low carb/vegetarian day 2 and what's on my bookshelf

After taking a few recipes from the book for a spin for both taste and ease of preparation, I decided to give the whole thing a whirl to see if this shakes up my January at all. The book gives vegan options for all vegetarian recipes (Vegan = vegetarian, but in addition excluding any product that comes from an animal such as eggs, dairy, cheese, or honey). I was rather happy being vegan (and not low-carb) when I lived in California, but I find the option to be somewhat difficult here in Germany.

Off to the Saturday trip to the Obst Frau, a few changes to my usual food choices:
Add to the usual list:
10 eggs*, goat's cheese*
cauliflower, avocado

* I will attempt to eat the vegetarian recipes that involve egg whites or goat's cheese, for anything involving an egg yolk or cow's cheese I'll choose the vegan option.
Exclude from the usual list:
apples, potatoes
hohe's multi vitamin fruit juice

Some initial thoughts:
1. If you're already OK with being a vegetarian and you're not of the 'coca-cola and twinkie' variety, vegetarian low carb (VLC from now on) isn't much of an effort or change, except for shifting away from rice and grains as the basis of your personal food pyramid.

2. Being in Germany for this regime is a mixed blessing.
Negative: There is a lack of packaged low carb food like I saw so often in the US.

Positive: A. There is a lack of packaged food in general here, so temptation to eat poorly is low. Personally I love the occasional bag of Doritos or Oreos. Nary a one here in Deutschland. The closest I can get is to get Oreos from Spain (and believe me I do when I'm there!) or Doritos from Netherlands. The Oreos are pretty close but the Doritos are hit or miss depending on the variety. The 'original' here is not like in the US, it's more of a general cheesy chip that looks like a Dorito, but beware, it's fool's gold. Cool Ranch is pretty close in taste between here and there, but not one of my favorites.
B. Also, Germany tends to be very organic in fruits and vegetables by nature so I suspect this is a less expensive experiment for me than an equivalent counterpart in the US who would be buying the more expensive 'organic' version of everything.
C. Germany apparently considers goat's cheese to be a staple item, and it even comes in multiple varieties--hard, soft, with honey, without, etc. Once I started to look for it I found it everywhere, even in the less expensive, discount grocery stores.

3. Having done this for two days, I imagine if you are a meat eater, this program throws your world into chaosis by taking away your hamburger bun and breaded chicken.

So far, I haven't noticed any of the usual symptons one might expecet--of being cranky, tired, lethargic, etc. In general I'm always cranky--ask my work colleagues. ;-) However, interestingly enough, I have been chock full of energy this weekend. Do I think this is a miracle way of eating? No. I think it's because my top three carbs are french fries, pizza, and beer, something to be avoided frequently in any anyone's eating style.

I was so full of energy I catelogged online my entire bookshelf here in Germany. If I was not an expat in Germany planning to leave here some day, I'd have more books. Curious? Visit here.