I have tried many diets and the only one that worked was Quick Weight Loss, and it only worked as long as I was willing to take their expensive pills and eat grilled chicken! I think I will discuss that diet later. I don't want to be on another diet but rather I want to change my diet. There is a difference. Going on a diet is something temporary in order to lose weight. On the other hand one's diet consists of what he or she eats on a regular basis. For example, the Chinese (in general) have their diet, it consists of lots of vegetables and rice or noodles and very little meat. The Japanese have their diet and so do the Mediterraneans, Indians and we Americans. Up until yesterday my diet was aptly called the Standard American Diet or SAD, which is quite appropriate as we Americans are among the fattest people on earth. We also lead the world in heart disease and cancer, and I just love the people in that picture above too much to leave them behind.
So What Is Your New Diet Called
Well, I'm glad you asked. For the next 28 days (and hopefully forever) I will give up foods that are nutrient poor and high in empty calories. I will give up. processed foods. I will give up foods that are high in fats, sugars and yes I am going to give up all forms of meat. I will give up, beef, chicken, pork, fish, milk, cheese and yogurt. What I will eat are nuts, grains, fruits and vegetables and other nutrient rich foods. I will give up a dozen foods but I will gain hundreds of foods that I rarely or never ate before, foods that are super nutritious, like quinoa, spelt, buckwheat, kale, watercress and hundreds of other foods. So, though you might call my diet Vegeterian or Vegan, that would not be entirely accurate. A more proper title for my new eating lifestyle would be Plant Strong Nutrient Rich.
So there you have it. For the next 28 Days (and hopefully longer) I will eat a Plant Strong Nutrient Rich diet.
At the end of those 28 Days, I will report to you the changes to my weight, blood pressure etc. I can't weight (get it?) to see how it turns out! So join me on this journey as I will try to blog every day.
Tomorrow: Engine 2 I love You.
So since I have done that diet for years, let me give you some hints.
ReplyDelete1) Make sure you get LOTS of protein (NOT powder protein but from food, absolutely no whey but I do put hemp protein on my cereal and add, grounded in a coffee grinder, two spoons of each, flax and sun seeds). That is beans (I eat 7 types). You put them in the fridge to soak the night before coking them. Then after about 4 hours in the slow cooker they will be soft and nice pour the water out and rinse, then you will not get the gas problem with beans, or it will disappear after about 4 weeks. Make about 3 cups of dry beans at a go so you will have enough for 3 days)
2) THE only way to eat enough veggies without ever getting tired of them: Put cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli, spinach, peppers, pineapple, and most important strawberries in the freezer.
In the fridge you have watermelon, apples, lettuces, celery and your cooked beans on a flat tray (so they dry out a bit after coking but not so they get hard again, cover them after day 2).
Then you take a little of each with one cup of cooked beans and put it into a blender and you get a cold slush (add enough watermelon as liquid). Put 6-8 strawberries in it and you can only taste the strawberries. I make about 1.5 litre at a time. I will bet your kids will drink it like as if it was unhealthy soft drink.
3) Get a pizza oven and learn to make pizzas from scratch. It takes a lot of trying but it is food everybody will eat. You can find YouTube videos and books on the subject. Use sourdough and baking powder to get it like the commercial pizzas. I bought one of these and love it
http://thumbs2.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/moqiXXmfLqg26n2s-hD4zdg.jpg
4) Learn to make ice cream with soy. Again it is a favourite. I went to a health store and bought some there and read the ingredients and tried until it became good. When you make it just before eating you do not need all the chemicals they use to keep it fresh.
Good luck. It took me years to get to were I am now but my cholesterol was so low at my last blood test that they tested it twice because they thought the result was wrong.
You have to take B12, and during winter D vitamin other than that you do not need to take supplements.
I forgot carrots. They are also part of the stable I always include. I add leafy greens and others when in season, but the mentioned are always available.
ReplyDeleteAnother problem is that it takes time for your body to change from getting all proteins served on a silver plate (through meat) to having to produce them yourself. For me that meant that after about 30 days my muscles became so tired and I realized I was not getting enough protein. So I supplemented with a small piece of fish for about 6 months. Slowly eating less and less fish.