Week 2 - Congratulations! You survived a whole week without cheese!!

You’ve Gotten Started, Now Let’s Keep Going!

Hopefully during your first week you have found some success. And by success I mean that I hope that you have been able to be compliant for the most part without feeling hungry or tired. It’s early, but you may be seeing some results already, depending on what your goals are. Now let’s keep going even if you haven’t been perfect!

“Knowledge is stronger than willpower.” Joel Fuhrman

I know that I have used this quote before, but I truly believe it so I’m putting it here again. You have to keep educating yourself. I hope that you were able to watch some videos or a documentary last week. The facts will help to motivate you. And with everything going on right now with Coronavirus, and not being able to go out, take advantage of the time at home to watch a documentary or some videos or even do some batch cooking for your freezer.

Eat Your Greens!

In addition to cutting out meat, dairy and oil, this week I want you to try and add more greens to your diet. For heart disease and better endothelial health, Dr. Esselstyn says to try and eat six servings of greens per day. Any greens will do, but your top six are kale, spinach, arugula, swiss chard, beets and beet greens. Since you are just getting started, you probably are not as obsessed with kale as Chris and I are, but try to get in as many greens as you can.

If you do love kale, try it raw. We tear and wash a large bunch of kale, squeeze a fresh lemon over it and sprinkle it with some liquid aminos and nutritional yeast. Then massage the kale until it softens a bit. We do this almost every night!

Get some support!

Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a supportive family, at least not at first. Be patient because they may not understand what you are doing and why you are eating this way. Don’t be pushy with them about joining you, just try and lead by example and when they see your results they will hopefully come around. And even if they don’t want to come on board with this way of eating, the jokes and comments should start to slow down.

There are so many support groups available through social media that you can join and they are super encouraging! You can join the Forks Over Knives Facebook Group or one of many others. My piece of advice on these groups is to use them for motivation only and not for advice on what to eat. Some of the groups have gotten so big that they are not very strict with what people post which sometimes makes me hesitant to recommend them. Then again there are other groups that are so strict that even I am scared to post in them!

Find a WFPB meetup group and join others for meetings and potlucks. We try to host a potluck about once a month. You can look online for groups or events like seminars near you. You can also be on the lookout at your local health food store for flyers.

Going Out and to Social Events

At some point after you begin your journey you are going to be invited to a friend's house or to a restaurant. This is where many people slip up, but you can do it if you plan ahead.

If you are going to a restaurant, find the menu online and figure out what you will order before you arrive. Check the sides menu and look for items like baked potatoes and steamed vegetables. Get creative and ask them to put something together for you using ingredients from other dishes. You can even call ahead and speak to the manager. Honestly it is hit or miss with non-vegan restaurants. Your friends will always reassure you by letting you know that they have salad. Gee, thanks! I’ve had some terrible meals and I’ve had some great meals at non-vegan restaurants.

When going to a friends house for a party or gathering, there are different types of challenges. First, your friend may offer to make a special dish for you. This can be awkward because they probably don’t fully understand our way of eating, and you may find yourself eating what they make even if it is not compliant just so that you do not hurt anyone’s feelings. Other times there may be no options for you at all. You could bring food just for yourself but that may feel awkward too. I will normally offer to bring a dish and reassure the host/hostess that I’m sure I will also be able to find some things I can eat. Bring a dish that will be filling for yourself (just in case it is the only thing you can have), and also make it something that everyone will like. Bean salads, roasted veggies with pasta or potato salads will work. And make sure that once the food is set out, you are one of the first in line just in case your dish gets a little too popular! These tips are all based on my experiences! :)

Parties at work can be challenging. If it is a small birthday party with a cake you could offer to bring fruit or a vegan dessert, or just go without. Easier said than done, I know. I am not a cake lover, but if they put out an entire spread of assorted chocolates, I think I would lose my mind! Just do your best and enjoy the time chatting with coworkers. I know I say it all the time but it does get easier. If it is a work gathering where lunch is being served, I will normally pre-feed so that I’m not hungry. Then I’ll find something to put on my plate so that I don’t feel out of place and maybe not even eat it. At my last work party, there was nothing for me except dry salad that looked like it had come from a bag. Yum.

Friends, Family, and the Nay-sayers

If you are like many of us WFPB people, you feel like you have discovered this incredible secret (you have), and why hasn’t anyone told you before? You have this sense of urgency to let the others know, and once you tell them, all of your loved ones will join you to change their eating habits and be healthy and disease free! Unfortunately this is not the case. Again, I’m talking from experience.

By all means, of course, encourage your loved ones to change their eating habits. But like I said earlier, don’t push too hard or you will turn them off to it. Just lead by example and pray they come around.

Be prepared to respond to daily questions on where you get your protein and please respond without rolling your eyes! I always wonder why is there no interest in dietary fiber?? More on that in the coming weeks, but it only comes from plants. People will suddenly become very concerned about your nutrition. These are often the same people who didn’t say a word when you were living on Mickey D’s and Twinkies. Go figure!

Sometimes you will get questions just out of curiosity. Answer as best you can but also encourage them to watch documentaries. I’m not sure why, but The Game Changers seems to be very convincing for the men especially.

And now we get to the nay-sayers. Believe it or not, there will be people who want you to fail. I refuse to believe that this is on purpose. Unfortunately, these people probably feel badly about the way that they eat and they think your failure will make them feel better. They will watch what you eat and heaven forbid you have a grain of sugar, they will point out that you are eating sugar. If you happen to catch a cold (and it has been at least a year since Chris or I have had one - probably longer) they will be quick to claim that your way of eating contributed to your getting sick.

There are also “sabotagers”. This is often done with good intentions. Some people think that I don’t “allow” Chris to eat certain foods. They will tempt him with junk food that they feel is ok because it’s vegan. (And after a couple of beers he may feel it’s ok too, ugh!) This is part of the reason why I use the term plant-based over vegan. It’s misleading.

The point is that you can’t worry about what other people say or think. For many of us, like my husband, this is his health, his life, that we are talking about. Just keep going. I know it’s hard. There were many tears of frustration in my house when we began-from me just in case you were wondering, haha. Be resilient, you’ve got this!

As always, please feel welcome to comment or send me an email.

Items mentioned in my blog are available at Amazon through links here and on my website. You will not be charged extra for these items, however purchasing them through my link will help me to continue to provide valuable information and motivation to my followers. Thank you!