43 Months A Vegan!! Before and After Pictures. Whole Foods Plant Based, No Oil #foodismedicine #oilisforcars #livingtheveggielife

Salad for 14+
My Assignment for Every Family Dinner

it·er·a·tion

ˌidəˈrāSH(ə)n/

noun

1. the repetition of a process or utterance.

   • repetition of a mathematical or computational procedure applied to the result of a previous application, typically as a means of obtaining successively closer approximations to the solution of a problem

    It is now 43 months since I went vegan. A few months after that I learned the difference between vegan and whole foods plant based and started doing that. Then I learned about cooking oils and quit doing that! Most recently I learned of the benefits of a diet rich in Omega 3's and low in Omega 6 fatty acids and jumped all over that. So in my current iteration I would say I'm a whole foods plant based no oil vegan who avoids Omega 6's and stresses Omega 3 fatty acids. The transition to this lifestyle is a process. I like to say I jumped into it cold turkey, and I did, but there is always more to learn and adjustments to be made. "A means of obtaining successively closer approximations to the solution of a problem." The problem being the best way to optimize my health through changes in diet and activity. So far, so good. 

     The medical issues that affected me 4 years ago i.e. hypertension, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, obesity, microhematuria (microscopic traces of blood in my urine), pre-diabetes, general aches and pains and lethargy have all vanished. POOF!! Any and all abnormal values in my blood work, urinalysis, physical exam and overnight sleep study are gone. No more medications needed for any of that. The only supplement that I take is a tiny, over the counter B 12 tablet daily. That and a Vitamin D capsule because I live in Michigan and summer sunshine is just too short a season to make enough on my own. My blood work shows that the level of both of those things in me now are on the high side of normal. I can run a mile in under 9 minutes and run a 5K race in 31 minutes. I'm bucket listing towards running 10K in just over an hour by the end of this month. I also bicycle 17K, swim 1 mile and play golf a little. Its making me feel younger at 62 than I did when I was 45!

     

The easy part is there are so few rules:

1) Eat only plants (fruits, veggies, seeds, beans and a few nuts)

2) Stay away from any oil including olive, corn, canola, coconut or anything else that ends in "oil". 

3) Eat whole foods. Processed foods tend to have less or no fiber and lots of additives. White rice, white flour, white bread and refined sugar all have the fiber removed. The fiber is the healthy part. 

The rest are details you can pick up along the way like I did.

Check out PBNSG.org for more information and easy recipes.

August, 2013

August, 2017