Pounds lost since February 19: 25.5# (includes 6 weeks of relaxed dieting due to work obligations.)
Pounds lost since May 5: 3.4

Menu, 5/8: Pre-Breakfast: Coffee and 2 cuties; Breakfast: 1/2 Chocolate Cherry Banacado Lunch: Ceviche Dinner: 1/2 Chocolate Cherry Banacado; Evening Snack: air-popped popcorn

Menu, 5/9: Pre-Breakfast: Coffee; Breakfast: 12 ounces cottage cheese with 1 cup blueberries and 1 banana; Lunch: chicken quesadilla from Taco Bell; Dinner: I was too exhausted to think about food. 12 ounces of almond milk and a red bell pepper; Evening snack: 2 bananas

Thursday was busy and I was grabbing food on the go. I didn’t do too badly, considering.

I want, want, want to get back to writing Maximum Security. Life is interfering with art again. Now that the audiobook is in the pipeline, I’ve got a pile of flutes to polish for Pat and a number of practical matters that need attending. Plus, Zipper, the amazing paraplegic schnauzer has just been diagnosed with cancer. Pat and Anna are needing extra TLC. They’ll find out this afternoon about his treatment options and prognosis. As Brent says, “Life is messy.”

Now that I’m talking about Phase II and solid food, I thought I’d talk about beans.

Beans are a terrific and often un-sung diet food. Cheap, filling, nutritious, packed with fiber. On paper they have more carbs than are desirable, but beans have a high percentage of “resistant starch,” meaning they do not break down quickly like typical carbs and thus, don’t spike blood sugar.

Beans are one of the best sources of resistant starch. Green bananas are another. Other stars are whole grains, such as rolled oats and long-grain brown rice. You can amp-up the effects of your Aztec Diet by choosing resistant starches whenever possible. (Get more info on resistant starch here)

You can further increase the nutritional value by sprouting the beans before you cook them. Sprouting your beans first has the added benefit of reducing gas.

I usually make a pot of Curried Black Beans every week. I get four 12 ounce or six 8 ounce servings per pound of beans. Nuke a bowl and top with grated cheese and yogurt (a great substitute for sour cream). Stir in a scrambled egg or some sauteed veggies. Toss them on a low-carb tortilla with hot sauce.

Today I’m starting a pot. It’ll be done some time Sunday. Don’t let that scare you, the prep is super-simple and can be tailored around any schedule.

Curried Black Beans

Soak 1 pound dried Black Beans in your crock-pot for at least eight hours (overnight works well). If you see tiny bubbles forming on top, drain, rinse and replace the water. Otherwise, the beans might sour.
Rinse the beans, then let the damp beans sit for 24 hours or so (if the beans dry out, rinse them and drain again). By this time, you should be seeing little “tails” on some of the beans.
Rinse again, then cover with an inch of water
Add 2 – 3 rounded TBSP curry and 2 bay leaves
Cook in your crock pot until soft, around 5 hours on high. If you’re going to be gone all day, put them on low and they’ll be done for dinner.
Add 1 TSP Real Salt or other whole salt in the last 10 minutes before serving (Don’t add salt in the beginning, it prevents the skins from softening)