MOTIVATION FROM THE UNEXPECTED

Well, today my mother-inlaw was to undergo her second heart surgery after a heart attack last year. As they prepared for the surgery they injected dye into her artieries to plan their intervention. Upon reviewing this, they decided that she had a much better flow than they had originally anticipated. As a result, no surgery. However, the doctors did notice that in comparison of her records she showed drastic improvement in her cholesterol levels when she was staying with me and I was cooking for her. She has not been here since last November and her numbers are once again out of control. Diet and exercise is a key factor! When she was here I cooked from the "heart book" - 6 weeks to reverse and prevent heart disease. Apparently, that worked, however just as quitting exercise for a sedentary life style packs on the pounds - one can reverse the reversal if they quit following the life plan or as I am coming to regard it, a plan to live. Now, this is real life motivation to press forward in changing our diets for the better, as it does make a difference. Hopefully, my mother-inlaw will revisit the cookbooks I gave her and make yet another reversal, back to the better numbers!

I SANK IN THE ROUGH WATER!!!

My last post was rough waters ahead and well, I thought I could make it through the rapids, but alas I did not resist temptation.

I had a plan and I did my best to stay with it, but where my parental unit is there is wine. The Catholics drink wine right? It's vegan....isn't it?? Excuses.....excuses.

So the first day of the visit we ate oil and drank raspberry lemon drops. Then I stuck with my food menu very well.....then I fell back off when the chocolate cake came.....need I say more? No not really. It's my shame, and my confession.

However, back on track today. I quit my job last Thursday so I will have time a plenty to cook and plan. Today I ate soft tacos with beans and mexican coleslaw. Tomorrow is a stir-no-fry, then soup and salad, and then...... I will have to consult my menu.

You are not alone in your sins...........

Lent Week 3

Lent Week 3: FAIL!
Of course, I want to blame it on others, but that’s never the really the truth is it? Especially since I’m reading Wayne Dyer’s book Excuses Begone! I know better. It was my fault. I gave in. I drank wine. And beer. As my only excuse, it was good wine, and there are far worse things to do than share a beer with your dad after skiing on a beautiful spring day. But I ate french fries, and please don’t anyone tell me what was actually in that wrap. Confession done, that was the bad news, now for the good news:

Menu Plan:
Mon.
Crockpot Chili and baked potatoes

Tues.
Veggie Dal with brown rice

Wed.
Split pea soup, baked potato and salad
Thurs.
Stir fry broccoli, mushroom and red bell pepper

Fri.
Various leftovers

Good workouts this week:
Two swim sessions
One hard tempo run
Two good bike rides (road)
One maintenance session in the gym.

Next challenge?
Easter at the Boucher’s!
There will be lots of good, tempting stuff, so wish me luck!

Rough Waters Ahead!!!

OK- so here it is...........test week. Mom is coming for a visit and this is always when I fall prey to every temptation of the culinary kind. Oil, alcohol, cheese, eggs, whatever it is I am trying to avoid seems to crash down on me. So, at least this week I am thinking ahead. I have a menu plan already in motion with tomorrows dinner (potato and leek soup with fennel and carrots) premade and chilling in the fridge. Lettuce for salad is washed and ready to make a salad with, so I shouldn't slip tomorrow. Then I have a day off of work so I will make dinner ahead of time that morning and warm it up in the evening..... no giving in due to laziness. I will allow one meal out in liew of my Sunday off but stick to my plan the other days. I feel strong, dedicated, and goal oriented!!! Onward!

Nightmare!

So I am reminded of a Neal Barnard lecture a while back where he describes the various "food seductions". These are dangerous foods that have particularly strong drug effects on the brain for susceptible people. Cheese is one of the big ones, and I am susceptible. Barnard found that the casomorphins are so strong that cheese was the number one thing patients/research subjects missed when switching to a vegan diet. I sympathize, I literally woke up last night dreaming of pizza. Mostly I was fantasizing about the melting cheese. What was worse, is that unlike most nightmares, when I woke up, the feeling didn't go away! I've thought about it all day! I WAS excited about my first asparagus dish of the season, but its luster faded a little because of my cheese craving.

EPILOGUE:
I did the asparagus proud by sauteeing it with grape tomatoes, red bell pepper, and chimichurri sauce, which is a balsamic and spice blend originally used as a steak sauce. Highly recommended. As our former commander in chief was fond of saying, "stay the course".

New Dinner Recipe - Need Comfort Casserole Now

I decided that I want a casserole meal toady. It is cold and gray and I need comfort. But how? Casseroles are so full of cream of this or cream of that and sour cream or butter, or cheese.....ahh!!!!!

So I came up with a great sauce that I am using and while it does not meet the MWL criteria due to some rice milk and whole wheat flour, it tastes awesome and is great on top of my veggies.

Here it is: Adapted from vegweb

1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried mustard powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp curry powder
black pepper
lemon zest 1 tsp
1 Tablespoon of chunky salsa
1 Cup of rice milk or water

Whisk all dry ingredients together then whisk in rice milk or water until no lumps remain. Place in a sauce pan and heat until it thickens to a condensed cream of something soup consistency. Add in zest and salsa and stir to combine.

Pour over steamed veggies and bake or you can add in cooked brown rice to the veggies and pour over and bake for a vegie rice casserole, or pour over a baked potato, or use as the sauce to make scalloped potatoes or do whatever. This sauce reminds me of the old days of cream of chicken soup based casseroles, yet there is no animal ingredients. It has a mellow yet distinct flavor and works well as a sauce for casseroles.

Yum!

SWOT ANALYSIS ON VEGIESIS

So, at first I was really down on myself for the many mishaps of last week. Then, I realized that I need to think of them not as failures, but as weaknesses that can be made strong. For the past ten years I have been teaching business students how to do a SWOT analysis on an organization. A SWOT analysis is the idtification of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats to an organization's success. Why not apply this to myself and my lenting?

So, last week identified not too many strengths in the face of change. When my environment is stable I am strong, but a single shock to that reality and I lose my strength. Weakness then becomes evident. I am weak at planning when company comes so instead I derail. Opportunities? I have an opporutnity to develop these weaknesses into strengths by planning meals out in advance when I know company is coming. Perhaps I should have a few homemade frozen meals on hand as well so that I can be caught off guard but not become weak from it. The threat?? Chaos. I seem to abandon in the face of chaos or a shock to my "norm". Social settings are a threat for me, dining out is a threat. So, I should be certain to plan for these events and if I am going to someone's house I can bring a dish that works for me or if going out I can prepare a list of what is acceptable in my mind so that I am less likely to panic and take the wrong path. Perhaps I can never give up my raspberry lemondrops but at least I can cut down on the oil consumption that seems to go along with them.

WELL......MAYBE NOT SO GOOD.....

OK- so this past week I obliterated all success. Mom and Dad came to visit and we ended up drinking raspberry lemon-drops and eating oily food. Yah well. I guess I am repenting. Then Dad and I went for coffee because that is our private bonding time so I partook in this too. Luckily, I grabbed a rescue rope and cooked dinner on Friday night so as not to ruin all my work. I went to the veg cafe and bought lardless tamales, then I served them with black beans, and mexican coleslaw. It was good and it saved me from another slip-up. I worked all weekend so I have no plans for this week's meals and nothing prepared....this will be a tough one, but with Tuesday off I can make it through one day and then plan..........right?

Week 2 Wrap Up and Week 3 Plan

Week 2 Wrap:
All right, pass or fail? Pass! Again! Well, mostly. Although in full disclosure last week’s wrap was posted before going to dinner at my godparents’ house. And you just don’t mess around with my godfather’s cellar, so that was another sugar Fail. But since then, I’ve improved, only one off plan day, as originally scheduled. Remember, Sundays don’t count in traditional Lent, so I decided Friday or Saturday did not count for me. And that was it, one day, Friday. Now I’m back on plan, eating simple, great food. I trained Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. I ran twice, biked twice, and did some strength training. I decided to weigh myself, as I often do after training in the afternoon for the first time in a while. I do not want to make this a goal oriented endeavor, so I have avoided the scale. But it showed me that I am back where I was before the holidays, maybe even a little lighter, so this McDougall MWL really works, if you execute it properly. At this rate I should hit race weight by spring break, which is perfect timing for my A races. Of course, they say the final few pounds are always the hardest, but I’m not worried.

Week 3 Plan:
School will be a little hectic this week, so once again I’m trying to to front load the cooking so I don’t have to work too hard. So on Saturday I cooked BBQ Heirloom beans, very good! Instead of canned I cooked up a pound of Rancho Gordo Pinquitos. Especially good on baked potatoes. Today I have a navy bean soup going in the crockpot, and tonight I will cook a simple yellow split pea soup (curried variation) extra thick so it can be a spread. Tomorrow night I will cook a New Orleans style red bean dish. A big pot of rice and some baked potatoes and I’m basically done for lunches and dinners. This week I’m going to experiment with simpler “steam fry” dishes to add some more green vegetables to my diet. If my main starches are already cooked, then all I need to do is steam some veggies as an accompaniment. I am going to simplify my stir fry with fewer veggies, and try to do it Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. I usually get carried away, but I will limit myself to three veggies each time, to make things easier. Teamed up with rice and bean soup, I think I’m rockin’!

So here’s how it looks:
Mon: New Orleans Red Bean Gumbo
Tues: Stir Fry Broccoli, shroom, and red bell pepper
Wed: Stir Fry Asparagus and red bell pepper
Thurs: Stir Fry Bok Choy, carrot and shroom
Fri & Sat: Danger Zone! I’ll be at the parents’ house, where temptations lurk around every corner!

Variety is Overrated

So, over the weekend I tried what many McDougallers do: simplify to an extreme. I was struck by what Jeff Novick has mentioned several times, namely simplicity in food choices works just fine. I was struck by the ideal of simplicity of Lent, and thought that choosing fewer dishes and flavors I could focus on eating to satisfy true hunger, and not mental “appetites”. We are often exhorted to eat a “wide variety” of foods so that all our nutrient needs will be met. But if you look at traditional cultures throughout history, you’ll se that most subsisted on relatively few foods that were well suited to the local climate. A couple of starchy staples seasoned with local spices and whatever fresh fruits and veggies were in season have held body and soul together for thousands of years. Without modern storage and distribution, choice was limited. And you know what? They did just fine, as long as food was plentiful. I think the modern nutritionista mandate to maximize variety is to simply get away from the main sources of SAD calories: meat, dairy, flour, sugar and oil, all of which are nutrient deficient. To the SAD, ANY whole, unrefined plant food is “variety”! In short, if we eliminate the above mentioned foods and stick to whole, unrefined starches, fruits, veggies, grains and legumes, we’ll be fine. We can eat very few different foods and do well. It’s not as hard as we make it out to be.

So my experiment was to simplify my menu so I used essentially all Latin flavors. I made a skillet bean and zucchini dish, crock pot chili, drunken beans, and tried a veg posole recipe. All dishes used essentially the same ingredients and flavorings. I decided that I would eat as much as I possibly could of these dishes before moving on. So that is all I ate, with a couple of exceptions, which were oatmeal or fresh fruit for breakfast and a green salad with split pea soup. I even had chili for breakfast once, it was great! Otherwise it was beans, corn, rice, tomatoes, peppers, squash, hominy, chili powder, potatoes, salsa and hot sauce. It tasted great.

Everything is just snappy!

I was reflecting on myself today and I realized how "instant" our society is and what it does to us. We microwave and get food in 3 minutes, we have instant oatmeal, drive-thrus, and speedy everything. This created a desire for me to feel great from focusing on my diet and food choices instantly. Of course, this didn't happen...... until this week. Having patience is perhaps a virtue because I have toughed it out and while I didn't feel anything at first, I now feel great. Mentally I feel postive and alert, physically I am full of energy (at the right times of the day) and I am falling asleep quickly and staying asleep soundly. I crave a snap pea snack for a crisp and refreshing tide-me-over or late night snack and coconut water makes me happy in the afternoon. Mostly, I am addicted to the snap peas. They make me happy as they snap when I bite them and VegiNoodle loves them too. We have after school snap pea snack contests to see who can crunch the loudest when we bite in. Fresh is awesome and being snappy is great!

A DISCOVERY.....

So, I can't access placing up links, but I found a new site for recipes last night while surfing around the Internet. Maybe you have been there already, but here it is, www.vegweb.com I found all kinds of yummy recipes some are even oil free and McDougall friendly!!! I am always excited to find recipe archives and especially ones that I don't have to modify much. Bon Appetite Mon Frer!

PORTOBELLO PARADISE

OK, so as if my ride was not amazing enough I developed an incredible hunger!!! Ravenous as I was upon my return, I decided to dine on a fungus. Yes, I grilled a portobello and ate it with some potatoes and salad. It was yummy and good and my tummy is happy tonight too! I am just happy all around......almost cheer-leader like....well maybe not that peppy, but you get the picture. Portobello peppiness??

INSPIRATION BROUGHT TO VEGIESIS BY VEGIESIS

To add on to my philosophical discussion about the rewards of self inspiration, I decided to self inspire today! I woke up, skipped the coffee, and got the family bikes ready for a ride. The sun was out, we were boasting a forecast of 65 degrees, and I wanted to go to Sebastopol and visit an old co-worker. I craved adventure and decided to check out the massive linkage of trails that wind from Santa Rosa to Forestville through the environmental preserves and other sights. So, with my cyclocross bike with a trail-a-bike in tow, and my husband on his road bike we made our way to the paths and rode for hours!!! It was awesome and I feel great. I think I have been an insomniac for the last two years because I could never settle down, however tonight my muscles are tired, my mind is not racing, and I am inspired by my strength of pulling a 25 pound trail-a-bike with a 43 pound kid on it for over 20 miles! I am tired and happy tonight and feeling inspired to face the week ahead. In fact, the family is happily exhausted and calm this evening and we had a ton of fun! Plus, I saw my old coworker to boot! I can feel that this week will be an awesome one in our lenting.

After reading your post on mental training and spiritual lent I took a hot bath and got to thinking about philosophical stuff. Not my usual routine, but I kept contemplating the idea of where does inspiration come from? I went to my favorite veg cafe and they always ask patrons a question of the day (they must have some huge book of questions!) anyway, the day's question was, "Who inspires you?" I racked my brain as I am inspired by a lot of people depending on what the context is. In cooking I am inspired by Vivaldi and the Four Seasons, and on and on and on. But really, shouldn't we inspire ourselves? Usually, if I think of someone as inspiring it is because I want to be like them for some quality or achievment. Why then, am I not inspirational to myself? I should be. I should generate this energy within my own person for the better of my body and mind. So I should think of every small accomplishment as inspiring for a larger one. Are you self-inspired? This week I am.

Lent Week 1

Lent Week 1: Pass or Fail?

Cut to the chase, PASS!
In general, the week went well, even without detailed planning, which I will remedy for this week. Coming off of a week’s vacation, I did not really have a plan, but I did have enough backups to keep me on the program. With a couple of “exceptions”. That means FAIL!
FAIL #1
My Thursday night stir-fry needed a sauce, and instead of making it plain and spicy with Sambal Oelek, I made it slightly sweet with a sweet Thai chili sauce. Sweet? That means SUGAR! Oops. Rationalization time. It wasn’t THAT much sugar, mostly chilis. And garlic. And xantham gum. That doesn’t count, does it? Only if I say it does, and I say it doesn’t. Like corn tortillas and polenta, a tablespoon of stirfry sauce doesn’t count.

FAIL #2
Fridays don’t count, however too much beer interferes with the Lenten spirit. But it was a good play, and they are good people. Honest. But it is interesting how alcohol encourages cravings for bad food the next day, just as Dr. Fuhrman explains. Vicious cycle anyone?

Conclusion:
What do my two FAILs show? A problem with SUGAR! I like to boast that I do not have a sweet tooth and that desserts never tempt me. And that is mostly true, desserts almost never tempt me. But my two FAILs show that in my own way, sugar does have a grip on me. Good to know. Now I can watch myself this week and look for the places and times that my hidden sweet tooth sneaks up to bite me!

On the positive: Just a couple of days in, I could truly feel the difference! My energy was better, I could think more clearly (which may not be apparent in my writing!) and just generally was better off overall. I even meditated every day but Friday. It’s been awhile for that. Even though I know firsthand the power of the program, sometimes I find myself skeptical that it really makes that much of a difference. It does. Its funny to watch people and read their body language as I am doing at a cafe now. (full disclosure: I had a coffee, but now I’m drinking green tea) People do NOT feel good. You can see it in their faces and body language, but they are so accustomed to it, they think it is “normal”. I want to give them a wake up shake, but they would think I am crazy. I suppose I am, but I like my kind of crazy

Salad Dressing Dilema

I have to admit that I love salad dressing. Even the oily ones. So, since I am cutting down on fat I had two options, cut down on the amount of fatty dressing I use, or find something else. In the summer I enjoy citrus, but I can't seem to get into it right now. So, it came to me as I was eating at my favorite vegan cafe, that I should use tomatillo salsa or any salsa for that matter. I love salsa and I can easily eat it every day, so why not? Tonight I made a homemade batch of tomatillo salsa (oil free and raw) in the blender and I am loving it!!! Tonight it will serve as a dressing for a fiesta Friday dinner. Problem solved! Then I roasted a bunch of veggies and blended them up with mexican spices for a roasted veggie salsa. I am sooo excited! This weekend will be a good one for sure!

My recipe: Tomatillo Sauce

1# Tomatillos husked washed and quartered
1 small yellow or white onion diced
2-3 cloves of diced garlic
1 Serrano chile chopped (use your preference for seeding)
1/2 tsp cumin
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Salt and Pepper to your taste

Wizz this around until it is blended and then if you want to thin it out more add 1/2 cup of veg stock or leave it as is. Let it stand so that the flavors develop and enjoy as a salsa, dip, enchilada sauce, or salad dressing. Yummm!!!!

Mental Nutrition

I have decided to expand my plan of properly feeding myself to include mental issues as well. So in order to better feed my mind and soul, I have come up with a reading list of books to inspire me, one per week. Most are rereads of books that inspired me in the past, but one new one that seems to apply. In no particular order, here they are:

Excuses Begone! by Dr. Wayne Dyer
I like his general message, and he has inspired me before. This topic and book seems applicable when trying to change stubborn habits.

Let Go by Martine Batchelor
This is a reread by an author who is a zen teacher who also focusses on the power of habits and gentle ways to loosen their power.

Turning You Mind Into an Ally by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
This is a reread of a basic meditation guide by the son of famous Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche that makes mediation accessible.

Thinking Body, Dancing Mind by Jerry Lynch
Another reread, this one uses a unique combination of Taoist philosophy and creative visualization/affirmation to experience more fulfillment out of sports and other life pursuits.

Mastery by George Leonard
Anything worth doing doesn’t come all at once. Instead, practice that becomes fulfilling in and of itself will lead to success. Relaxing into the inevitable plateaus is a prominent theme.

And finally, we all need a little peaceful warrior, so I will reread No Ordinary Moments by Dan Millman, which tries to take some of the lessons dramatized in Way of the Peaceful Warrior into more practical lessons.

Lent Goals

Are goals fitting to the spirit of Lent? I think I see a contrast between the New Year’s Resolution mindset and that of the traditional Lent attitude. It seems that many of us put specific goals for a our New Year’s Resolutions, yet paradoxically without a specific plan to accomplish it . I know I have done this. I have focused on an external measurement of some sort that was often unrealistic, and without a specific plan to achieve it, gradually I “fell off the wagon”. In looking at the three categories traditional to Lent, I see that the focus is more on the process, not the product. There is no goal at the end of the 40 day road like a pot of gold. The fasting, prayer, and almsgiving are not expected to gain you anything. They are undertaken simply for their own sake. It seems to me the only goal is to become more disciplined, more in control of your body and mind. This looks like yoga. I suppose since the eventual goal is spiritual it is therefore not very measurable. I mean, how do you quantify enlightenment? Enlightenment units? My thought is that the disciplines and the emphasis on everyday behavior and habits will accomplish some positive and measurable results anyway. At least I hope so!
So does it contradict the spirit of Lent to focus on a specific quantifiable goal? Is it wrong to say, as we do on New Year’s, “I’m going to lost x pounds by y date? Somehow I think so. I think that Lent is about creating the inner environment where such a tangible result comes as a byproduct. Rather than ”backwards plan“, we instead foster and develop new thinking that will go where it goes. If the intention is sound and the practice steady, it seems to me that the goals will be met anyway, even without focusing on them. What do you think?

Day Two For VegiSis

Well, I think when my husband plays golf and someone has a really bad swing they do what they call a "Muligan" a Do-Over, a re-swing. Hmmm....I think today is one of those. Work was hell, I forgot my lunch.....again and I forgot my wallet so the Vegan Cafe was out of my reach too. When I got home from bussing VegiNoodle around town my good friend stopped over while on a night bike ride in the hills behind my house. Without even thinking I popped him a beer and poured a glass of Fume for myself. Ahhh!!!! What was I thinking......Oh yes, I wasn't. So, I have resolved myself to a new day tomorrow and I am going to bed now before I do any additional harm to my lent leftovers plan! A new day awaits!

Neal Barnard in Santa Rosa on Sat.

Check it out: Neal Barnard at the Finley Community Center. I think he is in town for McDougall's Advanced Study Weekend. I'd come up to see him if I wasn't on vacation.

Where's Veginoodle?

Is the Noodle still involved? What is she going to focus on? Hello? Gabrielle? Are you there?

LENT PROGRESS- DAY ONE REPORT

Well, day one went a little more chaotic than planned. I forgot my lunch at home!!!! Luckily, there is a vegan cafe located behind my work so I was able to make a quick switch to collard wraps filled with julliened raw veggies and simply asked that they minus the tahini dipping sauce. These wraps ROCK so other then the added expense, I was still able to stay on target with my lent plan. Then again, since I did not visit Starbuck's this morning I guess the monetary issue was a wash. I ran two miles and walked two miles while also squeezing in some circiut training. I felt good..........but let's see how the ol'feet and knees feel tomorrow!!! Dinner went without a hitch and I even added black beans to my potato no-fry for my dinner wraps. I am pleased to say that I am full and happy this evening as I sit down to relax at the computer. How was your first day???

DAY ONE MENU FOR VegiSis

A failure to plan is a plan for failure so I started my Lent plan tonight and will post tomorrow's menu for VegiSis now. Just in case I forget and veer off toward Starbuck's perhaps this will help paste it in my head!!

Breakfast: 5 Grain Hot Cereal
Drop off VegeNoodle to school
Park at work and walk from town to Curves for a circuit training workout and walk back to town
Snack: Apple and tea
Work for Four Hours
Eat a late lunch - Garbanzo bean spread* lettuce wraps and assorted vegies
Pick-up VegeNoodle and go to lessons
Home for a snack - Salad
Housework, night school work and dinner
Dinner: Potato tacos with lettuce, bell peppers, onions, and pico

Garbanzo bean spread:
1 can of Garbanzos (chickpeas)
1/2 a purple onion chopped fine
2 tsp chopped parsley
1 Tblsp fresh lemon juice
a little water if you need to for consistency
Ground Pepper
Dashes of Tabasco

1) Mash garbanzos
2) Mix in the rest of the ingredients

Use as a dip for vegies or a spread for wraps and sandwiches.

Fat Tuesday For VegiSis

Rules, rules, rules...... without them there would be chaos??? So here I go, my Lent Leftovers rules!

1)No Mochas (WHAT???) Seeing as I have come to believe that Starbuck's is a food group on it's own, I will remove my staple beverage from my personal menu, as this is the wost of my sins.

2)Mon - Fri McDougalls MWL plan with no dairy, animal products, refined flours, or sweets (not including fresh fruits now and then).

3)No high fat oils, nuts, or other fatty substances that may be plant based.

4)Get back to physical training a minimum of four days per week.

5)Make as much of my food from scratch as possible. Make my own stocks, dressings, totillas, etc. Try to avoid processed products when possible and make time to make them on my own.

6) Sat and Sun I will keep the vegan plan, but allow myself a little room for wiggling and throw in a nut or two.... or a soy mocha? Do I have that kind of self-control?

With today almost done, tomorrow begins the challenge. I'm ready! Are you?

-VegiSis

Fat Tuesday

It’s Fat Tuesday! While Carnival is not a particularly strong tradition here in Northern California, it is time to set the rules for a season of Lent. Lent traditionally consists of three components: fasting, prayer and almsgiving. I will focus here on the fasting. Traditionally, a vegan or vegetarian diet was followed, but in the contemporary usage one can define it however they like. Here is how I will define it:

School Nights (Sun.-Thurs.): McDougall Maximum Weight Loss

1. No animal foods
2. No added fats (oils)
3. No high fat plant foods (nuts, seeds, avocados)
4. No rich soy products (edamame acceptable)
5. No flour products
6. No refined sugar or sweeteners (including alcohol)

Exceptions:

1. Dried fruit is acceptable in hot cereal
2. Fresh fruit is not limited

Friday OR Saturday: Regular McDougall Program
Only rules one and two apply.

Exceptions:
Traditionally, Sundays do not count in Lent, as they are considered a mini-resurrection, so I will embrace that tradition as a “safety valve” of sorts to release pressure of being “good”. But it might be enough temptation to make the discipline even harder! Anyway, I will move the “off day” to either of the weekend nights, and keep Sunday holy. Also, the processed and refined sports drinks, bars and gels are in acceptable for long training days, which should only be Saturdays anyway.

OK, there’s my plan, what’s yours?

VegieSis

Ah yes, the New Year. I am not one for New Year's Resolutions as I just forget about them as I am cleaning up the house from the holidays that preceede it. So, we decided to use Lent as our New Year of sorts and clean our real house, our temple, our body, from the holidays that came and went. To start this resolution of sorts we are all adopting the McDougall style of eating for the duration of Lent. This will help us clean our bodies and minds for the onset of Spring, Cycling, Running, and warm weather activities. Together through blogging, we will support one another in our quest for purity through our food and exercise plans.

Why leftovers?

Be honest: What happened to your New Year's Resolutions? If you're anything like me, Life is what happened. As in Life is what happens when you are making other plans. For me, the usual scheduling challenges of final exams and basketball season derailed my January base training goals. Nor did I use those couple of holiday pounds. Of course that means that my race weight is rather distant at the moment.

Enter the Leftovers. So what if mistakes were made? That's what Lent is for. Not being Catholic or Orthodox and with no cultural connection to the religious significance, it always just seemed like a good idea. After the holiday feasting, a time of withdrawl, fasting and reflection to last out the winter until Spring's new growth comes in. Especially when combined with a tradition of New Year's Resolutions, Lent looks to me like a perfect second chance! So we usher in the season of second chances with the Lent Leftovers. Lent takes the leftovers of the New Year and makes a new possibility.

So here we have a group blog: vegpedlr the wanna be triathlete, veggiesis, and veginoodle. Three people trying to redo the New Yaer in time for Lent. Forty days of effort, care to join us?