I think this is so true, it's not about deprivation or self control, it's about paying attention to what your body needs instead of what you think you want.

I don't think losing weight is about strict dieting its about paying attention to yourself.

Bittman make a lot of sense on this topic. After reading his book (and Omnivor's D, Plenty) we have made some good changes in along these lines. I especially like how he tries to avoid the "guilt" factor that diets shove down your throat.

My problem is with work lunches. For me, making a quick sandwich is easier than getting together something healthier that is as filling. Personally I need something more than a salad-type lunch to get through the afternoon.

I am working on it. But making slow, smart changes over the past few years has worked better than anything abrupt.

I was surprised by what he actually eats as posted on his blog. He eats a lot of whole fruit and nuts not prepared in any way.

http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/what-i-ate-last-week/

from the bits and pieces i have heard about bittman's diet, it definitely sounds like something i'd love to pursue. veganism tends to overwhelm me, but i love the idea of being flexible - and also to help differentiate from a craving standpoint needs vs wants.

By sheer accident, it turned out I had come to eat in a manner similar to Bittman. The important point, overlooked time and again, is that this is a delicious, sensuous way to eat.

The weight loss and health benefits are secondary. What's paramount is that it is fun to eat and cook, and it tastes great.

The real trick seems to be to avoid all processed food, even if it says it's "organic" and especially if it says it's "healthy" or "natural." Cook it yourself, from scratch. It tastes a lot better, and it's a lot of fun. Treats like chocolate and ice cream should be treated the same way. Buy fresh ice cream, made on premises (or make it yourself) in small, local stores and buy the absolute best you can find. You don't need a lot when it's great stuff!

Ditto chocolate. One bar of artisan chocolate that costs a fortune will last far longer than a case of snickers.

As you can see, eating for me is about real pleasure. What I'm trying to learn is how to enjoy more high quality foods, and that's what Bittman's (and my own less sophisticated) eating and cooking is about.

Everything else just seems to follow of its own accord, which I find enormously interesting.

I give him credit, because I really could not eat raw broccoli for breakfast...

I am a protein junkie, so eating an apple for a snack for me would have to be accompanied by peanut butter, or a handful of almonds. For me eating protein at every meal helps me get through my day. But on the alternate I do eat meatless in the evening often. I big salad in the evening is all I really need.

@lew! - I agree, lunches are difficult. if I had a full kitchen at work, I feel like things would be much easier. ;)

I'm already a vegetarian but as a result of banishing all processed and unnatural foods and making all of my food from scratch, I've inadvertently adopted a mostly "vegan" diet. I have real cheese once in a while so I am not vegan but it's amazing that once you let go of the industrial food system and you eat whole, real foods, you end up getting rid of a lot of animal byproducts and junk.

I eat raw fruits for breakfast, for lunch raw veggies in the form of salads (not the leafy boring kind) with herbs and spices, and for dinner I cook up a storm of fresh veggies and whole grains (had pattypan lasagna last night, yum!). I don't think about calories and I even forget about portions. I chew really well instead and I get full so I know when to stop. Eating real food takes the complicated nature out of eating and I've lost weight by just sticking to what my body was designed to eat, food found in nature not a lab.

After reading Bittman's book 'Food Matters', my wife and I changed our eating habits to 'almost meatless.' We allow ourselves to eat meat 1-2 meals per week (and we define meat as any animal with legs...we eat an unlimited amount of seafood.) Some weeks we won't eat any meat. Some weeks we will eat the 1 or 2 meals. We are surprised at how easy it was. Our weekly treat is generally a hamburger or pork. Neither of us miss chicken at all.

We have also changed our consumption habit regarding what many would call vegetarian junk food. I think it is Pollan that says to eat only items with 5 or fewer ingredients or to only eat items with ingredients that are known. We were surprised at how much junk food we consumed even though we shop at Whole Foods and try to cook as much as possible. Bittman's cookbooks 'How to Cook Everything' and 'How to cook Everything Vegetarian' are both helpful.

Neither of us consider ourselves to be on a diet. We both feel like we have changed our perspective on what we put in our bodies but we aren't on a diet. In fact, I have begun to experiment with making homemade ice creams and we generally have couple of pints on hand.

We made this change in Feb of this year, and the change in diet, combined with healthy workout regimen, has helped me lose 20 pounds already.

I agree with the comments about lunches. They are the most difficult.

Our favorite and most satisfying lunches are leftovers from the previous night's dinners. And, I always make sure that I have plenty of nuts, fruits and granola at my desk.

I've actually found the opposite works better for me. I used to be vegan - for over six years and absolutely love vegan food. But on the days that I don't have animal protein at breakfast or lunch, I get ridiculously hungry - near fainting, weakness, sweaty palms - even if I'm eating significant amounts of vegetable protein. I've found that it's not even a protein vs. carb vs. fat thing. There's literally something about protein from flesh that moderates my blood sugar better than vegetable sources, which kind of makes me sad as I actually prefer tofu to meat most days. At dinner, on the other hand, I can go lower-protein or vegan and it's not a problem to sustain myself throughout the day. But, yeah, the sheer amount of food required to get through the day while vegan was pretty ridiculous.

I think we focus a little too much on discipline and deprivation. Yes, there's a difference between the two, but nothing makes an otherwise mediocre dessert as delicious and deciding that it's off-limits and "bad." Much more important to concentrate on exploring food and tastes and make sure that there's healthy things you like around as a snack of least resistance.

Lunches are a pain in the tail! Leftovers sometimes work but I often forget that what fills me up for the three (or less!) hours before bed will not necessarily suffice for the 7-ish hours before dinner. Keeping snacks in the office helps a little but they're all shelf stable things with creepy ingredients. I need to dedicate much, MUCH more planning to my lunches.

I think a bit problem that people run into with their diets is that they get into an unhealthy rut. And I think a lot of people get into that rut because of psychology. Since most people work and many people list lunch as the biggest eating challenge, there are several things that can get them into a rut. For instance, if the job gets you down a quick salty, juicy lunch can be something to look forward to. And then that unhealthy and quick jolt of satisfaction becomes the norm. Maybe some snacks from the machine and frapps in the morning and afternoon are regular things as well.

I really admire my wife for her lunch time regimen. She gathers up a list of items (usually the same) every weekend to take to work. Things like yogurt, cereal, raw veggies and fruits, good milk for tea, and this is her lunch
throughout the week. I have access to these things as well but I don't eat them as regularly as she does for my lunches--I have the ability to easily fall into unhealthy route for various reasons.

But I strongly believe that the healthier you eat on a regular basis, the more likely you are to lose your cravings for junk food. And having access to really good vegetarian fare is a great option to have. If I had a number of vegetarian/vegan choices to go to I would hit them up regularly. I think there's tons of potential for that market to grow as people are modifying their diets vegetarian and vegan.

Maybe I'm strange, but I've never really understood the need to have a large piece of meat as the centerpiece of any meal. Maybe it was growing up in New Orleans, where a plate of red beans and rice was one of my favorite foods, and seafood was an occasional treat (I loved to order it in restaurants, but my Kentucky-raised mom rarely cooked it at home). But what's wrong with vegetables? They're so delicious!

These days, I eat meat only occasionally, mainly because it's inconvenient to buy (it's not great quality at my everyday corner grocery store, so I buy it at the harder-to-get-to Whole Foods, where it's fairly expensive). I don't miss it, but then, I do enjoy a nice rack of lamb every so often, so I don't consider myself at all deprived!

http://www.abreadaday.com

Tangledgray, I agree with you on your vegan experience. The massive amounts of vegetables, grains, and fruit I would have to eat to stay full and alert is staggering, not to mention that I would have to spend my entire lunch hour chewing. I do a lot of walking and moving around at work, and the only chance for me to eat is my lunch hour - no snacks otherwise.
While following a vegan diet, I found that I had issues with dry skin, massive insulin/glucagon swings from the sheer amount of carbs, and discovered an intolerance to wheat and soy, which makes it pretty impossible to stay a vegan. I also became "skinny-fat" and lost a lot of my muscle bulk and gained a bit of fat around my midline. Lastly, I was freaking eating ALL the time - it became a chore to keep myself satiated, and I would just eat eat eat all the time to stay full.

YMMV of course. I just don't think the modern schedule is conducive to a vegan diet, unless you're working a desk job that allows you to eat all the time. It especially doesn't work if you're like me and you burn through your food very quickly.

I can relate, crazkj. But, yeah, not going to say that what works for me or doesn't work for me is therefore applicable to everyone else. I also have pretty high energy requirements (and a pretty significant amount of muscle mass for a 5'2" girl, even back when I was vegan), so while I didn't have the same level of issues you did, I still couldn't find a way of eating that would sustain me for more than 3-4 hours between meals.

I fully recognize, though, that my body is in many ways an outlier as are many others. There are probably plenty of people out there for whom eating vegan works well, just like there are people who feel good on low carb regimens (another thing that is highly incompatible with my system).

I find that eating a nice chunk of animal protein at every meal keeps me from being hungry in between meals in a way I could never be during my 5 years as a vegetarian. I think that if you can just keep from eating processed food, no matter if you're eating animal or not, that's a big part of the key to eating right.

I try to eat mostly vegan (not totally, because I'm a sucker for feta still, but trying) and I find work lunches ridiculously easy. Usually it's leftovers from dinner (pasta salad, scrambled tofu or grain salads, veggie burgers, etc.) but I also like to make a bunch of stuff on weekends and freeze. For instance, I made some cute veggie "loaf" in muffin-pan form, and that's a great boost of protein. I love scrambled tofu or tabbouleh made with quinoa, rolled up in a homemade whole wheat tortilla if I want more. I always bring a ton of fruit and some nuts for when I don't feel like cooking or when I get sick of leftovers, but I also like pretzels and baked chips and don't believe in cutting those things out completely.

Other easy work lunches: bean, rice, veggie burritos,
leftover veggie pizza (or "hot pockets" made with pizza dough and veggie/fake-meat fillings), salads that stay good for a while (mustard and vinegar-based slaws, grain salads such as chickpea, leek and couscous salad...)

Oh, and because it's always freezing in my office: vegan chili and some hearty whole wheat bread is great! I've usually got some sort of chili, soup or stew in the freezer.

I feel you, eprewitt. I have to have red beans and rice once a week. Mmm...