Since Friday I ate my famous white bean salad, had the lunch buffet at the Sahara Middle Eastern Restaurant, went home to my Mom's to unload the last of my canned produce and ate as much as I could all weekend in anticipation for a new phase in my 'better health' experience, to live as a raw vegan, swearing off all artificial sweeteners, baked goods and processed foods. It will not be easy. I still have a refrigerator filled with Tofu, which I may continue to use in my fruit smoothies. To supplement my smoothies I also bought some vanilla soy milk, but after this week I feel the tofu and soy milk will be gone, and I will embark on a quest to obtain all of my nutritional needs from raw, fresh vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds. I intend to pursue this way of life as I approach the home stretch of my great 'vegan experiment' with the hopes of continuing my blog into a new phase of life: The raw vegan experiment. So this past weekend I went home and ate a bowl of zucchini squash with some pasta and olive oil. Then I ate some olive loaf bread with olive oil spread. The next day I had lots and lots of bread of one variety or another, with what amounted to almost a whole small container of the Smart Balance olive oil based spread. I had the last of almost a whole bag of baked tortilla chips with Pace brand mild picante sauce. I snacked on some cherry tomatoes. I rode my beach cruiser bike on the Cape Henry trail for about 12 miles (six miles each way) at First Landing State Park, which is perhaps one of the most beautiful places in the world. I took my older brother back to the park and went for a short walk again. Took him out to buy some sneakers and clothes. Then we went to a cheap all you can eat Asian buffet (his treat) and I ate rice, vegetable chow fun, steamed cabbage, lots and lots of mixed vegetables (mainly broccoli), watermelon and honey dew. My brother was the opposite -- he ate as much boiled shrimp, fried chicken and General Tsao's chicken as he could possibly consume. It was actually very sad for me to watch because I know food is killing him. But he was hungry and he wanted to celebrate his new clothes and trail sneakers he bought for exercise. I hope he follows through with his wish to change his life. While scarfing plate after plate of cabbage, broccoli and rice I went on and on about how just eating a vegetarian diet of mostly vegetables will allow you to lose weight no matter how much food you eat. I knew I was eating my words though. That night I went home and ate more bread, a little bit of dry cereal, and about a whole bag of red seedless grapes. The next day I was unbearably sore from my bike ride, but my brother and I went for nearly a four mile hike on both the Bald Cypress and Osmanthus Trail. The trail is so beautiful, but the swamp has been drying up pretty bad this year. The forest was still dark and green and lush with Spanish moss, cypress and towering pines.
I ate more of the same yesterday, and then my mom presented me with a dish of boiled potatoes, tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. I ate it up and then I went back to the park and walked with my mom for about an hour and drove back to the city. Last night I stopped in at the supermarket and there was a sale for vegetarian bologna slices, and I thought about how inconvenient it was for this to happen right at this very point and time: for no matter how good the veggie slices are, I am progressing towards a diet of fresh fruits and vegetables. I wasn't even hungry, but I love the stuff so much I bought two packs and a loaf of multi grain bread and ate the whole thing. It was just another one of my famous 'last meal' before the diet, only it was strictly vegetarian. I ate so much this weekend that I didn't even bother to weigh myself. I'll do it today though, after my classes at the health club.
I see green at the horizon as I approach my destination.
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