Focus on what you know and the experts will agree. Try it out and find the ideas that will move you along and you’re already there.
The reason I published my journal on my first 26 days of changing my diet in 26 Days; A Whole Food Plant-Based Diet and What You Need to Know was to show how truly hard it was for me. Critics were harsh when reviewing my book because, in their opinion, Plant-Based eating should be so easy. Well, it’s not for a lot of us.
What I Focused On
What does the first month look like when you try to transition into a healthy diet? It’s what most people never like to expose. Even though it can take as long as up to a year to get used to, the real work is within the first 30 days. And yes, it can be done.
Chips and Wine
How’s that for a pairing?
I focused on what I figured was the easiest such as recipes that were transitional. I published the most obvious simple recipes anyone can try when they want to eat better. I substituted ingredients to incorporate more fruits and vegetables to our diet to maybe lose weight and eat healthier by changing our lifestyle. It’s amazing how some people have such healthy eating habits but this doesn’t happen overnight.
My first 26 Days wasn’t so bad afterall!
Little did I know how much it took to change our “habit” and how much I had to research. My book is about surrendering to the idea that maybe eating more plant-based dishes would be a way to create a habit on eating healthy. It was a way to add more types of dishes to our diet rather than fearing the concept of deleting a lot of savory foods that diets call for.
Eating plant-based is about radically changing the way we eat and not just to completely reform our diet but to just incorporate more plant-based dishes like we would incorporate more Italian or Indian dishes. It’s a mindset on how we can create a habit to eat healthy.
The Experts Will Agree
The idea of eating more plant-based was to find a simple way to change our habits and eat healthier. However, I often find how similar my ideas are to a lot of health doctors in research. Eva Selhub, MD, and contributor to the Harvard Health Publishing School explained right around the time my book was written, that what we are eating correlates directly with how our brain functions.
If we’re going to control what we eat, we need to control how our gut works. If we can understand that our stomachs are lined with good and bad bacteria and it’s the bacteria that control what we want to eat (because of the way it controls the brain), then we can truly understand the struggle with bad foods. This is how it’s explained…
Picnics Are Good For Us! Right?
Selhub says, “… the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin — is highly influenced by the billions of “good” bacteria that make up your intestinal microbiome. These bacteria play an essential role in your health. They protect the lining of your intestines and ensure they provide a strong barrier against toxins and “bad” bacteria; they limit inflammation; they improve how well you absorb nutrients from your food; and they activate neural pathways that travel directly between the gut and the brain.”
If having little to no meat on my dish and add no cheese either would radically change our diet habits, we figured this would be the best way to get a handle on our eating after learning about the significance of what a plant-based diet has done for many, especially as we progress into drinking more wine and being bon vivant about the way we eat. By learning how to incorporate a plant-based diet like those who have and boast about how they feel, this would be a radical change for the better.
But again, I’m not an expert and I’m not convicted to eat 100% plant-based 100% of the time. However, someone like Selhub who is an expert, talked about nutritional psychiatry gaining traction just a few years ago just like I did.
Caprese Salad without the mozzarella
What does this all mean?
Try It Out
Selhub writes, “Start paying attention to how eating different foods makes you feel — not just in the moment, but the next day. Try eating a “clean” diet for two to three weeks — that means cutting out all processed foods and sugar.” (So worth it!) “See how you feel. Then slowly introduce foods back into your diet, one by one, and see how you feel.
“…they cannot believe how much better they feel both physically and emotionally, and how much worse they then feel when they reintroduce the foods that are known to enhance inflammation.”
And this is how I described my experience in my book.
Eat Foods You Like
Albondigas
Meatball Soup with a lot of vegetables although I’m working on learning how to make my own version of a plant-based Matzo Ball soup. I’m working on my own version now.
I felt I didn’t have a chance being married. However, Susan Roberts, senior scientist and director of the Energy Metabolism Laboratory at Tufts University and also the creator of the iDiet, suggests that asking a steak-and-eggs lover to adopt a kale-and-wheat berry diet, is essentially asking them to fail. (No kidding!) “We’re supposed to enjoy food,” Roberts says. “That’s why (her diet) offers recipes for indulgences. People learn to prefer healthy foods and be less tempted by ‘junk food’ when incorporating healthier ingredients.”
Who says you can’t have wine with Plant-Based Dishes for a table of two?
Get Ideas
I worked with a lot of traditional dishes we would normally eat and take risks some other nights. However, I downloaded Susan Robert’s recipe book here, to get comfort food ideas to incorporate Plant-Based ingredients in them now that I know more about eating plant-based.
I’m constantly learning how to radically change the way we eat, not just for losing weight but for health reasons. It’s great if you can lose weight but if you maintain your ability to attract cancers, debilitating diseases, and chronic pain, what’s the point?
I’m not at all saying that Robert’s diet is bad for you. I actually like how she incorporates healthier ingredients to dishes and pinpoints the factors that can harm our eating habits including not having a support group which is part of her diet plan. All these I talk about in my book. Roberts however, is a clinical research doctor. I’m just personally working on incorporating more fruits, vegetables, and natural fibers from my diet on a daily basis vs. once a week.
During this pandemic however, it’s been a lot HARDER. My motivation to do anything has been challenging, including eating healthier which I’m sure a lot of you would agree.
Veggie Kabobs
For family BBQ’s, I like to pick up already made veggie kabobs from the butcher counter and season them like I would meat. My brother-in-law adds them to the BBQ and are now typically a hit with everyone.
I’ve been indulging in small portions of meat and fine foods for the limited times with family and friends to have with my wine but that’s as much as I can handle for now. I now prefer not to eat as much meat and cheese anymore.