As one of Baldy's rugrats, I'll throw in a few of my thoughts on this whole thing.
I'm currently not vegan, and didn't have any weight to lose when I first started reading these books and listening to my Dad rave about veggies. In fact, now with being pregnant, I'm trying to put on pounds.
But, changing my diet has been a very good thing for me. Here's what we do at our house:
No meat. Occasionally when we're at friend's house, they'll serve meat because they've forgotten we don't eat it. We smile and eat some. We don't have a problem with fish, but just don't eat it very frequently.
Almost no refined flours, processed foods, or added sugars.
Examples: We drink unsweetened soymilk that's just whole organic soybeans, filtered and water. The "vanilla" or "plain" flavors have added evaporated cane juice which means you get less protein/fiber/beany goodness per calorie. It also gets you craving sweet stuff. We don't eat "meat substitutes", vegetarian frozen dinners, etc. for the same reasons. Whole plant foods are best, the less processing the better. We don't usually buy fruit juices at the store, because you lose all the goodness of the peel and pulp (fiber, color, etc). Instead, we throw whole fruits in the VitaMix. Kiwi fuzz, apple skin, pineapple core, strawberry tops, they all get ground up into smooth goodness.
Not too much dairy. My husband prefers butter over margarine, so he'll put that on things occasionally. We sometimes use whole eggs when baking (waffles, for example), but other times just egg whites, or flaxmeal + water as a substitute. No cow's milk, but some cheese or ice cream on occasion. Only really really good cheese and ice cream though, so a little bit satisfies. No more sprinkling cheese on every burrito, pasta dish, etc. just because.
For us and cravings, the best thing to do is to change your perspective. Fruits are naturally sweet, and I promise you'll appreciate them more if you don't eat chocolate covered sugar bombs for breakfast, soda with lunch (diet or regular), and a candy bar for a snack. We just go down on a bowl of fresh strawberries, or thawed 3-berry blend from Costco as a late-night treat. We don't get artifically-sweetened stuff because it just trains our palletes to expect everything to be sweet. It gets you out of touch with the purpose of our sweet-craving: to detect and appreciate a perfectly ripe piece of fruit.
Once you've got your taste buds out of the fat and sugar-induced stupor, you might still have some cravings for the occasional scoop of ice cream, piece of chocolate, or what-have-you. Eat some slowly, savor it, and enjoy it as a treat. Not the norm.
So, the reason why I say I'm not vegan is because I do incorporate some cheese, egg, fish, etc. into my diet. However, at our house, changing our emphasis (90%+ of our calories) to whole plant foods has made a world of difference. Better sleep at night, more energy, slimmer waistline for my husband, more creative cooking, more appreciation for food and flavor, and best of all: we can eat all we want all day long. We're never hungry. We never feel deprived. Portion control is important when you're munching on pastries and cheesy chicken bake, but you'll never gain weight eating greens and berries.
-Anne