Why did I start? Why am I committed to this?

[Paul21]

Changing your eating habits can be drastic and many would not take the leap in fear of missing foods they enjoy today. Addiction and fear keep a good grasp on us all.

For me, the start of all this was my health. As certain health issues came up, I was quick to dismiss them on family genetics, or gave it the "I don't care type of attitude". I finally decided that I was going to take responsibility for my health, I had to stop blaming others. This is when I finally started on the path to improved health, and improved life.

It started with heart issues that required surgery. Did this scare me into taking responsibility? No. All my family has heart issues. It is just genetics and I expected it.

I then progressed to diabetes. Did this scare me into taking responsibility? No. All my family has diabetes, some are on Insulin. It is just genetics and I expected it.

People told me that I have to eat better. My attitude then was, "I am going to live a short life, so I am going to enjoy it". I continued to eat buckets of crap that I enjoy. Blissful clouded reality.

Fatty liver and burst blood vessels in my eye started. Woah, I'm not expecting this. Sure I'm good with a short life. I'm not good with a suffering life.

I finally went to a local support group for weight loss and life coaching. Although this is mentioned in a short paragraph, it was a huge change in my life that spanned 2 years. I have had great success with it. My attitude has changed. My eating habits have changed. My health has changed. My whole perspective on life has changed. I did lose a bunch of weight, doctors, and medications. One of the questions that hit home was "How do you want to live the last 10 years of your life?"

My local support group is not based on WFPB. It has all the right stuff, just with eggs, milk, meat. Now I'm learning WFPB and applying the same life coach principles.

Why do I stay committed to this? - Quite simply I see that this all works. I have good control of my food addictions and I am determined to keep it this way so I don't turn back to such a low quality of life.

Another reason to stay committed is that I am recently taking care of my elderly mother who has dementia. She has so many health issues that she is no longer able to be independent. She needs someone to handle the constant basics of life for her.

Will I get dementia and need the constant support of others? Maybe, maybe not. I am going to maintain a healthy eating life style to stack the deck in my favor. If I am going to get it, it won't be because I didn't care or didn't to try putting my best foot forward.

This youtube video is a good one comparing how you decide what your senior years could be like.
https://youtu.be/Qo6QNU8kHxI

[calvin]

Well said. Thanks for sharing. Whether I die of or with degenerative disease, I want to be able to say I did my best.

[pundit999]

Great story. Thanks for sharing.
It is not just how long you live but how well.

[Franchesca_S.]

Fatty liver and burst blood vessels in my eye started. Woah, I'm not expecting this. Sure I'm good with a short life. I'm not good with a suffering life.

This is such a powerful statement. My friends continue to say "Life is short, eat butter". There is always that assumption that the quality of their lives will continue until they fall over and expire, one week early. No one anticipates the accelerated decline that comes with poor health.

[cuddles]

Your posting sounds just like my lifestyle and attitude In so many ways. I thought I was invincible and that I could eat stuff and all the health issues always happens to someone else but not to me I gained a lot of weight and had to continually buy larger clothes. I ended up with a gerd issue a few months ago but that did not stop me from eating the way I was doing. I was just diagnosed with mild restrictive airway disease this week and this was my wake up call to change my eating plan and lose weight which will hopefully help with the gerd and lung disease.

[Franchesca_S.]

Cuddles,
I was surprised that my gerd improved as soon as I gave up dairy and meat and before I lost any weight.
F.

[DeborahAnn]

Well said, everybody! What people don't understand, I think, who do not eat this way, is the huge gains in personal health, well being and happiness which take place upon eating this way. Yes, fat, salt and sugar are very appealing on a certain level, and can be hard to initially give up. But the gains make it more than worth it. I think two of the hardest points are just beginning, when the results have not yet been experienced, and also after being on this lifestyle for a length of time, and taking it for granted, thus loosening up the eating habits to gradually let the greasy, salty nasty stuff back in.

[eric3417]

I hope the Long Zipper on my chest + the little souvenirs in my arteries will constantly serve as a reminder/warning the consequences of letting those Nasty little fellas back into my DIET/LIFE.

[roundcoconut]

I hope the Long Zipper on my chest + the little souvenirs in my arteries will constantly serve as a reminder/warning the consequences of letting those Nasty little fellas back into my DIET/LIFE.

I read somewhere recently where some snarky SAD eater commented on a whole foods vegan, saying, "I hope all those memories of baked potatoes and steamed broccoli are a comfort to you some day, when you're sitting in your wheelchair looking out the window from the old folks' home -- because no matter how LONG you live, all you have left when your health declines is your memories of what you did with your life."

So, he was saying, more or less, that those of us who eat this way, will have no fond memories of the food we ate, and the way we lived, and will step into our coffins thinking, "I wish I had helped myself to more junk food!"

But, for me, I thought: I really believe I WILL have fond memories of being someone who ate the green apples and the tangerines, and did the best for my body, in total, happy defiance of the toxic American food environment. With or without the "souvenirs" in my chest (love that term!), I think I just like what I'm doing for myself, foodwise and healthwise.

Perhaps it'll kick in for your too, where you do this because you want to, and not so much just to avoid the consequences of eating poorly?

[Risto]

I read somewhere recently where some snarky SAD eater commented on a whole foods vegan, saying, "I hope all those memories of baked potatoes and steamed broccoli are a comfort to you some day, when you're sitting in your wheelchair looking out the window from the old folks' home -- because no matter how LONG you live, all you have left when your health declines is your memories of what you did with your life."

So, he was saying, more or less, that those of us who eat this way, will have no fond memories of the food we ate, and the way we lived, and will step into our coffins thinking, "I wish I had helped myself to more junk food!"

I laughed aloud at that. I think it's actually the exact opposite: the kind of mindless eating of junk that makes people sick is entirely forgettable, except maybe for the times you had so much that it triggered a super painful gallbladder attack or something. Think munching on potato chips in front of the TV. Who's going to remember that? On the other hand, I do remember learning to cook and eat the WFPB way and the benefits I felt in the beginning. There's a sense of accomplishment, too. Other than that, I think meals taste the best when you're hungriest. Having something nice after a long exercise, or when travelling. I doesn't actually matter much what it is, if you're truly hungry.

[roundcoconut]

Risto, YES!, definitely a sense of accomplishment to shop, cook and eat this way. I think all people who live a whole life in defiance of the damaging, destructive, toxic or oppressive systems of their time, have something very real to feel good about.

And also, yes, I agree that our meals taste best when we have allowed a hunger to develop! There is a quote I read recently where Joel Fuhrman (who's not always my favorite!, but this quote I liked) was asked by someone, how many times a day should s/he eat? And Fuhrman said something like, "I don't know -- how many times a day do you exercise?" So, the entitlement method of "It's 5pm, time to eat again -- YIPPEEE!" is not the only way to be, as much as society wants to tell us otherwise.

On a side note, I think people's horrified response to what we're doing, comes from the idea of "Delayed Gratification With A Faulty Strategy". So, for example, people who undertake weight loss diets, but have horrible nutritional literacy, can probably spend several months to several years practicing an ideology of "You can buy workout clothes once you've lost the weight", or "You can start dating once you've lost the weight", or "You can sing in public once you've lost the weight". But with a crappy strategy, they never reach that place of a stable, optimal, easy-to-maintain healthy body.

I'm not sure anyone lives like that anymore, but it was definitely how some people in my parents' generation lived -- they had whole rooms of furniture that they didn't sit on, because they were saving it for company. They had china they didn't use, because it was for special occasions. And they didn't go out to dinner because they were saving for retirement.

Well, that's a total tangent, but it's interesting how the pendulum has swung completely the other way now -- doing Delayed Gratification -- even with a successful strategy -- is met with horror and dismay by our peers.

[Franchesca_S.]

Lots of good points here. When I'm old and in a wheelchair I'll think of all the ham and cheese sandwiches I've had in my live and that will make me feel much better!

Hah!