Transitioning to a Plant-Based Diet

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Well, this year has been full of surprises. It’s been a wild ride adapting to the pandemic, being laid off, moving to a different city, starting a new job and now figuring out a new way of eating. I wanted to write about this today because it seems like a sudden change that I’m guessing all of my family and friends would be surprised about and thinking, “she probably won’t last 2 weeks without animal products.” This is a very new endeavor, and I want to explain how it came to be.

I have always been interested in healthy eating, but I struggle to have will power to make healthy choices when I’m around family and friends. I’ve cut out dairy a few times before because it was noticeable how it hurt my stomach, gave me dry skin and built up mucous, but it’s just so delicious that I kept going back. I’ve seen and read about animal cruelty in the dairy and meat industry, but it was never taken seriously with my family and friends; they would kind of just joke about how delicious a pig looks and that bacon is life. I kind of felt like a hypocrite though, because I could never kill a cute little lamb or a big ol’ cow if my life depended on it, yet I would gladly eat them.

I’ve read a lot about veganism before but it has always seemed like a taboo religion, almost like vegans act superior to others and are annoying with their activism. Not to mention, I can only think of a couple friends I know who are vegetarian, and I only know one true vegan. So I’m constantly surrounded by meat eaters, and thus it was very difficult to think differently.

Anyways, fast forward to moving to a new city with my boyfriend, and beginning my job working at a gym. Finally, after not working for 4 months I was back to having a routine and better yet, zero excuses to not exercise. I know that when I am working out consistently, I am more likely to choose healthier options to eat. I have always liked watching recipe videos for new ideas, and I noticed that so many videos would pop up that had something to do with a “whole food, plant-based diet.” When I hear that, for some reason it seems like another trendy diet like keto so I would kind of whiz past it.

The reason I began researching obsessively about taking on a plant-based diet was because I sort of had a random shower thought. For so long I’ve been frustrated with trying to figure out my hormones and mood swings, low energy levels, sensitive stomach, dry skin, allergies, asthma and so on. I wondered what would happen if I completely cut out dairy and meat. I mean, there could be other reasons why I have all those problems, including genetic and environmental, but a lot of the health videos I was watching claimed that eating plant-based has the potential to alleviate all of them.

I started my research very, very skeptical. First, learning the health benefits of eating plant-based to get me motivated to read more. Obviously I would get a lot more nutrients if I focused on adding more plants into my diet. I learned that it’s completely a myth that “you can’t get enough protein on a vegan diet” and that “you won’t get enough nutrients like vitamin B12”. In reality, I’m already low on B12 and I was eating animal products 3 meals a day. Both vegans and meat eaters need a B12 supplement to get enough because so much gets killed off in new ways of farming (B12 comes from the bacteria in soil, and cleaning and sanitization of crops kills it). Also, the “not enough protein” thing is too silly to argue about.

I thought to myself, okay so now that I know I can survive and thrive on plants, I will continue finding plant-based recipes. Next on my research list was to learn what could possibly be so bad about the meat and dairy industry. Well I watched “What the Health,” “The Game Changers,” and also watched a speech by Gary Yourofsky. I learned that the Diabetes and Cancer associations are sponsored by meat and dairy companies. Even though so many studies show that processed deli meat is carcinogenic, and meat causes diabetes (not sugar), these companies were taking money from the very things that cause these diseases. They even put these food items on their website as a part of their food guides.

If that’s not twisted enough, the company that wrote journal articles arguing that cigarettes are good for you and make you healthy back in the day is the same company that defends the meat and dairy industry saying humans need to eat animal products to be healthy. Not to mention, big fast food chains are huge in the meat and dairy industry and have been going crazy with it; with options to add cheese, extra cheese, more cheese, and put even more cheese in your pizza crust! Double, triple, quadruple patty burger with bacon and cheese! In between those lovely commercials are a million drug ads so the pharmaceutical industry can make billions off of people who have high cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, heart disease and so on. To me, it sounds like the more they persuade people into eating animal products that are proven to lead to a variety of diseases, the more money they will make from selling pills to “fix” it all.

With the coronavirus sparking so much uncertainty and shining a light on how messed up the media is (and always has been) I really started hating on big corporations and selfish people with power. I never had sufficient evidence of who is the “bad guy” because again, I’m getting all of my information from fake news. However, this information about the meat and dairy industry made so much sense to me that I started feeling quite upset about it all.

Sometimes it’s hard to know what to believe, but with so much controversy over the benefits of eggs, milk, cheese and meat I think I’m just going to stick to plants because you really can’t go wrong. No one has heard of a carrot causing a heart attack. There are so many ways that you can get all the nutrients you need, and to me it’s not worth jeopardizing my health just because something tastes good. I’m willing to continue learning about new exciting plant recipes that taste just as good, if not better, and changing my lifestyle. I have yet to conquer the difficulty of being the “odd one out” in social situations, but it will just be another learning experience.

I’m looking forward to sharing my journey on transitioning to a plant-based diet and sharing my successes and failures with you all.

The Mindset of Healthy Eating

It can be very confusing to know how to properly eat with all of the social media, opinions on the internet and keeping up with the new trends. It wasn’t until the last few years, especially after my experience as a personal trainer, that I started taking my nutrition more seriously. Obviously it helped actually feeling the results of super clean eating when I did the Whole30 diet, but now my main focus is how eating healthy can change my energy and mood. It always seemed like something you would do to get a nice looking body, but I have always been an average size so it was something that never affected the way I eat. I will always continue to learn more about what my diet would ideally look like, but I think at the same time we all need to put less pressure on ourselves.

It’s okay to make mistakes

There are so many factors that contribute to the way you eat every day. How you slept, what time of the month it is (for the ladies), what your job entails, the people around you, Western culture, who you live with, peer pressure from friends, all while trying to have the will power to not eat a freshly baked cookie that is sitting on a pretty plate at your grandma’s house.

Yes, it’s you who can control what you put in your mouth in the end, but as humans we are wired to socialize and do what everyone else is doing. I’m pretty sure there was no tribe that had someone who only ate blueberries because they were on a diet, they most definitely also ate the kill of the day. The problem now is that we have access to everything all the time. And so does your family, and your friends, and your coworkers, and everyone is all confused about what we should eat. I guarantee every person that I mentioned knows fairly well about how they “should” eat.

I think we all just need to support each other with any choice that we make. If a friend doesn’t want to have alcohol, don’t buy them a drink at the bar. If someone wants to be on a diet, let them be on a diet and don’t judge them for it. If your vegan friend wants to try fish, that’s okay too. There are so many opinions out there to worry about that it’s nearly impossible not to make a so-called “mistake.”

Find what works for you

Without thinking of other people, or what the internet is saying, just try to stop and think about what type of eating would make you happy. For me, I am trying to learn how to make more meals homemade because then I know what goes in them. It’s not full of processed food, and it’s interesting to learn how to make things taste good. I am also constantly trying to find ways to make vegetables taste good especially while living with someone who would rather not have to eat them. I like trying out baking recipes that are a bit healthier by using other types of sweeteners or non-dairy products. I try to not consume “empty calories” from juice and alcohol and candy, and I also avoid fast food as much as I can.

That being said, I have no idea what the ideal diet looks like for my body, so I am learning to accept that and be okay with occasionally eating something that isn’t so healthy. There is no reason to beat yourself up for wanting to have a beer out on the lake with your family, just have it in moderation and don’t do it every day all day.

Another option that I have been dying to try is to actually invest in seeing a nutritionist and to get a blood analysis done. I think it’s always worth learning more about your own body so you stop trying to figure it out among the chaos on the internet. And after learning about how my body might be malnourished, I still have the control to decide what I would like to keep eating and what I might eat less of.

Conclusion

There are so many choices that we have to make each day. Not only about what we will eat, but just anything – what to wear, when to leave for work, how to do your hair, etc. So every time you eat, you are making a choice and it should be one that you feel good about. I think if you at least stop to take a moment about how you feel about your choice, you will feel much better about it. This includes allowing yourself to indulge once in a while – it will be much easier to accept when you realize you’ve been making healthy choices as much as possible. Don’t dwell on mistakes you might make along the way, just keep moving forward.

I remember reading something once that said we tend to self-sabotage when we feel guilty about something. The example they gave was after we eat a pizza, we feel bad then have a beer and ice cream and chocolate and another beer just because we messed up and deserve to just keep messing up. They said to just let the pizza go and have a healthy breakfast the next day to break the cycle. For some reason we think we have to eat clean and healthy all the time for every meal in order for us to be doing it “properly.” I think it’s just important to keep moving forward, be aware of your choices, and do what feels right for your body.

The Whole30 Experience

A few months ago my boyfriend and I wanted to challenge ourselves. I heard about this Whole30 concept through a friend and decided to do a bit more research on it. I am absolutely not into any sort of crash diet in order to lose weight. In fact, that was not at all my intention… I just wanted to know what it would be like to feel better than I did. I have tried and tried to figure out how to eat healthy but also make things taste good, and I honestly thought I had it down. After I read this diet I was intrigued because I wanted to test out all of the claims that it made. Less bloated? More energy? Better sleep? Good mood? Seemed magical, and my boyfriend was on board with trying it out. Here is what I learned from doing this “challenge.”

Before we begin, take a look below. THIS CALENDAR IS SO ACCURATE IT’S SCARY.

Source: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/438819557433260389/?autologin=true

I pay way more attention to what is in our food

WOW WAS I EVER SHOCKED. There are definitely some permanent changes I’ve made since doing this. This diet says to stay away from alcohol, added sugars, dairy, grains, legumes, and processed foods. I immediately went to my cupboard and in my fridge and looked at all of the labels to move what we could eat for the 30 days to be right in front of our faces. I didn’t even realize there was sugar or MSG in seasoning salt… I have been using this my whole life, but I always thought it was just spices and salt. And olives need chemicals to stay green and firm? And pickles?! I can’t even have pickles?! Don’t get me started with condiments. This was so shocking to see the amount of chemicals I put in my body every single day. Not only chemicals but there is sugar in everything. Like, everything.

I learned how to make a few sauces and dips to help make things taste better and it was actually easier than expected to make homemade sauce. I remember how long it took my brain to comprehend how to make spaghetti sauce until I realized I am supposed to blend tomatoes and spices. I always just grab spaghetti sauce off the shelf and call it a day. It turned out great and I felt really good eating it.

There were also a few things that were Whole30 approved that definitely saved the day. For example, my friend gave me a Whole30 approved mayonnaise, and thankfully Frank’s Red Hot Sauce was also approved – and yes, I did put this on everything. There are probably a lot more choices out there now and it would be worth investing in them to make your life easier.

I’m pretty sure sugar is heroine

I cannot accurately describe the feeling of going through a sugar withdrawal. It is brutal. In just a couple days I felt like I got hit by a bus. Especially going cold turkey on it, it was a shock to the system. You’re not supposed to have even a small amount during this and you need to fully commit to going 100% for the entire 30 days. I have never craved something more… All I could think of was sugar because I wasn’t allowed to have sugar.

A couple of things that helped me were fat bombs and berries. I think a lot of the time I’m craving sugar is actually just me craving chocolate. You aren’t supposed to make anything that resembles what you usually crave because the point is to destroy bad habits. HOWEVER, that being said, I was suffering HARD at the beginning, so these got me by for the first 5 days. Fat bombs can be made all sorts of ways, but I made them with cocoa powder, coconut oil, cinnamon, and almond butter. You freeze them and then they end up having the same consistency as a chocolate bar, but tastes pretty gross. It would be good with sugar of course… Now I make them with honey or maple syrup and they are most definitely tolerable.

Berries are a good choice since they are easy to eat for a snack and a bit lower in sugar than other fruit choices. Sometimes I just want something to graze on and they are the perfect size for that. My go-to easy snacks were blueberries and almonds. As soon as I was craving something sweet I would make myself a small bowl of berries and almonds and it worked just fine.

It’s much easier to eat healthy when your entire household is on board

There has been many times that I told my boyfriend I don’t want to eat dairy, or processed food, or sugar, but as soon as I see him with cheese and crackers I can’t help myself. Same for him, there has been many times he wanted to stop drinking alcohol, but I would constantly invite him out with friends and my sports teams and he would feel obligated to have a beer.

I would say to successfully do the full 30 days, you and whoever else you live with NEED TO be in it together. It’s a huge challenge especially during the worst part of the sugar withdrawal where you become angry and irritated. I remember finding him on the couch just scrolling through pictures of delicious burgers. We wanted to quit about 10 times during this, but we kept going because we needed to find out the benefits of eating clean.

It actually turned out to be quite fun once we go the hang of it since we needed to learn how to make everything homemade. We worked together to come up with ideas for meals and snacks and cooked together whenever we could. It would’ve been brutal to be making a salad while he was eating hot dogs so again, try to get everyone on board.

It’s a bit lonely

Although we spent more time cooking together, we spent much less time out with friends. We were so committed that we didn’t want to take the chance of what is potentially in restaurant food to ruin what we were working so hard at. This diet also says to steer clear of industrial oils which would be a hard one to avoid. We found mixed nuts without peanuts (which is a legume) that was roasted in peanut oil so we couldn’t have it. We also found cashews that were roasted in canola oil so we couldn’t have that either. So we assumed pretty much everything in restaurants wouldn’t be guaranteed to be “clean.”

We were not only paying attention to what might be in the food in restaurants, but being around friends has a huge amount of impact on the choices we make. Even if we both ordered plain salad, it would be so hard to eat while watching everyone else drink beer and eat saucy wings. So rather than suffering through this, we just didn’t go out.

The benefits of getting rid of waste

After going through the roller coaster of mental and physical confusion of changing our diet so drastically, amazing things happened. We were sleeping well, we had more energy, and we weren’t bloated… at all. I know the goal of this diet is absolutely not to lose weight, but I found it fascinating how much weight we lost just because we weren’t full of inflammatory foods and processed junk. I ended up losing 13 pounds and my boyfriend lost 23 pounds. Of course, this was a minor motivating factor for the last few days just because we were also looking good in addition to feeling good.

It is still shocking to me that I ate a normal amount of food… but lost weight. Eating whole foods is filling when you eat enough and lower in calories too. So the amount of “empty calories” we were consuming before must have been a lot. Alcohol and juice are easy ways to get a lot of calories with no nutritional value. And having a little bit of this every day adds up! Had I not done this diet, I would still believe that it’s fine to eat whatever I want when I want because it won’t affect me. It in fact affects me a lot. Not only with managing weight, but with mental clarity, stable mood and just not feeling gross (i.e. bloated all the time).

What NOT to do

Do not end the diet like we did. I repeat, DO NOT do what we did. After the 30 days, we were SO EXCITED to be able to eat yummy foods again. What you’re supposed to do, is slowly introduce foods back into your diet category by category to see what is truly negatively affecting your body and how. I think our problem was we didn’t start this diet to find foods we shouldn’t have anymore, we just wanted to see how good we can feel without all the junk in our body. So naturally, we decided to make a big ‘burger and fries’ feast. We didn’t take our time to enjoy every bite, we just ate like animals who haven’t been fed in a month. Delicious soft brioche buns, ketchup, mustard, pickles, cheese, handmade burger patties with fries on the side.

Then our bodies exploded. Just kidding, but that’s pretty much what it felt like. Think of a time you had eaten way too much and had to sit on the couch to digest. It was like that, except add in a million times more inflammation and bloating on top of it. Our bellies were hard. Like a basketball. And we could barely move. We were instantly filled with so much regret. It also felt like the worst fast food you’ve ever had and how it made you feel. I think we would’ve actually been dead if we got fast food burgers instead.

As exciting as it is to accomplish 30 days of eating well, I highly advise that you slowly introduce foods back into your diet. If you aren’t looking to find out what affects you and how, please still add things slowly and in small amounts.

Conclusion

The Whole30 diet is worth doing at least once in your life. Go all out, 100%, because you will learn a lot while doing it. We are considering to do it again with less drastic measures, just being a little more lenient so we don’t feel guilty eating at restaurants or wanting to use different sauces. I would go without alcohol and sugar for sure, no dairy, legumes or grains.

I think all in all the “whole foods” concept stuck with us. We prefer eating whole grains rather than bread and pasta, and we eat less sugar in general. We construct most meals with a protein and two vegetables and we try different healthy snacks. I eat much better than I did before and I don’t feel guilty when I do want something like a beer or pizza. Instead of having these twice a week, we can now appreciate that having it once a month is a better option.