Week 2, Part 2: True Confessions

The first consultation for the Flax-y plan was more than 3 weeks ago, and there’s been no follow-up since. We’re supposed to meet again this Friday. My preparatory mental review of “progress” is not cause for rejoicing.

When we met, I asserted that I was up for any & all changes for a period of 3 months.

I lied.

While I was capable of that sort of dedication in the past, with each new diet plan I lose heart/steam/compliance at an ever more rapid clip.

Part of the reason is that for nearly each plan, initial weight loss was followed by a plateau & then rapidly regaining the weight. Bad enough if the regain had resulted from a Ben & Jerry’s binge–but since it usually occurred while still virtuously consuming mainly steamed broccoli and kale, well, sorry, but that’s just cosmic injustice. I understand that this is common plight for most dieters, but that’s little comfort.

With Flax-y, I haven’t [yet?] hit the dread plateau, but I’m finding it so difficult to maintain all the suggested changes that it’s just a question of time before I give up entirely. I’m already flagging.  Last week I was able to attend a wedding and eat only some vegetables & less than 1/2 a serving of salmon. But last night I came home tired from work and simply absolutely positively could not resist filching about a quarter cup of the mac and cheese (still warm! fragrant! creamy! and topped with buttery, perfectly browned, fresh bread crumbs!) left so enticingly next to the stove-top where I was reheating, yet again, some of the vile witch’s brew I prepared on Sunday.

So I think I need to:

1. Reexamine my goals, shooting for something achievable
2. Prioritize the recommendations, and jettison–at least temporarily–any less crucial for the beginning stages
3. Figure out how to obtain a greater variety of food–that’s actually appetizing!–to get me through the week (quite a tall order given my schedule)

 

Week 2: Adzuki & Spinach Soup (& a Few Words on “Creativity”)

• Weight: 1/2 kilo down. Not bad. It was a difficult week for compliance: a wedding, dinner at a restaurant, & weekend away. All these disruptions = less time for cooking.
• Energy level: Meh. No discernible change.

Soup will probably remain my fallback strategy; a potful can supply all dinners till shabbat. This week I was so scrapped for time that my primary considerations were speedy prep, using ingredients on hand, nutritious, and filling enough that I wouldn’t “supplement” with Snickers bars.

Luckily I already had the necessary ingredients for a tried & true recipe: the adzuki & spinach soup from my default cookbook, The Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health: More Than 200 New Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes for Delicious and Nutrient-Rich Dishes. [Terrible title. But nearly every recipe is great.]

Correction: I had almost all the necessary ingredients. In other words, I had beans.

Now normally I cook like someone with the knowledge gleaned from experience of…uh…11 days. I slavishly follow recipes. Haul out a cookbook each time I do anything more complex than brewing a tea bag.

But one of the mandates for this Flax-y regimen was to be more creative. Here was an opportunity! Okay, so I didn’t have broth; but surely water would do if I compensated with extra spices. I had just one spindly wilted scallion; but had a nice big leek. And although the recipe is called “Adzuki Spinach Soup”, and I didn’t actually have any spinach, I did have a whole lot of unidentified green leaves courtesy of the last delivery from Chubeza. Aren’t greens pretty much interchangeable? Hey, seaweed is green, too–& so healthy & recommended by Flax-y. So decided to add some wakame, too.

I merrily threw together the ingredients I’d gathered. And, heady with the prospect of burgeoning creativity, used “splashes” of the specified seasonings–plus a few others not even listed in the recipe. Instinctively! Without measuring!!

Ah, yes–every day in every way I’m becoming more & more creative.

The resulting soup looked quite similar to the one I usually prepare, maybe just a bit paler from the addition of leeks.

The smell, however, was quite a bit more…um…[looking for a euphemism here]…pungent. Guess that “splash” of rice vinegar was more like a downpour. And the wakame grew & grew & seemingly consumed some of the other ingredients.

Upshot: The soup is edible, but just barely. And I don’t have time to prepare an alternative.

It’s gonna be a loooong week.

Week 1: Orange Soup

• Weight: 1 kilo down. But no balloons & champagne just yet. Have lost/regained the same 2 kilo dozens of times over the past few years. The trick will be continuing to lose & maintain the loss long term.
• Energy level: Still lower than the Dead Sea.

Gathering the ingredients & getting my head around all the prescribed changes took longer than expected (duh; I always underestimate…). Luckily I started during Sukkot vacation (12-Oct), so even with all the family popping in & out I have more time to invest in planning & cooking.

Particularly challenging: not nuking leftovers. I love my microwave! Time’s always an issue, and now eating takes even more of it. It’s doable, but I grumble about the extra time & pots involved. Also, some things when rewarmed in the oven wind up with the texture of toast — or an old shoe.

Soups are a good solution. I’ve been sifting through my old recipes to find ones compatible with this program. One longtime family favorite, orange soup, fits the plan perfectly and is relatively fast. I just make sure to get the green stuff in at another meal.

Orange Soup

• 4 onions, peeled and quartered
• 1/2 head garlic, peeled and smashed
• 2″ piece ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 T olive oil
• “Warm” spices to taste. Options include: cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, cumin, red pepper flakes or Tabasco sauce, salt, pepper
• 6 c orange/white/yellow vegetables, peeled and cubed. Options include: pumpkin, carrots, butternut squash, kohlrabi, sweet potatoes
• 1/2 c red lentils
• 1 can coconut liquid
• Garnish options:
  • Coriander leaves & pomegranate seeds
  • Sprouts

1. In a large kettle, warm the oil and gently saute onions stirring frequently until softened but not brown.
2. Add garlic and ginger and saute an additional minute or two.
3. Add the spices and stir.
4. Add the vegetables and lentils.
5. Add enough water (approx. 1 liter)  to almost cover the ingredients.
6. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the vegetables are very soft and the lentils are falling apart.
7. Let cool slightly and then puree with an immersion blender.
8. Reserve some coconut liquid for garnish, then add the remainder to the soup and blend. (If desired, add additional water — but the soup should be fairly thick so the garnishes don’t sink.)
9. Garnish each bowl with a drizzle of coconut liquid and other options.

Here We Go Again

A new year, a new diet/health regime: “Just Add Flax“. This is based, to my understanding, mostly on classical Chinese health philosophy. Had my first consultation on Sunday & have committed to compliance for at least 3 months.

Why this program?

• Very highly recommended by a friend who’s had dramatic health benefits for over a year. (Aside: I’m not going to mention anyone’s name here until/unless I get permission. For the unlikely event that anyone besides me ever reads this blog)
• The consultant, SN, is persuasive, charming, and experienced. And frank. Stated during the 1st meeting that she’ll be able to address only specific items on my laundry list of complaints.
• This is also the first time that a program I’ve tried involves prescriptions beyond food/exercise:
  • A face “serum” that’s supposed to be healing/relaxing
  • A strong recommendation to do something creative

<Sigh> That last item is nearly a deal breaker. Yet another thing to add to my already impossible to-do list…Hence this blog, which was actually an idea tossed out by the consultant. Is it “creative”? Dunno–but at least it’s a departure from my usual rut of work/family/exercise/cooking/tv. I did in the past really enjoy writing a little food column for the Jerusalem Post. Those articles had been previously collected on my earlier, now-defunct, blog–since the JP charges a fee to read them. (If I find the time I’ll upload them one day to this new version.) And I guess I’ll use this same blog for anything non-food-related (if such a thing exists) that I want to air.

So this newest health program makes number… Yikes, can’t even recall offhand. Will list now, counting backward:

• Crossfit & running: That sounds impressive. My performance was not. Tried my utmost for 2-1/2 months. But simply couldn’t keep up with the group. It was both overly exhausting and ineffective. I still think it’s a great program — and the local trainer is excellent — but it’s just not for me.
• Modified fasting: Based on The Fast Diet. Pretty effective for me and serves as my fall-back plan. Recently realized that its success depends on also walking at least 10,000 steps per day–not always possible on work days.
• Naturopath’s recommendations: He works via Kupat Cholim Clalit and his recommendations were extremely effective for one of my sons. But for me: not so much. After 3 months, I didn’t feel any better. And had actually gained weight.
• The Plan: Had remarkable results in the first days. Then tanked. Very very time consuming and found it impossible to judge which foods, exactly, I was “sensitive” to. Couldn’t sustain it more than a month.
• “Nutritarian” regime — modified vegan. Manged to gain weight on it.
• Local diet group with weekly meetings : Don’t think it even has a name. It did work. Over the course of 6 months reached my target weight. Which I stayed at. For approximately 10 minutes. It depended on absolute fanatic compliance. Like bringing rice cakes and cucumber sticks to eat at your daughter’s wedding. Plus a lot of the recommended food was crap: fake sweeteners, fake bread, processed meat, low fat products with lots of additives, etc. And positively couldn’t tolerate the meetings; felt like I’d joined Alcoholics Anonymous — or Hare Krishna.
• Atkins / South Beach: Low carb / high fat. Nuff said. Can’t believe I bought into that for even a second.
• Adelle Davis. This was while I was still young, fit, and healthy. What was I thinking?? Friends still shudder to recall some of the meals they were subjected to during that [mercifully brief] period.

Pretty long list for someone who was chronically underweight till the age of nearly 50…

So let’s see how I fare with Flax.

Goals:

• Overcome this grinding, constant fatigue
• Lose enough weight (~8 kilo) to help reduce odds of cancer recurrence

Wish me luck! [Note to self: No one but me is reading this…Just how many unread blogs exist out there???]