Spring has started and I feel as if I just did some “spring cleaning” for myself. I attended the SCW Mania in South San Francisco, a fitness conference which offers all kind of sessions – exercise classes, wellness classes, lectures. I was especially interested in the nutrition and wellness classes and attended a one day workshop with Bruce and Mindy Mylrea (Mindy is a fitness professional, highly respected around the world and Bruce is a holistic nutritionist). I have been following their exercise and lifestyle ideas for several years now and always seem to learn something new.
The One Day to Wellness Workshop with Bruce and Mindy struck a chord with me as the topic was how to transition to a whole foods, plant-based diet, an evidence based diet that is now also endorsed by Kaiser Permanente. Link to The Plant-Based Diet booklet.
This workshop confirmed everything that I have started for my family and for myself over the last few years and I now have more ideas on how to eliminate the last few disease-promoting foods that still remain in my diet. Transition is not easy, but doable. Just as behavioral change is not easy, it’s a lifelong journey. The good news is that all the research, information and tons of recipes are out there and available to anyone. Here is some great information that I would love to share with you.
Many people ask me if I am a vegan. I do not consider myself one for a variety of reasons. Over time I have met quite a few vegans which were not always eating or living healthily – you can be vegan by eating processed foods out of a bag, vegan engineered power bars, fake meat and fake cheese etc. But the point of a whole foods, plant-based diet is to eat only foods that are nutritious – whole foods and grains in their whole, unprocessed form, like vegetables, fruits, beans, lentils, seeds and small amounts of unprocessed plant fats, “real” food. It does not include animal products like meat, poultry and dairy. The WHO (World Health Organization) is now classifying processed meats as carcinogenic, for example, and animal agriculture is known to be a major if not the biggest contributor to global warming. I attended a Vegan Summit last summer in Berkeley for three days and I will never forget the pictures and video footage that was shown about confined animal feeding operations (CAFO). I now know what Sir Paul McCartney meant when he said that “if all the slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian”. I just don’t want to do it anymore. It doesn’t make a difference if they are organic or grass-fed or whatsoever. There simply is no right way to do the wrong thing. Do we want to pay more to feel better? The good news is that we get all the carbs, fat and protein we need from plants. The only supplement that may need to be added to a whole foods, plant based diet is Vitamin B 12 (nutritional yeast is a good source for it). There is nothing in animal food that humans need to survive.
This One Day to Wellness Workshop has once again informed me how nutrients fuel our organ and muscle tissues, how they nourish our bones and brain (the quality of the calories matter – you cannot grow bones from empty calories like doughnuts just as a multivitamin doesn’t fix a bad diet) – and my goal moving forward now is to make sure to not put anything into my mouth anymore that is not nutritious, nourishing, and renews my bones, tissues, and muscles.
It might sound drastic but the body actually “eats” healthy tissue if we don’t eat enough “good” calories – here is where the diseases begin – joint pain, fatigue, heart disease etc. The best approach would be to not wait for an emergency to change one’s eating behavior – preventing any heart disease, diabetes etc. is so much easier and more fun than dealing with the real problem once it has struck. Isn’t it interesting that we are the only species on Earth that makes decisions on food regarding holidays, boredom, mood, Superbowl events – and we have the most problems with our health?
While there are genetic diseases and predispositions, for most people the biggest negative impact on their health is the inherited or acquired bad and unhealthy habits. Our parents might just have made the same mistakes and cooked the same recipes. We don’t have to go down the same path.
Diet is now considered the #1 killer in the world, leading mainly to heart disease. Most deaths in the US are preventable and related to nutrition. For the first time, obese people outnumber normal weight people and statistically our kids have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. Isn’t that scary?
If you are contemplating change, here is a trailer that might lead you into the right direction. You find the documentary on Netflix. It’s from 2011 but in never gets old.
The time is now to change the game and shake the system. If you are excited to make a change in your health but find the challenge daunting, I am here to assist! Together we can create a strategy to incorporate healthy meal plans, rid your pantry of the wrong foods, and achieve a sustainable weight goal all designed to help you feel better, leaner, and stronger. And even if you find this daunting, remember a journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step. I would be happy to join you on this journey and to talk to you about your goals and how to achieve them.
Michael Pollan said it in a few words: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
In health, Constance
