Whole Plants

Years ago Penn Jillette started the Ray Cronise diet.  Simply put, he only eats whole plants, only in a 6 hour window everyday; adding no salt, no sugar, and only 1 tsp of oil per day.  He gave me a lot to think about.  That's when I realized I only ate meat because it tasted good.  That's when I stopped eating it.

But there is a bigger question here.  Why do we eat anything other than whole plants?  I'm sure now that the larger percentage of your diet that is whole plans, the healthier it is.  And it is of course better for the animals, and the environment.  The short answer is taste.  The larger answer is about social norms, the happiness that comes from eating, and social eating situations.  The list goes on.

I've decided to start an experiment.  With 73 days until Convergence, I'm going to see how many of them I can make plant days.  Today will be a successful day.  I'm eating nothing but whole plans, salt, and Diet Mtn Dew.  Essentially, I'm only eating steamed vegetables, with instant mash potatoes.  These will be low flavor days, but I won't go hungry.  You can fill your belly with veggies all you want.  It's actually work to get all of your calories in eating nothing but whole plants.

Category 2 will be a half success days.  That's where I eat whole plants, non-whole plants, salt, and Diet Mtn Dew.  If all goes well, these should be full flavor days.  I'm talking vegetable curries, and cheeseless pizzas.  I will have to watch what I eat, because a vegan diet does not mean low calorie.

And category 3 will be unsuccessful days.  I'll still try to watch my calories, but I'll eat my normal vegetarian diet.  Every day I spend out with friends will one of these days.  My goal is to make these less than half of the next 73.

Why salt and Diet Mtn Dew?  Because I am not prepared to give those up.  Not yet.

With the extra activity that comes with warmer weather, and the weather has actually warmed, I should see some good results before Convergence.  But that's really secondary at this point.  There are other fun costumes I can wear.  Hopefully I'll find a better way to live.  A better relationship with food.  There really is something lost with all of the cheap thrills of the salt, oil, and sugar of the standard American diet.