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.
Congratulations! You did it! Thanks for taking us along for your journey! Although I have been far from perfect in avoiding processed foods, salts, oils, and sugars, I am trying to be more aware and make better choices. Your discipline is inspiring! -Heather
ReplyDeleteThank you Heather. It's definitely hard to stay on track with the unprocessed goal but as you said, just being more aware and making better choices will land you on higher ground. I appreciate you following me through this. It helped knowing I was being held accountable!
DeleteCongratulations Son, Irene and I are very proud of you, We have improved over the last 30 days as well, we both have lost about 5 pounds each, and also have improved our mental and physical energy and we are sleeping better, also I have been able to stop taking medication for my type 2 diabetes and my blood sugar levels are almost normal, so we plan to continue with not eating sugar, salt and oil and as always stay on our Vegan Diet.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you will be starting to take fruit and veggie juices, we do that all the time, and we buy carrots by the 50 pound bag ($13 a bag) and apples by the box (@ $33 a box) I suggest try to find a place near that sells wholesale produce or maybe a local restaurant or store can order you this items for you and pass the wholesale price.
A couple of suggestions, do not drink fruit juices and veggie juices together, its being said they do not make a good combination in the stomach one being acid and the other alkaline; try different combinations, we favor carrot with celery and parsley. And you may find other combinations good to your taste. We also add a tablespoon of ground Chia seed for an additional energy and nutrient boost.
We hope you stay as much as possible on a plant base food diet and stay bright and healthy for a long long time.
Wow Dad. That's amazing that your blood sugar levels are almost normal without the medication! That's such good news.
DeleteI'm looking forward to juicing. I hope the girls will have fun with it too. Thank you for the juicer! I'll let you know when its delivered. Thanks for the tips and suggestions! Talk to you soon.