Friday Five on Monday

A belated Friday Five on Monday. These questions come to us from miss_s_b on Dreamwidth. I don't think I saw this the first time it was posted a few months ago so I'll answer them now.

1, What is your favourite food?
Dim Sum. Hands down. Especially har gow

2, What is your favourite food preparation method?
Roasted - it makes vegetables even more fabulous than they already are

3, What is your favourite cuisine or style of cooking?
See #1. If I could only pick one country's food prep, it would be China (which is kind of a cheat since there are so many different regional variations)

4, Do you have any dietary restrictions and if so what are they?
Light on red meat and raw onions since they don't like me. I also avoid deep fried food

5, If you could introduce the whole world to one ingredient to improve their culinary experience, what would that be and why?
Sesame oil. It takes an ordinary dish and elevates it.

Hold on - did my doctor just throw down the gauntlet?

Well I know you'll be digging this, veganhothead . With the new doctor I have, I can log into an app on my iPad or go on a website and send non-urgent messages. This morning I decided to let him know that I'm going to be participating in Veganuary. One is I wanted to make sure he didn't want to test anything additional before I do this and secondly, as a litmus test to see how he would react. Some doctors seem to dismiss a plant-based diet as unhealthy. The fact that on my recent test results that he recommended lowering my carb intake made me wonder.

I mentioned that if the month went well that perhaps I'd continue it. I mentioned that I was doing research on ways to transition healthily as well as I said that I have done "vegan for a week" in the past with success. His response was quick and positive. He thinks it's a good idea and wants to retest my level in May. Wait...May? So I guess I'm committing to this longer term! Oh my! Well, guess I'd better continue prepping, eh?

I'm on three medications to lower my blood pressure. My A1C is slightly higher than it's usual 5.8 at now 6.0. My total cholesterol is slightly high at over 200 - my LDL is a little high and HDL is low. I also have all these structural issues which could use some weight loss and lowering of inflammation. So as long as I don't eat a bunch of crappy processed-but-still-vegan food, I should see some improvements in all of these things.