I'm not Crazy I'm just a Vegetarian

Walking the path of the greens eater is a tough transition after 3 decades of being a carnivore. I still crave steaks and cheeseburgers. A lot! But I want to be healthy and thin and my previous diet plan was letting me down on achieving those goals. So time for a change.

I just finished reading Eat to Live. Lots of good information packed into that book with plenty of references for the skeptics. For me, seeing is believing and after 12 years of working with cardiac patients and diabetics I've witnessed the importance of diet over exercise and medications. I've been sampling the diet as I worked my way through the book. There were several things that I thought I was doing right but were actually keeping me from moving forward. For example: heaps of olive oil when cooking, large portions of lean meats, and fruit juice. So far by just dabbling with my diet I've lost 8 lbs. I'm not quite down a size in my clothes but I'm getting there.

I'm doing this not because I feel bad for animals but because I want to be the best version of me. If eating vegetables can make that happen, I'm willing to make the HEB produce section my best friend.

Here is a sample of what I eat during the day:

Breakfast: Salad - 2 handfuls of baby spinach
6 baby carrots
4 grape tomatoes
1/4 red bell pepper
1 handful of walnuts
I like this because I can eat it in the car on the way to work.

Lunch: Foot Long Veggie Delight on Wheat from Subway with spicy mustard and hold the cheese
This is a ton of food but only 500 calories.

Dinner: Baked Sweet Potato Plain
Baby Spinach Salad Topped with Canned Black Beans (Ranch Style is my favorite), 2tsp of Light Oil and Vinegar Dressing, and Chopped Green Onions.
I love how this looks on a plate with all the colors. Even Damon the die hard meat eater likes this meal.

I still eat some meat/fish a few times a week but it's more of a side dish buried under all the vegetables. Several of my co-workers have enjoyed telling me how weird eating all veggies is and how I'm going to be unhealthy and lose all my hair? Hopefully seeing will be believing for them too. Going against the norm is crazy to most people but when the norm is being overweight and sluggish I'm willing to be crazy. Crazy for fruit and vegetables that is.