The 30 Day Plant Based (and unprocessed) Experiment

The End

Well, this experiment has come to an end. Over the past 30 days, I’ve kept to a whole food plant based diet AND for the most part kept to an Unprocessed diet, staying away from salt, processed sugars and oils. I say for the most part because when eating out at restaurants, its sometimes not possible to order say, a plate of spaghetti marinara without oil in the sauce, though I’ve had success at some restaurants asking them to sauté the veggies in water instead of oil. I wasn’t always successful in totally omitting these three processed ingredients. But at home, I was always good at not using these in my meals. I should note that we only ate out four to five times while on this experiment so for the most part I stuck to the plan. It was tough not eating chips at a Mexican restaurant that was covered in salt but I stayed away.

There were some frustrating moments in the beginning, but it was mainly the result of inexperience and trying to learn new ways to find and shop for food. There were a few times when was so frustrated at the market because everything I wanted to buy either had oil or salt or sugar in them. Eventually I became familiar with alternative markets like Sprouts, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. Sprouts became my favorite place to shop.

I owe a huge thank you and I’m very grateful to my wife Cristina for making such great meals and being so helpful and supportive. Without her this would have been more of a challenge.

What I’ve learned:

I’ve learned that I can survive without meat.

I’ve learned that there is no shortage of complete proteins or nutrients in a plant based diet.

I’ve learned that there are delicious ways to cook meals without the use of salt, oil or sugar.

I’ve learned that my pallet has adjusted to the absence of salt and I’m able to appreciate the real flavors of many foods.

I’ve learned that it takes smaller portions from a whole food, plant based diet to satisfy my hunger

I’ve learned how processed foods like olive oils, sunflower oils, corn oils or vegetable oils which are so calorie dense and nutrient poor, lead to a huge overconsumption of calories and in all cases, it’s not necessary to cook with it.

Results:

Two years ago, I weighed 180 lbs and was at a 22% body fat. At day #1 of this experiment (and several few months beforehand) I was consistently at 160 lbs (163 after the holidays) and was at 14.4% body fat with a BMI of 23.1%. At day #30 I weigh 152.25 with 11.4% body fat and a BMI of 22.2%. That’s a loss of 3% body fat in 30 days not to mention a loss of 10.6% over the course of 2 years. I can’t remember the last time I weighed less than 160 even through intense workout programs and marathon trainings. My energy level has been very high.

What’s next?

I will continue to eat a plant strong diet. I don’t miss read meat or poultry at all. I think I may continue to have fish once or twice a month. I will no longer cook with salt but maybe just add a little at the table to taste or I just might continue to use Table Tasty as a salt substitute. I’m content without cheese, and eggs. The thought of cheese is almost a turn off now. I want to say I’m done with dairy but I still sometimes miss milk chocolate in things like Peanut M&M’s, Kit Kats and Reese’s. I guess I’ll need to continue making the vegan and sugar free sweets I’ve learned to make over the past month. I can live with that. I’m going to start juicing soon also. Looking forward to it! I need to increase my fruit intake. I still have room for improvement.

Finally, I just want to say that I’m proud of my Dad for the changes he’s made to his diet throughout the last 30 days. He has also cut out dairy, sugar and oil in an effort to reverse his Type 2 Diabetes. Keep up the good work Dad. I hope that my Mom and my other Dad will adopt some healthier eating habits as well.