Time for an update!

I figured it was time for a VB6 update, plus I got inspired.

I've noticed since I've been mostly vegan that I'm eating less at meals. Even when I'm really, really hungry (which can happen on a vegan diet) I can't eat as much dinner as I was before I started the diet (er, lifestyle.) I was wondering about that this morning and I came up with a theory.

It must be that my body, when determining fullness, takes into account not just what's in my stomach, but also what's in the rest of my gut. My stomach is saying it's hungry, and it is, but my gut is full of lovely water and roughage from all the fruits and vegetables I've been eating. So when my stomach is full, my brain says, "stop eating." Before I started eating so many fruits and veggies, my gut didn't feel full, so my brain got unclear messages.

It's just a theory, but it makes sense. Because now I find myself taking smaller portions and sometimes I can't finish them. I just ate half a sweet potato with navy beans, avocado and tomato on it* and just as I was finishing the last few bites, I was totally satisfied. I intend to pack a few snacks when I head out to work this afternoon, but it was nice to eat fresh food and enjoy it and feel sated. That hasn't happened to me too often in my life so I hope it's the start of something new and healthy for me.

Also, I'm pretty sure based on how my clothes are fitting that I'm losing weight, so that's good. I'm really tempted to weigh myself but I know nothing good comes of that so I won't. Eventually I'll go to the doctor for something and they will weigh me and then I'll know my weight. In the meantime, I'll go by how I feel and how my clothes fit, which is better and better right now. I'll take it.

So far, so good! Thanks, Mr. Bittman!

*This potato recipe comes from the VB6 book, and you can top the potato with pretty much anything, as long as it's vegan (if you're eating it before 6. After 6,  go crazy!) Last night, Hopper made baked sweet potatoes for dinner, and put out beans, spinach and cheese as toppings. Boo loves baked potatoes and she enjoyed topping her own with butter and cheese, with some spinach on the side. When he baked the potatoes, he threw a few extra potatoes into the oven, so now we have baked sweet potatoes in the fridge. I put one in a bowl, topped it with beans, salt and pepper, and threw it into the microwave. While it was in there, I cut up some avocado and tomato, then threw that on top of the potato with lots of salt and pepper. Lunch done. This combo is probably a bit messy to bring to work, but the spinach and beans could just be thrown on top in a container and then nuked at work. I intend to do that tomorrow.