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| Forums: April 2011 Kickstart Forum: A day late and a sprout short! | |||
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PsiKick
 Location: Over here (unless I'm over there...) Posts: 2 |
A day late and a sprout short! Posted Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 1:01 AM Greetings! I feel a little awkward becoming so enthusiastic to begin such a healthy journey only to arrive here and find that I just missed the last Kickstart by such a short period of time. Drat! My bad timing now has me asking for your help... Me and my fiance have been tip-toeing around the vegan pool, browsing some websites, getting our feet wet so to speak. But we have yet to officially just jump right in and get on with it. Not because it's a bad change and certainly not because it's an unattractive change. But, possibly, just because it's such a big change. We both quit smoking in January of 2010. We stopped cold turkey. (Hmmmm... Going to need a new metaphor for that, too!) We thought that was healthier and more important than anything else at the time. So, we took up eating as a new habit. We exercise pretty regularly, lots of walks in the park (every few days.) But no amount of exercise can keep up with the junk we eat. Anyway, here we are a little over a year later and it seems time for us to take the next step. We're in our mid 30's, still pretty active (though, a good Ohio winter slowed us down a bit), we're both eager, and we both have permission from our doctors. But the thing is... We just don't know where or how to begin! So, we'd like to ask some of you, newbies and veterans alike, to offer some input and some ideas on the best way to get started with healthy eating. A slow, gradual immersion process? Just clear the shelves, empty the fridge, and start fresh? Just forget it all and go rent an apartment above a doughnut shop? Sorry for such a long introduction. Any insight would be much appreciated. Take care! entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem |
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Wild4Stars
 Location: Florida Posts: 832 |
RE: A day late and a sprout short! Posted Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 1:17 AM I would say, "Just clear the shelves, empty the fridge, and start fresh." Just like you did with the smoking. There will be some things you'll miss to begin with. Just like cigarettes, some unhealthy foods are addictive. There are plenty of books to give you the details of what animal products are doing to your body and our environment. I found they were helpful in giving me the incentive to go vegan and stay that way. My omnivore friend and business partner read the book Skinny Bitch and went pure vegan the next day. That's been almost two years ago and she has never looked back. Many people find cheese difficult to give up, if that sounds like you, The China Study is a good book to give you the incentive on that one. And of course PCRM, the kickstarts and message boards are always a good source. I believe there is another kickstart in September, but don't wait until then. Just do it now. Vikki ~ Wild4Stars@gmail.com |
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| SpongeBobFishpants
Joined: 04/03/11 Posts: 86 |
RE: A day late and a sprout short! Posted Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 1:37 AM In my family we did it step by step. First we cut out fast food, then we went to whole foods, nothing processed, then vegetarian whole foods and now vegan whole foods. But, whether you do it fast or slow, I only have one piece of advice. Don't call it a diet and never ever view what you can't have and see yourself as deprived. Even if you go to a restaurant and all they have that you can order is a garden salad, don't view the menu and think "Gee, I wish I could have a cheeseburger, I want a cheeseburger, why can't I have a cheeseburger...*sigh*" Look at that salad and celebrate what you CAN have, the opportunities for health and excitement, and the joy and privilege of a meal out. Make it fun. Enjoy it. Celebrate! |
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| kiwi
Joined: 01/03/11 Location: New Zealand Posts: 405 |
RE: A day late and a sprout short! Posted Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 4:57 AM Firstly congrats on kicking the smoking habit. Secondly, I agree with Wild4Stars. Empty the shelves of anything non-vegan and go for it. If you dont want to waste food - give it away. Thats what i did. If you fall off the wagon and eat something non-vegan (e.g. several of us have had challenges when travelling) then you just get back on again. If you can, buy Dr Barnards 21 day kickstart book, pick a day and start your 21 days of vegan eating. The book will be your guide you until you can join the next on-line kickstart in October. You and your fiance will already be pros by then. I have restarted my own 90-day kickstart today using this book and the kickstart journal to keep me motivated until the next kickstart here - so you are welcome to join me. And don't forget to keep visiting here. There are more people posting when the kickstart is on but a few of us stay online between the kickstarts and keep in touch. The first week is the toughest. If you check the postings some felt horrible and had headaches the first week but this is just withdrawl from the 'bad' foods. For me my downfall was cheese. I was a total cheeseaholic. Now i can be around cheese and have no desire to eat it. I did once after not eating cheese for several weeks and then felt sick after. Learnt my lesson, wont do it again A word of warning - I did my first kickstart in January 2011. I loved it and found there are lots of great vegan foods out I never knew about - like vegan choc chip cookies and vegan chocolate! So no weight loss for me but a lot of fun trying new foods. Since doing the second kickstart in April 2011 I have a much greater appreciation for the low-fat part of the vegan diet that Dr Barnard recommends. So if weight loss is part of the plan.... dont forget the low-fat, high fibre part. Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food - Hippocrates. |
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| Susan Levin
Joined: 12/26/09 Posts: 1191 |
RE: A day late and a sprout short! Posted Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 8:33 AM Absolutely! Everyone who has posted here so far is right on. And they really are the experts of the Kickstart, so I recommend you come here when you have questions, anytime. It is important to take about a week to understand what a low-fat, vegan diet is, get rid of the foods that don't fit into the plan, and replace them with new healthful foods and ingredients. Some people get rid of the foods they have and then jump in. That can lead to the misconception that "there's nothing to eat on a vegan diet!" Stock up on fruits (fresh, frozen, dried), vegetables (frozen, fresh, canned), grains (whole such as oats, brown rice, barley, and some processed is okay like whole wheat pasta, high fiber breads, rice or oat milk), and beans (dried, canned, soy or almond milk). Then "study" some recipes that are vegan AND simply adjust your favorites to exclude meat and dairy and sub in vegetables and beans. Once you are sitting on ready, then go for it 100%. That's the general idea of the Kickstart. Do it 100% for 3 weeks. That's when you will really see the changes on the outside (weight, skin, energy) and inside (blood lipids, blood pressure). If you don't make it 100%, then try again! Personally, over 15 years ago, I adopted a vegan diet much more slowly. It took me a few years. I gave up red meat and poultry in 1991 (not for health reasons), then fish and dairy in 1995 (starting to catch on to the health benefits). If I knew then what I know now, I would not have hesitated to give it all up at once. But interestingly, what I did notice was a DRAMATIC and obvious change in my health when I stopped eating dairy (weight loss and major gains in energy that led to a new life as a runner), much more so than when I stopped eating most meat. It was very interesting. Dairy may be the hardest habit to kick, but it is by far the biggest offender, I think. Anyway, welcome to the end of April 2011 Kickstart and the beginning of your new life! Susan Levin, MS, RD |
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| theodore
Joined: 09/16/10 Posts: 641 |
RE: A day late and a sprout short! Posted Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 4:06 PM Yes, welcome to the Kickstart, PsiKick. The forum is always active as you can see and you can still view the 21 Day Meal Plan and Nutrition Webcasts and the Celebrity Tips. And it's never too late to add your thoughts to my Dr Barnard / James Spader thread. Good wishes Theodore Never make assumptions. You'll end up being an A**, and the UMP will TION you. -- Coach Smiley -- Fresh Prince of Bel Air |
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| PsiKick
Location: Over here (unless I'm over there...) Posts: 2 |
RE: A day late and a sprout short! Posted Sunday, May 8, 2011 at 12:45 AM Holy tofurkey, Batman! Now that is what I call an outpouring of support! Namaste!!! It probably would not be a good idea to reply to every post, as I might break the internet trying to respond to all the great advice and support. I'm generally not a timid person, but I did feel a little uneasy about just hopping on the web and blindly asking for help... Well, you all certainly got rid of that feeling in a hurry. Apparently I need to do some more reading, mostly from many of the books mentioned above. Believe it or not, I am already a big fan of Dr. Barnard. The first time I seen him in a documentary called Super Size Me, he instantly had my attention. I used to work in a drug rehab and addiction medicine is now an interest of mine. So, when I first heard him talk about cheese addiction, chocolate, and a drug called Naloxone... Yeah, off to the research databases I went. I've read a lot of the research he points to, as well as a lot of other research, and some of the material on the PCRM website. I've written term papers about topics such as cheese addiction, and when it comes time to begin work on my master's thesis, I'm hoping to deliver my work on the topic of food and addiction. But, ironically, I have yet to read any of the diet books... So, that's next on our agenda. For now, we went through all the replies once already and took many notes. We're still trying to figure which way is best for us to begin. But the most important thing is all experiences that you've posted because it really has us considering and discussing all the possibilities now. That's closer (and the idea is now more real) than it's ever been before. Our gratitude goes out to all of you! We are certainly looking forward to sharing our journey with you. Thank you so much for the warm welcome and for really helping us get serious about this. -Jeremy & Rebecca entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem |
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| Wild4Stars
Location: Florida Posts: 832 |
RE: A day late and a sprout short! Posted Sunday, May 8, 2011 at 3:03 PM Another thing - Don't think of it as a diet. Don't think of it as a way to lose weight. Think of it as a lifestyle, I healthy way of eating. Gaining health is the goal, losing weight is a bonus. Vikki ~ Wild4Stars@gmail.com |
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| Bugsmom
Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2072 |
RE: A day late and a sprout short! Posted Monday, May 9, 2011 at 8:53 AM It took us several years before we even knew about the kickstart. We dropped red meat close to a decade ago. Then oddly enough, we switched from dairy milk to plant milk (we did a taste test and preferred almond to rice, soy, or hemp). Still eating cheese, sour cream, yogurt though. Added lots of whole grains - even got a grain mill so we could grind our own flour and know that it was actually fresh whole wheat flour. Switched from poultry to a product called Quorn which is a decent meat substitute (comes in chunks, patties, grounds) but does contain egg white. The cost of that made it a once in a while treat that we eventually just dropped. Again, this is still pre-kickstart, pre-vegan. Then I saw Dr. Barnard on a PBS program (Just flipping channels one day). Did some checking online and got in just in time for the start of the Sept 2010 kickstart. Now we're mostly vegan - we still have some regular dairy products in the house (cheese, regular butter, hmm not sure if we still have eggs or not...) because each person (me, hubby, almost 13 yr old son) still have the choice of what to eat. When we go out, we do the best we can - I usually try to stay as close to vegan as I can in the circumstances, hubby is usually in the vegetarian side, and son chooses whatever he feels like eating - sometimes vegetarian, sometimes fish or poultry. He avoids beef because he learned the uncomfortable way that his system doesn't like it anymore. And so it goes - most weeks go by totally vegan. We chose this direction for health reasons (type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, weight). One of the best things is that hubby loves to cook and he finds it a great challenge (the positive kind of challenge) to find and/or modify recipes so that they taste good enough that omnivores love them while they're actually vegan. If we're serving omnivores, we don't stick as close to the low fat end necessarily (we'll make a vegan cake for dessert, for instance - not low fat or low sugar (yet)) because we want the tastes and textures to be appealing - and when the guests go back for seconds or ask for the recipe, then we can do the 'big reveal' and let them know that it's vegan! --Deb R |
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| marge
Joined: 09/08/10 Location: Seattle Posts: 211 |
RE: A day late and a sprout short! Posted Monday, May 9, 2011 at 12:02 PM oh such good advice. I was never a big meater eater but I loved cheese. Just decided to go for it March 2010, never looked back. Gave all my meat/cheese to my family. Gave the rest, canned tuna, chicken broth to the food bank. Don't go crazy buying stuff. I bought a lot of things that later I had no use for, so off to the food bank they went also. Cookbooks, cookbooks, cookbooks! Get them from the library, then you can decide whether or not to purchase.Cookbooks help me think about new ways to perpare food. |
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| Bugsmom
Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2072 |
RE: A day late and a sprout short! Posted Monday, May 9, 2011 at 12:06 PM Oh, another thing that was useful were the bulk bins at the food co-op market (many whole food/health food stores have them). We could buy just enough quinoa or lentils or whatever for a particular recipe so we could try it without having to buy pounds of it. Ditto for new spices. We could zero in on the things we liked and then purchase in larger quantities. --Deb R |
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