Happy Thanksgiving!

 Here in the United States of America, on the 4th Thursday of November each year we celebrate “Thanksgiving Day.”  It is a time when families and friends gather together and share a special feast and thank God for our blessings. The last time our whole family was together for Thanksgiving was in 1991.  Then our children started growing up and leaving home.  Today, partially because of the worldwide pandemic, my husband and I celebrated Thanksgiving with each other.  We had a lovely time.  

In May of this year, we began eating a “whole foods plant based” diet.  Essentially, that is a vegan diet, but with important conditions.  We eat fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds and legumes.  We don’t use any added oils or fats.  We don’t eat any meat, poultry or fish and we use no dairy or eggs. We avoid most processed foods.  I do buy whole grain pasta and certain condiments, but nothing with added fats. I make my own oat milk and it is very economical.  It’s not something we really drink, but we use it on porridge and in cooking.

We started this after watching this movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1LUj3kxB9M&list=PLvFgN9QYT1HtoYPfyIEn8aiuLL3KjCM8o

My husband has heart disease, and his cholesterol level has always been very high.  Mine was high, also, but not like his.  Since changing what we eat, our cholesterol levels are normal. I know it will take time for the full benefits to happen to us, but very quickly we noticed improvement.  Here is a list of what I’ve noticed for myself.  

1. Within two days I had a lot more energy.  I could go out and work in the garden for hours…. work hard and never become tired.  Sometimes I got tired of being hot and would come inside for a while, but I was not fatigued. Keep in mind that I am nearly 72 years old.

2.  I was able to stop taking the things I was using for hot flashes and my hot flashes are not nearly as bad as they were.

3. My varicose veins have improved and the spider veins on my legs are nearly gone.

4. Last year I was diagnosed with “macular puckering” which caused some blurring of my vision.  That is entirely gone.  I can thread a needle now with no trouble.

5. I rarely feel hungry and there are no cravings at all.  I do not miss the foods I quit eating. I remember that after two weeks, my husband said,”I don’t crave chocolate anymore.”  I was astounded!  He has always craved chocolate.

6. I can eat all I want and my weight stays normal.

7. I work out with weights some in our garage.  I used to do 3 sets of 5 reps squatting with 90 pounds.  Now I just go ahead and do 20 reps in one set.  It became that much easier. I’ve also begun a little jogging.  My husband and I walk 3 miles nearly every morning together and now I can do some jogging.  I hope I can increase that.  I have not done any running in decades.

8. My hair and nails are growing faster.

9.  I got to buy some new cookbooks!  

Here is a picture of me and our little Thanksgiving meal that we had today.  I was very proud of myself.  It was all delicious.  It’s been quite a “learning curve” to get into this, but if you have health issues, or want to do all you can to avoid (or cure) heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and many cancers, you can eat very simply and be perfectly healthy this way.  In fact, you could live on sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli and be fine for a long time.  I recommend this book as a wonderful place to begin:  https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=the+starch+solution+by+dr+mcdougall+paperback&crid=136SVW9HL1NAL&sprefix=the+startch+solutio%2Caps%2C568&ref=nb_sb_ss_sc_1_19