Making Adjustments In Your Weight Loss Plan

It has now been almost 3 weeks since I started on my plan to lose 20 pounds by mid-October.  I am following a primarily whole food plant based diet and trying to stay away from processed and refined foods.  I don't eat any animal products with the exception of some seafood maybe 2 or 3 times a week.  I have been working on increasing my exercise levels gradually, although exercise is not a major part of my strategy.

Right now I am down 5 pounds from my official starting point but also down around 8 pounds from my highest point in August. So I feel that I am making pretty good progress overall.  I have discovered in the past that when I initially start a new weight loss plan, it takes a few weeks for my body to adjust to the process and get into fat burning mode.  After every pound or two my body seems to try to resist and get stuck at the new level for a few days or more. 

So, I have found that I also need to resolve to not only stick to my plan and not give in to the temptation to overindulge in foods I enjoy (even healthy ones), but also make adjustments to portions, eating more foods that are less calorie dense, until the weight loss kicks in again.  The positive side is that as I stay with smaller portions my appetite eventually decreases as well and I am satisfied with less, along with the satisfaction of seeing the scale move down again.  I bounced around for the first 2 weeks, so the bulk of the 5 pounds I have lost in the last three weeks has come in the last 7 days.

For breakfast I am eating some fresh fruit and/or a light fruit smoothie made with some frozen fruit, rice milk or fruit flavored water and some ground flax seed.  That seems to be enough to hold me until lunch, which is usually a large green salad with a low fat dressing and some veggie or bean soup.  Sometimes I add whole grain crackers (e.g., Wasa or Akmak) with hummus, but if I'm satisfied without the crackers I save them for a mid-afternoon snack. 

For dinner I usually eat a variety of cooked veggies with beans or soy meat (tofu, tempeh or meatless "chicken, etc.) and flavor them with Indian curry sauce or Thai peanut sauce or another such concoction--I tend to like the spicier sauces.  Cajun seasoning is also a good option, and I like any kind of beans with tomatoes/tomato sauce and chili seasoning mix.  I also make bean tostadas using taco seasoning with low fat refried beans over a sprouted whole grain tortilla and topped with lettuce, tomatoes and salsa. 

I like to have some dark chocolate for my evening snack, along with tea or decaffeinated coffee.  If I feel I need a little more I add a few raw nuts or seeds.  I also take daily vitamin/mineral supplements including extra B12 and D3.

I am not using any dairy products, but tostadas and meatless tacos or burritos are actually surprisingly good without the cheese.  I have always been a big cheese lover but haven't found any nondairy cheese that I like that well.  I found that going without cheese and dairy products is not as difficult as I expected.  The Eat to Live Diet book is adamantly against cheese and suggested only small amounts of nonfat dairy products if you feel you want them.  We are taught to believe that we need dairy products to get enough calcium in our diet, but if we eat the right kinds of veggies we will get more than adequate amounts without all the unhealthy fats or the lactose sugars. 

After all, what animals in nature continue to drink their mothers' milk after the first year or so?  And the milk from cows or goats is not the same as milk from human mothers anyway.  So it is more likely that we eat dairy products because we just like the taste and have been brought up with it, not because we really need it.  We have to look at the whole picture and see what the real benefits are, and what happens to the animals who are being used as the source of our indulgences.  That's my view now, after giving it a lot of consideration.