# Diet # [Update, in 2018, two months into new diet, with good results. My blood pressure is down, and I've lost weight without feeling deprived. See the original notes below the hrule.] Breakfasts ------------------------------ - steelcut **oatmeal** with **banana** (or another fruit), often with a tablespoon of **peanut butter**, and a dash of cinnamon - eggs with vegetable(s) (diced tomato, onion, or spinach). Season with black pepper and paprika. Sometimes, finish with a tiny amount of grated cheese. Accompany either eggs or oatmeal with a side vegetable (carrots, sliced tomato, cucumber) and a piece of fruit (orange, apple, pear). Eggs fried with diced tomatoes served over a bed of sliced avocado makes a particularly decadent breakfast. Also, a cup of coffee around or a little after breakfast. Lunches ------------------------------ - Two vegetables (often carrots, tomato, or cucumber) and two pieces of fruit (often apple, banana, pear, or orange). A glass of skim milk and/or a slice of peanut butter toast. Also, a cup of coffee around or a little after lunch. Sometimes, a cup of green tea in the afternoon. Lunches may be more elaborate on weekends. Dinners ------------------------------ - Corn tortillas with vegetables, cheese, and either beef, beans, or eggs - Flatbread (pita) toasted with olive oil, a little shredded cheese, and vegetables - Hamburger on a whole wheat bun. Add a little blue cheese and jalapeno slices. - Pasta (whole grain or vegetable flour) with diced tomatoes and other vegetables. Add beans and crank up the spice for chili spaghetti. - Pita with hummus, and slices of tomato and avocado - Beans and rice with vegetables - Pasta with mushrooms, in an olive oil, butter (salt-free), and garlic sauce - Whole wheat French toast, with (a minimal amount of) maple syrup and (loads of) fresh berries - Deconstructed cottage pie. Make **mashed potatoes**. Cook onions with beef, add flour. When flour has been absorbed all fat, slowly add milk to make gravy. Top potatoes with **beef gravy** and **peas**. Optionally, include carrots and/or corn. Sometimes another vegetable on the side, and fruit for dessert. Cheats ------------------------------ Cheat for 1–3 meals per week. For me, this most often means pizza. Watch out for pepperoni, though, because it's crazy-high in sodium. I love Thai food (and Chinese to a lesser extent), but it's shockingly high in sodium (due largely to the fish sauce). It's more of a once-a-month cheat than a once-a-week cheat. Generally, avoid alcohol or sweets, even as a cheat, unless driven by an unusually strong craving. --- Eat mostly plants. Green, leafy vegetables are especially healthy. Brightly colored vegetables (e.g. sweet potato, tomato) also tend to be very healthy. Eat a varied diet. If we miss an essential vitamin or mineral one day, we'll get it the next day. Animals need twenty fundamental amino acids to produce the proteins necessary for life. Food that contains all twenty amino acids is called a "complete protein". Of those twenty amino acids, the human body can not produce nine of them on its own. Those nine are called "essential amino acids". Meat tends to be unhealthy, except that it's guaranteed to be a complete protein. However, there are non-meat foods, or simple combinations of foods, that make a complete protein: - Eggs - Dairy - Soy - Hummus and pita - Rice and beans - Buckwheat (including soba noodles) - Peanut butter sandwich https://greatist.com/health/complete-vegetarian-proteins > Every time legumes like beans, lentils, and peanuts are combined with grains like wheat, rice, and corn, a complete protein is born. > Peanut butter on whole wheat is an easy snack that, while pretty high in calories, provides a heaping dose of all the essential amino acids and plenty of healthy fats to boot. ## Entrées ## Soba noodles. Make sauce from water, peanut butter, sriracha sauce, garlic, and a little lemon juice. Add a few basil leaves and a little soy sauce if available. Or scallions and cucumber. Peanut butter and banana sandwich. Peanut butter and honey sandwich. Peanut butter, strawberry jam (or sliced strawberries if available!), jalapeno, and sriracha sandwich. Peanut butter, tomato, and mayo sandwich. Peanut butter and fried egg sandwich. Peanut butter and dill pickles sandwich. Peanut butter and onion sandwich. Peanut butter with cabbage and carrots. Variant: cabbage and carrots with mayo, as coleslaw. Variant: cabbage and carrots with soy sauce, Thai style. Beans, rice, salsa. Lentils and rice. Eggs mix with almost anything. Cooked with beans. Served over avocado slices. Scrambled with roast asparagus. Whatever. Try and omelet with a little cream cheese, peas, and chopped mint.