Almost at the end of week 2 of my 6 week back to health program, so what’s changed since last weeks post? I’m not going to sugar coat it (because sugar is evil anyway!). There have been days where I have wondered “what the heck are you doing Paul?”, well, not really days, just periods within a day that I start to question things. Then I take a look at how far I’ve actually come already. Time for some fact checks:
- It’s day 13 of 42
- I’ve not had any inflammation or gout at all
- I’ve not felt hungry (or hangry) at all
- I’m down 3.7kg already
- My blood pressure has gone from Grade 1 Hypertension to normal/optimal
- I have plenty of energy
- I’m enjoying (most) of the foods provided
- I’m not snoring as much (apparently)
- I’m loving going for a walk on a morning (WTF!?)
The negatives?
- I’ve not been able to participate in dining out with friends
- Adding a whole orange to a smoothie is a bad idea.. remove the skin!
So far they are really the only problems I’ve encountered. I did question why take the challenge so close to Christmas and the festive season, but then, it’s probably a great time to test my mental resolve, I mean, if I can conquer this over the party period, then I can do it anytime.
This weeks statistics
- Day 20 without “meat”, but;
- Day 13 of being vegan
- Day 16 without caffeine
- Day 13 without alcohol
- Day 13 without nicotine
Part of the program was to have a full set of blood work and scans, this included a check to see if there is any plaque build up in my arteries. Interesting fact: it’s this build up of plaque that can break away and cause strokes and heart attacks. But I’m only 45, that’s not going to happen to me, right?
The results from said tests were interesting. Cholesterol a little high, iron levels – off the charts, same for uric acid levels (no surprise there). What did freak me out a little was the report of small deposits of plaque in my neck arteries. In short the results were “not too bad” considering the lifetime of abuse I’ve put my body through, but it was enough to make me think about the next 45 years, I’m definitely not stopping this new approach to nutrition just yet.
One question I did have this last week, while thumbing through Facebook, I was surprised how many adverts promoted Keto. The images looked divine, the promise of weight loss and good health, what did they have that my new plant based whole foods didn’t? It turns out nothing. Robyn Chuter has written a series of blogs on it – well worth a read.
The other thing I have found really interesting is the support from people. I was expecting people to either ridicule or rib me over the choice to go vegan, but that has not happened. The ones that are happy to discuss it often tell me there is “no way” they would/could stop eating meat, but have been quite supportive on my choice. The other mind blowing fact was how many people read the last post, it has been viewed in 31 countries!
From an exercise perspective, I have been walking almost every day. Weight training with my favourite PT Sabine, and today starting what’s known as the “murph challenge” with PT Benny. More details on what this is all about on their Facebook page.
A big thanks and shout out to Garden of Vegan for the continued support on this journey!