Journey to a Plant-based Diet
My summer gathering basket.
A few years back I was looking forward to a Mediterranean cruise. I always enjoy the foods in Europe. Not only because they have marvelous dishes but because they also use whole, clean ingredients. Unfortunately, I was a bit heavy (or more) and I knew that I would probably gain more weight on the trip. So, I looked for a way to shed a few pounds before I embarked upon my excursion. What I found was the book Always Hungry? Conquer Cravings, Retrain Your Fat Cells & Lose Weight Permanently by David Ludwig, MD, PhD. Not only did Dr. Ludwig explain the latest science behind weight loss he provided a meal plan, recipes, and shopping lists. In one months’ time, I lost about seven pounds. What a marvelous cruise. I ate whatever I desired and then some. When I returned, I found that my weight had returned. Determined, I used some of Dr. Ludwig’s recipes and menu planning ideas, created my own menu plan using his basic principles, and quickly lost the weight again only this time it was much faster. I had essentially reset my body’s set point weight by his wonderful menu plan!
On social media, I began to observe the numerous plant-based, vegetarian, and vegan recipes. Being a classically trained professional chef, I decided to use my knowledge and apply it to recipes that would exclude meats, poultry, and fish. As I created and ate a new recipe each week to include on my blog, I noticed that I was slowly losing more unwanted weight. In one year of eating mostly vegetarian, low or no sugar foods I lost twenty pounds! Luckily my husband enjoyed the food I was creating and gave me good feedback to improve my recipes. He also lost weight. We indeed conquered our cravings and lost weight permanently.
In a quest for personal and planet health I have found that it is best to eat a wide variety of foods in moderation that are mostly plant-based, in season, local, produced in a sustainable, pesticide-free, humanely-raised and minimally processed way.
This was just the beginning of my journey. Soon I will write another blog about my plant-based journey. Until then, may you find joy sharing your table.