The Devilish Diet strikes back

Not all my test results are back yet but the good news is, I won’t be having a stroke any time soon, the bad news is that they detected a slight calcification. I still have to see a few doctors before I get all the details but I will probably have to take meds for the rest of my life which is fine and also follow a diet, not so fine.

I haven’t been on a diet since “the great diet of ‘97” when I lost a massive 60 pounds and vowed never to diet again. OK, I really needed to lose a lot of weight and I succeeded which I’m very proud of but let’s face it, dieting sucks. If it wasn’t for health reasons I would never endure such horror in a million years because I love food, it’s as simple as that.

I am however, planning on remaining a vegetarian but combined with my new and ridiculously healthy low fat diet it won’t be easy seeing as eggs and most cheeses are now forbidden together with three pages of other yummy things. Damn you arteries! I’m still not planning on eating meat but I have to eat fish at least twice a week so there goes my no dead animals policy.

It’s really weird because I finally got used to changing my food habits and now I have to change them again and low fat meat-free is slightly challenging. What I can eat are soy products, lots of them.

Anyway, I’ve been experimenting in the kitchen this morning to conjure up several tasty meat, cheese, and fat free concoctions to lather my sandwiches with that are still high in protein. Challenging you say? I beg to differ. This afternoon I will been enjoying carrot tzatziki, lentil pesto and Indian bean mush. Sounds lovely doesn’t it?

This afternoon I’ll also have a cup of tea with some freshly baked low fat banana bread courtesy of Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights. I had my reservations at first about this book (model turned cook?) but the more I use it, the more I love it. Half of her recipes are vegetarian and the other half are fish and chicken so it’s low on meat but high in flavor.

She divided her book according to the seasons and for every season she includes breakfast, lunch and dinner options which I like in theory but seeing as I only use the dinner recipes, there’s a lot of them that are wasted on me. There are however, several gorgeous breakfast dishes but for some reason I’m too lazy to cook breakfast. I’m a cereal girl, always have been, always will be.

Another minor flaw in my opinion, is that she writes a 20 page introduction for every new chapter filled with feelings and memories. Why? Get to the point woman! That’s just a little too girly for me, just like her TV show. But in the end I have to say that everything I’ve made so far, turned out beautiful and that's what matters most. Highly recommended, just avoid the sentimental bits!