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76 reviews for:
VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health . . . for Good
Mark Bittman
3.65 AVERAGE
76 reviews for:
VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health . . . for Good
Mark Bittman
3.65 AVERAGE
I dunno--I find the idea compelling, but I really do not want to be vegan before six. And in addition, as someone who is vegetarian at home and pescatarian out (with the occasional grilling of fish at home), I wonder--can I have more dairy during the day in trade for never eating meat at night?
Mark Bittman has been writing for the NY Times for over 20 years now. I only just got into his writing about two years ago via his Minimalist recipes, which are amazing! As a teacher, I appreciate how easy and inviting his minimalist recipes are. It's good to have healthy and tasty dinners after a long day. That said, eating well during the day is a challenge during the school year. Frantic mornings give way to breakfast sandwiches from coffee shops or donuts from the lounge. Then I indulge in lots of chocolate and salty snacks to get through meetings, lesson planning,grading, or whatever else. My lunches are typically dinner leftovers, so they are fine, except my dinners can be on the heavier side sometimes and I find myself crashing a lot after lunch. Last year was no different, except that my exercise plan also fell by the wayside. By June, I was exhausted and could feel it from the inside out. When summer break started, so did my plan to recover. I decided to tap into Bittman's lifestyle book, VB6: eat Vegan Before 6:00 to get me started. A month into it, and I can say that I have learned more about cooking healthy meals and eating well in a sustainable way.
This is how Bittman sold me on VB6: "It acknowledges the erratic, big nature of our lives, and it acknowledges that we all have 'bad days' when convenience trumps everything else."
On weekends, I don't really think about eating vegan before 6. However, I do find that the general aspects to VB6 to be convenient enough:
1. Commit to plant foods
2. Commit to fewer animal products and highly processed foods
3. Eliminate junk food when possible
Dieting makes eating a chore. This is not a diet book. It's divided into two parts with the first part focused on the research and rationale of VB6 and the second part focused on actual recipes. The research part is dry, but I did appreciate his emphasis on variety in the way we eat. For recipes, I tried the Scrambled tofu with Spinach which was easy and delicious. The Lentil Salad was a good staple to learn. I had fun making the Meatballs with beef, bulgar, and spinach. I remain a big Bittman fan.Let's see how I do this school year.
This is how Bittman sold me on VB6: "It acknowledges the erratic, big nature of our lives, and it acknowledges that we all have 'bad days' when convenience trumps everything else."
On weekends, I don't really think about eating vegan before 6. However, I do find that the general aspects to VB6 to be convenient enough:
1. Commit to plant foods
2. Commit to fewer animal products and highly processed foods
3. Eliminate junk food when possible
Dieting makes eating a chore. This is not a diet book. It's divided into two parts with the first part focused on the research and rationale of VB6 and the second part focused on actual recipes. The research part is dry, but I did appreciate his emphasis on variety in the way we eat. For recipes, I tried the Scrambled tofu with Spinach which was easy and delicious. The Lentil Salad was a good staple to learn. I had fun making the Meatballs with beef, bulgar, and spinach. I remain a big Bittman fan.Let's see how I do this school year.
A great way to "dip your toe" into a vegan lifestyle. Recipes are vegan, vegetarian and omnivore.
there's no specific plan which makes it flexible, but also makes it a scary abyss of using good judgment (i hate when i have to think! kidding). it's a good reminder to be mindful of what you eat.
VB6 - It's in there!
My husband and I started the VB6 lifestyle in September of 2011 after our doctor half-heartedly agreed to let Mark see if he could bring down his high cholesterol levels through diet and exercise. I have enjoyed home cooking and baking for the past twenty years but I still found the new foods and ingredients to be a challenge. I spent hours consulting both Food Matters books, the How to Cook Everything Vegetarian app, and my trusty Joy of Cooking and America's Test Kitchen's Perfect Vegetables. Fueled by weight loss and renewed health (many of my chronic health problems seem to stem from the residual antibiotics in animal products,) I combed blogs and tweets to learn more about plant-based nutrition. As our Meatless Mondays expanded to be nearly every day of the week and Mark's cholesterol numbers did indeed come down to the healthy range, I was asked more and more by family and friends for details. Outside of the initial Readers Digest article, it was always hard to point to one source.
And then I was blessed with an advance readers copy of "VB6." What an outstanding resource! It is ALL there - Bittman's own journey, the dangers of the SAD diet, nutritional information, pitfalls to overcome, tasty recipes, and "much, much more." I am delighted to own an ARC copy but I am downright giddy over the idea of recommending this book to inquiring friends - which happens often as a rare flexitarian in Appalachia. :-)
My husband and I started the VB6 lifestyle in September of 2011 after our doctor half-heartedly agreed to let Mark see if he could bring down his high cholesterol levels through diet and exercise. I have enjoyed home cooking and baking for the past twenty years but I still found the new foods and ingredients to be a challenge. I spent hours consulting both Food Matters books, the How to Cook Everything Vegetarian app, and my trusty Joy of Cooking and America's Test Kitchen's Perfect Vegetables. Fueled by weight loss and renewed health (many of my chronic health problems seem to stem from the residual antibiotics in animal products,) I combed blogs and tweets to learn more about plant-based nutrition. As our Meatless Mondays expanded to be nearly every day of the week and Mark's cholesterol numbers did indeed come down to the healthy range, I was asked more and more by family and friends for details. Outside of the initial Readers Digest article, it was always hard to point to one source.
And then I was blessed with an advance readers copy of "VB6." What an outstanding resource! It is ALL there - Bittman's own journey, the dangers of the SAD diet, nutritional information, pitfalls to overcome, tasty recipes, and "much, much more." I am delighted to own an ARC copy but I am downright giddy over the idea of recommending this book to inquiring friends - which happens often as a rare flexitarian in Appalachia. :-)
This is a good, solid cookbook for someone looking to start eating vegan, whether one meal a week, all of them, or somewhere in between. Bittman advocates for eating less animals products, not giving them up entirely, and this seems like a much easier approach for some people. Anything that can reduce how much we consume is good in my book.
Since I've already got the vegan-year-round (at least at home; I'll eat dairy and eggs if served them as a guest, or if it's a choice between that and gluten when I'm purchasing food away from home.) thing down, I didn't spend much time reading the introduction and VB6 explanation, and focused mainly on the recipes. I wasn't disappointed. As I said, this is a good, solid cookbook, with good solid recipes. I copied down quite a few that I'm looking forward to trying, including Tofu Jerky, Chocolatey Pineapple Kabobs, Banana Parfaits, Vegetable Miso Soup with Tofu and Rice, Greens and Beans Soup, Eggplant Un-Parmesan, Black Bean Tacos with Tangy Cabbage, Roasted Vegetable Spread, Carrot Candy, Fruity Nut Butter, Tropical (French) Toast, Spiced Apple Jame, and Creamed Mushrooms on Toast, among others. I especially appreciated how versatile the recipes could be, and that the author included examples of variations, either as single ingredients or substituting out many ingredients to create a similar but distinct dish. So, for example, Creamed Mushrooms on Toast could also be Creamed Greens or Creamed Brussels Sprouts. Spiced Apple Jam could easily be Spiced Tomato Jam (Don't worry; it's savory.). For the black bean tacos, Bittman lists about 13 different ingredients that could be swapped in to change up the recipe. The Eggplant Un-Parmesan could have polenta added into the layers. And Broiled Nutty Apples could alternately be Broiled Vanilla-Scented Pears, Broiled Minty Grapefruit, Broiled Melon with Balsamic, or Broiled Nutty Peaches. By including these variations and substitutions, Bittman exponentially expands the recipes offered in this book (a paltry 60, with almost a third of them being the non-vegan after-six options that are of no use to me.). Issues with gluten weren't very bad either--I can substitute for almost any items that are required in most of the recipes.
Overall a good book to pick up and look through if you're trying to try to eat more fruits and veggies in your diet, or less animal products, or both, without going radically vegan. Bittman is a clear and concise writer who explains the pros and cons of a vegan or partially vegan diet well, and a hardcore foodie who accepts only the best, tastiest recipes. Definitely worth giving it a chance.
Since I've already got the vegan-year-round (at least at home; I'll eat dairy and eggs if served them as a guest, or if it's a choice between that and gluten when I'm purchasing food away from home.) thing down, I didn't spend much time reading the introduction and VB6 explanation, and focused mainly on the recipes. I wasn't disappointed. As I said, this is a good, solid cookbook, with good solid recipes. I copied down quite a few that I'm looking forward to trying, including Tofu Jerky, Chocolatey Pineapple Kabobs, Banana Parfaits, Vegetable Miso Soup with Tofu and Rice, Greens and Beans Soup, Eggplant Un-Parmesan, Black Bean Tacos with Tangy Cabbage, Roasted Vegetable Spread, Carrot Candy, Fruity Nut Butter, Tropical (French) Toast, Spiced Apple Jame, and Creamed Mushrooms on Toast, among others. I especially appreciated how versatile the recipes could be, and that the author included examples of variations, either as single ingredients or substituting out many ingredients to create a similar but distinct dish. So, for example, Creamed Mushrooms on Toast could also be Creamed Greens or Creamed Brussels Sprouts. Spiced Apple Jam could easily be Spiced Tomato Jam (Don't worry; it's savory.). For the black bean tacos, Bittman lists about 13 different ingredients that could be swapped in to change up the recipe. The Eggplant Un-Parmesan could have polenta added into the layers. And Broiled Nutty Apples could alternately be Broiled Vanilla-Scented Pears, Broiled Minty Grapefruit, Broiled Melon with Balsamic, or Broiled Nutty Peaches. By including these variations and substitutions, Bittman exponentially expands the recipes offered in this book (a paltry 60, with almost a third of them being the non-vegan after-six options that are of no use to me.). Issues with gluten weren't very bad either--I can substitute for almost any items that are required in most of the recipes.
Overall a good book to pick up and look through if you're trying to try to eat more fruits and veggies in your diet, or less animal products, or both, without going radically vegan. Bittman is a clear and concise writer who explains the pros and cons of a vegan or partially vegan diet well, and a hardcore foodie who accepts only the best, tastiest recipes. Definitely worth giving it a chance.
For the month of June this year, I did a vegan challenge. No meat, milk, cheese, eggs, ice cream, or animal products for the whole month. When I was done, I felt awesome and had lost 6 pounds, but as a person who loves food, I had to admit that I missed the flavor you can only get from real blue cheese or the creaminess you can only get from real ice cream or just the meatiness of a real meat hot dog(even if I did enjoy the vegan alternatives to these things, I just missed the real stuff). With Mark Bittman's philosophy, you don't have to miss out on those flavors, textures, and ingredients, but still get a lot of the health benefits of a vegan diet. Basically, everyday before 6 pm, you eat a vegan diet. Then, after six(dinner time), you can have whatever you want. He says that he tries not to go crazy after 6 pm, but if you want to go out with your friends and have a bacon cheeseburger, you can. And he says that as time goes on, you'll naturally just want less non-vegan foods for dinner. He also says that when you do have meat, you make meat the side dish rather than the main event and I can for sure get behind that. He includes a meal plan and lots of recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, AND snacks, and I plan on trying the 28 day plan starting next week.
I just liked his whole philosophy. Even if you do go crazy after 6, over and over again, he says, "Tomorrow is another day." Most "diet" books don't have that mentality. I also liked how you can be flexible. If you have a breakfast date, you eat whatever you want at breakfast, then eat a vegan dinner. Have a potluck at work, same thing. It's more about balance than a straight vegan diet and I really liked that. If you're at all interested in a vegan diet or just a healthier diet in general, you should check this out. It's very well written and researched.
I just liked his whole philosophy. Even if you do go crazy after 6, over and over again, he says, "Tomorrow is another day." Most "diet" books don't have that mentality. I also liked how you can be flexible. If you have a breakfast date, you eat whatever you want at breakfast, then eat a vegan dinner. Have a potluck at work, same thing. It's more about balance than a straight vegan diet and I really liked that. If you're at all interested in a vegan diet or just a healthier diet in general, you should check this out. It's very well written and researched.
O Holy Bittman, we will follow you from the Darkness and into the Light. #cultobittman
I would say I'm a bit obsessed about "eating well" books. Bittman's book is so balanced and real and refreshing. You don't have to be 100% vegan to benefit from eating vegan most of the time. I'm all about living in the gray and enjoying food while eating lots of fruits and vegetables. I think he's spot on.