For the last year or so I've been sort of on-again-off-again lovers with being healthy. Now, I've said it before, and I've said it again: when something isn't working, fix it. So, I've decided to look back on what I've done and I think it's fairly obvious why I've failed so often in the past. I simply give myself too many goals.
I may be motivated to change something, but I'm not going to change my entire lifestyle overnight. That's completely unrealistic and frankly, I don't have the time or money to change myself so suddenly.
I know I'm still young, but I feel like I'm finally getting to the point of being "older" or perhaps a better term being "wiser." I'm feeling less satisfied with the way I feel and if you're willing to do the research, the answers are out there and you don't have to pay money, or at least very little, to find them.
So, I've done my little bit of research with the idea of a diet in mind. At first, I kept coming across fad diets, things where you had to put in your credit card number to get started and would have to keep paying month by month and then when you're satisfied with your weight or fitness you simply stop paying and more likely than not, you'll gain the weight again and have to put your credit card number in again to the same or a different source with basically the same results (if any at all).
I may be motivated to change something, but I'm not going to change my entire lifestyle overnight. That's completely unrealistic and frankly, I don't have the time or money to change myself so suddenly.
I know I'm still young, but I feel like I'm finally getting to the point of being "older" or perhaps a better term being "wiser." I'm feeling less satisfied with the way I feel and if you're willing to do the research, the answers are out there and you don't have to pay money, or at least very little, to find them.
So, I've done my little bit of research with the idea of a diet in mind. At first, I kept coming across fad diets, things where you had to put in your credit card number to get started and would have to keep paying month by month and then when you're satisfied with your weight or fitness you simply stop paying and more likely than not, you'll gain the weight again and have to put your credit card number in again to the same or a different source with basically the same results (if any at all).
Admittedly, the fitness part isn't what's most important to me. Which may or may not be wrong, but I'm going to be honest with myself. Generally, I want the number on the scale to be smaller.
I'm not an idiot either, I know when I eat junk food that it's not helping and I know all this soda isn't the best for my body. However, I never really thought about it. It was easy to stop by McDonalds, or Burger King, or Taco Bell or eat out at a restaurant and get big juicy burgers with cheese with friends and be content with that. However, I think it was more the opposite that I wasn't well aware of. I mean, I know that fruits and vegetables are good for me and all, but I don't think I quite realized the power of their healthfulness until recently.
For whatever reasons, Western culture and most notably the United States glorifies an unhealthy lifestyle. It's a bit shocking how little focus is on nutrition. Even medical doctors know very little about nutrition and the importance and power of what you put in your body.
Apparently, there are studies and journals that medical collections refuse to take in because if they were made known to the population at large, it could literally ruin the medical field as we know it (not that it needs much help to be ruined).
Now obviously not all medical problems can be solved with a change in diet, but when it comes to illness and diseases, including cancer, current medical standards aren't cutting it. A change in nutrition on the other hand can show a great improvement those inflicted with an illness or disease.
Alright, I kind of veered off the path I was started out on...
Basically, I've learned that there is really no need for meat and dairy products and they are often the root to health issues. Now that I've taken the time to educate myself, I wonder how it is seen as acceptable to keep this sort of information locked up. Most people know what I already knew, which is along the lines of "This kind of food is good, and that kind of food is bad" but nowhere in my education have I ever gotten viable information on true nutrition and health and I believe this needs to be changed.
And to tie it all together, one common lifestyle change I found was great for weight loss was a vegetarian or vegan diet on top of it being so great for you as for preventing illness, longer life span, yadda yadda.
So, what is my experiment?
I want to see how much weight I can lose by changing my diet to mostly vegan and as often as I can organic foods.
And admittedly, I'm not doing it for the animal cruelty and environmental effects that I know exist and I know I should be more proactive about, but I just see those as other positive outcomes of my new lifestyle choice and I intend on being more aware and proactive about these problems with the choices I make from here on out.
So...you may be asking, why MOSTLY vegan?
Well, first off, I am trying to be realistic. I have put a lot of thought into this, it isn't a spur of the moment sort of thing. I know that sometime sooner than later, I'm really going to want a cheeseburger and that if I don't allow myself to indulge on cravings now and then, I will probably fail. Plus, all those holiday meals I would be saying goodbye too kind of seems impossible to cope with right now.
Secondly, travel and culture are pretty important to me and I want to continue experiencing them throughout my life. I realize that when I go to other places, certain things are expected of you and one thing is to not offend the people of the culture in which you are visiting. Surprisingly, turning down food is one way to highly offend people of certain cultures. But also, experiencing a culture is to experience all aspects of it, you don't get to pick and choose what you get to experience (unless, I suppose, if it is truly bizarre or harmful) and food is an important part of culture. On a last note, even in situations in which the people of a certain culture have every intention of being extremely accommodating things get lost in translation and before you know it your eating some sort of animal product and when that happens, I don't want to be sick.
As a side from the mostly vegan diet, I'm planning on cutting out sodas and all that junk. I want to mostly drink water and teas (and don't get me wrong I realize that I should have been doing all of this for a much longer period of time, I just never thought about it as much as I do now that I'm "older and wiser")
So, I decided to share it for a few reasons. One because I know that it will hold me to some accountability (that is if anyone reads it at all) but so far The Heather Thing has been getting some regular traffic, even when I'm not posting things, which is a little exciting. But also, to educate myself and others on what works and what I've found in doing research and all that. AND also, also because I know there are some other vegans out there (some of which I know of and others which may surprise me) that will maybe add to what I have to say or be willing to share their infinite wisdom with those of us who are just starting our plunge into this sort of lifestyle.
That is all. You may resume with your normal daily activities.
I'm not an idiot either, I know when I eat junk food that it's not helping and I know all this soda isn't the best for my body. However, I never really thought about it. It was easy to stop by McDonalds, or Burger King, or Taco Bell or eat out at a restaurant and get big juicy burgers with cheese with friends and be content with that. However, I think it was more the opposite that I wasn't well aware of. I mean, I know that fruits and vegetables are good for me and all, but I don't think I quite realized the power of their healthfulness until recently.
For whatever reasons, Western culture and most notably the United States glorifies an unhealthy lifestyle. It's a bit shocking how little focus is on nutrition. Even medical doctors know very little about nutrition and the importance and power of what you put in your body.
Apparently, there are studies and journals that medical collections refuse to take in because if they were made known to the population at large, it could literally ruin the medical field as we know it (not that it needs much help to be ruined).
Now obviously not all medical problems can be solved with a change in diet, but when it comes to illness and diseases, including cancer, current medical standards aren't cutting it. A change in nutrition on the other hand can show a great improvement those inflicted with an illness or disease.
Alright, I kind of veered off the path I was started out on...
Basically, I've learned that there is really no need for meat and dairy products and they are often the root to health issues. Now that I've taken the time to educate myself, I wonder how it is seen as acceptable to keep this sort of information locked up. Most people know what I already knew, which is along the lines of "This kind of food is good, and that kind of food is bad" but nowhere in my education have I ever gotten viable information on true nutrition and health and I believe this needs to be changed.
And to tie it all together, one common lifestyle change I found was great for weight loss was a vegetarian or vegan diet on top of it being so great for you as for preventing illness, longer life span, yadda yadda.
So, what is my experiment?
I want to see how much weight I can lose by changing my diet to mostly vegan and as often as I can organic foods.
And admittedly, I'm not doing it for the animal cruelty and environmental effects that I know exist and I know I should be more proactive about, but I just see those as other positive outcomes of my new lifestyle choice and I intend on being more aware and proactive about these problems with the choices I make from here on out.
So...you may be asking, why MOSTLY vegan?
Well, first off, I am trying to be realistic. I have put a lot of thought into this, it isn't a spur of the moment sort of thing. I know that sometime sooner than later, I'm really going to want a cheeseburger and that if I don't allow myself to indulge on cravings now and then, I will probably fail. Plus, all those holiday meals I would be saying goodbye too kind of seems impossible to cope with right now.
Secondly, travel and culture are pretty important to me and I want to continue experiencing them throughout my life. I realize that when I go to other places, certain things are expected of you and one thing is to not offend the people of the culture in which you are visiting. Surprisingly, turning down food is one way to highly offend people of certain cultures. But also, experiencing a culture is to experience all aspects of it, you don't get to pick and choose what you get to experience (unless, I suppose, if it is truly bizarre or harmful) and food is an important part of culture. On a last note, even in situations in which the people of a certain culture have every intention of being extremely accommodating things get lost in translation and before you know it your eating some sort of animal product and when that happens, I don't want to be sick.
As a side from the mostly vegan diet, I'm planning on cutting out sodas and all that junk. I want to mostly drink water and teas (and don't get me wrong I realize that I should have been doing all of this for a much longer period of time, I just never thought about it as much as I do now that I'm "older and wiser")
So, I decided to share it for a few reasons. One because I know that it will hold me to some accountability (that is if anyone reads it at all) but so far The Heather Thing has been getting some regular traffic, even when I'm not posting things, which is a little exciting. But also, to educate myself and others on what works and what I've found in doing research and all that. AND also, also because I know there are some other vegans out there (some of which I know of and others which may surprise me) that will maybe add to what I have to say or be willing to share their infinite wisdom with those of us who are just starting our plunge into this sort of lifestyle.
That is all. You may resume with your normal daily activities.