Thursday, June 30, 2016

Day Six Of The Plan: Zucchini


Thank goodness the brain fog lifted long enough for me to notice that there was a "Spring Menu" section at the very end of the book.  Spring Food or Warm Weather Food.  Not so many menu ideas requiring baking of winter squashes.

I have been eating my way through a few pounds of "on sale" zukes and kale the past 2 days.  Fried with some onions until browned and a bit crispy.  Eaten with my first animal protein: grilled chicken.  The book says I will be eating quite a bit of chicken.  And the snack fruit in the Spring menu is watermelon.  Two full cups.  Sweet.

This morning I finished my flax granola, but had another 2 cups soaking in water in the fridge (overnight) to activate the gluey-ness.  Into the oven on a baking sheet at 275 for an hour to get dry and crispy.   Then I added broken pecan halves, unsweetened coconut shreds, and pumpkin seeds (and back in the oven to let it all get toasty).  Then cooled and packed into a jar.  The pumpkin seeds are a beautiful shade of green.  I had them (pumpkin seeds) in my salad today with an Orange Muscat vinegar I had purchased at Trader Joe's on some visit or other.  So, so delicious.  So many new and interesting tastes in this diet plan.  My Balsamic Vinegar may also be a thing of the past.

Back to the Granola.  I have been reading reviews of the book on Amazon.  The reviews are sometimes lengthy reports of the diet results (one described the brain fog and bill paying mess-up on day three--I laughed out loud--same day as my bill fiasco) and comments on the food.  I already told you some find the diet "too expensive".  Well, the Flax Granola is the one thing you either love or hate.  But what I just described to you is the entire recipe and "work"of making the stuff.  "Too hard", "too much to do", "too expensive", "specialized ingredients" etc.  I found the whole organic flax seeds right below the regular Gold Metal flour.  And my grocery is very small.  Nothing special.  $3.49 and the bag will make enough Flax Granola for the next 2 weeks.

I Love the stuff.  Funny.  Remember I was in agony over replacing my beloved Bran Flakes?  I've got 2.5 boxes left in the cupboard I will probably never eat. Who would have guessed???

I had a regularly scheduled doctor's visit yesterday (to check on my weight as my doctor is obese-phobic).  She was thrilled that I had lost 11 more pounds (in 2 months) and that my blood pressure was 121/74.  She though my new diet was hogwash but appreciates that I was still dieting.  We both believe that a slow weight loss stays off easier than the fast weight loss.  And there were lots of days in the two months when I had Dairy Queen cones.  And Chinese food.  And pasta.  My lipid panels were stable and identical to last year (when they were awesome and I was 22  pounds fatter).

Today:  I got to test a new protein and chose egg.  In reality I chose EggBeaters.  That's what I have in the fridge.  I also got to test cheese yesterday--Goat Cheddar.  I can't test cow's cheese yet.  I also had one ounce of dark chocolate.  yummy.  Tomorrow is Unsalted potato chip day.

This Plan diet has much in common with the Atkins Diet. Brain fog in the beginning. Euphoric highs once the diet chemistry is "working".  Energy.  I vacuumed the entire house and did four loads of laundry, baked granola, made my lunch and then went off to work @ 11:30 am.  I drove to work wondering who I was and where the old me had gone.  And I had the car windows open and the radio cranked up.

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