The 6-Step Health Overhaul
TEXT EDITION
I don’t like to read long boring explanations all the time. Sometimes I do geek out over the details, but mainly, I’m racing from one task to the next. So it’s nice to find a concise list of actionable steps to help me achieve my goal, rather than a series of deep dive posts.
And without any lengthy introductions!
So here we go. 6 Steps to the greatest health of your life.
Step 1: Clean out your refrigerator.
Get rid of meat, processed meat, eggs, butter, margarine, cheese, milk. Meat includes all animals. Fish is meat that swims. Yes, poultry is meat. And yes, margarine includes dairy.
1B: Clean out your cabinets. Get rid of white flour, white sugar, white pasta, egg noodles, and all the processed mixes. Get rid of your oils, including olive and coconut. Get rid of your spray oils too. Ditch the mayo and prepared salad dressings.
1C: Clean out the freezer, same rules.
1D: Wash them all down.
It feels so great not to have to worry meat having contaminated your fridge or counters all the time, never to have something dripping blood in your fridge, or finding a bit in a back corner when trying to locate the source of a horrible stench.
Donate anything unopened and unexpired to a food pantry. Remind yourself the stuff getting thrown out was just destined for the septic tank anyway. It was just going to harm our bodies on the way through.
Step 2: Restock Your supplies
Shop around the outside edges of your grocery store, in the produce section most of all. Buy potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, beets, onions, carrots, peppers, mushrooms, broccoli and cauliflower and Brussels sprouts and celery. Get berries and oranges and apples and mangoes and kiwi and melons.
In the frozen section, get more veggies: peas, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, soybeans, and large bags of frozen greens. I can nearly always find spinach, kale, and collards in large bags, frozen. Back up your fruit with frozen varieties, too.
You can also buy precooked rice in the freezer section, just watch the ingredients. You only want rice, no sauces or glaze.
In the canned section, focus on beans. I get cans of every sort in reduced sodium or no salt if possible. Garbanzos (also called chickpeas,) black beans, pinto beans, dark red kidney, light red kidney, white kidney (also called cannellini).
If pinching pennies, buy the beans in the dried foods section. Soak overnight, then cook according to package directions. There are a ton of Instant Pot methods online. Just don’t feel compelled to add oils or fats or anything beyond seasonings.
Also in the canned section, get lots of diced tomatoes, diced tomatoes with mild green chilis, a couple cans of tomato paste, some canned mushrooms, and if you want, some artichoke hearts. Again, low sodium or no-salt added.
Whole grains including whole grain breads and rolls that are oil free—the purest of these is Ezekiel brand, found in the freezer section. Most Dave’s Killer Breads are pretty good too. Sourdough is excellent even if not whole grain due to the benefits of fermentation. Other whole grains include oatmeal, quinoa, brown rices, pearled barley, soba noodles and udon noodles (in the Asian foods section,) corn tortillas, whole grain burritos, and so on.
Get some fermented things like sauerkraut, or miso.
You’re going to need reduced sodium tamari and vegan worcestershire sauce.
You will learn to adore nutritional yeast. Trust me on this and stock up.
You might want some veggie broth. Check ingredients, some are putting oil into it, we don’t want that. Go low or no salt, or make your own.
Oh, and don’t forget nuts and seeds. Flaxseed for your omega 3s, sunflower seeds (not salted & oiled though,) sesame seeds, chia seeds to scatter on salads and sandwiches.
I always have peanuts, cashews, almonds, pecans, walnuts if I can get them. I buy in the bulk bins and I taste before I buy. Sometimes their natural oils has gone rancid, especially walnuts.
I always have peanut butter, and backup peanut butter. One ingredient: peanuts
I always have cashew cream made. As soon as it’s gone and I put more cashews to soak.
Get some plant milks, and tofu. Soy is extremely healthy, especially for women.
What not to buy: Plant-based butter, plant-based sour cream, plant-based cheese, plant-based cream cheese, plant-based chick’n nuggets/filets/patties, plant-based burger/patties/steaks.
Exceptions: ACTUAL VEGGIES Brand Sweet Potato Burgers, Black Bean Burgers and I think one other variety. Read the ingredients. (I said “Real Veggies brand” in the video. It’s Actual Veggies.)
Eat Meat Brand Mycelium filets, made entirely with mushroom root, no oil. Really excellent meat substitutes, highly nutritions, oil-free. A little challenging to cook without oil, but you can learn.
Step 3
Get a nice frying pan. You’ll want more than one, but start with one. You need a nice pan with a good, non-toxic coating. I like the ceramic ones. I fell love with Ozeri brand and then stopped making them, so I’m still in search of my next one.
You’ll learn oil-free cooking in this pan, and you’ll grow to love it. Take good care of it. It’s your tool of art.
Step 4
You’ll hate this part, but you’re going to be really glad you did it, later.
Get some numbers written down. Either get your annual physical ASAP or get the numbers from your most recent one. Blood pressure, weight, cholesterol numbers, A1-C, anything else they measured.
For blood pressure, that’s something we should be checking daily, same time of day, some situation each time, to establish our norms.
If you do the steps in this list, your blood pressure will lower, and your blood sugar will too. If you’re on medication for these things, you’ll need to monitor them closely. Most who do the whole food plant-based lifestyle faithfully need to reduce or eliminate blood pressure and blood sugar medicines. Always do so under a doctor’s supervision.
Write everything down, because you’re going to see amazing improvements in multiple areas.
Step 5
You won’t like this one either. I know I don’t. But we have to move our bodies every day. Just walk for an hour a day, that’s not hard, especially if you have a treadmill under a standup desk like I do. The brisker the better. And then on top of that, every once in a while, break into dance or run up and down the stairs or pop a few squats to challenge our heart rate and keep it strong. Work your muscles here and there to keep them from turning to flab.
Step 6
Reinforce your decision and stay positive! Have fun with it. Experiment with new recipes, new approaches, no foods, new ideas, and fill yourself with positive reinforcements.
6A: Keep this graphic handy to remind you of all the good you’re doing!
6B: Reinforce your decision by immersing yourself in positive feedback. You can do this by following these podcasts.
Too, rewatch the basic documentaries that reinforce our knowledge and solidify it more with every viewing.
Forks Over Knives
What the Health
Cowspiracy
The Game Changers
Food Choices
Plant Pure Nation
That was all six steps, and two of them were shopping and watching TV!
Let me know which steps you take, and when! I can’t wait to hear how you’re doing. It gets easier, I promise.
After 5 full years, and heading into our sixth, I can honestly tell you I don’t miss meat or dairy at all. You won’t either. It’s just and addiction being broken, that’s all, and that only takes a few weeks.
What to expect
Your energy levels will increase. Your weird feelings of blah and blech will dissipate and your brain fog will lift. Your weight will drop without effort. You will feel energetically lighter, too. Your mood will improve. You’ll rarely if ever catch whatever bug everyone else has. If you’re male, your erections will return. For women, hormonal swings level out. Reflux vanishes. Joint aches ease. Dandruff and other skin issues go away. Your gut biome rebuilds itself, and becomes healthy and thriving, and from there, the rest of your health follows.
You aren’t going to believe how good you feel!
Sound up!
