Counting calories is not a long term solution because I was hungry a lot). In a nutshell, Dr. Thompson advocates removing flour, rice and potatoes (by doing this, you automatically will stop eating most processed food that is loaded with sugar).
We made these changes cold turkey too. Flour was easy because of the gluten
free we were doing already. I started incorporating more fresh veges in our meals.
We also eat a lot of quinoa. It seems high carb but it doesn’t spike blood sugar.
We joined a CSA from a farm about 2 hours from us that delivers to our
area. Every week we got a box of organic, fresh veges. It was great because they are organic but also we tried veges we normally wouldn’t have. We also went to the farmers market once a week to get fresh local produce. At the market, we met a lady selling organic, grass fed meat. Plus farm fresh eggs. We started buying all organic meat and eggs and you can really taste the difference! It is really costly but worth it because of the taste and of course no antibiotics and animals fed grass instead of gmo corn. The
weight started flying off! We also aren’t big exercisers. This is something I want to work on next. We walk the dogs but that’s it. It’s hard for Brad because of his MS. But at least walking the dogs is better than nothing. I think people go crazy with the exercising and consume more food because of it. Moderate exercise is beneficial.
Walking is a great exercise according to Dr. Thompson. My mom started changing the way she made dinner because of what we were doing. My dad was really good
about what he ate when he was first diagnosed with diabetes but has become lax
recently and gained weight. Just by changing dinner (minimal flour, rice and potatoes) he began to lose weight and was able to stop one of his meds.
That brings you to mid December. Then I read The China Study by T. Colin Campbell,
PhD. And I watched Forks Over Knives. I was impressed with the length of the study and the remarkable results. He (and others in separate cases like Dr. Essylton and Dr. McDougall) has found that animal proteins are associated with heart disease and cancer growth (other things too like osteoporosis…theory is eating animal proteins is acidic and to combat this our body pulls calcium out of our bones. So when we’re told to drink more milk it is actually doing more harm than good). Also, he sees a relation of meat and MS. Brad is on 3 meds for blood pressure and cholesterol and he still doesn’t have normal numbers. Plus, he is fatigued and his leg bothers him from his MS. So I convinced him to try a vegan diet to see if it helps. First he said no way but after a few days he came around and agreed. We have been eating a ton of veges and added back in rice and a small amount of potatoes plus beans. I have to say I didn’t think we would make it. But we have gotten many recipe books from the library and have found
delicious options. I read The Vegucation of Robin Quivers too. It’s a quick read and she shows how she overhauled her diet because of medical problems and obesity. I am
now reading Whole by T. Colin Campbell (a follow up from The China Study). It explains why the public is not informed by the government, our doctors, etc. about his astounding findings. Among other factors, it all comes down to the money…who has the lobbying dollars in Washington. Government won’t advocate a whole foods
plant based diet because it would affect so many…large companies making
processed food, meat and dairy farmers, corn farmers, … And the pharmaceutical companies won’t let it happen because there is no money in healing with nutrition.
It’s sad that our nation runs like this…profit before people’s health. The best we can do is educate ourselves and vote with our food dollars. We can’t even rely on most doctors because they aren’t required to take nutrition classes (if a doctor is skeptical of eating to heal the body I would be skeptical about the doctor. Brad and I are fortunate to have an open minded doctor that admits that we probably know more than him about nutrition. He supports our choices.) They are taught to heal through meds and surgery.
And of course in certain situations we need meds and surgery but overall I feel many health issues can be solved with food.
So where should you start? First, stop eating processed foods. Anything that comes in a box or can. Of course there are exceptions like beans, rice. Basically, if it has a list of a ton of ingredients, most of which you can’t pronounce, don’t eat it. Sugar is addictive and is in just about everything! It goes by over 50 names so sometimes you won’t even realize it’s sugar. Then start eating fresh veges, preferably organic if you can.
That’s hard here. This time of year there are minimal organic choices so any fresh vege is better than none. Next, if you choose to eat dairy and meat, minimize how much you eat. We are supposed to eat about 50 grams of protein daily but most of us eat double that! And look for organic, grass fed beef and organic chicken, pork and eggs.
Next, don’t count calories or worry about how many vitamins and minerals
you are eating. Instead, focus on eating an array of different veges…different colors.
And try to cook them minimally. Eating them raw is best but I feel like I need something hot for a meal! Incorporate fruit and vary that too. Apples in their whole
state are much better than applesauce and apple juice. Which reminds me…what to drink? Water! Brad was always a huge water drinker but not me. I
struggled to get in a few glasses a day. I decided to go cold turkey here too and stopped drinking orange juice (any juice is really just sugar water), milk (I’d have a glass every now and then but of course none now with the vegan diet) and soda. I wasn’t a huge soda drinker but now drink none. It is really loaded with sugar and chemicals.
And diet is just as bad with aspartame which I won’t eat at all. I do still drink a cup of coffee (organic) and put in almond milk and a teaspoon of organic pure cane sugar. I think it’s best to just eat a little sugar than substitutes (even Splenda-I used to eat that but won’t). So I drink a ton of water now. It took some getting used to but it is habit now and I find it is all I want.
Supplements are something I am looking into now. I read a book Fire Your Doctor by Andrew Saul that advocates vitamins and supplements. He also advocates a healthy eating lifestyle too. But Dr. Campbell is on the opposite side of this debate.
If you are eating whole plant foods, you are getting everything you need
(with the exception of vitamin D since we live in the artic, lol and vitamin
B12). I stopped taking most of my supplements except vitamin D, multi B to get B12 and Vitamin C). I’ll be checking into this further. I just bought The Vitamin Cure for
Depression. I suffer from this and hate taking my med because my body is addicted to it. If I forget to take it, I get vertigo and can’t function. Dr. Saul sees results from taking high amounts of niacin. We’ll see. Our juicer is coming today! We are going to do a juice detox (check out Food Matters, I like their website) and then incorporate
fresh juices into our diet. This is a great way to get a lot of vitamins and minerals.
If you want to go gluten free, try Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose flour. Or you can make your
own. I just went to an awesome market near here that sells different flours in bulk.
I did a mix of: 4 cups brown rice flour, 2 cups millet flour, 2 cup potato starch, 1 cup tapioca starch and 4 teaspoons xanthium gum. The xanthium gum helps your baked good stick together like gluten would. Bob’s Red Mill makes it. It’s pricey but it goes a long way. Alyssa made cupcakes and she liked them. I think the key to
going gf is not substituting gf processed foods. They still contain a lot of sugar and
chemicals. Check different items for gluten like salad dressings, gravy, sauces, etc.
There is gluten in a lot of things that you wouldn’t think of. For example, I thought corn tortillas at Moe’s would be gf but they aren’t! We hardly eat out anymore because it is so hard to find gf food and now vegan choices. That’s ok because we are saving money by eating home and I can control what we are eating!
Which brings me to the girls. Since they eat what I make, they have mostly gone gluten free. They say they feel better and when they do eat a lot of gluten, their stomach hurts. So at home, it’s all gf. It’s harder when they go out to other people’s houses or out to eat. They do eat gluten then (Chelsea is better about trying to avoid it). I wish Alyssa would go completely gf because she has vitiligo and there is research that there is a connection with gluten. My friend’s daughter has it and she has gone gf and has seen pigment coming back! As far as vegan, they both declared they weren’t going vegan!
But I am minimizing the amount of meat and dairy they eat. Most nights they eat the vegan meal with us. Last night, I made greens and beans for Brad and I and sausage with kale for the girls. Alyssa actually ate ours! I think it is great to change their eating habits now and educate them about what they are eating. I know it will make a huge difference in their health in the long run!
Well, that brings you up to date! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask! As you can see, I love sharing, lol! Happy healthy eating to everyone!!
Kristin