Happy New Year (a little behind)

Happy New Year! Like most of America, my pledge this year is to lose weight and get healthy. I have spent most of my adult life trying to find that ultimate eating plan that will magically help those pesky pounds melt away...in my sleep, no doubt, and with no exercise and oh... did I mention that it would all happen overnight? I guess that's how it works in LaLa Land or maybe in DisneyLand or on Sesame Street. Low carb, low fat, Weight Watchers, Sugar Busters, vegan, vegetarian...ugh! The diet du jour never really works for me (although I did have a lot of success with a low carb diet during my last pregnancy with diabetes but I DO NOT advocate a low carb diet at all! I was just trying to keep my blood sugar at bay for the baby's sake). I typically spend loads of money signing up for a diet plan, buying the associated cookbooks, the food scale that you HAVE to use only with that particular diet plan, weight tracker journal and the like just to realize that this diet is a bunch of baloney (I've never tried the all-bologna diet...maybe that would work...hmm.)

I really believe that a plant-based vegan or nearly vegan is the answer. The data is just too compelling. When I have followed a vegetarian diet in the past, it was too easy to replace meat with dairy...cheese, cheese and did I mention...cheese? I do love cheese but I am terribly conflicted, as I don't believe that dairy is good for us and maybe even that God does not mean for us to drink the secretions of another animal at all. Tell someone that you don't use dairy and you might as well have said that you are really an alien and Elvis is your cousin. My problem is that when I decide to go vegan, much of what I eat is animal product wannabee food, which although meatless and often organic, is highly processed. Which "poison" do I pick?

Bottom Line (to reduce MY bottom line): I want to get most or all of the processed fake food out of my family's life and diet. I want to totally eliminate or greatly reduce animal products. I want to eat local and/or organic fruits and veggies as the bulk of my diet AND...I want it to be super tasty! Am I asking for too much? I don't think so.

A grocery store visit is in on the agenda for today and then lots of experimenting with recipes and making lots from scratch...stay tuned...it should be an interesting ride.