Somethings going to happen, something wonderful

Part 1 or 2 articles

On the 6th of January 2020 I went full on with the plant-based challenge and joined the Veganuary crew. I did it as an experiment to see after a month if only eating plant-based foods helped with inflammation, sinus problems and to a lesser extent bloating and general health benefits. Subconsciously I wanted to lose a few pounds too, but I would never admit that, right? For me, the only way to go was hard core, stick to plants only and no mixing in meat on the sly or stray from the path in any other way. I wanted to make sure I had every chance of seeing positive results if they were to be had. 

Going plant-life was never on my radar up to this point and I never expected to commit to a full month without straying back to meat and dairy life. When I thought of Vegans or Vegetarians in the past, I could never really understand why they did it and that I could ever attempt or want to do similar. I was never a big veg eater anyway and I was fifteen before I started to eat peas, which brought me to a full total of three vegetables, lettuce, corn and now peas! Sad but true but over the years I've grown to like a lot more plant-life, even cabbage and sprouts which I think is a big achievement based on empiric consensus. Before the challenge I'd never gone a day without meat or fish except when I was in hospital after a nasty appendix operation and on a drip for three days. I liked nothing more than a medium rare sirloin or fillet. If it had four legs, I would try eating it. Chicken wings? Yes please, bring them on and if you have ribs and pepperoni Pizza going, sure I’ll take some of that too.  

So, this was one of my bigger challenges, but I did stay the course and due to immediate positives within the first month, I kept going with a few alterations. It's now month fourteen and counting so it’s a good time to give an all-up account on the positives.

Positive #1:  

I was far less tired in the evenings. In the past at around 9/9:30pm I was barely able to keep my eyes open and come Friday after a long week of work, all I wanted to do was go to bed early. It was like someone hit the light switch, literally at the speed of light, the tiredness was turned off. I then found a new app called Netflix which I believed was extremely popular and I can now stay up and binge watch like everyone else and join in the conversations, which is a good thing, isn't it? I can only put this change down to my body having to work less processing meat and dairy and robbing me of my energy in the evening. On the flip side, after walking the dog late a few evenings, with the extra energy on plant-life I found it hard to get to sleep. When I tried to force sleep, which we know never works, I ended up getting less sleep for a few nights but it didn’t last long and was an initial bedding down negative. 

Positive #2: 

I didn’t feel hungry on plant-life and I didn't crave for anything which is quite something. Did I mention that I didn't have to make any of my plant-life food in the first month? My last company Cubic Telecom sponsored the challenge and brought in Clodagh of Clo & Co to ensure it all went down perfectly and that we wanted for nothing. Big shout out to them as I would still be chomping on chicken wings without that initial support and still suffering from long standing ailments. Clodagh brought in the breakfast, lunch, and dinner to work every day for all the participants. When it was time to eat, I heated the food and gorged. Looking back this was a massive help to stay on track and reinforced the habit and portion sizes needed. The portions were quite large and that took some getting used to. Sometimes I didn't finish the lunch or dinner but still I never wanted for anything beyond what I was given to eat, and I was never hungry. The daily meal even included a dessert and helped a lot to dampen the sugar monster that I had and know I still do. There are enough carbs as part of the plan such as bread, like sourdough, rice, potatoes, and gluten free pasta that helps you feel and stay full until the next meal. If I were trying to lose weight, I wouldn't eat carbs or not very much of it anyway. It did take me most of the month before I could eat all the vegetable dinner portions without holding back the gag reflex.  

Positive #3: 

I lost weight. Even though I did not weigh myself before I entered the plant-life monastery, I did notice the weight come off as I slipped back a notch on my trouser belt. My co-workers mentioned a few times that I had lost weight, especially from my face. I was however doing the usual 10k steps every day and a small amount of gym work too, so not all the weight loss could be attributed to the plant lifestyle. 

A tad bit of reflection: When you look at trying to break a habit, research points to needing to break the desire versus having great will power. It's very hard to sustain will power over time but you can work on dampening the unwanted desire and replacing it with a new one. I think this concept played a big part in how I lost weight as the portions were big enough to keep me full until the next meal and removed the desire to snack. I notice now if I don't plan my meals properly, and not content after a meal on the right food the desire to graze gets stronger and with that the odds of giving into old habits goes up significantly. 

Positive #4:  

On a more sensitive topic was my uncomfortable bloating which got 85%+ better, or that’s what it feels like. The increase in plant-life going through the system quickly helped but it looks like I am sensitive to certain types of processed foods which clog and slow my system down, so a simpler and more natural food approach is working better for me. If you have a sensitive system, it can be extremely uncomfortable not to mention possible long term health risks. Before plant-life and after a weekend out of the weekly routine you would think I was pregnant with a small elephant, as the gut slowed down and stopped working and bloated. Repercussions of an imbalanced gut is a long list and not pleasant reading.

Part 2 to follow... 

Yours in Plant-Life Action