If you don't eat dehydrated foods and foods with added fats like vegetable oils, olive oil, etc., and do not eat a lot of nuts and seeds, and avocado then you don't have to think about calories, reading labels or restricting food intake. you can eat all you want, according to instinct.

Bread and crackers are not just dehydrated (and hence confuse the body, the stomach senses fullness and uses that as a signal that aids your aliesthetic instinct), they usually have added oils (some crackers are 1/3 fat by calories). The added oils are not whole foods, the foods they come from are either low in fat in their natural state (and often inedible since they must be cooded, a denaturing process) or were not superabundant in the environment in which man evolved, which supplied most calories as raw carbohydrates.

If taking it "to the extreme" is impractical, then it needs qualification. People who accept it as a guiding moral principle, however, then qualify it in the way that best suits them. "Thou shalt not kill" becomes "thou shalt not kill humans," or "thou shalt not kill Godly men (and women)," etc. And then, it says nothing about harm.

The principle of Ahimsa is better stated: non-harm. It is applied to the greatest extent possible. One is to strive to do no harm to other beings, human or non-human. This means not only refraining from harming humans and animals, as much as one is able to do so, but also not wantonly harming plant life either. Only when necessary and unavaoidable. It means living conciously, keeping other beings in mind.

It must be understood that "animal rights" vegans would benefit their cause more by promoting the health benefits of eating vegan. The ethical argument is not going to be won because "animal rights" activists do not have superior numbers on their side and they are not acknowledging the difference between wild/farmed/pet animals. However, the health benefits of a vegan diet have medical and scientific justification which affects the majority of people. This is a numbers game. Victory is achieved by getting the numbers.

The worst idea I have seen in veganism is the notion of eating "clean". Anyone who has a smattering of understanding of microbiology knows how absurd that idea is. Fruits and vegetables are not "clean" fuels for our body. Hopefully they have plenty of helpful bacteria on them to contribute to our gut population. Refined sugar and refined fats are "clean" fuels and should be avoided because of that fact.

The biggest problem with the idea of eating "clean" is that it seems to lead to delusional aversions. People think their diet has led them to a type of piety where they become more sensitive to "unclean" things. They then can't tolerate certain smells or be around certain things or become nauseated by certain tastes. This might spiral into debilitating neuroses (anorexia, bulimia, hypersensitivities, etc.). Eating "clean" or "pure" or "perfectly" is the first sign of an eating disorder. It is healthier to occasionally and intentionally break the spell of such thinking than to allow it to have a pathological stranglehold.

Chef AJ: As a former Souther Californian, I love your classification of Los Angeles pounds vs real world pounds. So true! Thank you for your "Quick Six" and House Dressing. They are fabulous!

Vegrunner: I met Chef AJ live and in person this past weekend in Marshall TX and she is lean and beautiful even when converted into LA pounds. Also, those tiny little heels on the back of her cute sandals are by no means meeting the standard of "high". For those of us standing at 5 ft 5 or less, they are just enough to keep our heads at shoulder level in most company and keep our pant legs from dragging without benefit of a tailor.