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Well, officially as of last Wednesday, May 20, the study group was done. Roberta and I went in for our final weigh in and measurements. By the scale in the gym, I officially lost thirty three pounds in the course of this little adventure. It turns out that I gained well over what I lost, not in pounds but in knowledge.
When I started I had serious doubts that I would (a) stick with it and (b) would stay with it when it was all over. Now, I’m not so sure. I realize I have a ways to go, to be where I want to be in both my life and my health, and that this journey, while coming to an end in some ways, has begun in others.
The first night we started this diet, this lifestyle change, we went out for pizza, a treat for ourselves before we started and it was going to be our treat when this projected ended. I was surprised at what happened next.
We did our final weight in, like I said on Wednesday, we went in for our final blood work on Friday, and made plans to go out to our favorite pizza place that evening. I went home that morning, after fasting since the night before, because of the blood work, and had my usual breakfast shake. Lunch time rolled around and I had an organic peanut butter and berry jelly sandwich for lunch, on whole wheat bread.
I went to work, not much thinking of dinner, another nice side effect of a high fiber diet, is that the munchies, don’t tend to sneak up on you in the afternoons anymore. As dinner time rolled around, my desire for pizza began to drop, and frankly I was confused, and truly at this writing I still am a bit.
It wasn’t that I had worked so hard to lose the weight; really this is probably the easiest I have EVER lost this kind of weight, short of being physically sick. I just couldn’t convince myself that I really wanted to inject the things I had learned that I didn’t really need to survive, and quite literally didn’t miss any more, back into my diet.
The more I thought about it the thought of going out for a greasy pizza, just did no longer appeal to me…and believe me I love me some pizza!
Fortunately my loving and ever resourceful wife had just been in Las Vegas shopping, there are some things you just cannot find in the Arizona Desert, and had brought back a vegetarian substitute for pepperoni and Italian sausage.
I called my wife as she was headed home from work, and told her the bad news, that I didn’t want to go out for pizza. She was more upset, I believe that she thought she was going to have to cook, more than the going for pizza. I readily agreed, that she didn’t have to cook, that I would take care of dinner.
I put together a whole wheat pizza crust; some of my home made marinara sauce, the pseudo Italian sausage, pepperoni and a vegetarian cheese substitute and placed it in the oven. In about twenty minutes I had the best pizza that I had ever had in my life, and didn’t feel one iota guilty about eating all of it either!
That’s the one thing that I have been unable to convince people, when you are eating right, you can eat your fill, and don’t have to worry about how much and portion control. Believe it or not, if you put the right things in your body, it knows what it needs and when to stop.
In the beginning of this little project I mentioned that we cleaned out our refrigerator, pantry and freezers and went shopping. What I didn’t mention was the initial investment in the new lifestyle. Granted you don’t necessarily have to invest in everything we did (and are still doing) to get the benefit from this diet, but of your doing the cooking, etcetera, it sure makes it a lot easier!
Anyway, like I said before, we cleaned out, I think all we had left in the house was a few spices and salad. Shopping was an adventure, and the first weekend it cost us around $300 to replace what we had given to the kids, with something we could actually eat within the parameter of the diet.
The next investment came on Saturday, when we went shopping for new appliances. One thing that was on the need list was a coffee grinder for flax seed. Flax seeds contain high levels of lignans and Omega -3 fatty acids, without the eggs. It also works as a great egg substitute in most recipes. Unfortunately flax seed meal (flax seed ground up) does not store well and will usually become rancid rather quickly, whereas the seeds themselves have a long shelf life, therefore a coffee grinder is a must, to grind the meal fresh.
The other thing that my wife had actually been pestering me for was a juicer, now she had been after one for a while, and the diet gave her a bit more justification for getting one. So while we were shopping we decided a food processor would be a good investment, and boy was it! So we went home, unpacked the new goodies and started looking at recipes to make so we could EAT. Once we researched a few online places we discovered that while most recipes available online were devoid of animal products, almost all, with very, very few exceptions had OIL.
Debating on how to proceed, we wound up back at the grocery store, three more times that weekend, picking up this and that.
The first official weekend of the diet wound up costing us around $800, and I was feeling pretty disillusioned. I made the commitment, and I decided I would see the ninety days through regardless.
We began cooking, and, I think, getting rather clever about how to cook without the oils and the processed (canned mostly) stuff.
As the diet has progress, I began to notice that the waste we had produced using conventional cooking means had tapered way off. Where I had been taking out the trash, daily during the course of the week (more if we had company for dinner), I began taking out the trash every two or three days. No longer producing empty boxes and cans had dropped the amount of waste cooking produced. Also as I stated last week, t-paper consumption dropped off drastically too.
Our food bill began to drop as well. Where we were inclined to buy canned or boxed items on sale, and store them, figuring that we would use it sooner or later. Buying fresh eliminated that, and surprisingly we hadn’t realized that this “bad habit” had been jacking up our food bill by $50-$75 a week.
It wasn’t that we wouldn’t use those products eventually, but weekly something was always on “sale”. Where we thought we were being smart shoppers we were in all actually spending money weekly that we didn’t need to. So while the initial investment seemed high, in the long run, the waste of money took a rather sharp drop, not to mention the added benefit of what we aren’t producing for the landfill.
We all do it, no one talks about it, it’s a basic human function, heck it’s a basic function of any living organism, the elimination of waste products from the system. Now how you refer to it may be as simple as a “poo-poo” or a “doo-doo” (depending on your age and up bringing) or as complex as “taking the Browns to the Super Bowl”. Regardless of how you feel about it-
…it still happens.
Anyway there is a reason for bring up this subject; fiber and your diet.
Fiber, specifically dietary fiber (or roughage/ruffage) is a substance in fruits and vegatables (and some other foods) that are difficult for your system to digest and therefore help the passage of food through the system, in other words, fiber makes it easier for you to “drop the kids off at the pool”.
Believe it or not, this particular item has been of a huge benefit to me. Since my late teens I have had infrequent problems both in the stomach and restroom. I have been on TONS of different medications, some which worked for a while, some not so well.
A few years ago I got food poisoning, a rather severe case as a matter of fact, I went to several doctors and finally wound up with a medical procedure that I REALLY didn’t enjoy (in fact my wife still claims that I said certain things in the recovery room, that I have no recollection of), the upshot of which was that there was likely damage to the hairs that line the intestines and keep things functioning, moving, normally, and that it would take two to five years before I would heal, in the meantime I was pretty well regulated to medication and not taking long trips without a bunch of “rest stops” along the way.
Along comes this diet, which as you will recall I was reluctant to take the challenge, and after a few weeks I begin to notice a change in my “habit”. Minor at first, but as the diet has progressed, my problem as dissipated, a coincidence? Possibly. I don’t think so. I think that if the “specialist” I had seen, suggested this to me then, I might have spent the last few years a bit happier.
Sadly, most of us adults on the standard American diet, only consume between twelve and eighteen grams of fiber a day, when the recommended twenty to thirty-five grams, is generally ignored.
Research has shown that intake of fiber through foods like fresh fruit, berries, vegetables, whole grains, seeds and nuts, are known to reduce risks on diseases such as diabetes, high blood cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, and gastrointestinal inflictions. Evidence also exists that show fiber also helps in the absorption of calcium into the body’s system.
So my question is, why doesn’t anyone make a bigger statement about this? Come on, live longer, and reduce the chances of some major worldwide diseases, and in some research, even cancer. Are we so hung up on fast food that we can’t see the forest for the trees? I don’t know the answer, but I can tell you this, I am going to do my best to make sure that people start to listen and learn, and hopefully live a bit longer too.
In my own case, while I may not always be the King in my castle, I’m glad I no longer have to spend so much time on “The Throne”. And that my friends is something to sing about!
Vegan Trek 