Whole Food Plant Based Odyssey...

We first tried going WFPB back in 2010.  We started a challenge with some friends of ours over the holidays to see which couple could lose more weight (percent weight loss) over a period of time.  The change we made was to go 100% WFPB after I read The China Study and watched Dr. Fuhrman on PBS.  We lost a crazy amount of weight and won the challenge.  I lost about 45 pounds and was down to my weight at 20 - I fit into my wedding dress, it was amazing.  The pounds just fell off.  But that was not the only reason to pursue a dietary change - I wanted to control my high blood pressure and both Husband and I wanted to lower our cholesterol without medication - which we did.

I think what derailed me was trying to get pregnant and suffering another miscarriage prior to Sister.  I turned to food for comfort.  It was my third miscarriage - I had had two before Brother was born.  I know many women who have suffered the loss of pregnancies at all different stages.  It is heartbreaking and depressing and if we could see the future to know that things will be ok we may not sink so low - but alas, we suffer not knowing what the future holds and we cope however we cope.

Obviously I did have a successful pregnancy after that sad event, but I gained all of the weight back that I had lost plus some pregnancy weight.  Since Sister's birth we have incorporated WFPB recipes into our diet on a regular basis, but we also ate poultry, fish and dairy.  Diet is a continuum from the least healthy choice to kale.  Seeking nutrition full of micro-nutrients has been a dramatic change from our traditional diets which were based upon meat and potatoes - like most Americans.  We were raised in Michigan where a meal isn't really a meal without meat and dairy.  At my worst I think I weighed around 250 lbs (pregnant), Husband was around 260 at one point - though he had already lost a good deal before our WFPB journey.

If you haven't seen Forks Over Knives you may want to check it out; it is a good documentary.  Over the years I have made hundreds of WFPB meals from Dr. Fuhrman's cookbooks, the Forks Over Knives cookbook, Dreena Burton, and Chef AJ.  I also am a huge fan of Pinterest and have boards for WFPB dinners, soups & stews, desserts, and snacks.  The best part of the WFPB diet is the fact that you can control and reverse many chronic diseases without medications which come with a host of side effects.

My point here is that dietary change is really hard - especially when surrounded by such a toxic food environment, but it does help to reduce one's distractions and stress and be purposeful about one's choices.  I find that whenever I am hurried, stressed or overwhelmed it is more difficult to make good choices about my meals.  Our new life has helped us simplify and make more conscious choices about meals.