"How Not to Die"

From skwigg's journal:

I'm having fun reading my "How Not to Die" book while chomping on plant foods. Dude is really biased against animal protein. I am not though, I like it with my plants. :-) He at least has me very enthusiastic about adding things to my diet, even more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and spices. We did have an all-plant lunch today. A green smoothie with spinach, kale, brussels sprouts, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, ground flaxseed, banana, and pineapple. Then we had "greens & beans," a concoction I thought of with spinach, kale, onions, black beans, and hot sauce. I'm surprised my husband loved this as much as I did. 

I used a whole wheat english muffin as a shovel. I also had one of my small pre-baked sweet potatoes with cinnamon for dessert. Not much fat. Not much protein. Yet this kind of thing holds me comfortably for hours. It's weird. Fiber and volume I guess, and starchy carbs. 

So far, I've learned how not to die from heart disease, brain diseases, and digestive cancers. Up next is infections. LOL It cracks me up how much I'm enjoying this. I believe it would have caused full-tilt dietary panic a few years ago. Now I'm amused, sometimes skeptical, sometimes fascinated. I'm having fun with all the tasty things I want to try, like adding more beans to everyday meals, and using more spices. I'm not breaking up with Ben & Jerry, not when I can enjoy a plant-based, whole-food diet + ice cream...and meat. Ha! Maybe I'm doing it wrong. Or not. He really does emphasize adding foods, not restriction. I think his theory, which seems to work, is that if you add enough healthy plant foods every day, it naturally crowds out some of the less-healthy items. Abundance works. Restriction sends people to McDonalds.