Why would I choose to miss out on wings and eat plant based instead?
I was asking myself in the beginning,
are you sure you want to say goodbye to wings, sour cream, cheese, meat, etc. Honestly, I could not answer that in my mind with a confident YES! But I kept thinking about what my primary doctor said to me about his decision to follow this woe. He said if he can alter his health in a positive way by what he eats then not too much to think about. He went on to say how important is eating that steak or doughnut, if it is going to cause health problems later. It's not worth it, right?
So, maybe it wasn't really profound. But it made sense to me. As I had mentioned in a previous post, I was familiar with Forks over Knives so the impact on health made sense to me. I have even attempted to eat vegan but at the time Kevin and my youngest son were completely opposed. It does make it difficult when there's separate meals being fixed. This time when I talked to Kevin about it, it took on a different meaning. He knew it was very important to me that we give this a try.
But why the motivation to change? Great question. My Dad had a heart attack when I was 18, he was mid 40s. He had quadruple bypass surgery. His diet had improved tremendously and fortunately for his health, not a smoker or a drinker. He did have another successful bypass surgery this year. He has had high cholesterol and blood pressure then developed adult onset diabetes. All of which are well controlled. For me, I have low blood pressure, good cholesterol and no sign of diabetes. I've tried losing weight since my 40s but it is quite an effort. (Pretty much been chunky all my life) I finally came to accept that maybe I'm just gonna be chunky but my bloodwork is ok. So, I have nothing to worry about, right? Wrong.
I had another unplanned visit to St. Louis this year when my sister was scheduled for a cardiac cath. She had chest pain that was happening too often along with occasions of tachycardia (racing heart rate). The ER trips revealed nothing because she wasn't having a heart attack according to blood test. Plus, she has low blood pressure and nice bloodwork. She passed her stress test so, she was sent home with a vague diagnosis. (Stress or anxiety) Finally, my mom (nurse) said it's time to see a cardiologist and figure this out. Fast forward, the doctor listened and did another type of test to determine that something was going on. Within the week, she is scheduled for a cardiac cath and they find an 80% and 40% blockage. They placed a stent in the 80% block plus it was twisted. This is a 50 year old healthy female. Of course, we were all relieved that a doctor finally listened. But what a shocker at the same time.
I realized that I had been having chest pain with occasional heaviness in my arm. I blew it off because my bloodwork is great. Long story short, there was an ER visit that revealed nothing. Passed the stress test, etc. I made a follow up appointment with my primary. That's when he said you can choose to continue on and wait for intervention or you can change your way of eating. He explained what he learned attending a seminar with Dr. Esselstyn and why it makes sense. I told him I know I was chunky but I could do boot camp exercise or run 9 miles a week and lose 2 lbs. Totally frustrating. But I thought I was eating mostly healthy eating fish and chicken. He told me about bears being big and strong but that they mostly eat plants, berries and nuts for most of their diet. They eat fish or meat when it's time to pack on fat for hibernation. Hmmmm, that's interesting. He went on to explain about the Western diet and impact on inflammation to the endothelial cells and how it leads to heart disease. I didn't need a lot of convincing. After explaining and talking with me for an hour, I had made up my mind. He showed me a picture with plaque progression and pointed to where he thought I was based on my age and chest pain complaint. He did add that if I followed Esselstyn's plan that he promised I would lose weight, too. 11 weeks later down 25 pounds. I love that perk. My doctor and his wife follow this plan. I admit, it's a popular topic for me these days to talk about. I love sharing about it as well. I am feeling better than I have in a long time.
I'm happy to see my mom, sister and nephew embrace this woe for better health. I don't feel like I'm missing out by following this. It is a self love kind of choice and I'm good with that.
Did I mention potatoes are on this plan?
