Kathy's Healthy Living Blog - Kathy's Healthy Living

What do you eat when you're on a plant-based diet?

7/29/2014

It's a question I get asked all the time. I should just keep this list on me and hand it to people when they ask me. There are a lot of misconceptions about eating a mainly plant-based diet. It is thought to be too difficult, too boring, you don't get enough protein. It's simply not true. I will admit, there are days I'm a flexitarian but it's usually where I'll eat some dairy-based food and it's usually when I'm away from home where I don't have my staples to work with. But overall, lots of beans, veggies, creamy sauces made with cashews. I will also admit to eating foods that are probably vegan but not healthy (no...make that DEFINITELY not healthy). But that's only a fraction (and a small one at that) of the time.

If the text is too small, press and hold Ctrl and press the plus sign on your keyboard to make it larger (the computer tutor in me is very difficult to harness sometimes).

My truth on plant-based diet

4/25/2014

Just to be clear, I will never try to force my opinions or understanding of the scientific literature regarding a whole food, plant-based diet on anyone. Instead, I will always share my truth.

I became vegan primarily for health reasons (almost 2 years ago as my cholesterol levels were creeping up - it's since gone down 40 points). After seeing several documentaries during my year-long study at Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I realized that my food choices had a much larger impact on both animal welfare and the health of the planet. As a result, I began to really care about those issues.

I am always careful not to be too enthusiastic about being on a plant-based diet around others; people naturally feel challenged (or do they feel judged?) by any choice that's different from theirs, simply because it raises questions that they may be unwilling to consider at this point in their lives. Each time I recommended watching documentaries like "Peaceable Kingdom" (which truly touched my heart), "Food Inc.," Earthlings," or any film that educates us where our food comes from, the typical response is "I don't want to watch something like that. I enjoy eating meat." I leave the conversation there and move on to the next. People need to be ready to change their lives by changing their diets. It was the same with me.

However, looking at the "long view," I love where vegan-ism is today. I love that I can go into almost any restaurant and get a delicious plant-based meal and that I don't have to spend an hour explaining it. We've come a long way. But there is still further to go. One Day At A Time.

Plant-based diet and cholesterol

3/24/2014

I don't really feel this way but this cartoon certainly made me smile! Actually, I probably know a few people who think that is why I chose this lifestyle, though. :-)

I have been on a plant-based diet since September 2012. It has been an incredible journey for me and, like I've written in the past, it is wonderful to go through life without feeling nauseous all the time.

I hadn't had a cholesterol screening since December 2011 and thought it would be a good time to get myself tested again.

Throughout the years, my total cholesterol has ranged between 175 and 196. My good and bad cholesterol were always within the limits of what the medical establishment says it should be. My bad cholesterol (LDL) has always been below the limit but pretty close to the 100-130.

So, today I was delighted to learn that my levels were much lower than they'd been over the past 15 years. I don't even remember having a total cholesterol of 145 (since I began being tested at least). But 145 is what it was today.

My HDL (healthy cholesterol) was 100 and should be above 60.
My LDL (bad cholesterol) didn't even come up in the reading. She told me that is because the machine will only give a reading if it is above 50 (optimal range should be below 129).

So, why am I writing this post? Because if you have ever had any doubt that you can affect your cholesterol with diet, this is my proof. I've heard the argument that high cholesterol can be genetic. In my family, where many members have high cholesterol, do they have it because of genetics or their choice of food? I tend to think the latter.

Even if you are sure you have a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol, it would be a great experiment to try a plant-based diet and just see if it will make a difference. Much better than taking cholesterol-lowering medication for the rest of your life.

I will admit, it was a challenge to choose this lifestyle at first...sometimes it still is. (Heck, I break down one in blue moon and have a slice of pizza). But it gets easier and the benefits far outweigh the inconveniences (especially social). Plus, for me, it tends to keep me much more calm and less angry.

I would be more than happy to talk to you about my own experience if you think you may want to try.

A Vegan in Szombathely, Hungary

10/2/2013

After a week trying to find vegan options for meals, I decided to look on the Internet to see where I can find some vegan food in the town where my parents live, Szombathely, Hungary. To my delighted surprise, I found a restaurant that offers raw food. One of the more tasty Hungarian dishes is something called lecso (pronounced lecho). It's mainly made up of onions, peppers, tomatoes and sausage. Here at The Restaurant of Life (Az Elet Etterme), there is a raw version of it this dish that is so tasty even my very non-vegetarian/vegan, meat-loving mother enjoyed it. Of course, she joked it would taste really great with some rantott hus (breaded veal or chicken).

There were tasty cabbage rolls along with some Indian tandoori veggies with a little zing to it. It was just perfect. I can't even remember what it all was, all I know is that I enjoyed it immensely! I loved it so much that we came back the next night with my cousin and had some cappuccino with soy and a pear cake which was out of this world!

Not that many people get to Hungary, let alone Szombathely, but The Restaurant of Life is only the second vegan/raw restaurant opened in the entire country. Tonight, Alexandra, co-owner with Peter, told us that people are calling from other larger cities in the country looking for advice on opening a restaurant like this one in their own communities. So, the movement is growing!

An Ounce of Prevention...

5/22/2013

"...most people think they are a victim of their genes, helpless to stave off some of the most dreaded diseases. We aren't helpless at all; in fact, the power is largely in our hands. It's on our forks, actually.” ~ Kathy Freston "The Lean, Veganist, and Quantum Wellness"

What's in that stuff?

5/3/2013

Walk down the aisle of any supermarket and READ the ingredients of what's inside the boxes and cans on the shelves. Usually, you lose interest after the first two or three ingredients because you see there are another 10 or 15 of them - sometimes more. Everything is fortified with this...fortified with that. We think protein bars are so healthy because we want to be sure to have enough protein in our diets. The problem with protein bars is they can easily perpetuate the practice (how's that for alliteration?) of constant snacking on low-quality, calorie-dense processed foods. If you are health- and physique-conscious, it’s important to realize that protein bars will more likely hinder your efforts, rather than help. If you ARE eating lots of them, be sure to READ the ingredients and pick ones that are lower in calories and sugar. Make a point of eating whole foods and a lot of them! Have lots of veggies with your meat (if you aren't a vegetarian) and if you don't eat meat, be sure to eat plenty of protein-rich beans. Your body with say "Thank you!"

21-Day Vegan Kickstart Diet - INDIA!

11/5/2012

Good morning! Happy Daylight Savings Time!
Today, I start another 21-day vegan diet - even though I've maintained my vegan diet since I ended the last 21-day vegan one. This one is different though. It is a 21-day vegan diet - INDIA! My favorite food is Indian food. I just love it. As a matter of fact, as I write this post, I am sipping on Indian masala tea. I am looking forward to learning more Indian recipes which are vegan. If you'd like to join me, you can sign up to get tips and recipes but with an Indian flair!
http://support.pcrm.org/site/PageServer?pagename=21day_vegan_kickstart_india

Earthlings - A Documentary

9/27/2012

I'm currently watching "Earthlings" narrated by Joaquin Phoenix. A powerful documentary telling the truth of how man treats his fellow beings on this earth. The quote below moved me so very much. The video above is the entire movie on YouTube. Below is a clip from the documentary with the quote below.

“We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal nature and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creature through the glass of his knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion. We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate for having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein do we err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with the extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings: they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.”
~ Henry Beston, The Outermost House: A Year of Life On The Great Beach of Cape Cod

The clip is worth watching (a beautiful tribute to our felling earthlings). The entire movie is even more worth watching especially if you're buying your meat from factory farms. I will say, it is extremely difficult to watch. You may not want to stop eating meat but perhaps you will rethink where you buy it from. I hope you will.

21-Day Vegan September Kickstart

7/25/2012

Just listened to a lecture by Neal Barnard, MD who advocates being a vegan. I'm not sure I want to really commit to it myself but I am going to try this 21-day Vegan kickstart in September. I am looking forward to a very informative, healthy living 3 weeks. Anyone want to join me? You may find it's a natural way to lose some weight if you're looking to do that.

I have tried a plant based diet before with results I was not happy with but it could have been because I was choosing the wrong foods and not eating enough of the right proteins.I feel more empowered now. With the help of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (the organization putting this together along with Dr. Barnard), perhaps I can learn more about how to switch over to this type of diet. We'll see. But it's worth a try!

http://www.21daykickstart.org/