This is a continuation of the articles that describe my gradual transition to a vegetarian diet.
I now had realized that going from a diet that had virtually NO rules to maintaining the consumption of food that was 90% vegetarian, I would have to be far more creative than just preparing noodles and some vegetables mixed in.
I was most surprised to see the huge variety and number of recipes that contained no meat.
Books are everywhere on this subject, and of course there is always the Internet.
So my almost incompetent cooking ability started to improve, although I was mainly using a small microwave oven.
Some worthy additions were a slow cooker or 'crock pot' and a steamer, although with a bit of creativity, the microwave was still the standby.
Now here is one of the strange sensations I began to experience as the weeks went by.
I started to actually enjoy the chore of going shopping I became very interested in looking for variety in choosing grains, beans and different types of vegetables.
I will have to put it down to me realizing that I was taking control of my life in a way that I have never experienced before.
Keep in mind that my home-style workout was humming along regularly in the background.
One thing I noticed after a couple of months, was that my resting pulse was well below 60 beats per minute, when previously it was over 70.
I was now looking forward to my next scheduled doctor's visit, where previously I had concerns what kind of results might show up after the tests that my doctor would ask me to have.
Now that the end of year festivities have come and gone, and I unashamedly indulged in the whole range of rich foods my family had prepared when we all got together.
Chicken turkey, shellfish, read meats, cakes, alcohol - the lot! Had I broken down? No.
Not in the slightest.
I had felt no cravings for foods outside my own diet for many weeks by now.
That was surprising to say the least.
The disciplined approach had indeed 'stuck' and here I found myself being able to enjoy the best of both worlds.
By the way this is not entirely new, as I had read about some isolated mountain tribes in Asia who were incredibly fit, because they lived on the side of a mountain, many of them living well over 100 years of age.
Their secret seemed to be one of a fairly strict vegetarian diet for most of the year, only broken occasionally with the consumption of meat for special events or celebrations now and then.
Their secret became my success! My next series will cover the power of the mind and what part it plays in anything we do.
I will be drawing from a background of my career of a community crisis counselor.
I now had realized that going from a diet that had virtually NO rules to maintaining the consumption of food that was 90% vegetarian, I would have to be far more creative than just preparing noodles and some vegetables mixed in.
I was most surprised to see the huge variety and number of recipes that contained no meat.
Books are everywhere on this subject, and of course there is always the Internet.
So my almost incompetent cooking ability started to improve, although I was mainly using a small microwave oven.
Some worthy additions were a slow cooker or 'crock pot' and a steamer, although with a bit of creativity, the microwave was still the standby.
Now here is one of the strange sensations I began to experience as the weeks went by.
I started to actually enjoy the chore of going shopping I became very interested in looking for variety in choosing grains, beans and different types of vegetables.
I will have to put it down to me realizing that I was taking control of my life in a way that I have never experienced before.
Keep in mind that my home-style workout was humming along regularly in the background.
One thing I noticed after a couple of months, was that my resting pulse was well below 60 beats per minute, when previously it was over 70.
I was now looking forward to my next scheduled doctor's visit, where previously I had concerns what kind of results might show up after the tests that my doctor would ask me to have.
Now that the end of year festivities have come and gone, and I unashamedly indulged in the whole range of rich foods my family had prepared when we all got together.
Chicken turkey, shellfish, read meats, cakes, alcohol - the lot! Had I broken down? No.
Not in the slightest.
I had felt no cravings for foods outside my own diet for many weeks by now.
That was surprising to say the least.
The disciplined approach had indeed 'stuck' and here I found myself being able to enjoy the best of both worlds.
By the way this is not entirely new, as I had read about some isolated mountain tribes in Asia who were incredibly fit, because they lived on the side of a mountain, many of them living well over 100 years of age.
Their secret seemed to be one of a fairly strict vegetarian diet for most of the year, only broken occasionally with the consumption of meat for special events or celebrations now and then.
Their secret became my success! My next series will cover the power of the mind and what part it plays in anything we do.
I will be drawing from a background of my career of a community crisis counselor.