A New Journey

Just like lot of other people out there I have struggled with my weight for years; losing and gaining every year, even restricting so much that I was nearly skeletal version of myself.  It’s a struggle, but more so, for me, is that I’m not always sure what is the healthiest option or what my diet should be. (note: I use the word “diet” as a noun, I don’t like to use “diet” as a verb.) Over the last couple months I’ve been thinking I needed a change, I wasn’t sure what, but something. Besides the fact that the holidays were a mess for me this year and I ate awful, I felt like something was missing.

A couple years ago I watch a documentary called, “Forks over Knives.” It moved me. I was amazed by it, but I was young and healthy so I didn’t think I needed to worry about all “that stuff.” Cut to January 2015: My brother was over and wanted to watch it, so we did and I remembered how I felt when I first watched it, but this time I was moved and knew it was time to make a change. Within a week I watched “Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead” one and two.

While I don’t have any health problems (other than being overweight) I do have some problems in my family history, the biggest of which is cholesterol. Everyone in my family has cholesterol and the last time I had my blood checked it was borderline.  My doctor told me to watch what I was eating and make sure I exercise so I was a good girl and ate right and exercised but I wasn’t feeling well and fell off the bandwagon.

I will be blogging about my journey to what my friends (and even I) would call the dark side: A meatless, dairy-free existence.

I’m not starting today, I’m still researching some things but will start in a week.  

My plan:
 I will be on a juice diet for at least a week, possibly longer. Research shows that at least a week does a good jump-start of your body. It takes a few days to get over the withdrawals (which I’m bound to have) and actually feel good again. I like the idea of the juice diet first because I think it will help me get in the mindset for the next phase.  I think the length will be determined by how I feel. Teaching is a physical job; yes, "all I do" is walk around the room or stand in front, but I have to be “on” all the time and it can be exhausting.

Once I start eating again, I will be eating a plant-based whole food diet. All micronutrients and all vegan. No processed foods, no alcohol. 

Important fact: I am human and I may make mistakes and that’s okay, but this is my goal diet. (This should be my daily mantra)

I am not making this change for the weight loss, which will be a side effect, but I’m doing this for the health benefits in the long run.  I dislike the idea of being on medications, and see what my father takes every day, and that life is not for me.

When I get a hold of my doctor, I would like to get my blood work done and I will post it on here as a form of staying accountable and hopefully in 4 to 6 months I will check it again and see where I am, continuing this process until my doctor and I are happy with all my numbers.

This will not be easy, I’ve given up meat before for Lent, but I always knew I’d go back to it, so maybe that’s what made it so difficult. Moreover, my family is full of happy carnivores and a lot of my favorite Armenian staples are meat stuffed! I need to think more about eating to live, and not living to eat. A plant-based diet can be delicious and luckily I love veggies!

My goal with this blog is to document what is working and not working for me. I hope to post at least once a week about the juices and foods that I’m eating, changes I’m seeing and feeling and even the challenges I’m facing. I’m the type of person who loves [constructive] feedback so please comment at any time.

Like I said, I haven’t started yet, I have to finish the “crap” [read: meat] I have in the house before I can start this journey. I also want to start on a weekend so I can be sure I’m near and can get to a restroom as juicing makes you have to GO GO GO!!

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!