I LOVE cooking and convinced myself I could do it because, as the homepage says, “No pleasure is denied, just unobtrusively delayed and contained.” It’s not easy, but healthy and sustainable. Definitely read the homepage for more persuasion.

… And I also became a vegetarian in 2007 except for relatively rare meals of grass-fed beef, or other pastured/sustainable meat. We don’t focus on health so much as pleasure though, and the No S diet helps keep us from gaining weight. :)

I’ve also found a great workout buddy and we support each other by showing up to boot camp classes together. I’ve started a second bet with myself: If I can make bootcamp for 52 straight weeks, I get another small prize.

You might want to try meetup.com. In NYC in Central Park, personal trainers offer classes for a bunch of people. The cost is minimal and even if you only go once, you might find someone else to work out with.

Regarding being vegetarian, there are some really great cookbooks out there. My favorites are:

* Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison
* The Moosewood Cookbok by Mollie Katzen (there’s a huge Moosewood cookbook series but the ones by Katzen are the best imo)

If you’re feeling very adventurous, there’s an excellent vegan cookbook called _The Voluptuous Vegan_ by Myra Kornfeld. Again, I highly recommend checking out the books before buying them.

Library Tip: Many libraries belong to an organization called OCLC and upload a list of their holdings to a union catalog called WorldCat (http://worldcat.org/). After searching and choosing a book, you can enter your zip code and it will show the closest participating libraries that own a copy of that book. It’s very convenient if you’re close to several libraries.

I know the HD author claims it is for short term only, but you have to have SUPREME self-control for this diet to work, and if you are looking to lose weight in the first place, you probably don’t have the extreme self-control and deprivation this diet calls for.

Also wanted to say that when you are ready to incorporate light weight training, you can buy adjustable dumbells (usually up to 25 lbs.) for fairly reasonable.

I know you like your cooking, and your beef. But all these vegetarians are trying to convince you to give up meat and/or dairy. Don’t let them! The truth is now coming out: saturated fat & cholesterol have never been shown to be bad for human consumption, esp. when moderated with adequate omega-3 fats (yum, salmon) and monounsaturated fats (extra virgin olive oil). if anything, by replacing saturated fat with trans fats and high-omega-6 oils (esp. corn oil), we’ve made ourselves less healthy.

as you know, meat, dairy, and meat-derived stocks are protein sparing: you don’t need a mountain, but a moderate amount is frugal (if not always as cheap as a strict vegan diet), b/c the gelatin helps you make the most of any protein in your diet.

i wish the cholesterol and saturated fat fear-mongers would go away, but their (false) message is firmly entrenched in our culture. europeans, who don’t sub-classify fat by hydrogen bonds, mostly wonder what all the fuss is about over here…

Frances Moore Lappe introduced the idea of complementary proteins in order to show that it’s *possible* to get enough protein on a vegetarian diet – but she inadvertently created the persistent myth that you *have* to be so careful about combining foods. Putting together a well-balanced vegetarian diet is actually a lot easier than she made it out to be.

Learn the concept of complimentary proteins. Combining beans with rice makes a complete protein. If you start by adding more veggies and fruits and keep making small changes toward the vegetarian diet, it’s much easier. Many people give up meat all at once and they often fail. But most americans get too much protein in their diets anyway. so cutting back on meat while adding more plant sources is good.

I lost a lot of weight when I became a vegetarian. I felt so much better, more energy, I can’t really explain it but the change was great. Then I stopped drinking soda and lost about 15 lbs over a short time. A while back, I was influenced by some friends to drink diet soda and gained about 8 lbs in the course of a week. I really don’t think it’s all about the calories.

This is also a great time to teach your son some healthy eating habits. It will be easier to teach him now than latter on when he’s stuck in his ways.

A mixture of aerobic and anerobic(weight training, interval training,etc.) training is the best for both function and health.

On diet—stay away from high fructose corn syrup and the ‘partially hydrogenated oils’ which at actually ‘trans fats’ and they both lower your good cholesterol and rasise you bad cholesterol. Both high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils are in just about anything processed. Read the labels and even if it says “trans fat free”, doesn’t mean it is if it contains partially hydrogenated oils of any kind.

There’s a really wonderful feeling that comes from having a body that feels strong and healthy, and can do things. I’d suggest setting accomplishment-related goals, like completing a certain number of reps, beating a certain level, etc.

Finally, consider that exercise is a big investment of time, and it’s an important investment in your current and future health. There’s really nowhere I feel better spending my money on than eating healthy and engaging in physical activities I love doing.

I was speaking in general though; I don’t see vegetarianism as much as a “diet” in the sense that you go on one to lose weight. For me it is a complete lifestyle change, and for it to be successful in that sense, the focus should be on a wide variety of whole foods, not on substituting something else for meat. It has worked well for me, at my last appointment with my GP I had a complete blood count and all my vitamins, minerals, etc. were excellent across the board.

While we’re recommending veggie cookbooks – The New Farm cookbook was my first one, and it has a strong emphasis on simple, cheap food, and doing things yourself. There is a huge section on making tofu from scratch, for example. I love it.

It was designed by an engineer, so it’s very mathematics based. The eating and exercise plan isn’t anything to write home about. It’s the tracking tools and spreadsheets that are exciting. Plus, it’s free!

I’ve found logging down what you’re eating and how much your exercising on a daily basis is *very* important to losing wait and just generally getting healthier–much like tracking your finances, it helps keep you honest. I tried various haphazard ways of dieting, but nothing really seemed to make a difference. Then I looked into programs like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, but like you, couldn’t bring myself to cough up that much money on an ongoing monthly basis.

Then I found Calorie King’s Nutrioun and Exercise Manager ( http://www.calorieking.com/software/ckdietdiarywin.php ) software program. They have a subscription plan just like WW and others, but you don’t have to use it–you can just use the software alone. It makes entering in food dead simple. There’s a huge database of restaurant and home staples to choose from, and you can add your own. It also has a database of common exercises, will tracks calories burned, will give you nutritional breakdowns if you want them, graphs your weight to show your progress, and gives you target calorie counts to shoot for in order to create a slow, natural path to losing weight (or to keep it off, if you’re already there).

I’m not associated with the company or anything, but it’s really worked for me–I’ve lost 30 lbs so far. They have a 7-day free trial download, and at $45, it’s really cheap and well worth it, IMHO.

I’ve been vegetarian for over 15 years and have gone through many of the phases: vegan, macrobiotic, raw, food combining, you get the idea. And in my experience it’s important for people who are transitioning to vegetarianism to make sure they eat beans for their protein. Often the lighter fare associated with eating primarily veggies and grains with smaller amounts of bean products isn’t satisfying enough for meat eaters who are trying out being veggie. They feel like something is missing and can feel like they just aren’t satisfied with the meal, still hungry or experience intense food cravings. None of which will help them stick through the transition so they need something more substantial in the diet so that what they are eating is just as grounding and substantial as what they might get from a meat dinner.

Also, everyone’s bodies are different as are their lifestyles, some people need more protein than others and not everyone can get all the nourishment they need from a light food combining diet.

They post a workout of the day which is tough, but can be scaled. See the link to brandxmartialart gym for the scaled version. I often do the buttercup version and am beat.

Following the above regime lead me to feeling the best, both physically and emotionally, that I had ever felt in my life.

Unfortunately I have let being a father to two boys being a justification for not doing any exercise, because I don’t have enough time.

I’m going to change this, so I wish Trent the best in getting stuck into getting fitter and healthier.

I suggest taking it gradually, substituting more and more veggie meals for your regular ones, and letting your favorites become familiar and easy. Get some good cookbooks from the library (try Vegan Vittles by Jo Stepaniak) and see what you like. Protein is not a problem – you don’t have to eat beans every day. And seitan (a wheat gluten protein that resembles chicken) is delicious! Best wishes on your healthy lifestyle choices!

Johanna, that is indeed an excellent tofu preparation method and one that I espouse whole-heartedly. However it is not the best you have ever tasted. This is: CHOCOLATE MOUSSE. The recipe goes like this. One box of Mori-nu brand extra firm silken tofu. 8 oz dark chocolate. Blend the tofu till smooth. Melt the chocolate. Add it in the blender and blend ‘em both together. The end. It is hands down the best chocolate mousse you will ever have tasted.