3 Months Mostly on a Plant Based Diet

I have been on this path for 3 months and a half by now. I chose to eat a Whole Foods, Plant Based diet and I stick to it most of the days. My journey hasn’t been perfect, as I occasionally indulged and took breaks that damaged my progress. I have felt very energized throughout this period and I can see clear progress in different areas: my weight, my energy and how easy it became for me to choose plant based food instead of the alternatives. I am very proud of the progress I made and I am sure other people can do even better!

I will talk first about my weight. From my statistics, it turns out I am reducing constantly by 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs) each 30 days. I have reduced by a total of 7.6 kg (16.75 lbs or 2 average cats) – if I only account for the 30 day cycles I was monitoring, but I gained about 2 kg (4.4 lbs) in the two weeks between the cycles. This means I reduced by 5.6 kg (12.34 lbs) since the 9th of June. I don’t regret taking those breaks even though they stole from me 26% of my potential progress. They are part of the journey. I wasn’t ready to give everything up and I just felt the need to indulge in sweets, fried food, meat and dairy just for a little while. There were also some psychological issues that drove me towards this (see explanation here), but once I realized what was happening, it was easier for me to accept and just focus on my goals.

Throughout these months It got a lot easier for me to go shopping and not even think about what I am buying and see at the counter that everything is plant based, not processed and I don’t even feel tempted to grab those sweets they have laying around there. The first month was more difficult, as I occasionally got cravings, but I think I wasn’t really eating the right combination of foods and I wasn’t getting the correct ratio of protein/carbs/fats. I don’t really think about that now either, but when I cook my meals, I try to incorporate all of these. I am very satisfied with the food I eat and I have courage now to even integrate some home-made treats every now and then to satisfy that little sweet tooth.

My energy went up and I am very excited about working in general and doing something every day. I don’t feel the need to get a cup of coffee every day in order to get something done. I get more ideas now and I feel capable of taking on new hobbies and opportunities, that didn’t interest me before. I even am excited about exercising because we sometimes have to spend that extra energy into something – when we just had a lazy day. I stretch almost daily, but this is because I have massive back pains otherwise. My mood also improved and my sleep as well – I used to be relatively upset a lot of the time, but that went away – I thought it was because I socialized a lot, but it turns out that I just generally feel good anyway.

I hope you enjoyed this post and I am sorry for the small font size on the pictures. I hope they are visible on mobile.. You can see the original posts in more details here. Please tell me what you think, in the comment section. I would love to hear your feedback.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Cycle 3 – 30 Day Review

Today I looked around my old posts and also at the review of the old cycles. I created charts with the collected data, as I did the last time and the results were surprising.

Food

• Days with take-out
• Days with sweets
• Meals with rice, potatoes, pasta, bread
• Skipped meals
• Coffee vs tea

 

Mood & Sleep

• Days going to bed late
• Days sleeping badly
• Days feeling down
• Days with a hopeful ending
• Days socializing

 

Work

• Days working on personal projects
• Days working on my apps
• Days working for the Spa
• Days working on the other items
• Days off

 

Weight

On a weekly basis, my measurements in weight (kg)

I have reduced by exactly 2.6 kg (5.7 lbs) in the last 30 days; with 0.1 kg more than I did the previous cycles. I think I improved a lot from last month; I am especially proud that I managed to keep the ratio I wanted for my meals regarding the intake of rice, potatoes, pasta and bread. I focused more on “other” projects – which include the work I did for my websites and book.

The direction for the next cycle is clear enough for me; I would like to keep the same ratios for the food intake, create as much colorful content as possible and take daily small steps towards my goals. I would really like to start one of the websites by the end of the next cycle and I feel motivated enough to think that is possible.

Thanks for being here with me for another 30 days!

Have a great day!

Cycle 3 – Day 30

Today I got early in the morning with a lot of energy and I started working on my apps. After a while, I really felt like taking a break and having something sweet. I quickly went to the shop and bought some whip cream, because I had a fancy plan. I prepared myself a fancy cup of coffee, which I enjoyed out on the terrace. After my partner woke up, we spent some time together talking about his workplace and then he had to leave for office.

I spent some time at the computer, watching some statistics and browsing freelancing jobs. I decided to update my profile picture to something more professional and I took a photoshoot of myself and edited some of the photos. I have took lots of them and realized I never saw my face for such a long time; the more I looked at myself, the more different I appeared. I socialized a bit with my friends afterwards, to help me find the right picture and then I started writing an article for one of my future websites. Today I also changed the pot for some plants and washed some clothes.

For lunch I made some roasted potatoes, served with hummus with a cherry on top. For dinner I had rice with veggies.

I weighed myself – I have 86.1 kg (190 lbs). I reduced by 0.4 kg since last week. Today is the last day of this cycle and I will later post the standard review of my transition. This time I will compare it with the last 2 ones, to show you how much progress is made just by taking one step at a time.

Have a great day!