psyllium husk.
Lunch: A big plate of fruit including banana, apple, orange, clementines and mango.
Dinner: A big salad of greens, tomatoes, cucumber, celery, lemon, and mushrooms.
Steamed artichoke with mustard, and a plate of baked onion.
Comments on day 31 - Today I painted in the studio, while listening to a very interesting book about near-death experiences and otherworldly personal accounts of people who have had glimpses of life beyond the veil of illusions that we all call “reality.”
The book is called “Opening Heaven’s Door,” by Patricia Pearson.
Day 32
Breakfast: A glass of Lemon, grapefruit and pineapple juice with psyllium husk.
Lunch: A big plate of sautéed onions, mushrooms, cauliflower and broccoli, with a little soy sauce.
Dinner: A big salad of greens, tomatoes, cucumber, celery, lemon, mushrooms, orange, apple and corn.
Miso soup with vegetables and Wakame seaweed.
Dessert: cubes of frozen passion fruit.
Comments on day 32 - Today I organized my diving logs and transferred them all from a physical logbook to my ipad. It took a very long time, but it also brought up so many fun memories of our travels to remote islands and meeting so many lovely people....
I miss traveling so much and have high hopes that we will still walk a pilgrimage in Kyushu, Japan later in the year, if Japan allows travelers into the country.
Day 33
Breakfast: nothing.
Lunch: A picnic lunch of boiled and then roasted potatoes with mustard.
A slice of oat and jam bar.
Afternoon snack: A big glass of orange and lemon juice.
Dinner: A big salad of greens, tomatoes, cucumber, celery, lemon, corn, pepper, and carrots.
Miso soup with vegetables and Wakame seaweed.
Comments on day 33 - Today we went cross country skiing.
It was a very warm and sunny day.
The recent snow storm has helped keep the packed snow on the base, and the trail was beautiful, but some of the snow is getting wet from the warm temperatures.
Day 34
Breakfast: A glass of lemon and orange juice.
Lunch: Rice wraps with sautéed carrots and cabbage, steamed beets, and a patty made from mushrooms and jackfruit, with a spicy soy dipping sauce.
Afternoon snack: A slice of oat and jam bar with green tea.
Dinner: A big salad with greens, apple, orange, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, strawberries and balsamic vinegar.
A plate of air fried potatoes with fruit and veg; no-sugar-added BBQ sauce for dipping.
Comments on day 34 - I really enjoyed the rice wraps that I made for lunch. They are so easy to make and are so tasty.
You can fill them with chopped raw vegetables and fruit like sliced mango, or with sautéed vegetables and a vegan “meat patty,” like I did.
Today we went to do some errands in the nearby town of Glenwood Springs.
The weather was almost balmy, with blue skies and a feeling of spring in the air.
In the local garden center, they sold flowering purple or pink Hyacinth plants, that emanated such a sweet fragrance.
I was enchanted by the smell.
We started chatting with a woman we met at the garden center, and found out that we had so much in common with her and her husband.
We laughed and shared lots of stories.
She told us that she has backpacked in China, and traveled to Phuket in Thailand, at the time when there was only one hotel there.
I still love Phuket today, even with the gazillions of hotels, resorts, guesthouses and apartment rentals that populate the place today.
After meeting her, I thought to myself that so many people go online or join dating apps, in order to find love and dates, while it is so easy to just allow the Divine Spirit to guide you to meet wonderful people with whom you have so much in common....
Day 35
Breakfast: A glass of lemon and orange juice.
Lunch: Rice wraps with sautéed carrots and cabbage, steamed beets and a patty made from mushrooms and jackfruit, with a spicy soy dipping sauce.
Miso soup with vegetables.
Two clementines.
Dinner: A big salad with greens, tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, radishes, apple, orange, lemon and balsamic.
A bowl of homemade oil-free lentil stew with miso.
Comments on day 35 - Today we worked in the garden.
Jules dug two deep holes in order to anchor two more bird feeders.
I cleaned the ground under the existing bird feeders of all the wild turkey excrement.
I read in the news that an epidemic of salmonella is killing song birds all the way from California and Oregon to Utah, spread from bird excrement.
This epidemic is not yet in Colorado, but I decided to take precautions and clean the ground, because we do have many song birds that do not fly up to feed from the feeders, but only forage on the ground for the seeds that have fallen down.
I put on disposable gloves and collected all the excrement I could find.
Some of the tulips that we planted last autumn are starting to send up shoots, now that the snow is melting.
But we will wait until our return in early May, before planting the new Peonies and other flowering bulbs that we bought in the garden center yesterday.
Wishing you a wonderful week ahead full of good health, a peaceful mind and a loving and forgiving heart, and many other blessings!
Tali
