Wonderful News On Christmas Eve

As we get a little older, health issues have always seemed to be a forgone conclusion. Well this new way of eating appears to be changing things. At the end of January 2008 my annual prostate test came back with a PSA of 3.7. The lowest it had ever been was 3.2 back in March of 2004. I was happy with the results. Then I had a blood test in early September 2008 and the PSA had risen to 4.5. My doctor sent me to a urologist and he ran another test. In a matter of a couple of weeks, it had jumped to 6.1. For those of you who know about such things, quick jumps like this are a cause for concern. The urologist decided to put me on a month of antibiotics to see how things went. At the same time, I was following a totally vegan diet. No meat of any kind, no dairy products of any kind, no nuts other than a few walnuts, and no oils of any kind. Here it is, the day before Christmas 2008 and I show up at my urologist's office to check my PSA and determine our next course of action. Why I picked the day before Christmas, I will never know. Not a good time to be getting potentially bad news. To my amazement, it had dropped to 2.2. My doctor said he would see me again in six months. That is the lowest my PSA has ever been since I started monitoring it in January 2003. This was a great Christmas gift. (Even though my urologist is Jewish). What better present than the gift of health. I have taken antibiotics before and have seen my PSA drop to the high 3's, but never as low as it is now. Since I don't believe in coincidences, it is clear to me that being a vegan is literally modifying my health. I'm convinced that the radical lowering of my PSA was due to a combination of antibiotics and diet, and that diet played the more significant role. I haven't lost much weight lately. I am still down only 24 pounds, mostly the result of ingesting large amounts of carbs. Our new bread machine is great, but I have to learn to control myself from eating all the healthy bread I have been baking. It is so good, that I go through a loaf every two days sometimes. The interesting thing is that I haven't gained any weight.

Pam and I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a healthy, happy New Year.

I'm Stuck and I Can't Get Up

Today I decided to go to town in my big old H2 Hummer.  I didn't figure that our long, uphill slopping driveway would be any match for the H2 in 4WD low.  Was I ever mistaken.  I only got half-way up the driveway before I started sliding back down.  I tried several times before I finally said that I was no match for the ice sheet that had formed under the foot deep snow.  Pam was glad because she didn't want me to go anywhere anyway.  Now I am truly feeling cabin fever and want this to be over soon.  More snow is expected later in the week.  Great.  I can hardly wait.  What a pain.  The snow load got so heavy that it caved in the top on our party barge.  The frame just couldn't take it and collapsed.  

On a happier note, it has been fun going for walks in the snow.  We have met several of our neighbors since they can't get out of their driveways either.  One parked two miles away at a gas station and walked home.  We are all walking and enjoying our talks with each other while the dogs run around without having to worry about traffic.

  

A minor disaster struck our party barge.

Two Recipes That Totally Rock

Getting Into The Christmas Spirit

Today is a wonderful time to just stay inside and stay warm with some hot apple cider.  It is beautiful and very cold.  I have never seen this much snow before in Olympia and we are supposed to get more later today.  It's unusual and probably the result of that pesky "global warming" we keep hearing about.  It is really starting to look like Christmas around here.  I loved it yesterday, because I was able to get out and drive and enjoy slipping all over the place.  It always amazes me when so many people find this scary.  I can remember being a sixteen year old kid in Colorado.  When it snowed (which was quite often) we would go out into a big parking lot and practice driving (All businesses were closed on Sunday back then so that was the perfect time because the parking lot was completely empty).  My buddies and I would take turns hitting the gas from one corner of the lot, get up to speed, and then hit the brakes and cramp the steering wheel.  It was great to be out of control as the car would spin in several 360's.  We really learned how to get steering control back when the back end of the car started trying to meet the front end.  I learned to always steer into the skid, a skill that has served me well.

Two Great Recipes For The Christmas Season

There are two recipes that I found on the internet and modified slightly that were great successes.  One is Corn Chowder and the other is Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Both were submitted by Isa Chandra Moskowitz from Vegan with a Vengence.  Pam rated the cookies a 9 1/2 and the soup a 9.  That is an excellent rating coming from her since she is a bit of a finicky eater.

CORN CHOWDER

1 tablespoon olive oil (for this I used 1 tablespoon of hot water and added ground flax seed to it, one teaspoon at a time while stirring, until the mixture was almost the consistency of oil.  It took me 3 teaspoons.)  Note:  I have also been told that oil can be replaced with canned pumpkin.

1 large red bell pepper, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups).

1 cup carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice.

2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and thinly sliced (use just 1 if you like less heat).  I used just 1 but Pam thought we should use 1 1/2 - 2 next time.

1 teaspoon dried rosemary.

1 teaspoon dried thyme.

A few dashes of fresh black pepper.

1 teaspoon of salt.

3 cups vegetable broth (or water).  (we used vegetable broth).

3 cups fresh corn kernals, from about 5 ears of corn.  (We used frozen organic corn from the food coop).

2 medium-size russet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/2- inch chunks.

1 bay leaf.

Pinch of cayenne.

Juice of 1 lime.

1/4 cup plain soy milk

1 tablespoon maple syrup.

1.  In stockpot saute' the onions, bell peppers, carrots, and jalapenos in the hot water/flax seed mixture over medium heat until the onions are translucent, about 7 minutes.

2.  Add rosemary, thyme, black pepper, and salt; saute 1 minute more.  Add the broth, corn, potatoes, bay leaf, and cayenne.  Cover and bring to a boil, the lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.  Uncover and simmer 10 minutes more to let the liquid reduce a bit.

3.  Remove the bay leaf and puree half the chowder by transferring half the chowder to a blender, pureeing till smooth and adding back to soup.

4.  Add juice of 1 lime, soy milk and maple syrup, and simmer for 5 more minutes.

5.  Let sit for at least 10 minutes and serve.  Tastes even better the next day.

Before I could get a picture, this is all that was left.

CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES.

prep time: 15 minutes - cooking time 10 minutes per batch - makes 3 dozen.

These are brownie-like and chewy.  Be careful not to overbake them, they may seem like they aren't done after 10 minutes but they are!

3/4 cup apple sauce.

2 cups Apriva no-calorie sugar.

2 teaspoons vanilla.

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon ground flax meal.

1/2 cup soymilk.

2 cups all purpose flour.

3/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder.

1 teaspoon baking soda.

1/2 teaspoon salt.

1 cup vegan chocolate chips.  (I used 1 cup, but it seemed like it might have been too much.  I would consider cutting it back to 3/4 cup or maybe 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup dried cherries).

Directions -

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Blend flax meal and soy milk for 30 seconds.  Set aside.

In a large bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In a separate large bowl cream together applesauce and Apriva.  Add the flax meal/soy milk mixture and mix well.  Add the vanilla.

Fold in the dry ingredients in batches.  When it starts to get too stiff to mix with a spatula, use your hands until a nice stiff dough forms.  Add the vegan chocolate chips and mix with your hands again.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and flatten into a disc that's about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart.

Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, then set them on a wire rack to cool completely.  They taste even better the next day, if they last that long.

Note:  For chocolate chocolate chip cherry cookies, replace 1 teaspoon of vanilla with almond extract, and replace 1/2 of the chocolate chips with dried cherries.

If being a vegetarian is eating like this, you can count me in..........

 

Our Vegan Vacation

Well, it has been awhile since I posted to my blog.  Since my last entry, Pam and I went on Thanksgiving vacation to Gulf Shores, Alabama (AKA The Redneck Riveria) with my brother, his wife and in-laws in side-by-side condos on the beach.  We had a great time and stayed on our vegan diet with the help of Vicki, my brother's wife.  It was the first meatless Thanksgiving dinner we have ever had, and it all tasted great.  We ate so much, though, that Pam gained three pounds.  Too many great tasting desserts.  My weight stayed the same.  I learned that eating vegan food does not mean eating low calorie food and that I need to watch the carbs and eat more veggies if I want to see the pounds melt off like they did in the first three months of this new way of eating.

Pam and Vicki on the beach at Gulf Shores, Alabama

Shasta keeping an eye on me

We really missed our Aussie Shasta, and she was really excited to see us return.  It seems that everything has now kind of settled down as we prepare for Christmas.  It is snowing here in Olympia, Washington and everything outside my office window, including the trees and the lake, take on a magical quality.  It looks like a giant snow globe.  It is beautiful, but actually a little too cold for my taste.  I can imagine laying on a warm beach somewhere drinking those vegan cervezas.  The grain makes them legal.  (Whoops.  I mean lite cervezas).

Looking out of my office window at the snow, lake and trees.

Pam has lost the Thanksgiving weight plus one pound for a total of thirty-one pounds.  I have lost a total of twenty-three.  Not bad for all we have been eating.

A couple of nights ago I made a loaf of Cinnamon Raisin Bread in our new Zojirushi BBCCX20 bread machine that we ordered from Amazon.com.  It works great and makes 2 pound horizontal loaves.  The bread was so good that I snacked on it all night and all day yesterday until it was completely gone.  Pam didn't get much of it and so I made another loaf last night.  I plan to stay away from it and give her a chance this time.  We will see how that works out.  ( I totaled up the calories in a loaf of this bread and was amazed that, even though there was zero fat, there was close to 2500 calories.  It all came from the raisins (715 calories), flour (1760 calories) and applesauce (25 calories).  I guess it might be a good idea to cut back on the number of raisins.  Maybe 3/4 cup instead of 1 1/3 cups.  That would cut it back by 325 calories (total 390 calories) and probably wouldn't change the taste a bunch.

Here is the bread machine recipe for anyone who is interested (It makes a 2 lb loaf):

1 1/3 cups of warm water

3 tablespoons of applesauce

4 cups of King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

4 tablespoons of Apriva no-calorie sweetener.

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt.

3 teaspoons of cinnamon (I like cinnamon.  Recipe called for 2 teaspoons).

3 teaspoons of Red Star Bread Machine fast acting yeast.

1 1/3 cups of raisins (I like raisins.  Recipe called for 1 cup).

Place water, applesauce, flour, sweetener, salt, and cinnamon in the bread machine.

Press a dry pocket into the flour and add the yeast to the pocket, making sure the yeast doesn't get wet.  Use the quick baking feature found on most bread machines.  Baking takes 1 hour 58 minutes.  Half-way through the dough kneading process, add the raisins.  Our machine tells us to add the raisins with about 1 hour and 35 minutes left in the process.

The raisin cinnamon bread masterpiece made in our new Zojirushi Bread Machine

Vicki has gotten me excited about trying new recipes.  So far I have made a tofu cheesecake, a couple of great pizzas (the bread machine makes great pizza dough), and scrambled tofu and potatoes O'brien.   Now I intend to try new recipes that use more vegetables and less carbs.  

We have been going out to find restaurants where we can eat while staying legal.  There is a franchise restaurant called Panda Express where they stir fry vegetables in corn starch, water and garlic.  We have a large order of vegetables and white rice at a total cost to us of a little more than $6.00 for both of us to eat until we are full.  Their vegetables are some of the best I have ever eaten.  Not too soft and not too crunchy.  We put soy sauce on them.  We have also found a Thai restaurant that has agreed to cook us a mango dish in water rather than oil.  We go there with friends at least once a week.  It is more difficult to eat out because most places use oil in their dishes, but we see it as an adventure to try to find food that we can eat.  The other day, we went to a Teriyaki restaurant and ordered vegetables without oil.  When they came, I could tell that they tasted funny so I asked how they had been cooked.  The waitress said that they didn't use oil, but instead used chicken broth.  I only ate the rice.  It is amazing, but after eating without meat or oil, it is very easy to tell when something is added to your food that doesn't taste right. 

Pam Told Me She Lied

PAM IN A BEFORE PICTURE WITH SHASTA ON A WALK AT THE BEACH

I got a surprise last night.  Pam told me she lied about what she weighed when she began this new lifestyle.  She has truly lost 30 pounds, not 22.  That is amazing!!!  Those are the kind of lies that I consider to be OK.  She looked to me like she had lost more than 22 pounds, but who am I to question her on such a sensitive subject?  On November 24th, she will have been meat free for three months.  Her promise to me to stay on this new eating lifestyle will expire.  Pam believes that this is a lifestyle she can live with for life.  She weighs less and feels so much better.  The most she ever lost on any weight loss program was 20 pounds on Jenny Craig.  When she quit the program, the weight magically reappeared.  Now she is never hungry and eats what she wants.  I also attribute this amazing weight loss to walks with our dog Shasta about one hour, five days a week. I can hardly wait for results of her blood test when she goes to the doctor later this week.  I'm praying that her cholesterol is way down from the 250 it was before.  Pam says she is over halfway back to the weight she was when I married her in 1985.  She is such a beautiful woman.  Both inside and out.  God really blessed me.

MODELING PICTURE TAKEN IN HAWAII (1987) TWO YEARS AFTER WE WERE MARRIED 

I am now heart attack proof

Today I went in to get a blood test to see if this diet has been working.  Pam is going in for a physical on November 20th.  Well the results are in.  I may not be happy about the election, but I am certainly happy about our new lifestyle.

I began tracking my cholesterol in Nov 2000 when it was 194.  Since then, it has ranged between 182 and 233.  Just prior to August 24th when I started eating no meat, fish, milk products, eggs, or oils of any kind, my cholesterol was 203.  Just 74 days later it has dropped to a healthy 142.  That is less than the 150 that was my target.  My LDL went from 120 to 79 (It had been as high as 152 in the past).  That is less than the 80 that was my target.  My triglycerides dropped from 143 to 116.  This means, that if I can keep or improve these numbers, that I will be heart attack proof and less likely to get a lot of other diseases as well.

Our three month trial is up on November 24th, and I don't think we will ever go back to eating the way we once did.  We weigh less, we feel better, we are more alert, and in much better overall spirits.  At least it is nice to know that we have total control over one aspect of our lives.

My blood work tells me we are on the right track.  Considering this was a very easy transition to make (Except having to learn the new recipes and exercising the vigilance necessary to insure that products don't have hidden items we don't want to eat), it is only a matter of time until we achieve and maintain total health.  At 62 years old, I feel great!!!!

Election Day Blahs.

ELECTION DAY - If there ever was a day that my blood pressure would pop my eyes out, this is it.  Ok. We made history.  Can everybody quit complaining about racism now and get on with it? I saw Jesse Jackson crying.  I hope it is because he knows his race baiting gig is up and he is going to have to go out and find a real job.  

It is really time to lighten up folks.  When all those people realize that the new President isn't going to pay for their gas or make their mortgage payment for a house they couldn't afford to begin with, we are going to need all the humor we can get.  Election night we spent time with good friends.  Unfortunately, Pam and I ended up eating a small Halloween bag of peanut M&M's each and some Doritos that had oil in them.  I think we were unconsciously trying to commit suicide.  Now we don't have to.  The State of Washington will do it for us since the law passed that allows doctors to overdose someone who is dying anyway.  I guess this is one way to save on paying out social security benefits.

WASHINGTON STATE

Fun at the food co-op

Olympia Food Coop

Accepting a different way of eating has posed some interesting life changes.  Like mingling with people I would normally have nothing in common with at our local food coop. I have to admit that I enjoy it.  Kind of like going to the zoo in the 60's.  I was observing the wildlife while the wildlife was observing me.  As a Washington State Guard soldier, I attended our monthly drill yesterday at Camp Murray and was about to go to a retirement luncheon.  Pam called and told me she had been in an accident and that her car's side airbags had deployed.  I asked her if she was alright and found out that she was, but just shaken up.  She asked me to meet her at the body shop where her car was being towed.  The car was pretty messed up and close to a total loss.  On the way home, I decided to stop by the local food co-op to get a loaf of bread while still in uniform.  From that experience, I came away with a clearer understanding of what it feels like to be different and a minority.  I was observed like I was from another planet.  When I got to the counter, the girl (at least I'm pretty sure it was a girl) behind the counter just kind of wrinkled up her face at me like she had just burped up something that didn't agree with her.  Then she said sarcastically, "Are you on a mission?".  I considered admitting that I was a part of a special ops group assigned by President Bush to discreetly infiltrate America's counter culture.  My cover was to become a vegan and hang with the natives.  How on earth did the clerk blow my cover?  Instead I just told her that I was on a mission to buy a loaf of whole wheat bread and ended the conversation with "Mission accomplished. "  It was a really strange experience.  I felt it might be appropriate to burn my draft card or something.  I do have to admit it was fun.  Next time I am bored, I think I'll wear my uniform to the Farmer's Market, Evergreen State College campus, or downtown Olympia to make some new friends.  God love them all.

MOH Recipient John Hawk and CW2 Jack D. Clark at flag presentation ceremony in the Washington State Capital Building.

I have cut my blood pressure medicine back to 1/2 tablet every day and my blood pressure is still lower that it was when I was taking a complete tablet.  I am hoping to do away with the medicine completely after I get my full physical in January.  My blood pressure is 121 over 78 and my pulse is 69.  My weight went back up to 206 because I am eating too much fruit.  I need to cut it back a little on the fruit and eat more vegetables.

BENEFIT

our new lifestyle will keep this from happening

Dive, dive, the weight continues to sink

Today I weigh 205 pounds.  I can't believe that I have actually lost 20 pounds so far on this new eating plan.  Unlike Jenny Craig, NutriSystem or Weight Watchers, this is a way of life we can live with.  Everybody provides prepackaged foods that starve you until you lose some weight. Once you are no longer eating their highly processed food, the weight comes right back.  As long as we continue eating the way we do, this won't happen.

Pam has also lost 20 pounds.  That is a lot of weight for her 5'6" frame.  I put my hands around her waist and it is obviously getting much smaller.  She is now a strong supporter of this way of eating.

 

This new way of eating is changing our lives

Wow!!!!  It has been 54 days since we have eaten any meat or chocolate chip cookies.  It is amazing that we have been able to adapt our eating to a healthy diet so easily and don't really miss the food we used to eat.  Pam says that the only thing she misses once in awhile is chicken. She refuses to tell me why.

One day, she got bored and decided go out and buy three chocolate chip cookies.  She took one bite and realized that they no longer tasted as good as she remembered them.  She spit out the bite and threw all of them away.  I was really proud of her.  I believe it is a sign that old habits are hard to break, but she is recognizing that the things we used to eat don't taste as good anymore.  Once we got the oils and processed sugars out of our systems, we didn't have the cravings like we used to have that caused us to fill up on empty calories.

We eat an awful lot of beans and rice.  In fact, my feet hardly ever touch the ground anymore. 

Today I weigh 208 pounds.  Down 17 pounds from when I started on August 24th.  My pants are starting to get a little baggy.  Pam has also lost the exact same amount, 17 pounds.  We are never hungry.  We eat all we want, when we want, and weight keeps heading south.  If I wasn't living it, I wouldn't believe it.  People are telling Pam she is looking great and wondering what she is doing to lose so much weight.  When she tells them, they say that they think she is courageous for being able to modify her life like she has.  Many think it is too radical for them though.  Back before August 24th, I would have thought the same thing.  I have been told that people with Cholesterol less than 150 and an LDL of less than 80, don't have heart attacks.  That is what I am shooting for.  

Eating in restaurants is a challenge

We have found that going out to restaurants and finding something to eat is an adventure every time.  

When we tell the waiter, no meat, no eggs, cheese, nuts, or oils of any kind, he just looks at us with a quizzical look on his face that seems to say "Tell me again.  Why are you bothering to eat?"  The good thing is that we have found some very accommodating restaurants.  We have eaten Thai food and many salads and baked potatoes.  We take our own zero calorie Walden Farms salad dressing with us and hummus to put on a baked potato.

Today we went out to lunch with Marty McCarty, the director of Military Young Life, and had a great salad.  Pam and I have each lost five pounds, and she is starting to get pumped about this diet. 

(Example:  Thankfully not to be confused with my actual wife.)

Life is about taking chances

In early August, my wife Pam went to the doctor and discovered that her cholesterol was 250 and she was close to becoming a type II diabetic.  I like having her around so I knew we needed to make some changes in our lifestyle.  About that time, I talked to my sister-in-law Vicki who told me about some amazing results that her pastor had achieved in restoring his health through a change in diet.  She told me that we would have to give up meat, all dairy products, nuts and all oils.  I told her she was nuts.  I might as well be dead.   

I loved my steak and was a total sugar addict and Pam was a sugar addict who had to have three big chocolate chip cookies everyday or she went into withdrawals.  This would never work.  No how, no way.....

Then I sat down with Pam and we discussed the outlook for our lives together if we didn't make some major changes in our love affair with food and all types of sweets.  Like everything, things weren't all bad.   Vicki did say we could have alcohol.  I reasoned that if I drank enough, I could maybe forget that I hadn't eaten.

I was totally shocked when Pam said she would commit to giving this lifestyle change a three month trial.  This is a woman that very rarely will make an outright commitment to something I suggest.  (Mainly because there is a good chance that my suggestions will turn out badly).  She said that she had planned to go on Jenny Craig, but would give this a chance instead.  I nearly fell out of my chair.  So I began to research recipes that I could fix that would keep her taste buds from freaking out and her gag reflex in check.  I even found a wholesome brownie recipe and learned that oils could be replaced with plain old applesauce on a 1 for 1 basis.  We were getting off to a good start.  The big question.....?  Could it possibly last?  In order to keep peace at home, I won't announce Pam's starting weight, but I weigh 225 pounds, my cholesterol is 203 and my LDL is 120.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained (or in the case of artery blockage and weight, nothing lost).