Three years and 1 month a vegan! #sustainableweightloss #eattolose #veganforlife #eathealthy

Seitan, cooked mixed veggies, quinoa and homemade whole wheat bread

It's now officially 37 month since I got away from animal products and joined the whole foods plant based, no oil movement. That 100 lbs I was trying to lose is gone and has stayed gone for almost 2 years. I didn't know I was part of a movement. It just kind of happened around me and I got sucked in.
It was absurdly easy to do once I accepted the fact that meat and dairy products were killing me and I could be ridiculously healthy without them.
     I was 58 years old, more than 100 lbs overweight and, after years of struggling with it, I had resigned myself to the fact that I always was and always would be fat.  I had given up on myself and had embraced the fact that this was me and there was no point in fighting a war that was never going to be won. That sounds so depressing.
     But that wasn't the end of the story. Lets break it down. A war is composed of individual battles. These battles are 90% mental and 10% mental. To come out the victor you have to win more battles than you lose. Each and every piece of food you eat is a small battle. I decided to win them one at a time. So I armed myself. First I had to gather intelligence. Starting with my friend, Joel Kahn, MD who has a rather large internet presence, I started reading. He was also kind enough to let me pick his brain when I needed a little more direct encouragement. I watched the movie Forks Over Knives and that took me from thinking: "There's no way I'm ever going to do this" to the realization that "I HAVE TO DO THIS!!!" As soon as I reached that tipping point, which took me about 3 months of mental preparation, I was committed. I picked up a vegan cookbook to help me learn something about cooking without oil and what to use as substitutes for eggs, butter and processed sugar. I had to "unlearn" what I thought were healthy eating habits and accept that I could get everything I need for great health from plants.
     On to step 2 - preparing for the transition.
     I set January 1, 2014 as my starting point. Prior to that date I collected a list of appropriate groceries and I practiced with a "Meatless Monday" a few times. I started drinking just water or black coffee. I increased my water drinking too. Simple enough. I'm lactose intolerant so I was already avoiding milk and cheese. In order to help myself manage time I made pretty big batches of the things I could use in multiple recipes, like tomato sauce, home made salad dressing, cooked vegetables, vegetable soup, veggie soup stock, chili, veggie burgers  and cheese substitutes. That way I could just grab a few things out of the fridge to throw together during the week. A breakfast of oatmeal made with almond milk mixed with blueberries, raisins, strawberries, dates or dried cherries along with a banana and a cup of black coffee was simple enough to make and filled me up nicely. (I make enough for 3 days at a time and store it in a container until I'm ready to use it.) As I learned more about nutrition I added 2 tablespoons of milled flaxseed for the omega 3 fatty acids and cinnamon to help control blood sugar and cholesterol. If you keep your blood sugar from spiking and troughing you won't feel as hungry.
For lunch I had a lettuce wrap and a pear with a glass of water. I made a bunch of them over the weekend. Cooking ahead of time is a big help. Around 3:30 I needed a snack so I had an apple and a cup of black coffee. For dinner there was veggie noodle spaghetti marinara left over from the weekend along with an oil free salad. Around 9:30 I ate some air popped popcorn.
The next morning I had a rather large smoothie for breakfast with a cup of black coffee. Around 11:00 I ate a banana. At 1:00 I ate a huge "salad sandwich". For dinner at 7:00 there was baked falafel and an oil free salad. Around 9:30 I finished off a fresh fruit salad. You get the idea.
     I collected and modified or just plain made up about 25 recipes that were filling, nutritionally sound and delicious. Some of them I could eat everyday, like oatmeal or smoothies. Some of them were very time consuming and would occupy hours of the weekend. I find cooking to be a relaxing and rewarding escape so I don't mind spending hours doing it. When things come out well I feel like I've accomplished something and I want to share. If they don't come out as planned, I eat it anyway.
     When I mentioned before that I got sucked in to this plant based whole foods life, I was referring to Plant Based Nutrition Support Group.  Dr. Kahn introduced me to Paul Chatlin, the founder of the group. He asked me to share my story. I started to attend the monthly meetings and I wound up volunteering becoming a contributing writer. The meetings are remarkably helpful. I thought I was doing really well before I started to participate with the group, but they took me to a whole new level. Not only do they provide a wide variety of recipes, but they also bring in nationally known, well published experts to lecture monthly and to answer questions. They offer small groups where you can sit down with a few other people who will help you learn to cook, answer your questions and give you encouragement. They helped me get over a weight plateau when during one of the meetings I

realized that I was eating way too many almonds and sunflower seeds. I leaned to read and understand food labels. I got a good handle on my cooking skills and got the encouragement I needed to keep moving forward. I went from a totally sedentary omnivorous couch dweller
to a medal winning whole foods plant based 5K runner in about 2 years. This works!  
     Everybody makes mistakes. I learned to accept mine, learn from them and move ahead with the help of members of the group. Whether you decide to go all in like I did to optimize my health or if you have a focused goal like kicking Type 2 Diabetes,  losing 20 or 120 pounds or focusing on just not dying from food related illnesses like heart disease this is a great place to start. Anyone can do this. Your food bill and your waste line will both get smaller! Make a commitment and start feeling good about yourself!

YES YOU CAN!!!