In which we go vegan...

Two weeks ago my boyfriend( henceforth referred to as Himself or my fella as he wishes to remain anonymous) decided out of the blue that he wanted to try a vegan diet to shed some of the winter weight he's carrying. This from the man who loves his eggs and bacon and porterhouse steaks. Me , incredulous,- You're going to give up bacon? And, um, cheese ? Himself, -Yeah, I can do that. Me - Ok then let's do it. ( Internally mourning cheese before we even get started. Did I mention I really love cheese?) I've done the vegan diet before in college when meat was often well beyond my student income. I eat about a 70% plant based diet now and this means that Himself has been exposed to a more plant based diet since we've been together. Some fish ( mostly sushi), occasional burgers,eggs enjoyed as a weekend treat and often accompanied by their frequent dance-card partner, Bacon , drift in and out of my menu but cheese is pretty much a constant. But if Himself can give up meat then I can go without cheese and truth be told I need to. A persistent bit of eczema that refuses to respond to topical creams indicates there is some underlying allergy happening in my body and this is one way to find out if it's dairy- related. So after getting out all of my Sarah Kramer vegan cookbooks including How It All Vegan and La Dolce Vegan,( Yes I'm afraid I'm a bit of a cookbook addict, a friend mentioned The Engine 2 Diet. I picked up the book and had the brain flash that the author was the son of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn from Forks Over Knives, which I watched on Netflix not too long ago . I also remembered that I sat next to a relative of his on a plane last October who told me that the diet was profoundly transformational for everyone in his family that's gone on it. OK, Cool beans! The diet focuses on whole plant based foods, low sodium, whole grain and cooking with no oils ( yes it's really doable). So I told Himself we would be doing the Engine 2 Diet 28 Day challenge and he was on board. - Welcome to our journey!