What’s inside: Transition to a whole food plant based diet, focus on 4 areas. But, don’t get overwhelmed. Be patient and kind to yourself. This is a time to learn and enjoy new and exciting things. Each play a vital role in creating a sustainable plant based lifestyle.
Natural weight-loss with continued improvement in my health propelled me forward. Meal satisfaction, easy simple recipes while learning to navigate a new lifestyle motivated my daily efforts.
Even though, my journey didn’t start out this way!
And, the Struggles
New habits come with struggles.
The chaos of implementing a new lifestyle was near the end. As the thoughts of surrendering entered my mind.
My effort seemed endless and produced little to no results.
Not because I didn’t try, not because I didn’t remember my “why”, and definitely not because I didn’t know the difference between vegetarian and vegan.
Nine months passed since the initial weight loss of 25lb. No matter my attempts, the scale didn’t budge.
Reflection
Contemplating past events is the same as 20/20 vision. The event, path and outcome is clear once you are on the other side.
But, not as clear when navigating through it at the time.
Focus on FOUR Important Areas.
Looking back on my plant-based journey, activities centered around four areas.
Narrow the focus, and break years of bad habits.
Simple, yet important, areas of focus.
Through these areas of focus, simplify the process, gain clarity, and wisdom on the journey towards better health.
Baseline And More
The original excitement of all the possibilities come to a screeching halt. As reality of “all the things” started to weigh me down.
Where to begin?
What to do?
How to get there?
Don’t Stop before you begin.
The force needed to move past the stop sign takes more energy than the initial decision to start. But, once momentum starts, even if it’s slow, will move the goal closer.
The magnitude of the journey didn’t elude me.
I need to keep it simple!
Don’t let the unknown, lack of knowledge or the fact that – I don’t like to cook, get in the way.
Slow and steady will move me to the ultimate goal. Enjoy the process!
Don’t force things. Not one of my strengths for sure!
It’s when you come to a complete stop where the hard part begins. So, don’t stop! Review, adjust or tweak the process. So, just keep moving, no matter what.
Improvement or decline in health happens over time, not overnight like the movies.
Related: 10 steps to take before starting a plant based diet.
Change Your Microbiome
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” – Hippocrates
Substance for the body. Fuel for the mind, body and soul.
The search for satisfying, nourishing recipes which are sustainable are extremely important. But, time consuming and exhausting.
At one point, I was on the verge of giving up my plant-based journey, because I struggled to find satisfying recipes.
After the initially weight-loss the scale didn’t budge. Zero movement on the scale, No favorite meals, not a good combination.
Thank goodness, I eventually found enjoyable recipes which kept me on plan.
“The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison.” – Ann Wigmore
Cook and eat wholesome whole foods each and every day. Decided what you will and won’t eat. When situations arise the decision will be easier to make.
Related: The Best Recipes for Switching to a Plant-Based Diet
Activity at any level
Movement small or intense will benefit health. Some Ideas: walk, run, bike, dance, household chores, walk up and down stairs. Create activities with your surroundings.
If you’re not active, start off slow. Walk down the block and back. Increase the distance or intensity each day.
Listen to your body. Going from nothing to full intense workout is not recommended. Over time you’ll be able to do more.
Do something you enjoy not something you don’t. If you don’t know what you enjoy, try different activities.
According to Dr Greger podcast “How Much Exercise is Enough“?, 30 minutes is better than nothing, 60 is better, but 90 minutes is even better.
The overall goal should be to increase your activity level from what ever level you currently are.
Knowledge is everything
Personal education is a great foundation towards better health. Develop new skills, educate the mind and apply daily effort.
Learn and gain greater knowledge about a subject. Don’t just read, listen or watch. But, apply the key elements.
On many occasions, I listen to an Audiobook while driving. Or, accomplish household chores at the same time as listening to an educational class or book.
In school we learned the things teachers wanted us to learn. Now, it’s our turn to decide. We should never stop learning, just because school is over.
So many different way’s to learn in today’s world. Everything’s at our fingertips. No more running to the library.
Never stop learning!
Let’s take care of the one precious gift we have, our bodies. Click To TweetNever know what new skill may develop. I never thought, I would enjoy cooking.
Related: Plant Based Resource List
What’s Next?
The four areas help make this a lifestyle instead of a one time thing. Keep track of your progress with The Plant-Based Progress Tracker or in a notebook, cook and explore recipes, exercise and gain knowledge about a plant-based diet.
Overtime, habits will form and become automatic everyday lifestyle.
- Set time aside on the calendar to focus on each area.
- Tracking your progress, download The Plant-Based Progress Tracker
- Decided when and what exercise to do.
- Meal ideas, check out The Best Recipes for Switching to a Plant-Based Diet
- Create a meal plan board on Pinterest.
- Watch, Read or Listen educational material – Plant Based Resource List
What are the things that have helped you? Let’s chat in the comments!
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HI Maria!
Thanks for the inspiration. I was also instantly touched by The movie, “What the Health.” I instantly made the decision to live a plant based lifestyle and I’m so glad I did. It’s both the easiest and hardest choice, but no looking back! It’s been 2 months and your articles reaffirm that this is a journey and the best thing to do is to be kind to ourselves.
Your welcome, Christie! That’s exciting that you, just went for it. Congratulations on making the change!
With all the distraction on the world, being kind to ourselves is so important. Making changes to our eating habits isn’t easy. But it’s doable if we continue to move forward.
Thank you for you comment.