Day 22: Feb 22

Oh boy, these days are just FLYING by, in a way.  But so so so dense!  It's hard to keep up with everything, so I guess I'll just put down the highlights.

Oh, so first and foremost: dinner last night. Which was Black Beans and Brown Rice Extravaganza--you know beans and rice and tomatoes and salsa and avocado and scallons and corn.  With chipotle orange glazed tofu which was DELICIOUS and tasted totally indulgent.  Also, the staple--steamed greens with cashew sauce.  After considering how much fat and calories (though good fat ) the cashew sauce has, though--and how much I've been using it as it is sooooo delicious--I asked Rip Esselstyn if we could get a bottle of vinegar by our greens tonight to use instead of said rich cashew sauce.  He said, Great idea!  We're on it!  See!  You just ask and you shall receive.  :)

Here's a picture of the black beans and rice extravaganza and chipotle glazed tofu!

I can't tell you how delicious this was--and how cheap it would be to make for a family! 

Before dinner, we rolled our own nori rolls!  Here's mine!  (A couple pieces were lame, admittedly--but it was due to the knife, swear!)

Then after dinner was an inspirational talk by Dick Beardsley, who you may recall NEARLY won the Boston Marathon in 1982.  Beardsley is remarkable for many reasons.  He grew up a hick kid in Minnesota, never really was much into sports until he made up his mind about running.  Unfortunately, Dick experienced a crazy string of accidents--from tractor, to running over by a car, to falling off a cliff--and so he sort of messed up his body.  And then got majorly majorly addicted to painkillers.  He was popping up to 90 pills a day at one point.  A former marathoner.  But he got clean.  And now he's been sober for 14 years and tells an incredible story of perseverance, positivity, and good humor.  I didn't know where the story was headed when he first started speaking it.  He just sounded like a good ole boy from Minnesota, but man, has he been thru some serious stuff.  I was inspired.  Truly.  What a guy.  Woah.  The inspirational talk took place in a beautiful space called the Sanctuary which was outside and just--hmmm.  Dreamy.  See below.

Then this MORNING, I experienced my own athleticism!  I took a cross-fit workout taught by Nathan Turner for my morning workout.  And it was intense and fun and made me feel strong!  So many lunges.  Yikes!  I'm gonna be sore tomorrow.

This afternoon, we had a question and answer period.With all the big wigs--the entire Esselstyn family and Dr. Pam Popper of The Wellness Forum who I am telling you is quickly becoming someone I admire.  This woman is so cool.  I sat with her the first day at lunch and had no idea who she was.  She is totally brill and personable and tough and cool. Anyway, during the q&a, people were asking questions about their family and their stores and disease and health questions in general.  But I had a very selfish personal question to ask.

"All my numbers are perfect, optimal, except my weight.  Could I be healthy as a bit overweight with perfect numbers? I'm annoyed that my numbers are great and my weight is this."

Dr. Esselstyn said, "Yes, you can be perfectly healthy and a little overweight."

Pam said: "Give up flour.  You'll lose it quickly."

And Rip said: "Ha, give it a few months.  Do the diet. You'll be exactly where you need to be."

So I have those three comments, all of which are encouraging, and exciting.  I'm not sure about giving up flour altogether, but we'll see.  It might be an interesting idea.  Something I've never tried.  With all the veggies I'm eating, I'm getting everything I need.  We'll just see.  I'm happy where I am right now. I'm on MY WAY.  Just being on MY WAY is awesome.  I'll get there.  It's in sight now.  Just going to enjoy this journey.  And all this delicious fooooood!

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