Chickpea Burgers, teenagers, and recommitment

I have finally started losing again! 169.2 lbs this morning, which is 8 1/2 pounds lower than my post-Christmas high of 177.8. Last week I fell off the wagon a bit after 4 days of no weight loss. But for the last two days I've been really strict on the 6-week-plan, and everything's going great.

Here's what I ate yesterday:

1 cup of shredded wheat with 1 cup soy milk

At least 7 or 8 pieces of various fresh fruits

A large "everything" salad for lunch: Romaine, cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, avocado

1 T sunflower seeds and 2 T chopped craisins on the salad

1 cup cooked frozen peas with about 1/4 tsp margarine (I hate it when peas dehydrate!)

About 1/2 cup cooked mushrooms

1 cup frozen green beans

Another big salad

Chickpea Burger--Recipe to follow, and it was completely delicious

Hot cocoa made of water, cocoa, and Splenda

Just so you know, our teenagers actually liked the Chickpea burgers quite a lot. They also are saying, "Yay, salad!" every time they sit down for dinner. Don't know what's gotten into them. Peter, our three-year-old grandson, has also been heard to say, "Yay, salad!" But his best line is unfortunately a tearful, "I don't love beans!"

Chickpea Burgers--try them, they are really good:

2 15-oz cans garbanzo beans, drained

4-6 green onions, diced

4 egg whites

2 T oat or flaxseed flour

1 tsp dried oregano leaves

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp salt

2 T sesame seeds

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

about 1/2 cup water as needed

Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend, stopping often to stir, until a coarse mixture forms.

Spray a non-stick pan with cooking spray and heat pan for a few minutes. Be careful not to overheat. Spoon mixture into pancake-sized portions and cook 4-5 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Flip carefully and cook other side. Serve with yogurt and pita bread if desired (I like mine plain with cooked mushrooms). Makes 8 large burgers.

A Message from Carel and Rudi, Sunday dinner, and chocolate

171.6 pounds today. So I'm still losing weight, although more slowly.

Sunday dinner was very funny last night with a menu of tossed salad, baked beans, and fruit. Kurt and Emily looked a little stunned when they saw what was for dinner. And Peter exclaimed, "I don't love beans!" in a tearful voice. My kids have decided that they may starve to death, so I had to list for them all the available carbs and meat that is still in the house and will remain there. Sean pointed out that there really is plenty available: they just don't want to have to cook it themselves!

Here is a helpful message I received from Carel and Rudi yesterday:

Hi Nora! How exciting to have a friend and cohort on the quest for better health! I'm so happy Catherine and Sean are on board too. We started the vegan diet about 6 months ago. My purpose was to see if it would help my inflammatory, rheumatoid and osteoarthritis and I am happy to say the diet has made a big difference. I have experienced lots less stiffness and fatigue, plus the angina I was experiencing is completely gone as well. Rudi has been totally supportive and is convinced this is the healthiest way to live. He says he "feels clean inside." I can't say I've lost much weight ~ I've managed to find room for chocolate without too much trouble ;-) Our son in law has struggled with irritable bowel syndrome (some of his doctors think it's Crohn's), he even got a medical discharge from the Navy because of it. He has been on the vegan diet for about 2 months and has been astonished at the improvement in his health plus he's had a vast increase in energy....and his chronic headaches have almost disappeared. It only took about 2 weeks for him to see an improvement. Anyway, I'm so glad we can share our experiences, recipes, successes and struggles! Another book you'll find great to read is "The China Study." Wishing you all the best! Love, Carel

One of the recipes we like is a pita bread sandwich! Here's the recipe (although I don't do exact measurements!)
1 ripe avocado - cut up in bowl
1/8 green cabbage - finely chopped
a little vegan mayonaise (about 2 Tb.)
seasoning salt to taste
chopped walnuts - about 3-4 Tb.
sunflower seeds - about 1 Tb.
alfalfa sprouts (if desired)

Blend everything together for filling in bible bread or Ezekial Bread. Add sliced tomato.
I have also discovered Tofutti sour cream and cream cheese at Good Earth. It makes a great substitute. They also have vegetable bouillon (Better Than Boullion brand) for soups - It's good too.

And this postscript:

My main goal is to be healthy and feel good ~ but a little dark chocolate every now and then is supposed to be good for the soul and the psyche, nicht wahr? Jawohl!

Life is getting less exciting: Day 6

For the past two days I have weighed 172.0. So I haven't had the excitement of watching my weight jump down every single day. Still, who can complain about losing 5.8 lbs in 5 days?

Here are some hazards I've encountered:

Apple Pie for Karen's birthday--as usual, I did okay on the night of her birthday by just eating a few bites, but then the next day the leftovers got to me. So I instituted a new rule: If the leftovers aren't consumed by the kids before noon the next day, give it away or throw it out! I have decent willpower before noon.

Next hazard: Grandma Hess's fabulous parmesan breadsticks. Also for Karen's birthday. As near as I can tell, these breadsticks are about half butter. Anyhow, I managed them much better. I ate a couple of bites after a full meal so I could exclaim about how delicious they are (which was not hard). Then I sent half of them home with the grandparents, and left the other half out for the kids. Luckily they were consumed early the next day.

Another one: a giant chocolate cake sent home by one of Karen's friends for her birthday (are you noticing the trend here?) That one I didn't even taste, which is probably a better policy for unsolicited treats. I imagined it was dry and too sweet, and didn't have to learn otherwise. That one I sent her to all the neighbors to dispense pieces from.

Maybe I should just abolish birthdays!

Christmas Candy: bagged it up and locked it in a cupboard for my piano students. I even threw away some of it. Except for the cinnamon bears and licorice, which I didn't think they'd eat and I couldn't stand to throw away. I'd better put that out in the RV soon. Maybe they'll get really hard and be easy to throw away later.

Lastly, a bag of almonds: I'm allergic to almonds, so what was up with that? I woke up sore in all my joints this morning. Next time, put a little serving of something I'm not allergic to in a plastic bag and put the big bag away.

I made a list of salad ideas this morning. If any of you would like it, tell me and I'll email it to you.

Day 4

OK, so it's hard to believe, but on Monday morning (after lots of Christmas candy) I weighed in at 177.8 lbs. This morning I weighed 172.2. I am so excited! The first couple of pounds were due to Christmas, but it looks like I'm heading back towards the 160's, where I haven't been for at least 6 months.

I am hungry quite a bit, but only because I'm too lazy to go get something to eat right then.

Another great idea from yesterday: make marinara sauce and eat it in a bowl with a tiny sprinkle of parmesan cheese. You have to make it yourself, though--they put oil and sugar in the kind they sell in the store. It is really savory and satisfying.

Marinara (traditional)

2 cans diced tomatoes

2 cans tomato sauce

garlic

onions

dash ground cloves

oregano leaves

basil leaves

dash soy and/or Worchestershire sauce

bay leaf

Marinara (cacciatore)

2 cans diced tomatoes

2 cans tomato sauce

marjoram leaves

thyme leaves

bay leaves

black pepper

Simmer either type about an hour, high enough to cook down a bit. Tastes amazing :-)

Eat To Live, day 3

Hi everyone! I have been following the plan for exactly 2 days and have lost 4 pounds exactly. Unbelievable! I'm now through the Christmas weight and digging into the thyroid weight. And the food has been great.

Please share with me any meal ideas you have. I don't have too many so far.

Good ideas from yesterday:

Bean chili for dinner with a few olives to spice it up. I'll post the recipe at the end.

Pears, avocado, red peppers, and pinto beans with a sprinkle of feta cheese on top of baby lettuce for lunch. I just used red wine vinegar for dressing and it tasted great.

Sauteed some mushrooms in a nonstick pan with just a light spray of Pam, and it worked great.

Whenever I got hungry I ate frozen Costco fruit in a bowl. It worked like a charm.

What good ideas did you have yesterday?

Bean Chili

1 can pinto beans

1 can black beans

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 small can tomato sauce

1 can corn

2 cans diced green chilies

1/2 can black olives, sliced

chili powder

ground cumin

oregano leaves

dried or fresh cilantro

garlic powder

cayenne pepper

black pepper

Splenda

MSG

We served it with tossed salad, and added chips and cheese for the kids. It was filling and delicious.