My Health Journey Week #1

Is it safe to say that everyone gets to a point in their life when they say, “enough is enough! I need to get a hold of this!” You could probably say this about any situation. Well this was me probably every single month this 2021 year so far since January. That’s 3 months of saying, “ok, you had your fun, now it’s go time.”

I’ve implemented new strategies every month to make lifestyle changes and not drastic diet changes.

1. Drink more water (I’m up to a gallon a day with the help of actually just leaving the water in a gallon out on the counter for me to see every.single.day.
2. Move my body every day. Fresh off 2020 and being all loosey goosey I decided to start small and joined a step bet and just start walking. Then I started using my couch to 5K app again and have now graduated to couch to 10K app. Now I’m starting to do Barre and yoga programs with a mind to continue to weightlifting programs. Using BOD (Beachbody on Demand) & ALO Moves.
3. More veggies and trying to eat at least one salad a day. That’s hard for me so I usually have to cook my veggies. I’m still trying to get to the raw salad thing every day. This point is the one I’m currently working really hard on.
4. Personal development - audio books (hoopla, iTunes, audible, etc) are my bestest friends! It’s pretty easy for me to get motivated to go for a morning run, because that’s really the one time during the day when I’m childless and can put my full attention on information that inspires me. 

One thing I’m missing is accountability. I’ve tried staying accountable in Facebook groups, Beachbody On Demand groups, to my husband (I do not recommend unless you want to strain your relationship) soooo my creative spirit has led me to this: Vlog posts on my process. In the past I have felt inspired and motivated by helping and being of service to others so if my journey can help you in any way, then that is all the motivation I need to stick to this plan.

​The diet plan I’ve researched and decided is the best way forward for me to sustain as a lifestyle change is from the book The Starch Solution by Dr. John McDougal. In a nutshell it’s a high carb, low fat eating plan where one would ideally eat a Whole-food, Plant-based, Oil-free diet.

Personally, I’ve already been working my way to this lifestyle naturally as this past year of eating everything and anything led me to have major hormonal issues triggered in my body. This resulted in adult acne, sluggish energy, gut issues and just a terrible overall feeling. I have known since January of this year that I needed to make a change so I started with doing away with dairy products and replaced those with plant-milks.

Then I challenged myself to drink a gallon of water a day. CONSISTENTLY.

Then I challenged myself to eat greens at every meal. CONSISTENTLY. 

Now I have officially taken meat and animal products off my plate. As of this week... CONSISTENTLY.

Truth be told as I’m transitioning myself into this lifestyle change I am struggling with the idea of bringing my family with me, so I have decided to start with myself and then encourage them to try something off my plate. These small invitations to try my food is how I found out that 2 out of my 3 kids are super receptive to green soups and a host of veggies. I need to be a bit more creative and mentally and, well let’s face it, emotionally - ready for my second son who is at the moment playing the part of a picky eater. He WILL love veggies one day...

Here’s a sneak peak at one day of eating for me this week. My plate building plan is to make sure that every plate has 50% veggies and 50% starch. I also always ate the veggie portion first and starch portion second.

Breakfast

50/50 Plate:
50% Water Sauteed Greens with Mushrooms & Mango
50% Oatmeal

Lunch

50/50 Plate:
50% Water Sauteed Green Beans & Mushrooms
50% Steamed Potatoes w/ Nutritional Yeast on top

Dinner

50/50 Plate:
50% Simple Salad with Veggies & Zucchini Soup
50% Air-fried Potato Fries

​​Thoughts:

I think I can seriously do this - eat a plant-based diet. Or if I'm being super specific to The Starch Solutions: A Whole-food, Plant-based, Oil-free lifestyle.

Sure the idea of not eating meat is easy when there is none around. I’ll have to tell you how I feel when I’m at a gathering with friends or family and how that goes down, mentally at least. But the fact that I can eat pretty much all the delicious potatoes, rice, corn, beans, pasta that I want and I don’t have to feel guilty about it is ah-mazing!

Preparation is key though so making sure that I have potatoes pre-cooked, rice ready to reheat, and frozen veggies ready to prepare when I’m really hungry and in most need of a quick meal to stay on plan and not succumb to temptations IS THE THING! I’m not talking about meal planning and prepping so every meal is already pre-packaged and ready to just take out and reheat. I’ve done that before and the enthusiasm for that sort of prep-work doesn’t last past the week for me. But having all the produce ready to go to throw together easily, that’s a bit more sustainable for my busy life.

Are you starting your health journey? What have you found works for you? I’d love to hear from some veteran vegans or whole food plant based eaters... any tips and tricks you can import will be graciously appreciated!

Scale & Non-Scale Victories

​For those who like to know the skinny on week to week scale, inches and other non-scale victories movement, here are mine:

Scale Change in Week 1: 160lbs - 152.2lbs.   That's 7.8lb in 1 week. Woot, woot!

Now wait a minute, I know that the scale is not the best measure of progress, but man doesn't it feel great to see that number go down?

Some Non-Scale Victories though....

1. I can easily drink a gallon of water a day, but definitely need to go pee very frequently.
2. I fit into my size 8 pants easily. Size 6 jeans - I’m looking at you!
3. Perhaps TMI- but I have super regular bowel movements.
4. My facial acne has improved significantly this week. I was getting these tiny whiteheads all around my mustache area which is a total first for me as of a couple of weeks ago and now I’ve seen a drastic improvement where I only got a few throughout the week as opposed to a few every single day.
5. My energy levels are up! I have felt motivated to start a round of Barre Blend on Beachbody on Demand and that has been a really nice way to begin the day. I took it easy and didn’t push too hard and even so, man! I feel sore!

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Resources

Here are some links to some very good lectures & documentaries that I think you'll find very helpful to understand the ins and outs of our biology and how a whole-food, plant-based diet can help cure a myriad of ailments as well as help one shed excess pounds.

1. Doug Lisle, Ph.D. on January 8, 2012  How to Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind https://youtu.be/xAdqLB6bTuQ
2. Neal Barnard, MD on March 18, 2020 How Foods Affect Hormones https://youtu.be/0s5vzsabNpI
3. John McDougall on December 4, 2012 The Food We Were Born To Eat https://youtu.be/d5wfMNNr3ak​