So, as some of you know from my previous blog, Joey and I went to see Forks Over Knives yesterday in Cleveland.
Here is the trailer:
Check out the website for info on showtimes in your city.
So we hopped on a megabus and rode up to Cleveland, our friend Jocelyn picked us up and was nice enough to show us around the city, I took tons of pics and did a little recap of our trip, you can read about it here on mine and Joey's adventure blog ;) hehe.
Warning: This movie could save your life = spot on!
A Weight Loss Plateau
Well, as most of my regular readers know I've been stuck at the same weight for 3 weeks now, and I've been on plan and exercising and yet the scale won't budge. This movie and the book, Omnivore's Dilemma got me thinking about the biodiversity of my food choices.
Perhaps I'm holding on to my weight because when you are only eating 1300-1500 cals, and you are trying to get enough protein, a lot of minerals, vitamins and nutrients get sacrificed and fall by the wayside. So I've decided to make a few changes to my diet.
Whole Foods Diet
In the movie they discussed the effects of oil on your cells and I've read about how it effects the viscosity of your blood, slowing it by large percentages even if the oil is not heated. Joey seemed more than ready to give up oil when I brought it up.
Also, I've been eating an awful lot of tvp, I buy it plain, not in the 'crumbles' packages where it's full of sodium and preservatives, but still it's a processed food. One of the few I eat. I want to cut down drastically, and eventually cut it out. I'm pretty good with cold turkey though, we shall see.
I want to limit my diet to fruits, veggies, beans and grains, with some limited non dairy milk. I've been eating too much tvp AND pasta lately for convenience sake, that needs to stop. I'm having my blood work checked by the end of summer and I'm hoping for stellar results in my cholesterol and sugar.
My sugar has already dropped a significant amount, but it still needs to drop about 8 more points to be at the high end of healthy.
Biodiversity In Our Food Choices
I need more biodiversity in the foods I'm eating so I've decided to stop counting calories for the next 2-4 weeks and see how my body reacts. Maybe if I'm getting enough nutrition, good healthy nutrition, I will start to let go of the weight. I feel like even though I"m not technically starving, my body may think I am since the diversity of my food choices is lacking lately. Working two jobs has made this a challenge, but I'm up to it.
On to the Review:
Anyhow, in regards to Forks Over Knives, the announcers voice was a little...meh. But other than that I really did enjoy it. It's full of images you can't unsee, personal success stories of people who beat the odds health wise, that you can't unhear and information that you can't unlearn.
A lot of it I already knew, but I consider myself to be pretty well read on the subject of nutrition and health, but there were things that were downright shocking to me, like the study where they fed rats animal protein at 20% and it increased the growth of cancer cells, and when they dropped it to 5% the cancer growth stopped.
They were literally able to TURN OFF cancer cell growth by adjusting the amount of animal protein that was being consumed. Why a plant based diet is not endorsed by the govt...augh. Well, as the movie states, they are protecting the status quo.
It's our job to educate ourselves and vote at the grocery store with our dollar. Now, get to it. ;) Let me know if you saw this documentary and what you thought!
Again...I REALLY need to see this flick. Can't wait!
I love movies like this. We HAVE to eat and what we put into our bodies is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO important. It really is life or death. More people need to educate themselves. Diet is one area where you can't claim "Ignorance is bliss."
I'm all about the whole foods, and I know that my scale will halt if I eat pasta more than twice a month. Something about pasta!
If you don't already know about sprouting, you should look into sprouting things like chickpeas, green peas, lentils, mung beans...the list goes on. I love my sprouts and it's so easy. I just use regular mason jars and I bought a large tea strainer so I can rinse the sprouts three times a day. Soak for 12 - 24 hours, then rinse until the sprouts are the length you want. Easy as that. As long as you keep them clean, you're good.
I'll have to watch the trailer for the movie when I'm not at work. I don't know if I could watch any animal cruelty though. I'm a very sensitive vegan.
So happy to hear about your nutrition changes! The more I give up processed food, the better I feel. I really think whole foods is optimal. I do put flaxseed oil on my salads though.
Thanks for the award, I just haven't got to post it yet!! It takes awhile to compile the list!! But thank you!!!!! I found that wheni quit eating oils, flours, sugar, that I didn't worry about how much I ate. Beans, apples, fruits, smoothies fill you up O much with water that even if I binge binge, half of it is air. I was eating olive oil again, but am going t quit once again. As it is better just to eat the avocado or the olive, ya know? after I bought that Garmin watchi actually do thinkof calories a little because it shows how many you burn!! But I have always been afraid to eat less, as I don't my metabolism to stop. Have you tried yerba mate using a gourd?? It gives ya something to suck on constantly and rumor has it that it boosts your metabolism. ??
Are you traveling this path alone, or with your significant other? Joey and I started on this path in earnest on October 19th 2010. He eventually went veggie, I went vegan and we've both become pretty health conscious. He's lost about 22 lbs, I've lost almost 70 now. (He doesn't have nearly as much to lose.) Exposure Therapy Joey has a fairly wide streak of social anxiety. He came with me to the gym the day I got my free 3 day pass earlier this week. He even came on the tour of the gym with me, which was panic inducing for him. I had butterflies, but he was shaking and miserable just sitting in the waiting area after the tour, and he was all alone. Today I asked him to sign up for the 3day pass. I know right now he doesn't have the time or the drive to get a membership, he just wouldn't use it enough for it to matter. But I wanted him to expose himself to the idea, I think exposure therapy is good for him, in many ways. I think it can help a lot of peop
I looked at this blog for the first time in two years the other day. I wanted to reference a post in another piece of writing. I had completely forgotten that I had revamped this site, and I like its look now. I do honestly miss writing here. So, I might try and liven the joint up a bit. Check back soon! Where am I now? I am going for a physical next Friday. It will be the first one I've had in a year and a half. I have been gaining and losing the same 20 pounds my entire life, it seems. I have had some severe health issues in the last couple of years, like heavy shit that I'm not going to bore you with right now. Either way, my immune system decided to go bust. I have spent close to a year trying to improve it. I'm eating pretty healthy, I take vitamins now, and immune-boosting gummies, and zinc and blah blah blah. I was also suffering from chronic dehydration. Don't let yourself get there kiddie winkies. It's a bad time. I have spent the last three months or
This contest is for U.S residents only: Okay, so I have a few ideas for some giveaways that I'm planning on doing over the next few months. This is the first one, the next one I'll do once I hit 100 followers cuz it's a bigger prize and I'd like as many people as possible to be able to enter and spread the word. Contest Deadline: Starts now (April 12th) Ends before midnight (eastern time) April 22nd 2011 For now, I will be giving away a copy of my favorite cookbook, Appetite for Reduction , by Isa Chandra Moskowitz << Her website. The Prize: This book is amazing, a lot of non-vegans think that vegan cookbooks are all full of strange ingredients that are only available at health food stores, but that isn't the case with this book. It has simple recipes made with easy to find and prepare ingredients and nearly everything in the book is between 200-400 calories per serving, and the servings are a good size. I've made many fabulous dishes from this b
Again...I REALLY need to see this flick. Can't wait!
ReplyDeleteI love movies like this. We HAVE to eat and what we put into our bodies is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO important. It really is life or death. More people need to educate themselves. Diet is one area where you can't claim "Ignorance is bliss."
I hope you get to see it soon!
ReplyDeleteand you are sooo right!
I'm all about the whole foods, and I know that my scale will halt if I eat pasta more than twice a month. Something about pasta!
ReplyDeleteIf you don't already know about sprouting, you should look into sprouting things like chickpeas, green peas, lentils, mung beans...the list goes on. I love my sprouts and it's so easy. I just use regular mason jars and I bought a large tea strainer so I can rinse the sprouts three times a day. Soak for 12 - 24 hours, then rinse until the sprouts are the length you want. Easy as that. As long as you keep them clean, you're good.
I'll have to watch the trailer for the movie when I'm not at work. I don't know if I could watch any animal cruelty though. I'm a very sensitive vegan.
So happy to hear about your nutrition changes! The more I give up processed food, the better I feel. I really think whole foods is optimal. I do put flaxseed oil on my salads though.
no animal cruelty. it's about health, not animal rights.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the award, I just haven't got to post it yet!! It takes awhile to compile the list!! But thank you!!!!! I found that wheni quit eating oils, flours, sugar, that I didn't worry about how much I ate. Beans, apples, fruits, smoothies fill you up O much with water that even if I binge binge, half of it is air. I was eating olive oil again, but am going t quit once again. As it is better just to eat the avocado or the olive, ya know? after I bought that Garmin watchi actually do thinkof calories a little because it shows how many you burn!! But I have always been afraid to eat less, as I don't my metabolism to stop. Have you tried yerba mate using a gourd?? It gives ya something to suck on constantly and rumor has it that it boosts your metabolism. ??
ReplyDelete