It’s been a solid week as far as my eating habits go! I wrote about the challenge Jerry and I set for each other, but in short: I had to make a dinner recipe that I really wanted, but I didn’t think Jerry would like because of the vegetables; as far as Jerry was concerned, he had to Eat them and see if his taste buds adjust to eating vegetables he thinks he won’t like.
Sounds weird, right? Do I “have” to do what I really want? (To be honest though, this is actually hard for me; I feel really guilty cooking with ingredients (usually vegetables) that I know Jerry doesn’t like.) Jerry has said that he’s tired of eating like a kid (avoid vegetable). He always eats what I make, but I always try to make something I know he likes. Great, it’s good for both of us.
We went to the grocery store together and bought a bunch of vegetables, which was actually fun. I was excited to put things in my cart that I wouldn’t normally buy – mushrooms, broccoli, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, red cabbage, and more. I looked through my vegan cookbook, looking for recipes that used a lot of vegetables that Jerry didn’t like.
One of his pet peeves is cucumbers, so I said I wouldn’t do anything with cucumbers. But I made a sweet potato shawarma bowl and cucumber was one of the ingredients. I told him he could do it without the toppings, but he insisted he wanted to try it like cucumbers. He did it. When he tried a piece on its own, he didn’t like it, but when it was mixed with all the Mediterranean foods, he said they went very well together. (I kept raving about the whole bowl because it was so delicious.)
I’ve been eating almost all whole foods since I’ve been trying to incorporate Dr. Gregor’s Daily Dozen into my diet. So that’s the result of this challenge – eat whole foods for two weeks straight. It’s been a week now and Jerry has lost six pounds!
As far as my weight goes, well…I’m really excited to see the scale actually going down. On Monday, I lost about three pounds. We went to Lapita for Eli’s birthday dinner on Monday night. I think the last time I went out to eat was last March when Jerry and I went to Rockford, IL! You know I *love* Lapita.
Eating vegetarian food in a Lebanese/Mediterranean restaurant is easy—there are plenty of options. However, because I wanted to eat whole foods and lose weight, I skipped the pita bread and garlic sauce. I didn’t want to eat more than I usually eat at home. So, I bought herbed baked potatoes and hummus. Their hummus is mind-blowing, so I knew I wanted that; I just needed something to dip it in, haha. They are really good! I feel good about what I eat. (I actually had a small salad at home before we left so I could eat leafy greens.)
La Pita has added additional plant-based options, including Impossible “meat” alternatives! Jerry was excited to see this. So he made kafta with Impossible “meat” instead of beef. I took a taste and it was “really” good – I wasn’t expecting it at all. Jerry loved it, to say the least.
On the way home we had to stop and pick up some frozen blueberries (I eat them every morning with breakfast before we head out). While walking through the store I saw a Lindt chocolate bar made with oat milk and I just couldn’t resist – I wanted to try it so bad! Since I’d been eating so well all day, I thought Jerry and I could share the chocolate. (Awesome. If you’re vegan or plant-based and don’t like dark chocolate, give this a try.)
Anyway, the point is, the next morning I gained the weight back – three pounds! I know it’s not because of too many calories, so it’s probably the water weight. I just hope it comes off before I weigh it. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
It’s still down from last week’s 144.4, but I’m excited when I see such a big improvement! Regardless, I’m still doing great with everything – I’m eating about 95% whole foods this week and it’s making a huge difference in how I feel. I really enjoy eating so many vegetables and even get excited about cooking. Jerry loves trying all new foods, so he wants to keep doing that. This is a fun experiment! Jerry wants to start writing on Tuesdays again, so maybe he’ll write this next week.
It’s been a pretty good start to the year so far – let’s hope it continues! 😉