Roy's Weekly Blog
Roy's Individual Plan
- Three meals a day only and tracking these meals in LiveStrong’s app
- NO sugar, processed foods, or dairy (including diet sodas)
- Avoid oils
- Plant based meals at least twice a day
- Poultry or fish consumption limited to 4oz or less daily
Blog Entry
I started spreading the word about this website, and I hope it is a source of motivation and at least a good reference point for starting a whole food plant based (WFPB) lifestyle.
I took some time off to get acclimated to my new job and prove to myself this lifestyle would survive the test of time.
The most challenging obstacle for me is not losing weight (when I focused on doing so), but once I reached my goal, maintenance always meant gaining back more than I loss. I have lost over 100 pounds before, only to regain it and more. Dealing with food cravings and not remaining “disciplined” and calorie counting always seemed to derail me.
I was really self-conscious about this happening again, so I took some time to test my new whole food plant-based diet. What I found out is, the lifestyle (no sugar, minimum oil, no animal products, and eating food as close to how they were grown) held its own. The only craving I had was hungry when I did not eat enough, but the desire for sweet, fat, and savory was satisfied with whole foods without binging as I have done in the past with processed foods. Furthermore, this was done without tracking calories! I actually lost more weight even though I travel for work, when on vacation, and worked outside the home when not traveling for work. Traveling was a challenge once or twice due to the limited selections, but most cities (even in Europe) had lots of vegan and meatless whole food options.
The keys for me was plenty of fruit, no artificial sweeteners or diet products of any kind, tons of veggies accompanied by starchy carbohydrates (whole grain rice and potatoes), avoiding oil when cooking (you can sauté with water), and continuing to add variety with new and international recipes. I learned how to make curries with beans, tuna with beans, a hoagie with veggies and beans, bolognaise with carrots and soy, amazing stir-fries, “no cheese” mac and cheese, and much more. There are substitutes for almost everything you eat today, and for the items that don’t have a substitute, there are so many new options to explore and enjoy.
Now that I know this lifestyle is totally legitimate for health, weight loss, and maintenance, my focus is now on getting serious about my workout routine. I want to get into weightlifting/bodybuilding again, and prove like others have that this lifestyle does provide the nutrients necessary to be muscular.
In closing, I shall restart blogging at least once a month. The plan this week is to hit the weights and get the pain over with… Also, I switched to a doctor whose practice has Whole Food Plant base as its core philosophy. My first visit is this week, so I will be blogging about that experience soon. Talk to you then!…
My Transformation
I have tried every diet concept known to man, and most of these I now know promote less-than-healthy eating habits or don’t address the real issue with SAD (standard American diet) “rich in red meat, dairy products, processed and artificially sweetened foods, and salt, with minimal intake of fruits, vegetables, fish, legumes, and whole grains.” But after doing extensive research brought on after dealing with complications related to being overweight with hypertension, I began to use real food to heal me.
For the last year, I have adopted a whole food plant-based lifestyle. I personally adhere to a strict diet that avoids all animal-derived products, including meat, eggs, and dairy. I credit this lifestyle change with giving me back my energy and zest for life, helping me to shed weight and be an example of what can be accomplished with this healthy lifestyle.
The keys to my transformation are rooted in the China Study and a theory called the Pleasure Trap. The “China Study” examined the connection between nutrition and heart disease, diabetes, and cancer as well as the source of nutritional confusion produced by powerful lobbies, government entities, and opportunistic scientists. While the “Pleasure Trap” research offers unique insights into the factors that make us susceptible to dietary and lifestyle excesses and present ways to restore the biological processes designed by nature to keep us running at maximum efficiency and vitality. Both confirm the effectiveness of a WFPB diet. The China Study show facts that a WFPB lifestyle can reverse metabolic syndrome, heart disease, and prevent the growth of cancer.