Hard to believe it, but it has already been 40 months since I chose to take control of my health by changing to a Whole Foods Plants Only diet. My motivation at age 58 was to lose the excess weight I had picked up over the past 20 years. That and not die or develop the diseases associated with obesity. Losing weight is so much harder than putting it on. At the time, my goal was to be realistic and lose 50 lbs. That seemed like an achievable goal. I didn't ever see myself getting back to the shape I was in at the end of high school and through undergrad when I had a 32 inch waist. At that time I was eating whatever I wanted but I was very active; playing tennis and bicycling in the summer and playing racket ball during the winter. As time went on, I got a little less active each year but didn't bother to change my eating habits. I would see my personal physician for regular checkups and he would give me prescriptions for pills to lower my cholesterol and to lower my blood pressure and then tell me to lose weight. I would ask him how and he would say: "You know how. Eat less and exercise more." Well that was just frustrating because apparently I didn't know how, I weighed 284 lbs and I was asking for help. Throwing it back on me; telling me I know how was not helpful.
I do know how to read though so I started looking for a plan that would help me achieve my goals in the safest, least painful, cost effective (cheapest) and sustainable way possible. I also need to understand what I'm doing, why it makes sense to do it and the science behind it to back it up. With all that in mind, I was able to narrow down my choices. There are a lot of diet plans out there! Everything from self help books, hypnosis, Doctor monitored plans that include pills, hospital or office based nutritionists, weekly Weight Watchers meetings, meals and supplements to buy or have delivered all the way to Bariatric surgery.
The first option I could cross off my list was bariatric surgery. It certainly isn't the safest, least painful or cost effective choice. It isn't necessarily the the most sustainable choice either considering the number of people who manage to put a significant amount of the weight they have lost back on in the 5 year follow up period.
I had joined Weight Watchers before and it worked while I was going but I never reached my goal weight and my bad habits returned when I stopped attending the meetings. The other options that also require someone else to provide meals, pills or attend regular appointments were also not for me. Long term, I would be inconsistent and get tired of the expense.
That leaves self help. I was already motivated, I just needed to chose from the myriad of approaches to weight control. I didn't want to be caught up in a fad diet, calorie counting or in something with tons of rules. I may follow the rules for a period of time but long term, not so much.
I was given some direction by Joel Kahn, MD. He had me watch the movie
Forks Over Knives.
I could relate to the testimonials. The rules seemed simple enough:
"Eat whole foods, just plants and not too much."
I had some learning to do about the meaning of "whole foods" vs processed foods like white rice and bleached flour. The processing takes out the fiber. That's the healthy part! Oil is also a processed food with no fiber. It takes 40 olives to make one tablespoon of olive oil. Again all the fiber is removed and all that is left is the fat. Fiber makes you feel full and fat makes you... FAT!!
The only thing I spent money on initially was a vegan cookbook. It gave me the basics of cooking without processed sugar, oil, eggs, milk or white flour. Once I got an idea of how things worked I started gathering some recipes and getting comfortable with the ingredients. When I started cooking, there was no stopping me. Chopping, mixing and cooking are relaxing activities and when you finish you get to eat your work! I found myself experimenting like I was in chemistry class. The food was delicious! I was eating more than before and losing weight!
Over the following year I also lost my high cholesterol, high blood pressure and sleep apnea. The most expensive thing I had to do was buy new clothes. My BMI was 45 when I started and is now 28! My Doctor, who told me "you know what to do" is amazed now that I really do know what to do! That goal of losing 50 lbs blew past in a rush and I lost 110 lbs.
You can amaze yourself the same way I did. Click on any or all of the links in this blog and start.
Nobody is going to do it for you and it only works when you decide to take control and depend on yourself!!!
