Had a session with an RD...

I've always pretty much maintained at least a healthy bodyfat measurement, but last fall I went through a long period of intestinal issues which ended up with a colonoscopy finding three pre-cancerous polyps and an infection that was either from parasites or infection (the tests were inconclusive but the antibiotics were horrible!).

I'm also a personal trainer so I really thought I knew my stuff since I've been doing this since 1997. So...to make a boring story shorter, this RD is recommending I incorporate and eventually change to a whole food diet. She gave me some recommended reading which included "The China Study" which I read over the last couple of days.

I'm pretty skeptical when it comes to reading any nutritional books unless they include peer reviewed studies. This one did, but it also had some things that I don't totally agree with, (i.e. the author seems to harbor some real issues with his fellow scientists), but all in all incorporating a whole foods vegetarian diet does seem to be a very plausible lifestyle.

My husband...totally against going that way but he's willing to change a few days worth of meals to vegetarian and stay with his dairy and meat on his own time.

So, I didn't really go hog wild (excuse the expression) for animal-based protein in my regular diet, I did incorporate dairy (yogurt) and chicken and fish because I do quite a bit of weight-training and this diet says that we can get adequate protein from plant based foods. I already eat quinoa, but cutting out the others will have to be a gradual process for me.

I've already noticed a difference in my energy level this last week (decrease) but it could be that I picked up a few extra classes resulting in no real recovery.

So..vegans...vegetarians, give me a typical week of eating for you..if that's not too much to ask.

My DH won't eat any of the vegetarian dishes I make. I have found that with kids, DH, myself all eating different foods, it was too much work to do anything extravagant for myself. I have to keep it basic.

In the fall and winter I eat a lot of home made soups. I can make it ahead of time and freeze them. Lentil, veggie, black bean, butternut squash/pumpkin, etc. In the winter its really easy for me to get in my legumes that way. I also like roasted vegetables. Just wash, cut, toss with some olive oil and roast in the oven.

Spring and Summer its a lot of fresh veggies. Usually a salad for lunch and dinner: greens, veggies, beans, and balsamic vinaigrette. Fruit smoothies are great too. I try and make my dinner a variation on what the family is eating that day. For example, last night I made quesadilla's with spicy black beans, chicken, cheese, salsa for the family. I had a spicy black bean salad garnished with salsa. It was very yummy and satisfying.

Lately for breakfast I've been having a smoothie (banana, frozen berries, kale, and scoop of brown rice protein powder), lunch is a hummus and veggie sandwich/leftovers/soup, dinner is the biggest variable throughout the week. I posted a few ideas in the 'skinny *****' post, but here's a few in regular rotation.

- curry: lots of chickpea/spinach curries or cauliflower/potato ones. Usually with red lentil dal and brown rice or quinoa.
- stir fry: tofu, broccoli, onions, carrots, bok choy, really whatever veggies we have lying around. Either with soy sauce, ginger, and garlic, or a peanut sauce.
- chili: chili beans, tomatoes, sweet potato, maybe some tvp or bulgar to thicken it up.
- roasted veggies and baked tofu: veggies with olive oil and herbes de provence and tofu baked in mix of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and spices. Usually some baguette with this too.
- Middle Eastern Night!: hummus, tabouli, stuffed grape leaves, lots of cut veggies for dipping, pita, maybe ful medames (Egyptian fava beans)
- pizza: whole grain crust, tomato sauce, veggies, and sometimes daiya vegan cheese or tofu ricotta.

Really, I just wing it but there are lots of awesome cookbooks out there. I can't recommend Isa Chandra Moskowitz's books enough. 'Veganomicon', 'Vegan with a Vengeance', and 'Appetite for Reduction'. For me those made me realize how delicious, easy, quick, and healthy vegan cooking could be. I also love my 'How to Cook Everything Vegetarian' book by Mark Bittman. It's not all vegan but most of it can be and has hundreds of recipes. I have lots of others but I use those most. There are also some great vegan blogs with recipes it you want to check out a few that way. Maybe look around your local library and see what they have.

It's great that you're incorporating more vegetarian and vegan foods into your diet! I've been vegan for 8 years and was vegetarian for 8 years before that, and the biggest benefit I've gotten from veganism is that it's really expanded my cooking (and eating) repertoire. Once you cut meat, dairy, eggs, etc. you need to learn to cook with new ingredients, and while it can seem daunting, it's a great skill to have, even if you never become fully veg.

A typical couple days for me look something like this:
Breakfast: homemade granola with soy or coconut yogurt, fruit.
Snack: apple slices with natural peanut butter.
Lunch: Leftover veg chili with sweet potatoes.
Snack: Luna bar.
Dinner: BBQ broccoli and seitan, brown rice.

Breakfast: WW bagel with hummus and tomato.
Snack: Green smoothie with rice protein powder.
Lunch: cucumber and avocado sushi.
Snack: 1 orange, tamari almonds.
Dinner: Tempeh buffalo "wings," greens, cornbread or roasted potatoes

Breakfast: WW toast with marmite and tomato
Snack: Green smoothie (love them)
Lunch: butternut squash soup with toast or quinoa on the side, spinach salad
Snack: Luna bar.
Dinner: Roasted chickpeas with garlic and broccoli.

I probably actually eat more than that during any given day, but that gives you a rough idea of some meals. If you are looking for recipes, I highly recommend any of the books Isa Chandra Moskowitz has put out. She's a great cook, and her recipes are pretty foolproof. Her book the Veganomicon also has an extensive guide for how to cook different grains, beans, and veggies. You can also check out her blog at www.theppk.com, where she's posted a number of recipes.

I eat a lot of legumes as well. Easy to prepare, but one thing you have to be careful, if you're using canned beans, is sodium. So many of them are sky-high. Vegetable curries and stir fries (again, watch the sodium with stir fries), and some creative dishes involving mushrooms (small brown button ones are just baby portabella so I use them a lot).

Can you eat brown rice? I switched to brown rice about a year ago and haven't looked back.

If you're having digestive issues, try mastic gum (supplement, check online). I had a variety of digestive problems a while back, feeling sick after eating, bloating, IBS, etc. Thinking I might have h-pylori, I started taking mastic gum and De-Glycyrrhizinated Licorice Extract and noticed a change in short order. I googled recently if mastic gum might also be good for parasites (I live with pets, so I started to worry) and it should take care of some parasites.

Get a pressure cooker and one of Lorna Sass's cookbooks, if you don't have one already. Dry beans cook up in no time, as long as you've soaked them ahead of time. So much cheaper than canned beans, less waste, only the salt you add, AND none of that BPA from the cans (Eden brand uses BPA-free cans though, if you sometimes want to use canned beans.)

The main thing for me is that I need to get high protein food at every meal if I'm going to have enough without relying on animal products. I'm not vegetarian, but I probably eat no more than five or six meals a week with animal products in them, and I really struggle to get enough protein. That's mainly because I'm still stuck on the convenience-food breakfast - cold or hot cereal, a handful of nuts or a dollop of nut butter, some dried fruit, some chia or flax seeds, and (for cold cereal) some type of white beverage to moisten it. If I start eating the same kinds of foods at all my meals like most world cultures do, I don't think protein would be such an issue.

If you have to use canned beans, rinse them really well; it helps with the sodium. I eat a lot of (from scratch) beans, and what I've been doing recently is soaking them overnight, rinsing, then freezing. Then they're pre-soaked when I need them, and I toss them in to a pot/pressure cooker or whatever.
Also, I'm hooked lately on brown basmati or brown jasmine rice. It's a nice change to plain brown.

Another great thing to do with dried beans is the 90-minute-no-soak method. Basically, you throw a pound of dried beans in a dutch oven and cover with 2" of water, and a tsp of salt if you like. Put them in the oven at 400 for 90 minutes. That is it. They are tasty, and you can keep them in the fridge and use them like (tastier) canned beans for a week or so.

Well, I already bake our bread and it's usually whole wheat with some flaxseed, or maybe sometimes I put calamata olives in it...rosemary etc. Since I tend to be frugal, I always buy dried beans and just soak em overnight, freezing whatever I don't use. Quinoa...millet, wheat berries etc. are always in my pantry and vegies are whatever are in season with the exception of eggplant (allergic).

But, I've never made tofu of any way shape or form and it sounds a little daunting to incorporate it. I'm going to be looking at all the different cookbooks mentioned here (thanks!) and I've already ordered a book called "Thrive" but I can't recall the author right now. Since I teach several indoor cycling classes every week as well as personal training, and my own personal workouts so I want to be able to keep up my endurance and strength.

I see the biggest hurdle being my husband since he's a meat and potatoes (white potatoes at that) kind of guy.

I'm pretty much coming at this change to keep myself healthy. I rarely eat processed food and can be a creature of habit which I guess isn't a great thing if you're trying to eat a huge variety of vegetables and fruit to insure getting as many nutrients as possible. (for a five year period I ate the same lunch every single day, spinach, yam and chicken...really!)

I appreciate all your input and will be checking into blogs and the authors mentioned.

Oh, don't worry about making tofu! It's true that what you can get in the stores in most places isn't near as good as homemade, but it's plenty serviceable, and making tofu IS a hassle. It just is. Not worth it to me, even when I was eating a lot of it, which I don't any more.

Depending on where you are in Washington, if there's a large Chinese or Japanese community, you may be able to find excellent fresh tofu.

We've got "Tacoma Tofu." Fresh, local, and pretty darn good!
Depending on where you are in Washington, you might be able to get it.

I'm right across the river from Portland so I'm sure there's plenty of places over there to get it.