Week One -- Olive Garden Sucks for Vegans

Week one was by all accounts quite successful. I lost 7-point-something pounds. However, it really isn't all that impressive once you're aware I was overindulging on bizarre drinks (Romulan ale) and appetizers (Vegas Fries, so good) at Tex Wasabi the night before. I rolled out of bed my first Saturday morning of Weight Watchers feeling bloated and tired. The major accomplishment was dragging my sorry behind to the meeting.

That was Labor Day weekend, and Michelle and I had a birthday party, a Greek Festival and one other dining out occasion to attend. Great weekend to start. Old Grandad elected to celebrate his 84th birthday at the Olive Garden. Michelle usually picks restaurants for her birthday her family considers freakish and bizarre, like Indian food. So, I guess we all feel obliged to politely go wherever the birthday person chooses, even if we think it's third-rate Italian like OG. Michelle and I both ordered whole wheat pasta (fetuccini noodles) with a simple pomodoro sauce. That was pretty much the only available menu item for a dieting vegan. The pasta was dreadfully overcooked. It was mushy. And there were all sorts of other noodles kind of intermingled. How did they get there? It looked like they ran out of pomodoro when they got to my dish because there was a regular tomato sauce on one half, and then some other tomato substance that may have been bruschetta topping dumped on the other half. They barely scrounged up enough sauce and pasta to cover the bottom of the dish. It was pitiful.  The night before at my own house I whipped up a lovely sauce with ALL fresh ingredients -- tomato, egg plan, zucchini, garlic, basil, onion -- that made the OG fare seem even more egregiously lacking. It was beautiful and flavorful and cost only about $2.00 per person instead of a criminal $12.00.

At the Greek Festival we both had some sugary Greek donut holes, loukoumades. We were able to limit ourselves to 5 or 6 each. Not too bad. Michelle assured me vegetarians and vegans eventually got chips on their shoulder due to the total lack of decent food selections pretty much anywhere. The Greek Festival was one of those places where I felt darned annoyed. Could be what we get for going on the last day in the afternoon, but the dolmades ran out just as the trio of vegetarians (Riley is not vegan) were approaching. That left, as food choices, one measly crappy dish of green beans and carrots. I crossly put my plate down and elected to have nothing but Diet Coke and loukoumades rather than pay $3.50 for a little spoonful of veg.

So far eating out has been the most difficult part of maintaining this diet. The choices are incredibly limited. People who eat animal products definitely rule the roost while vegans must be almost nonexistent to merit choices of like one or fewer menu items.

Somehow between all my complaining and adjusting to having a new sort of fringe status as an eater, I managed to stick with the WW plan. Thanks to the "core" foods I felt satisfied and only had a couple of really hungry moments. During the work week we brought lunch from home every day, and thanks to Michelle we had abundant food, full of whole grains and beans, and sufficient snacks, like fruit, applesauce and chopped veg.