No Regrets!

Yesterday Tony and I went to the Cracker Barrel, in Kerrville, to eat lunch with our dear friends: Kris & Jim and Denise & Les. But I have a confession to make, but I will tell you about it later.

For Tony and me it was Day 16 of us mainly eating a plant based, whole foods diet. Since starting this healthy lifestyle change we have totally excluded: beef, pork, chicken, lamb, fish all dairy, etc. and Tony has lost 12 pounds and let's just say that my weight is coming off much slower than his.

Tony and I have not missed eating meat, fowl, fish and dairy, because when we decided to eat healthier we decided not to give up everything that we love to eat.

We decided to keep on drinking our two morning coffees with the delicious Coffee Mate French Vanilla. Which I know is non-dairy, but is full of chemicals. And we also decided to allow ourselves to cheat once a month if we are really craving something—as long as we would jump back on the wagon and continue to eat mainly vegetables and fruits.

We decided to cheat once a month after Drew & Ellie came to visit us. They are vegans and health fanatics and they are extremely healthy and intelligent.

When Ellie told us, while eating one of my black bean brownies, that she has been a vegan since age 15 she gave us some much needed advice. "It is okay to cheat every once in a while and then get back to eating healthy the next day, because if you don't you will simply quit and give up. And then go back to making poor food choices that can wreck your health." And we decided that those were words for us to live by. And it works.

So yesterday, while enjoying a fun time with our good friends, I was munching on small servings of green beans, pinto beans, coleslaw and carrots, while Tony enjoyed "His Cheat Day" eating fried catfish with green beans, pinto beans and along with a buttermilk biscuit.

Near the end of our lunch, one of the girls started talking about dessert and they showed me this picture of this beautiful, banana pudding with vanilla wafers and topped off with whipped cream, just as I was eating my last bite of coleslaw.

When the friendly waitress came to our table to ask if any of us wanted desserts—Denise and Kris ordered the banana pudding deal and I must confess that I ordered it, too.

It was absolutely delicious and I enjoyed eating it without feeling any guilt, because yesterday became my once a month Cheat Day. And I have no regrets.

After our fun lunch with friends Tony and I went to the big H-E-B to pick up a few more groceries and this time I put in my cart: some frozen dark, sweet cherries, veggie burgers, bananas, almond milk, vanilla extract and walnuts.

FYI: I know that veggie burgers aren't made with only vegetables, but we are fine with that, because Tony and I have decided to just be vegans and just eat healthier.

We are still going to avoid eating anything that has eyes (or shells-eggs), avoid sugar, white flour, bread, pasta, etc., because we know that we can live with that.

Today, Day 17, for our healthy lunch I water-sautéed mushrooms, onion, garlic, red and green bell peppers and I served them over a veggie burger—topped with avocado with sliced tomatoes and bowls of beans. And for our dessert I made us delicious Banana Walnut Ice Cream, a fabulous recipe from my Eat To Live Cookbook, by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. And it takes less than 5 minutes to make.

And I only used these four ingredients: frozen bananas, almond milk, walnuts and vanilla extract. Tony and I plan to eat this regularly for dessert and tomorrow I am making the book's Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream recipe! Life is good.

Y'all have a great evening and keep on laughing!