<b>Easy, sustainable weight loss that not only improves your health but can help the planet may sound too good to be true, but in his breakthrough dietary manifesto Mark Bittman offers persuasive evidence that going vegan on even a part-time basis helps you realize all the benefits of a more stringent diet</b>—<b>with none of the deprivation.</b><br> <br> Six years ago, an overweight, pre-diabetic Mark Bittman faced a medical directive: adopt a vegan diet or go on medication. As one whose professional <i>and</i> leisure time revolved around cooking, eating, and enjoying a wide variety of fine foods, neither choice was appealing, yet it was clear something had to give. His solution? Shift the focus of his diet to vegetables, fruits, and grains, following a strict vegan diet (no meat or dairy) and eliminating processed foods for most of the day, then eat the foods he simply couldn’t give up forever <b>only after 6 p.m.</b>—and (mostly) in moderation. Beyond that, his eating plan involved no gimmicks, scales, calorie-counting, or point systems—and there were no so-called forbidden foods. Just wholesome, all-natural, mostly home-cooked meals that were as varied and satisfying as they were delicious. The results of this dietary recalibration were swift and impressive. Best of all, they proved to be lasting and sustainable over the long haul.<br> <br>Using extensive scientific evidence to support his plan, the acclaimed cookbook author and food policy columnist shows why his VB6 approach succeeds when so many other regimens not only fail, but can actually lead to unwanted weight <i>gain.</i> And far from incidentally, he explains the wide-ranging benefits—to the environment, the economy, and global health—of reducing our consumption of meat and animal products on a broad scale. He then provides all the necessary tools for making the switch to a Flexitarian diet, with lists for stocking the pantry, strategies for eating away from home in a variety of situations, pointers for making cooking on a daily basis both convenient and enjoyable, and a complete 28-day eating plan showing VB6 in action. Finally, Bittman provides more than 60 recipes for vegan breakfast, lunch, and snacks, as well as non-vegan dinner entrées that embrace the spirit of a vegetable- and grain-forward diet.<br><br>If you’ve one of the millions who have thought of trying a vegan diet but fear it’s too monotonous or unfamiliar, or simply don’t want to give up the foods you love to eat, <i>VB6 </i>will introduce a new, flexible, and quite simply <i>better</i> way of eating you can really live with . . . for life.