Good News and a Good Start

Remember that job interview I had last week? Well, I guess it went well... I've been hired as a supply teacher for the school board I want to work in! I am SO excited (and surprised that I found out so quickly!). I have to bring in a lot of paperwork next week (trancripts, police checks, and the like), so I hope that all goes smoothly.

As for easing into summer? I have not been eating well at all... until today. I've been doing a lot of reading and a LOT of thinking the past few weeks, and I have decided that I need to do something more extreme. I have real trouble with moderation. I have gained back most of the weight I worked so hard to lose. I think that sugar and junk food have a strong hold over me, and I feel certain that if I don't make some serious changes in my eating habits, diabetes and heart disease are in my future (not to mention the fact that I already have gallstones and suffer occasionally from painful gallbladder attacks).

Some of the books I've been reading (mostly from the library) are Dr. Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes by Dr. Neal Barnard, The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Veganist by Kathy Freston, and Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, M.D. All of these books advocate a plant-based diet (quite convincingly).

I've actually thought for a long time about one day trying to transition to a more plant-based diet. A little over a year ago, I read Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet and Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Diet, which are the books that first put the idea in my mind.

After all of this thinking, I've decided to try Joel Fuhrman's Eat to Live program. There is a good description of the plan here, but essentially I will be cutting out animal products (meat and dairy), sugar, salt (as much as possible), coffee, and oil for six weeks. I will be eating tons (and tons and tons) of veggies, fruit, and beans, as well as whole grains.

After the six weeks, the goal is to try and eat this way 90% of the time, and eat other foods (like meat, dairy, sugar, or oil) 10% of the time. If I make it that far, I'll assess how I'm feeling and what I want to do next.

I don't think I will ever become 100% vegan... I don't even know if I'll make it through the six weeks! I just have to do something, and this feels right for me right now.

This weekend, I'm planning to eat mostly Eat to Live-style (I had pizza for dinner tonight, and I'm going to a barbecue on Sunday), and begin the plan in earnest on Monday. I'm also planning to blog about it all (maybe not every day or every meal, like with Joshi, but fairly frequently!). Here are some of today's eats:

For breakfast, I had a green smoothie with almond milk, bananas, strawberries, flaxseed, and lettuce, along with some walnuts.

I had lunch in a food court - a delicious salad with avocado, tomato, red onion, kidney beans, and chickpeas, followed by some fruit salad.

I also went grocery shopping. I don't think I've ever bought so many vegetables at the same time before!

All those groceries meant lots of food prep could be done. I'm planning on making soup tomorrow that calls for two bunches of kale, three leeks, five pounds of carrots, two bunches of celery, and four onions. I got it ALL washed, chopped, and ready to go. I also got some dried beans soaking. (You should know that I did all of this with a crazy caffeine-withdrawal headache.)

Will there be room in the fridge for all this kale?!

We also listed our condo for sale this week, and the showings have begun. The next few weeks will be interesting, to say the least!

I will absolutely be posting again soon with more on Eat to Live. I'm very excited!