A couple of weeks ago, I attempted to reformat my diet. I removed all meats, sugars, most wheats, dairy, and white starches. However, my timing was very poor, and I had a very stressful trip home to Maui planned for the weekend. The stress of trying to find healthy food while traveling as well as the stress of the situation got to me, and I gave up my diet for another week.
Now, its time to really kick this thing out of the park.
I have reevaluated the meat portions of my meal, and will still be cutting out red meats and the usual cholesterol culprits, but I’ll be leaving in lean chicken breast and fish. Though I think the meat-free diet could work just fine for most, I have an acute case of hypoglycemia which blacks out my vision and worsens my ADD if the protein levels drop too low. At the advice of a naturopathic doctor and nutritionist, I have decided to keep some meats in.
Still getting cut: sugar (all forms except for naturally occurring fructose, etc), dairy, wheat (except for very whole-grain breads), and white starches. This includes: flour, white potatoes, white rice, and almost all pre-packaged foods.
What’s left?
For snacks: fruit, nuts, beans and the banana chips I’m making in my new dehydrator.
To drink: all-fruit smoothies with some protein powder, fresh-squeezed orange and carrot juice, some soy-milks.
For main meals: fresh vegetables from the farmer’s market including red onion, red potato, bell pepper, garlic, kale, lettuce, etc. As well as lean chicken breasts and some tuna.
For Desert: Un-buttered/unsweetened popcorn, fruit, home-made additive/sugar-free sorbet, more smoothies.
That’s the plan. Last week was a challenge because cutting out the meats created an unexpected dip in my blood sugar and my system nearly collapsed. Combine this with the stress of visiting home to spread my mom’s ashes, and you’ve got real trouble.
I’m hoping this attempt will end up a bit smoother.
Why am I doing this?
The diet, as with many things I do, was designed by Tynan. He has cut out meats entirely, and provides a persuasive argument for it.
My reasoning has to do with recently feeling an increased sense of adventure, something I had lost after injuring my knee last year in Germany. I want to be able to jump in freezing water and still be able to function well. Or climb Museum Hill just near my house in under ten minutes. Sure I’m young, but I’m not in tip-top shape. Not like I used to be when I was dancing. And I’d like to be there again.
That’s the gist of the thing. I will be blogging about it throughout the week. And I hope perhaps to inspire some others to go this route. I won’t hide that the desire to reform my eating habits has something to do with my mom’s passing. She was a Naturopathic doctor, and always strived to eat as healthy as she could. She always prompted me to do the same. And now that she has passed away, I feel compelled to be in my best health in honor of her.
Want to know what I made for lunch today? It was browned tofu cooked in olive oil, red bell peppers, red onions, red potatoes, a clove of garlic, the tiniest dash of soy-sauce, lettuce, and sliced green beans. In my Nalgene containers I have some freshly squeezed carrot juice, and an all-fruit smoothie.
I’m so excited!
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Hey guy,
Funny to see you’re now a vegan
Back when we talked, I was a vegetarian and you “couldn’t see yourself as one”. Then I was a fruitarian for a month, then a vegan for two months, then I stopped even being a vegetarian.
I’m now almost an anti-vegan! I eat meat, fish, eggs, loads of butter and cream. Some vegetables because meat alone is boring. Check out http://www.PaleoNu.com. I’ve lost 15kg in 4 months, so it definitely works if you’re trying to lose fat. If you want to be more fit, check out http://www.CrossFit.com
How’s being a vegan working out for you? Maybe write some update posts. I disliked the lack of variety. And you have to put lots of spices on everything because vegetables have such a weak taste of their own.