Squishyplum

All plants. All the time.

Tag: diet

This is not a weight loss blog.

Woman with loose pants at the waist

I was determined from the outset that my blog would not be about weight loss. Nope, no diet talk here. You see, I am not a calorie counter. Never have been. I am not one of those women who know the number of calories in every morsel of food that passes their lips; I know some who can tell you exactly how many calories are in three bites of a McDonald’s cheeseburger, or a handful of jelly beans, or two-thirds of a bag of Doritos. Craziness.

I’ve always been a Big Picture kinda gal, more interested in the powerful impact of diet on chronic disease, like cancer and heart disease and diabetes. And how our food choices as a population are slowly killing us—which is what led me to pursue my Masters in Nutrition. But I digress.

Let calorie obsession be the domain of the myopic dieting crowd. Because with a whole-food plant-based (WFPB) lifestyle, there’s no need to count calories. Instead, if I want to flex my arithmetic muscles, I can count how many pieces of fruit I enjoyed today, or how many Elaine Benes Big Salads I gobbled up this week, or the shrinking number of my pant size.

Now granted, it’s hard for a blog about WFPB eating not to be about weight loss in some way. Let’s face it: if you are overweight, which I am, you will lose weight eating this way. It’s unavoidable. And I’m not complaining. A woman who is barely 5’5″ should not weigh more than her 6’1″ partner. It disrupts the balance of the universe.

But I promise not to dwell on my weight loss. Maybe a little happy dance when I can fit into my size 12 jeans again. And an ever-so-tiny fist pump when I cross that 200lb threshold on my way back down to a healthy weight. But mostly, let’s explore all the other fabulous benefits of the WFPB lifestyle: more energy, glowing skin, better sleep, reduced joint pain, lower blood pressure, decreased risk (and in some cases, reversal) of various chronic diseases, better sex life—the list goes on ad infinitum. I say, bring it on!

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What Went Wrong?

The plan was to eat a whole-food, reduced-oil, plant-based diet for a year and chronicle how it affected me. Sounds simple enough. So why, eight months on, did I find myself sitting on the couch beside an empty bag of Ruffles, eating chocolate icing out of a tub with a spoon (you know what I’m talking about), when instead I thought I’d be jogging jauntily along the seawall, feeling great and looking radiant and svelte in my new Lululemons? What the hell happened? Where did it all go so wrong?

I’ve been plant-based for a few years now so the vegan part of this experiment was not the issue. But after a couple months of “healthy”—aka oil-free, whole food—plant-based eating, things began to unravel. I grew tired of making different, often inconvenient, choices than everyone around me. I grappled with the discomfort of planning every meal, being organized enough to have ingredients on hand, and taking the time to cook when I was hungry and impatient to fill my belly. I craved the perceived comfort of cookies and doughnuts and French fries.

And so I went into avoidance mode. I stopped writing my blog. I stopped planning my meals. I made poor choices in restaurants. I let processed vegan foods sneak back into my diet. I let my exercise routine slide. It was a slippery slope that led to me sitting on the couch with the aforementioned tub of icing and an extra 15 pounds to deal with.

I could point to a myriad of factors—lack of planning, laziness, erratic hormones, feelings of deprivation—but what it really comes down to is fear. Fear of failing. Fear of succeeding, strangely enough. Fear of change. Fear of always being the weird one who can’t eat at everyone’s favourite restaurant. Fear of being judged – for what I eat and for what I look like. Fear of not making a difference. Fear of letting my readers down. Fear of not having any readers.

Fear can be crippling. And going into avoidance mode and retreating to a comfortable place – a place with ginger snaps and coconut milk ice cream – seemed like the answer, a way to make the fear go away. But I was wrong.

“It is not fear that stops you from doing the brave and true thing in your daily life. Rather, the problem is avoidance. You want to feel comfortable so you avoid doing or saying the thing that will evoke fear and other difficult emotions. Avoidance will make you feel less vulnerable in the short run but, it will never make you less afraid.”
— Harriet Learner, The Dance of Fear

So no, as it turns out, choosing to be comfortable is not the answer – at least not the way I was doing it. Cynthia Pasquella, a champion of transformational nutrition, says, “If you want to transform, you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” Which scares the shit out of me.

Black panther growling in foilage

In her book “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway”, Susan Jeffers suggests that the only real fear is the one that belies all our other perceived fears: the fear that we won’t be able to handle what comes. But when examined up close, this fear has no legs. I have lived through the illnesses and untimely deaths of both my parents; uprooting of my life to move house, city, and country countless times; crushing, unnerving heartbreak; and the uncertainty and risk that accompanies self-employment. And I survived. Thrived even. So why am I so afraid that I can’t handle this? Why do I find the idea of changing the way I eat so scary?

What if I try living this healthy, plant-based lifestyle and fail? What will people say? What if I succeed and have to constantly live up to people’s expectations of me? How hard will that be? The judgement of others—even the perceived judgement, what we assume other people must be thinking—can make us feel inadequate, like we are not enough. But we are all enough. Just showing up and putting myself out there is enough—a huge accomplishment worthy of accolades, frankly. So I am willing to step into a place of discomfort until it stops feeling so bloody uncomfortable. I can handle it. I am enough, damnit. Bring on the green smoothies.

So let’s try this again. Time to step back into the kitchen and re-embrace the whole food, oil-free, plant-based lifestyle – for the good of the environment, my health, and the animals. Wish me luck!

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The Power of the Pound: How to Avoid Being Bullied by the Scale

When I started Project Squishyplum, weight loss was not a primary motivating factor for adopting a whole-food, plant-based (WFPB) diet. My main goal was simply to feel better and more energetic in my body. I did anticipate, however, that eating the WFPB way would lead to some weight loss. After all, whole plant foods are definitely poster children for a super nutritious and healthy diet. And by eating fewer processed foods and less junk, I surmised I would effortlessly consume less calories, provide my body with the right kind of fuel, and start moving towards my new healthy normal weight, naturally. And I was right.

The scale started to move. A pound or two each week. Slow and steady. And I was pleased. But then the holidays arrived and brought with them all the glories of wine and Christmas cookies and dark chocolate – all vegan, mind you, but still. The scale stopped moving. And then it went in the wrong direction. That was when I realized that, although I was only weighing myself once per week, I was letting that number on the scale dictate how I felt about myself for the rest of the week. This was not good. And definitely not in the spirit of WFPB living.

Fit from Within coverI am not a Skinny Minnie, to coin my mother’s term. And according to BMI charts and medical parameters, I am not at an ideal weight. Certainly, I’d be happy to drop a few pounds but it’s not like I’m a cheeseburger away from a heart attack, as Joe Cross of Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead fame likes to say.

I have a pretty healthy body image — I genuinely embrace my curves and am blessed with a partner who loves my body and makes me feel sexy — but it hasn’t always been this way. In my early thirties, struggling with a serious weight gain, I read a book that made a significant difference in my relationship with my body: “Fit from Within: 101 Simple Secrets to Changing Your Body and Your Life — Starting Today and Lasting Forever” by Victoria Moran.

And now, more than 10 years later, our paths serendipitously cross again. Moran is the co-founder of Main Street Vegan – a book, a podcast, a vegan lifestyle coaching program. Just makes sense that she also turned to a plant-based lifestyle to make peace with her body. And became healthier, lighter, and happier in the process.

So I’ve put away the scale. Relegated it to the storage locker, alongside the Christmas ornaments and garden tools. For now, I’m going to measure my progress in yoga classes and Pilates sessions and walks along the seawall. And remember that the ultimate goal is TO FEEL GOOD!

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Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy: How I Kickstarted my WFPB Adventure – And How You Can Too!

Eating the WFPB way is not rocket science. Anyone can do it. Really. Case in point: my culinary-challenged boyfriend cooked the inaugural Project Squishyplum dinner in my honour. And it was damn good!

When I say this man is a neophyte in the kitchen, I’m not exaggerating. Until that day, he had never — and I mean never ever — cooked a dish from a recipe or prepared a meal that involved much more than heating something up. His culinary repertoire rested solidly on such gourmet classics as Cup Noodles and Lipton Sidekicks. Indeed, cookbooks, kitchen gadgets, and small appliances frighten him. But after a quick lesson in knife skills and a tour of our spice cabinet, this fledgling cook managed to pull off a bloody delicious Three-Bean Tomato Curry Soup. (Thank you to Dreena Burton for her fabulous cookbook: Vive Le Vegan. Check out Dreena over at www.plantpoweredkitchen.com or on Twitter @dreenaburton.)

Three Bean Tomato Curry Soup

The happy chef and his delectable creation!

Kickstart your own WFPB adventure. You can do it. And you don’t have to be a whiz in the kitchen. Grab a plant-based cookbook from the library (I currently have Dreena’s The Everyday Vegan checked out) or peruse the shelves of your local bookstore. Here are a few ideas that I have in my kitchen to get you started:

  1.  Eat, Drink & Be Vegan by Dreena Burton
  2. The China Study Cookbook by Leanne Campbell
  3. The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook by Dr. Neal Barnard
  4. Skinny Bitch Ultimate Everyday Cookbook by Kim Barnouin
  5. Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons by Nava Atlas

My scrumptious Project Squishyplum kickoff meal of Three-Bean Tomato Curry Soup can be found on page 79 of Dreena’s awesome Vive Le Vegan! Simple, Delectable Recipes for the Everyday Vegan Family. (To limit consumption of refined oil products in this and any recipe, I would recommend using a splash of veggie stock instead of olive oil to sauté the veg. I’ve been doing it for all my culinary experiments with happy results.)

Give this soup a whirl! You’ll be glad you did.

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WFPB. WTF is that?!

So the plan is to eat a whole-foods, plant-based diet for one year, track the results, chronicle the challenges, and develop some sort of blueprint to help others channel their inner herbivore. Let’s get started, shall we?

Whole-foods, plant-based diet. Just rolls off the tongue, eh? WFPB. Even the acronym is awkward. But thankfully the benefits outweigh its phonetic shortcomings.

There is a difference between a vegan diet and a WFPB diet. Surprisingly, it’s very possible to eat a less-than-ideal vegan diet. Consider the possibilities: Frosted Flakes or a raspberry Pop-Tart for breakfast. Tofu hotdog with fries and a Coke for lunch. Oreos and a grande Starbucks soy coffee frappuccino for your afternoon pick-me-up. Frozen vegan pizza to round out your day — and, of course, a chocolate vegan cupcake for dessert. And maybe some of those moreish root crisps while you’re working your way through your PVR. Nutritional disaster!

So what’s a girl to eat? WFPB! All plants, all the time. That’s my new mantra. Vegetables (in everything from my soup to my smoothie), fruits (no-brainer snacks), legumes (think 3-Bean Chili or garlicky hummus), grains (my morning oatmeal drizzled with maple syrup and topped with a handful of walnuts is dee-lish), seeds (pumpkin and sunflower seeds in my salad always makes me feel gourmet), nuts (freshly ground peanut butter on my toast? — don’t mind if I do), and nut milks (I’m partial to Silk True Almond, although I need to learn how to make my own). You’d be surprised how many foods fit into these categories.

The idea is to aim for foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. For all of you take-out addicts, I’m afraid the WFPB path is going to require some actual cooking — and not the kind where you shuttle something from the freezer to the microwave. But that has to be a good thing, right?

So let’s get this party started! Project Squishyplum. 365 days. All plants. All the time. We’ll figure it out together as we go. Just think how bloody fabulous we’re going to look and feel!

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