Slowly getting there

Japanese Power Breakfast,
Miso and vegetable soup with tofu and brown rice

It's been a while since my last post.  I spent a couple weeks away from home, then came back to a very busy work schedule.  In the meantime, while I was gone I attempted to stay on a very restrictive fat free plant based diet after watching a video entitled, "Make Yourself Heart Attack Proof" by Dr.
Esselstyn from the Cleveland Clinic.  I believe almost everything he says but I cannot stand that diet!!!!  I lasted for two weeks and lost a couple pounds but it seemed like I thought about food way too much.  I felt like the critics who say, "If all I can eat is beans, go ahead and kill me now!" It ws so depressing thinking about never eating sushi with fish again.
I will be getting lab tests in a couple days, routine for my annual physical, and I am hoping my cholesterol is a little lower, but I don't know that I will achieve the 150 total cholesteral and 80 LDL recommended by Dr. Esselstyn.  In the meantime I read all my books on populations who enjoy long and healthy lives such as The Okinawa Diet, Healthy at 100, Blue Zone, Food Rules, and The Spectrum by Dr. Dean Ornish.  I think Michael Pollan sums it up the best:  "Eat food, mostly plants, not too much."  The Okinawans, one of the healthiest populations studied, ate an 85% plant based diet with small servings of fish, occasional eggs and meat.  I believe my Japanese ancestors ate a very healthy diet before our western tastes invaded their country. 
I have determined that I can exist on a mostly plant based diet with 10-15 % of my calories coming from fat (which is only 18-26 grams of fat per day in my 1600 calories per day diet).  I eat the lowest fat protein sources such as beans, tofu, and grains along with egg whites, fish, and chicken breast.
I may have red meat on occasion but not more than once or twice a month.  I have either almond, soy, or non fat milk and all non fat diary products.  I have learned to use a special very light salad dressing I make fresh every day and less of it and I have been using canola oil, which has less saturated fat than olive oil.  Even non-stick "0" calorie spray has fat if you spray it more than 1/3 of a second, so when I use it I spray the pan very lightly.  My taste buds have adjusted quite well now and I continue to lose weight.  I am still about 15 pounds from my goal and have until the end of April to reach it. 
I will be posting recipes again soon!