I had four different Christmas parties that I needed to attend. There are so many gatherings with family and friends, and food is everywhere! It's very tempting to slip into unhealthy eating if you are unprepared.
When I first went plant based (and vegan) last year, I had a lot of anxiety over gatherings, when there would be food around. It's tough wondering if others will accept your new way of eating and worrying about what choices of foods there would be.
When I first lost the weight over 5 years ago, I relied on a pedometer to make sure I would get over 10,000 steps a day. It worked and kept me motivated, but it was easy to lose and the battery would go rather quickly.
I eventually upgraded to a FitBit Charge and that was a big upgrade from the pocket pedometer. I actually had three FitBits over the last couple years. It was cool as it would vibrate on my wrist whenever I reached my goal of 10,000 steps. The only thing I didn't use the FitBit for was to track the sleep, which didn't interested me.
This is significant to me. If anyone were to have told me six years ago that I would have lost the weight... and would manage to keep it off for 5 years, I never would have believed them. You see, I was one of those yo-yo dieters, but could never mange to lose the weight. So what exactly changed that caused me to lose the weight?
I think I was honestly getting sick of the bad foods. I don't know if psychologically, my mind was telling me those foods weren't good for me anymore, but I no longer enjoyed eating them. I used to lose Reese's, but suddenly, it didn't taste good to me anymore. The nearly half gallon of ice cream I would consume daily didn't have the same appeal. I think my desire to get healthy and my drive to finally succeed played a role in the way the food tasted back then.
Lasy year during Thanksgiving, I was only a few months into being plant based. I was worried about what foods to eat for Thanksgiving and wondered if family would not care for the way I ate or if they would have any objections.
This year, not only am I plant based, but I'm also vegan. Yes, it's still about eating healthy foods, but now it's about not harming animals. There are over 46,000,000 turkeys slaughtered in this country on Thanksgiving alone. I couldn't imagine eating turkey or any kind of meat, just for the sake of a holiday.
I often read a lot of misinformation about plant based eating. Many studies come out that are biased and often paint a picture that may not be accurate for those who are plant based. Then there's chatter at gyms from members who suddenly act like nutrition experts when they hear you are plant based. I'd like to go over some of these myths and how they are not true, based on my experience and from what I've researched.
Myth #10. Plant based people have more depression. If that's true, how come the number of antidepressants prescribed total more than the amount of vegans in the country? The majority of depressed people in fact are those that eat SAD (standard American diet). There is a large amount of vitamin C in fruits and veggies, and vitamin C has been shown to decrease depression. If anything, plant based eating can help cure depression.
