Eating to Live

 

Despite the unexpected busyness and interruptions, I have been plugging away at my weight loss as well as writing the plant-based, whole food cookbook. Recipe testing fell by the wayside the past two weeks, but I've still gotten a good chunk of the book done.

I also got on the scale this morning for another one pound loss which makes a total of 61 lbs. since I started this journey back in July. It's second nature at this point and I have so much more energy and feel healthy. The only negative is that because I've lost so much weight I'm seeing some sagging, crepe-papery skin happening. Yuck. Some of that is age and I need to figure out some toning exercises.

It's definitely a life-style change, but a positive one which I'm so thankful I started on. The pictures above are a small selection of meals I've eaten the past two months and many of those will be included in the book. 

This will be a printable e-book as I find that will be the easiest and most cost effective. My main goal in writing it is to dispel some of the myths around eating plant-based.

Myths such as: 

1. It's too expensive.

2. I don't have time to cook this way.

3. It's too restrictive.

4. It won't taste good.

I want to show how you can change your health, eat a wide selection of nutritious and delicious foods and do it in a way that won't break the bank. In fact, my food bill has gone down since I began this.

The main takeaways I can give you from my experience is even if you don't want to go to an entirely plant-based, whole food way of eating is the following: 

1. Cut out the sugar.

2. Cut back or eliminate oils. Oil, even olive oil, is not healthy and packs a walloping 120 calories per Tbsp. I don't know about you, but when I used it in cooking I probably was using 3-4 Tbsp. in my pan. 

3. You can eat healthy fats (limited if you are trying to lose weight) such as avocados, nuts and seeds. You should really eat no more than 1/4-1/2 cup of these per day.

4. Cut out the processed foods. Cook foods that you can find in nature without ultra processing. Fruits, Vegetables, Grains, Starches, etc. Pop Tarts are not a healthy breakfast choice! ;-)

5. Add more leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables to each meal.

6. Move more. Use it or lose it. Our bodies were meant to move.

I still have a bit more to lose but I'm not even really thinking about it. I've loved eating this way because I can eat large and filling portions of plant-based foods without restricting. 

And other than walking when I can, I didn't spend hours in a gym trying to do strenuous exercising. I have been more intentional over the past two months with my activity because I know it's healthy and I need to tone up. But lost the 61 lbs. without doing any sort of fad dieting, calorie counting or spending hours exercising.

But the main thing I'm so thrilled about is that I'm off my blood pressure medication, no longer have tingling in my fingers, no longer have what felt like gall bladder pain, no longer snoring, no longer wheezing and no longer have the aching joints. I have a yearly checkup in a few months and will also find out if the fatty liver disease and pre-diabetes has gone and if my blood work is good. 

I encourage you to join me on this journey. You'll be amazed at how much better you will feel.