Anyway, a few good things came out of that weekend. For one, my dad quit eating meat. He has a collapsed artery, sleep apnea, severe back pain, etc. As I've said before: if you have a chronic illness or are taking pills for something or want to change something about your health, why not try my no-meat/more veggies approach to feeling better. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. (At the very least you can send a message to food companies through your purchases, telling them that you want healthier options - no aspartame or high fructose corn syrup - ethically raised meat or organic veggies.) I will report back and update with how he feels and if he loses any weight.
On to good thing number two - I learned that there are a few things that should be learned first for those just beginning to consider this lifestyle change. A) You should know how to read a nutrition label and know what ingredients to avoid. A nice guideline is to avoid anything that sounds like a chemical, anything you don't recognize, aspartame and anything ending in -ose, such as fructose. Stay away from things with over 15 grams of sugar per serving. B) You need to learn how to feed yourself, as in cooking the night before to take something to work, what to have on the road, and what snacks are healthy. C) Everyone needs to be open to trying things they've never tried before, like kukicha tea, daikon radish, black peppers or gluten free burritos. (In fact, that's one of the best parts of this lifestyle change - your food world is raised to a whole new level, and instead of cutting foods out of your diet, you are adding more things in.) More importantly, if you cut meat out of your diet and don't take B12 supplements and find enough protein in veggies, your health will suffer. If you cut dairy only to replace it with junk food, why bother? And if you cut both meat and dairy but only eat processed or packaged food, you're not doing yourself any favors. You need to invest time into studying this stuff for yourself so that you can do your best.
So here's a suggestion or two...
1. Start by experimenting with gluten-free, whole grain, non-dairy, meat subsitutes, sugar substitutes (stevia), different oils (grapeseed, walnut, avocado), and everything in the produce section of the grocery store - root veggies, leafy greens, fruits, beans, nuts, rice. Try out different packaged and frozen foods like Amy's pizzas and burritos, coconut ice cream, gluten free waffles. This will be a lot easier if you go to a health food store, especially a place like Whole Foods that has everything under the sun. (In fact I'm pretty sure that it's impossible to find anything unhealthy at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, or any health food store.) Buy a veggie you're not familiar with and find a suitable recipe for it online. (You won't know if you like it until you try it.)
2. Start ordering vegan or vegetarian options at the restaurant. Better yet, go visit a vegetarian restaurant. Start looking up recipes and do some experimental cooking, especially alternative recipes for stuff you love, like grilled cheese or mac and cheese. If you make a pot of rice, a pot of beans, and a pot of veggies or soup (up to you if you throw that all together in one big pot), you can throw that in a tupperware for work the next day or breakfast. Take a piece of fruit and some nuts or seeds with you to snack on. You can also get some Luna or Kashi snack bars, Annie's gummy bunnies, EnviroKidz rice crispie treats, or soy yogurt. Of course, it will be so much easier to pick your snacks once you visit the health food store. You can also make your own snack food (peanut butter balls, rice crispies, pumpkin seeds).
Here is the transition checklist found in Alicia Silverstone's book The Kind Diet, which I found to be an incredibly helpful guide.
- Move from cow's milk to a milk alternative (soy, hemp, coconut, almond, rice)
- Move from white bread to organic whole grain bread (make sure it says 100% whole grain/wheat)
- Move from white pasta to whole grain pasta (wheat, spelt, rice, corn, quinoa)
- Move from canola and corn oil to organic olive, safflower, sesame, grapeseed, walnut, macadamia nut, avocado oil, etc)
- Move from regular mustard to whole grain organic mustard (and mayonnaise to vegenaise)
- Move from coffee to green tea or yerba mate or teechino (but one cup a day should be fine, just replace your creamer with non-dairy milk or creamer and use stevia or raw sugar)
- Move from white sugar to maple syrup, brown rice syrup, agave nectar, stevia or raw sugar
- Add rice, beans, sea salt and other whole grains to your pantry
It comes down to really thinking about your choices, like the picture above. Buy this, or buy that. Pop vs tea, veggie chips vs potato chips, white rice vs brown rice, eating out vs cooking at home.
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