Hooray! I survived week 1 of my plant based diet. Oddly enough I am not craving any of the foods that I love to eat, or the temptation of my wife’s cooking. I’m okay even seeing what other people are eating. The desire to have what everyone else is having, easily made me fall off the wagon with past diets. Part of publishing my thoughts, feelings and actions, is to help me stop caving into my own peer pressure. I could hold a debate with myself, caving into my own peer pressure and going right back to the same old routine of unhealthy eating and weight gain. Something’s different, and that’s a good thing.
I finished week one on December 6, 2020. I’m going to try to do this for another week, I’m very happy with the results. How could I see so much change in only one week? Here’s what I’ve experienced so far:
- I’m not going to lie, while I did have a headache for the first few days, I expected that. It wasn’t crippling, just annoying. In the past, I’ve been out of commission, taking over the counter headache meds to try to relieve the pain, but that didn’t help and before I knew it I needed soda, I just couldn’t give it up. This time, nothing has stopped me. The pain went away, and I’m not on pins and needles waiting for my next fix.
- The next thing that I can say I’ve never experienced before is my head felt “airy”, not “foggy”, just like it was lighter. My wife thought it might be low blood sugar, but this happened after the headaches, and lasted a few days. I didn’t feel sick, I felt good, but this light, free feeling in my head was new.
- By the end of the week, I felt “normal”, no cravings, no yearning to grab a drink or a snack, nothing “missing”. I was not prepared for the change, and how I was feeling about food at this point.
- I felt better. I felt a lot better. If you don’t know me, you don’t know that I’ve had issues walking, standing, just getting off the couch could make me short of breath and sweaty. My back hurt all the time, and simple tasks like putting on my socks and shoes, could take the wind out of me.
- My mobility improved, I could now take the trash down to the end of the driveway (really long driveway) and make it back to the house and still be okay! Before I would have to take the car and “drive” the trash or recycle down. I could make it one way, but I would be out of breath and in so much pain that the struggle to remain standing was unbearable. I would almost ‘run” back to the house and grab on to the first thing, usually a vehicle, to catch my back, rest my back, and then I’d be able to make it into the house, and sit again.
Let me give you a little background here, if you haven’t seen my “prelude” video you should. There was a time not so long ago that I would drink two or three 20oz Red Bull energy drinks for breakfast, and wash that down with a 2 liter bottle of Mountain Dew. That’s just how I started the day, don’t be fooled, I might need more throughout the day to help with that sugar crash and that doesn’t even begin to cover the snacks or food I might graze on throughout the rest of a day.
I’m not a mathematician (or a calculator), but if my math is correct, I was drinking 825 calories, 210g of carbohydrates, 750g of protein, 150g of sodium and 203g of sugar from my Red Bull each day. Mountain Dew racked up more points at 1,760 calories, 463g of carbohydrates, 8g of protein, 1107g of sodium and 456g of sugar. Has your heart stopped? Mine is racing just thinking about it.
If I could go back and do one thing, it would be to visit my 13 year old self while trying my first soda, and slap that can of Mountain Dew out of my hand and tell myself all of the bad things that will happen if I take that first sip.
Wanna know the downfall of every “diet” I’ve tried? CRAVINGS, headaches and the mental debate of why I really need these things, not to mention the automatic action that was ingrained in my muscle memory to go to a vending machine or walk in a store and grab one without realizing what I did until I was finishing yet another can of either one or both of these drinks. They should have a new label “Pure Evil”, but since that’ll never happen, I can’t believe that now, so many tries, so many years, and so much damage, with a few changes, here I am with no craving, no desire, and nothing but a clear mind choosing not to drink or crave these poisons.
The Results
Since starting this way of life, because I know now it’s not a diet, it really is life changing, here are my stats:
Day 1: November 28, 2020 – weight 326.5 pounds, making my BMI 52.7. Already a change from September when weighed 330.2 pounds with a BMI of 53.3.
Week 1: December 6, 2020 (Sunday), weight 314.0 pounds with a BMI of 50.5. I’ve lost 12.5 pounds and my BMI has come down. My measurements after a week showed a loss of 6 inches for the week: 2 inches from my waist, and 1/2 inch from my chest, hips, wrist, and thigh. Even better, my blood glucose levels are unbelievable. Watch the “prelude” and you’ll see the highest number that I’ve ever known to have…400+ to what you see below:
More to follow & if you have not checked out my YouTube channel yet, please check it out. Tales From Tiger – YouTube