35 Months a Vegan! Beans and Rice Noodles tonight #EatToLose #EatLikeAGorilla #PlantsRule #glutonfree #Kosher #pareve

      It's been 35 months already since I got away from all the foods that were making me fat. What a difference! All I had to do was start eating my veggies along with fruits, grains, seeds and a few nuts a week.

All I had to stop doing was eating meat, chicken, eggs, milk and anything else derived from an animal. It was way, way easier than I imagined. Getting away from all the olive and vegetable oil in my salad dressing and cooking seemed counterintuitive since they come from plants. I learned how calorie dense and nutrient poor all oils are and how terribly damaging they are to your arteries. That convinced me. Don't eat oil or any processed food.  Just whole foods, unprocessed and strictly plants.

Here's a simple meal. It was my dinner tonight.

Steamed green beans, sweet peppers, onions, rice noodles sprinkled with nutritional yeast.

Ingredients:

Green beans, onion, sweet red and orange peppers, rice noodles, nutritional yeast, salt and spices

Slice up the onion and peppers. Put them in a pot with the green beans using one of these inserts to keep the veggies separated from the water. I went Simon and Garfunkel with the spices adding parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme with a little garlic salt and turmeric sprinkled over everything. Bring the water to a boil, cover tightly and steam it for 10 to 15 minutes depending on the degree of tenderness you like. I found millet and brown rice Ramon noodles at  at Target.  I strained the cooked vegetables and used the broth to cook the noodles. Either plate them side by side or mix them together and sprinkle with nutritional yeast. What you see on my plate along with a glass of water was my dinner at 6 pm. A large Apple was my dessert. It's now 11:30 pm and that's all I ate tonight.

So to recap, I had a filling, nutritious, high fiber meal of vegetables and grain with some spices and a fruit chaser with no animal products and no oil that kept me satisfied for over 5 hours. I forgot to mention that beans and grains combined include all 9 of the essential amino acids covering my body's requirements for a source of complete protein.

2013

2016 - down 110 lbs

     Eat well, eat smart and stay healthy.  A good plan for the New Year!

Start Spreading The News! #forksoverknives #vegan #eatlikeahorse

   

Vegan Brownies!!!!!

      Let's all start spreading the word about the health benefits of eating your fruits and veggies.
I found this Youtube video with a well done short version of the movie Forks Over Knives. I know its hard to expect someone who has health problems to sit and watch a 90 minute movie when they don't even understand where I get my protein. This video is about 15 minutes long. Here's the link. It may whet their appetite so to speak! I know this blog is read over most of the world. Lets see how much good we can get out of it. Copy the link and spread it around using your social media pages. Who knows? You just may save a life!

     One round of holidays is over and we all survived that! Now comes the next one. This month has a special challenge. All month long people bring over goodies. There are cookies, cakes, chocolates and all kinds of tempting treats brought to the office by patients and reps from different manufacturers and suppliers. Sometimes I get a fruit tray as a gift. I appreciate the thoughtfulness.
     As a vegan, what do you give someone at this time of year? Fruit and vegetable trays are nice, but how about something you can make yourself with love as the special ingredient? Here's a link to my recipe for whole food plant based chocolate brownies!!! Chewy and delicious with no added oil. Have a wonderful, healthy holiday season everybody!

Whole Heart ❤ #veganonPBS #smallpartofthebigpicture

The Whole Heart Solution is being broadcast nationally tonight on PBS.  

Check your local PBS station listings for the time. Click the link above for a sample.

I have a short interview near the end of the show.

This really truly works and is sustainable.

Its been almost 3 years for me.  I've lost 110 lbs. My total cholesterol went from 234 to 137 without meds. My current blood pressure is 105/68 and my resting pulse is 56. No more blood pressure pills. 

Watch the show tonight. Start learning and New Year's Day you'll be ready to make that resolution to lose weight and start taking better care of yourself. You know you want to. Take that first step and watch tonight!

Nobody is going to do it for you and it won't cost you a thing!

YOU gotta want it! #vegan #foodismedicine #Ieatlikeagorrila #eattolose #wholefoodsplantbased

Me after completing a 5K race on 11-12-2016

     This November 12th, morning was cold with frost on the grass. The kind of brisk day with sunshine filtering through my own crystallized breath before the breeze made it drift away. The exact weather conditions that when combined with any level of exercise would invariably for me result in a wheezing, congested asthma attack. That was how I could expect my lungs to respond to strenuous activity on any day with a temperature below 50 degrees. Knowing this about myself, I would make it a point to take it easy under these conditions. But all that changed. Today I ran in a 5K race for charity  in 40 degree weather placing 2nd in my age group with no breathing issues. (outrunhunger.org )

     Last winter I noticed that my problem with the cold was no longer an issue. I had fully transitioned to a whole foods plant based life and over a 2 year period  lost over 100 lbs along with my cold weather exercise induced asthma. Now I run 5K three times a week to train and occasionally participate in a race. Training is the key. Practice makes perfect, right? At age 61 with no training I wouldn't expect to get very far. The same principle applies to transitioning to a whole foods plant based diet. Doing your homework is going to vastly increase your chance of success.
     The movie Forks Over Knives (FOK) is a great place to start and is available on Netflix, ITunes and Amazon. Check out the FOK website for a synopsis of the film, a meal planner, recipes and for answers to frequently asked questions. The idea is to start making good choices with your fork before your Doctor has to start using his knives. The fork is safer and less painful. They have 125 kid friendly recipes in the book to get you started.
     There are lots of easy to read articles out there to give you some basics as well. Personally, I like Joel Kahn, MD. Click the link for his articles in Mind Body Green. There are several books he has written regarding the effects of nutrition on heart disease and Diabetes. He got me started thinking about all the changes I didn't want to make but knew I should. After a few months I was convinced and haven't looked back.
     Michael Greger, MD has a website called NutritionFacts.org. He likes to say that he reads every article on nutrition from every medical journal published every day "so you don't have to". The information is nicely broken down in plain English on his videos. The website includes a search bar. He has been doing this for years so chances are if you have a question about a particular medical problem he has addressed it and made it available for you to watch.
     Caldwell Esselstyn, MD has his lectures recorded on Youtube making them readily available to anyone with a computer, tablet or smart phone. This is the doctor who convinced Samuel L Jackson and President Clinton that a whole foods plant based diet would benefit their health.
Dr. Esselstyn and his son, Rip Esselstyn have cookbooks to help you get started.

It's all up to you. If your significant other is not a fan of change, it doesn't matter. If your friends are less than supportive, ignore them. You don't have to change them. You just have to change you.
YOU gotta want it!

October 2013

September 2015 (different baby)

34 Months A Vegan! Sweet Glazed Roasted Carrots and Broccoli #EatTheGardenNotTheMorgue #Foodismedicine #Eattolose

Roasted Carrots, Sweet Peppers, Pineapple, Ginger, Dates, Rosemary and Broccoli
Or as I call it:  Dinner

     It has been 34 months since I changed from a 58 year old 284 pound omnivore and transformed into a whole foods plant based 61 year old 175 pound vegan.

9/3/2016 Arts, Beats and Eats
Priority Health 5K Race

1/1/2014 at a restaurant  

 After losing all that weight, I started running on Memorial Day this year.

Around Labor Day I participated in my first 5K race and won a Bronze Medal!

About the only thing that DIDN'T change is my hair. Still platinum blonde.

My doctor is so happy with me that he took away all my high blood pressure and high cholesterol pills then became a vegan himself!  

Quoting him: "Anyone who thinks what you eat doesn't matter is crazy!" He thanked me for reminding him, called in his staff and metaphorically held me up as a shining example. I like being a shining example and not being a statistic.

Think you can't do it? Find a way by just clicking a link:   read a blog, get on a mailing list with free recipes and encouragement, watch a movie, join a group, read a book, try some recipes and for goodness sake - eat your veggies!  

Here's a recipe for my dinner last night:

ROASTED CARROTS AND BROCCOLI

2 Cups vegetable soup stock

3 large carrots

3 sweet peppers  roughly diced (red, yellow, orange)

6 chopped Medjool dates

1 Cup diced pineapple

1.5 Cups broccoli florets

0.5 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 inch thumb of fresh ginger root chopped fine
Lemon zest and 1 TBSP of lemon juice

Scrub the carrots with the skin on. Cut the carrots in half and boil them in the soup stock with the rosemary and ginger for 10 minutes along with half of the diced peppers . Take the carrots out, put them on a baking sheet with the other half of the peppers. Place them under the broiler and brown them on both sides. Add the broccoli to the soup stock and boil it for 10 minutes then use a slotted spoon to remove just the broccoli from the stock. Add the dates, lemon  and pineapple to the stock bring it back to a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer and stir until 1/2 to 2/3 of the liquid is gone and it thickens. 

Put the broccoli on one side of your plate. Slice the broiled carrots lengthwise and fan them out from the broccoli with the browned side up. Spread the broiled diced peppers across the top of the plate opposite the broccoli. Pour enough of the thickened stock over everything to coat it. (Save the rest for another dish. It goes well with brown rice or quinoa.)  Put your plate back under the broiler for 2 minutes. Serve hot.

Your comments are encouraged.

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Halloween News Flash... Vegan Plays With Food. #eatlikeahorse #vegan #foodismedicine

I like to play with my food on this holiday.  Pumpkins are edible after all, right?

Here are some of my Jack-O-Lanterns.....

I want to wish everyone a safe and spooky Halloween!

Pass on the candy.  Eat a pumpkin.

33 Months a Vegan! Before and After Pics #foodismedicine #eattolose #eatlikeahorse

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:

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!