When I decided to change over to a nutritarian lifestyle, I started in the kitchen. My wife was away on business for the week, and my teenage daughter said she would be glad to give it a try. I told her we could keep things in the house for her, but she said, she would be fine with it. My wife also agreed to go along with it when she got back. Having everyone in the house on the same page is extremely helpful but not critical. I assumed I would be doing this on my own, and was just going to claim a portion of the fridge. Instead, we were going to need the entire fridge for the changes that were coming.
Yeah, not ours, but you get the idea :)
The first thing I did was clean out the fridge and pantry. I basically got rid of anything that wasn't a whole food and plant based with a very few exceptions. My daughter wanted her rye bread and a little cream cheese to go with her veggies. I held on to a few condiments, oils and vinegars. Things that would keep and that my wife might use for cooking for herself or others I held on to.
Once I was cleaned out, I made a grocery list and went out for supplies. You have no idea how much 2 pounds of veggies is until you buy it, stuff your fridge with it, and wipe it out in about a day and a half.
There Will Be Initial Challenges
Here is a list of the set backs I faced during my first week:
- my first lunch literally took me 45 minutes to eat...not to prepare and eat...to EAT. I decided eating an entire pound of raw veggies in 1 sitting is pretty challenging and I would need to spread those veggies out.
- as I relearned to cook, I felt like I spent the entire week in the kitchen or at the grocery store. I decided cooking in bulk was the only way to go.
- I really missed salt. This surprised me because I did not realize how much salty foods I had eaten. I spent a lot of time searching for awesome dips and dressings I could use with my veggies. After a week or so I no longer really needed them.
- I wondered how I could tolerate a "limited" diet. How would I find the joy of variety.
- Sometimes it physically HURT to finish my meals because they were so filling. (The book I read recommends only 3 meals a day, contrary to many eating plans that encourage "grazing".)
- Once my wife and daughter jumped on board, space to store everything was a bit of a challenge, but we got organized and worked it out.
Interestingly, hunger, weakness, and lack of energy were never really issues.
Rapid Changes Will Take Place
I believe one important aspect of transitioning to this lifestyle is breaking food addictions. In Eat to Live, the author indicates cravings are not due to hunger, they are addictions. If you are truly hungry, ANYTHING will taste good.
Following the eating guides as strictly as possible for a week or 2 will really help make the transition for the long haul easier. You will likely break any of those food addictions and your body will begin to literally tell you what it needs. I understand that eating this way really depends on variety, and I was worried that I should probably document everything to make sure I was getting a balanced diet with plenty of protein etc. But unlike food addictions that make you want more and more (salt, fat sugar etc.) of the same thing, I find when my body tells me what it needs, it's something varied that I have been missing out on, like beans, fruit or spinach.
In addition to immediate weight loss (mostly initially from eliminating salt/water retention). other things began to change. I began to truly taste some of these foods for the first time. I couldn't believe after just a few days how rich and wonderful beans tasted. The natural sweetness of fruits and vegetables was apparent since I was not eating really any sugars (or artificial sweeteners). The natural saltiness of celery could be tasted when added to cooked meals.
Food Glorious Food - Healthy and Delicious is Possible
It took a little bit for me to begin to make delicious food. Each week I seem to add more to my arsenal. Seasonal changes bring about new challenges but also new edible joys. Upcoming posts will focus on food strategies, tools and recipes that I have begun to refine since beginning this journey.
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