Rick's Weight Loss Journey

Vegans and Vegetarians have lower risk for heart disease

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:45:00 +0000

Research shows that vegans and vegetarians have lower risk for heart disease and lower all-cause mortality.

Live Well: Vegan Weight Loss Diet

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 20:11:00 +0000

Find out about the benefits of a vegan weight loss diet.

Live Well: Vegan Weight Loss Diet

Day 5 has gone by

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Hamilton) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:28:00 +0000

Hey Everyone! Well it's the end of the 5th day now and I haven't given up yet. I think my body is finally starting to adjust to the massive change in food I'm feeding it.

At work on Monday, one of my many bosses called me into the conference room to go over a new project. While he was talking to me, I started having an almost out-of-body experience. It was difficult to focus but I pulled together and got most of what he said I hope. I think maybe a lack of sugar caused this and hopefully it doesn't happen again. The rest of the day went pretty smooth.

Monday's breakfast was 2 clementines and a banana. I had leftover whole wheat pasta for lunch and fixed an awesome salad for dinner.

The salad was made up of organic salad mix, avocado, carrots, walnuts, cucumbers, onions and fresh spinach. So good!

I woke up Tuesday morning and had enough time to make a real breakfast. I filled up a bowl with rolled oats, chopped up a banana, added some flax seeds and walnuts and poured on some almond milk (that takes some getting used to) to finish it off. And of course I had a couple clementines.

Tuesday was great! I've never been so awake at work before. 11:00 rolled around and I realized I hadn't even had a cup of coffee yet. I'm used to drinking up to four cups of it before noon then staying wired for the rest of the day but there was no need today. I didn't get any extra sleep (I average about 5-6 hours per night) so all this food I'm eating as part of the Engine 2 diet must be giving me more energy and in only 5 days.

Day 2 for Rick

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:40:00 +0000

Rick Cooking his Vegan Dinner

These words come straight from Rick himself:

"So i had the oatmeal for breakfast with almond milk, flax seeds and a cut up banana. I also had 2 clementines and an apricot snack bar.

Vegan Oatmeal and Banana for Breakfast

Then for dinner I made pasta with 1 bag of the whole wheat pasta, the jar of mushroom pasta sauce, 2 garlic cloves, 1/4 cup onions, 1 portabello mushroom, some dill, no-salt seasoning, and parsley. And 2 clementines for (Damn these are good).

I'll get the goal up, sorry im procrastinating.

I felt terrible today, bad headache and thought i was gonna throw up. close to a really bad hangover. its probably from the adjustment in food. i usually get the same feeling when i dont have coffee early in the morning and im used to having 4 cups every morning. after i ate the oatmeal though i felt fine (i didnt eat that till about 1 PM)

That pasta was awesome by the way and i think it was the first time i've ever made pasta before so i didnt really know what i was doing.

I have a question though- So i only ate about half of the pasta and sauce and i put the rest away in the fridge. I'm probably gonna eat the rest for lunch tomorrow but how am i supposed to heat it up if i cant use the microwave?

PS: YOU'RE CLEMENTINES ARE MINE!"

So how can Rick eat his leftover whole wheat pasta and sauce without using a microwave? Please comment and leave your suggestions.

Rick's 1st day!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 18:54:00 +0000

Rick woke up late for his first day of his new vegan diet. At around 6pm Rick had his first meal of the day, vegan mushroom and veggie stir fry with brown rice.

This is Rick getting ready to prepare his meal.

Here's how he did it:

Vegan Mushroom and Veggie Stir Fry with Brown Rice

2 portabello mushrooms
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 zucchini
1 cup of carrots
3 sticks of celery
Soy sauce to taste
1 pound of brown rice
1 tsp dill

Cook the brown rice while you make the stir fry.

For the stir fry, chop all the veggies and portabello mushrooms into good-sized chunks. Sautee them all (except the celery) in your wok or frying pan.

Once veggies are cooked and soft, add your dill and celery and turn off the heat.

Just mix the rice and veggies together and enjoy the meal!

This is what the vegan mushroom and veggie stir fry looks like.

Rick also ate some clementine tangerines for dessert. Congratulations on your first day of your new vegan diet Rick!

Vegan Leek Potato Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 03:45:00 +0000

We met with Rick today to go over the vegan weight loss diet he'll be on for the next month. He was very excited and had more than a page of goals and reasons why he wanted to lose weight. He's definitely motivated!

After Rick set his goals and found his "Why" for losing weight, we went to the grocery store to stock up on fruits, veggies, beans, and whole grains for the week. It was a lot of fun.

When we got home we decided to show Rick how we cook - with one of our household favorites, leek potato soup. He liked it so much he decided to join us for dinner. So Rick had one of his first healthy vegan meals tonight! He loved it and I know you will too. So I'm sharing our secret recipe with you.

This was the bowl of vegan leek potato soup Rick ate on New Years Eve.

Vegan Leek Potato Soup Recipe

Potatoes - 6 medium size, cubed
Leeks - 2 to 3 medium leeks
Onion - 1 small
Vegetable Bouillon - 1 tsp
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 tsp turmeric
Soy milk - 3/4 cup (optional)
Cilantro for garnish

Start by boiling 2 quarts of water. Chop the potatoes into cubes and boil in the water. Add Bouillon and turmeric (and feel free to add other spices such as rosemary or thyme - or just be creative!).

While the potatoes are cooking, chop up the leeks and onions and saute them with the 1 tsp of olive oil for 5 minutes at low to medium heat, just enough to get them soft. Then add the leeks and onions to the soup and boil for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are nice and soft.

Chop up some cilantro and add as a garnish. When you serve the soup, add some soy milk to taste for that creamy flavor.

Enjoy your vegan leek potato soup! I know we did.

Rick's Workup June 24, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:56:00 +0000

This is a photocopy of Rick's last workup on June 24, 2009. Here are his stats:

Total Cholesterol 157
HDL Cholesterol 26
LDL Cholesterol 111
Triglycerides 99
Ratio 6.1
Glucose ("sugar") 90
Blood Pressure 118/80
Body Mass Index (BMI) 32.9
Weight 229 pounds
Fasting: Yes
Body Fat 28.0%

The main changes we expect to see here are a loss in weight, loss in body fat percentage, and hopefully some reduction in his blood pressure which is close to the high level.

We'll measure Rick's weight tomorrow morning before he starts the diet and go from there!

Rick Makes the Leap

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:16:00 +0000

Rick Hamilton made a New Years Resolution. He's determined to lose that weight he's been gaining over the last 5 years. And to do so, he's decided to work with me, Tom Corson-Knowles, as his wellness coach and mentor throughout the process.

Rick will be going on a strictly vegan diet for 1 month. That means no meat, no dairy, no eggs, no fish, no chicken. It also means lots of veggies, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and beans.

Today I'll be taking Rick to the grocery store for his first day of vegan shopping. I'll have to teach Rick a lot of new things about eating healthfully, how to shop for vegan foods, and what vegetables are (last time I checked, Rick wasn't sure what kale was).

I'm also making sure Rick reads The Engine 2 Diet so that he can see the results others have gotten on a vegan diet and so that he understands what he's doing and why he's doing it to lose weight and get healthier..

Here's our shopping list for now:

Whole grain bread

Oats

Whole grains cereals

Soy / rice / hemp/ almond/ oat milk

Avocados

Rice

Black beans

Garbanzo beans

Hummus

Veggies - kale, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, cabbage, celery, parsley, cilantro

Fruits - apples, oranges, peaches, bananas, plums

Nayonaise

Potatoes

Raisins

Dates

Walnuts

Sweet potato

Soy yogurt

Tamari

Salad greens

SNACKS: Apples, oranges, Pure Bars (organic, raw food bars), celery sticks and peanut butter

Wish us luck!