 |
| 2014 |
 |
| 2015 |
 |
| 2016 with Joel Kahn, MD -America's Healthy Heart Doc! |
I was just reading my blog entry from a year ago. At that time I wanted to lose 4 more pounds to make it an even 100. I'm happy to say that I did it and then lost 9 lbs more over the past year. That means I went from 284 lbs down to 175 lbs in less than 3 years without surgery, pills, exercising, supplements, hypnosis, acupuncture or fad dieting.
The first 96 lbs of weight loss is attributed to converting my food choices from the standard American diet to a diet of whole foods, unprocessed and plant based. I've eliminated ALL oils since they are calorie dense and nutrient poor. The last 9 lbs left as I started exercising regularly (3 times a week) over the summer. Cooking has become simplified and is now second nature. Most of my current recipes have between 4 and 8 ingredients. All of them are readily available at Kroger so I don't even have to go out of my way. (I do like the local bulk food store though. It's cheaper and carries Nutritional Yeast; my "go to" for extra flavor.) Click here for a frozen chocolate treat.
Worrying about protein is a thing of the past. I eat about 5 pounds of food a day. Everything I've read tells me that a man of my height needs about 55 grams of protein daily. I did the math. That comes out to 1/8th of a pound. Even that is misleading since your body makes it's own protein from the amino acid building blocks that all plants and all animals contain. The plants just don't have any cholesterol.
Of the 20 amino acids that the proteins in our bodies are made from there are only 9 that we can't synthesize ourselves. These 9 are called essential amino acids. All of them are readily available from plants. While some plants contain all of them all plants contain some of them. You don't need to take in all 9 of them in every bite because your body finishes the protein building process as the proper components are delivered. But when you include grains, fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts and legumes during the course of the day you're covered. Peanut butter on whole grain bread contains them all but is also high in calories. Some of the best food choices that include all 9 of them are things you already eat without knowing it like guacamole, hummus, lentil or split pea soup, fruit salad and nori vegetable sushi.
After sticking to the plant based diet for about 2 months and wasting energy worrying about protein I stopped thinking about it. Honestly. If you eat a combination of fresh or dried fruits, whole grains, seeds and vegetables every day all of the amino acids you need will be included. You barely have to think about it. Problem solved! Here I am 33 months after turning away from all animal products with more definition in my muscles and weighing 5 lbs less than I did when I graduated high school 43 years ago:
For more information on good plant sources of the 9 essential amino acids, click this link to find a printable chart of all of them and the variety of plants containing each one.
It's easier than you think! Try it. See what happens!
Worrying about protein is a thing of the past. I eat about 5 pounds of food a day. Everything I've read tells me that a man of my height needs about 55 grams of protein daily. I did the math. That comes out to 1/8th of a pound. Even that is misleading since your body makes it's own protein from the amino acid building blocks that all plants and all animals contain. The plants just don't have any cholesterol.
Of the 20 amino acids that the proteins in our bodies are made from there are only 9 that we can't synthesize ourselves. These 9 are called essential amino acids. All of them are readily available from plants. While some plants contain all of them all plants contain some of them. You don't need to take in all 9 of them in every bite because your body finishes the protein building process as the proper components are delivered. But when you include grains, fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts and legumes during the course of the day you're covered. Peanut butter on whole grain bread contains them all but is also high in calories. Some of the best food choices that include all 9 of them are things you already eat without knowing it like guacamole, hummus, lentil or split pea soup, fruit salad and nori vegetable sushi.
After sticking to the plant based diet for about 2 months and wasting energy worrying about protein I stopped thinking about it. Honestly. If you eat a combination of fresh or dried fruits, whole grains, seeds and vegetables every day all of the amino acids you need will be included. You barely have to think about it. Problem solved! Here I am 33 months after turning away from all animal products with more definition in my muscles and weighing 5 lbs less than I did when I graduated high school 43 years ago:
 |
| Me holding my incentive to be healthy |
For more information on good plant sources of the 9 essential amino acids, click this link to find a printable chart of all of them and the variety of plants containing each one.
It's easier than you think! Try it. See what happens!
