Results after 1 month

Exactly one month ago (August 24) I feel was my "bottoming out" health-wise:  that day I hit my all time heaviest (241 naked) and had my worst blood lab draw (cholesterol totalled 261 with an LDL of 174 and triglycerides of 161). 

Today, after one month of mostly just eating well, my naked weight was down 15 lbs to 226. So the weight loss is working. 

Soon I will schedule another blood test to see if my labs are getting better. 

Certainly I feel better, I'm less lethargic and more energetic than I was months ago. 

Within the last several days I've started to get comments from people saying that I look slimmer. My skin condition mentioned in a previous post is almost completely better, after suffering with it for over a year. I am enjoying the healthy food I'm eating, and starting to learn new recipes that taste even better. 

Overall my health experiment is going as I had hoped. There is a lot of misinformation out there about fdiet and health, but my own experiment on myself using the guides that I believe to be the most accurate is proving to be so. My main guides are Dr. Campbell and the China Study as well as the books and other resources put out by Dr Joel Fuhrman. These I believe are based on the best science, most thorough research--and the most "common sense" compared to other "diets" and guides. But I will continue my own experiment on myself using this approach, and continue to post my observations, notes and results here. 

Soon I really need to step up the exercise some more. More rigorous cardio and lift some weights. Those are two more goals I have set. 

fast food in a parking lot

Here is what I consider "fast food" these days..enjoying a salad in a parking lot. 

Crock pot Chili made for the coming week

Crock pot vegetarian Chili

4 cans of Chili beans (red and black)

Four or five onions diced

Two green peppers diced

One zucchini diced

16 oz portobello mushrooms

2 cups frozen corn kernels

4 cloves garlic

2 tsp Chili powder

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

2 tsp of turmeric 

Sprinkled on some cayenne pepper and mrs dash seasoning 

1 cup water 

Mix in crock pot and cook on low heat for 6 -7 hrs. 

This will make for delicious lunches and dinners for the coming week. I like to put this over whole grain pasta and add a touch of garlic salt. Plenty of protein, very nutritious. Can't wait to eat this!  

Damn good vegan pizza made tonight!

Yummy vegan pizza.   Even wife and kids thought so.  Lauren (14) said it "tasted like real pizza". Everyone loved the smell of the sautéeing and baking. 

Pre sautéed (using just a bit of water) fresh cut orange and yellow peppers,red onion, and bella mushrooms. Note:  Next time cut the peppers smaller and add the mushrooms toward the end of the sautéeing.    I did use regular pizza sauce (a but sugary).  Ultra thin, whole grain crust used. Added olives also. 

The "cheese" was a fine blend of cashews, nutritional yeast, and garlic salt. 

This was sprinkled on before and after baking. 

I am totally satisfied after eating this. 

Not as much energy today...Subway footling eaten.

Could have been lack of sleep (woke up many times during night) ...I started the day eating well with a spinach and fruit smoothie...but...

All day I had less energy and felt more like I used to before starting the better foods 3 weeks ago.  I  broke down and ate a footling sub from subway for lunch. All the veggies but it also had chicken and some cheese..first I've had cheese or chicken  in 3 weeks. 

Afterward I felt really full and even more tired. Also felt bloated. I think the footling sub was just too much food to digest all at once. That takes energy and made me tired, on top of the lack of sleep. Still feel tired at 6pm. 

Lesson:  Don't eat a footling sub anymore. That used to be my norm but I can't do that anymore. It's just too much food all at once.  Also, get enough sleep.  

The tinnitus has been better the last 2-3 days though.  Yesterday I felt great, no ringing in ears. 

Bowl of cereal kind of sucked

Just had a bowl of honey nut Cheerios--didn't taste as good as I hoped it would be.  Not worth it. Remember that. Eat an apple the next time I want a nighttime snack. 

Folliculitis

Another problem plaguing me for over a year has been diagnosed by doctors as Folliculitis. It's been on my scalp, driving me nuts. At times this past year it has gotten really bad and very sore. It's been embarrassing at times, especially when I'd go to get my hair cut. 

 I was prescribed a triple punch of oral meds (dococycline mono 100 mg), shampoo (ketoconzanole 2%) and topical solution (clobetasol 0.05%). The dococycline made me sick so I only took that a few times, told the doc about it and she said it was ok to stop because the other two topical meds seemed to be working on their own. They did...for a while. After a few weeks the Folliculitis came back and the meds didn't help much. 

But my new diet has helped!

I went off all of the meds a few weeks ago when I started my plant-based whole foods vegan diet. My scalp got better real soon. I'd say it's almost 100% better but not quite--the beer I had over the weekend may have fired it back up a little.  I'm looking forward to having it healed completely and for good. I hope my new nutrient rich diet does the trick once and for all. More updates to come.