Little more than a week ago, I restarted this blog after a nearly decade-long absence, to share with whoever might want to follow along, my path toward returning to the writing life.
Today I'll share a new path I'm looking to follow as well -- converting to a fully whole food plant-based eating plan.
This is far from the first time I've set out to lose some weight and get healthy -- I've spent most of the past 30+ years in a perpetual, and losing, battle against really bad eating and health practices. This is not even the first time I've blogged about it (Some of you may remember my old blog, A Fat Boy's Story). That time, with the Fat Boy blog, I chronicled my loss of something like 40 pounds, over the course of a couple of months, but eventually fell off that wagon.
A couple of years ago, my youngest son and youngest daughter and I joined in with the local wellness center in doing the 12-week Body for Life program. None of use really adhered to the diet portion of the plan, thus I only lost about 25 pounds, but holy cow, the workout portion of the plan was incredible -- by the end, I was doing multiple sets of 100-pound dumbbell presses, at 6 to 8 reps each, and seeing similar gains in all lifts. My son and daughter were seeing big-time results as well. But being as dedicated as BFL takes is a hard task to do indefinitely (not to mention a car vs. tree incident left me with a permanent shoulder injury that's ended my big-lift days when it comes to any sort of bench pressing).
Since then, I've mostly been eating exceptionally poorly (hot wings or tacos at midnight, anyone?) while remaining in a high-stress job field (with more stress and fewer rewards every day). I have continued weight training, mostly, but with no cardio.
Every once in a great while, I've switched to a plant-based eating plan. For so many years I said that's something I'd never, ever try. I love my hot wings, tacos, pizza, burgers, steak, fried chicken, pork barbecue, eggs, sausage...need I go on? At family gatherings or work functions, when everyone is going for dessert, I'm going back for more of the meat (or the mashed potatoes with gravy, or the cheesy potatoes dripping in butter). Even when going to see a movie with my wife, I'm thinking as much about how each cinema makes its popcorn, how much butter I can soak it in, as I am which movie I want to see.
Nevertheless, the science is clear -- if you're looking for optimal health, if you're looking to hopefully extend your life to a good many years with a generally high-quality of life, a plant-based diet gives you the best chance.
In my own experience. when giving it a shot, I find the weight comes off quickly, all the health markers (blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, etc) respond quite well and quickly. But I never stick with it long -- maybe a week, or two, maybe a month if I'm lucky.
So here's the deal: For the next 12 weeks, I want to commit to a plant-based, whole food diet. That means not just the absence of animal products, but staying largely away from processed food as well. Making my own stuff, in the kitchen.
I know there will probably be a day here or there where I may end up violating the plant-based plan -- maybe some family gatherings with big meals, or some work-related events. Outside of that, we'll see just what sort of changes I can experience, if I can manage to stay on the straight and narrow. And for anyone who is interested, I'll keep you updated here.
Note: Feel free to share your own experiences, if you wish, with plant-based diets, weight loss, exercise, etc., in the comments. I'm always looking to see how others have been successful.
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