I recently watched the documentary “The Game Changers” on Netflix. It’s about athletes who have turned to a total plant based diet and why. You see, for all my life, as with most of ours, we have been told that you need meat to be at your optimal best and that humans were carnivores. The documentary does a good job of explaining the advantages of a plant based diet, both on the body and environment, so I won’t bother to go into details on that, but you should watch it. Instead, I will tell you about my journey towards a plant based diet, or as some say – how I became “Plant Curious”.
I stopped eating red meat back in November of 2019; it wasn’t because of any social or moral reason, it was a relationship based. See, my girlfriend at the time didn’t eat red meat and we cooked almost every meal together so it was easier for me to adapt to her diet than she adapting to mine. At the same time, a yearly physical revealed I had elevated levels of bad cholesterol. Nothing outrageous, just something my doctor wanted me to start paying attention to. So began my journey on a dietary change.
I was certain that I would miss red meat and so I braced myself for that. My plan was to eat red meat anytime we went out for dinner, but something else happened instead; I didn’t miss red meat and I no longer had a bloated feeling after eating – especially after dinner. My new diet didn’t just consist of eliminating red meat; I was now eating more vegetables. A lot more vegetables! In fact, any meat I was eating was more of a side rather than the main meal. No more side salads for me.
Another change I made was flour and sugar. Now anyone who knows me knows – I LOVE dessert. Yes, I have a sweet tooth. Another change I made for my new partner was that dessert changed. No longer was I eating cake and cookies, but rather fruit – a lot of fruit. I’d have a bowl of fruit and nuts with some yogurt instead of ice cream, cake and cookies. Not only was my sweet tooth was loving it, I was also enjoy the texture. Yes, I am a very tactile person and fruit not only provides pleasure of taste, but of touch too. Now many of you enjoy fruit – I never did. Maybe a banana here and there, perhaps an apple a year, but fruit was just something I never desired. Now? Now I have three bags of frozen fruit in my freezer. Fruit for dessert, fruit in my breakfast, fruit smoothies and I’ll even grab some frozen fruit just to munch on. Flour, once a main staple in my diet; pancakes or english muffins for breakfast, white bread for lunch, and pasta for dinner, was reduced to something I rarely have, perhaps once a month I will boil some pasta. Now it’s 21 Grain Bread with Peanut Butter and Bananas or my favorite – Avocado Toast or rather fresh Guacamole and a Poached Egg with Turkey Bacon. Peanut Butter, which I always loved, was switched to Natural Peanut Butter and by natural, I mean, I was grinding it up myself so the only ingredient was – peanuts.
When the relationship ended, I decided that I was enjoying how I was feeling with this new diet and I tried hard to stay with it. My 3 month follow up test results came back much better, I was feeling good and the best part – I dropped weight, in fact, at one point, I hit 199 lbs. A weight I was in High School and the only other time I had hit that was during my two month long kayak trip when I could not eat enough calories to make up for what I was expelling in energy. Now 199 is a bit low for me, but I felt good and when I am under 215, my back doesn’t hurt ( I have not one, but two herniated discs) so staying under this weight does a body good, quite literally.
Now I have always wrestled with a vegetarian diet. Most vegetarians I know eat a rather boring diet and I found food too enjoyable to follow suit, but what I now know is that there is a way to become a healthier eater and not be boring. I no longer need to eat so much meat and fruits and vegetables are rather enjoyable, both to prepare and to consume. Don’t get me wrong or think I am preaching from a soapbox, there is a handful of candy bars in my fridge at the moment and I just had some Smoked Party Mix (Thanks Dale!), but because of my healthier eating, things like this are an OK treat now and then and yes, once in a while, I do eat some red meat. I do consider this a journey towards becoming vegetarian and that is a good thing because one thing is undeniable – we eat too much meat and processed foods in this country. A line I picked up from a Netflix series (bonus points if you know what it was from) “Shop the perimeter” and it’s so true. The best foods in a supermarket are placed on the perimeter isles in the store. Do most of your shopping there and you will be a much healthier eater.
Let me know what changes have you made and what were the results in the comments.
Enjoy the documentary
https://www.netflix.com/title/81157840?s=i&trkid=253855006
https://gamechangersmovie.com/
