Quote:
Originally Posted by Kodos
Based on QuikSand's post below, I put Forks Over Knives in my Netflix cue a while back, and it has been sitting on our shelf for some time. Finally watched it last night. It was an eye-opening experience for me. As a guy whose preferred diet includes meat at lunch and dinner, it really made me sit up and take notice. I'm 5'10, 215 lbs. Clearly, my normal diet is not working for me. So, I'm going to give the plant-based diet a real shot. Maybe even do a dynasty about it. 
By coincidence, I had already started a diet (actually, my wife and I agreed to a weight-loss competition) last Friday when I stopped drinking soda and chose healthy snacks over the usual crap I eat. In the afternoon at work, I decided to go for 15-minute walks instead of grabbing a soda and candy bar on my break to wake me up. I noticed I get the same uptick in energy from the walk as I did from the caffeine/sugar fix. In the first week, I lost 3.6 pounds. A good start. I'd like to get down to 175 or 180. |
Just as an update, roughly 2.5 years later, I am in the low 180s after starting out around 215 in December of 2011. I still eat some meat, but most of my diet now comes from veggies, fruits, nuts and whole grains. If a veggie alternative to a meat dish is available, I usually take it.
Recently, I hit 500 days without soda, although that has been an ongoing struggle. I've been good, but that doesn't mean I haven't been tempted to give in now and then. I've largely eliminated dairy. I still have cheese on occasion, but a lot less than I used to consume. Mostly on pizza. I have fruit smoothies or whole wheat bagels instead of cereal for breakfast, so milk is almost completely out of my diet now. Except for the occasional ice cream.
As some know from the Strava thread, I started out walking a couple of years ago and then moved into running. Combining the exercise with the dietary changes has made a real positive difference in my health. If anyone else has stories about how changing their diet has helped, I'd love to hear them. I find them pretty inspiring. I'm still working toward 175...