Health Updates Anyone

kmcosgrove115

So has anyone yet gotten new BW since going plant based? Or lower BP? I plan to go in June and see what has changed - wondering what health stories the group may have as inspiration in this lifestyle...............

thevegankelly

I made the decision a few months ago to start eating more whole foods and gradually cut out all of the overly processed foods I was eating, like veggie meats and coconut milk desserts. Well, on weeks when I was eating the cleanest, I was also having terrible digestive issues. It was frustrating to be eating so well and then feeling so crappy. I'd suffered from digestive issues for six years (!), but what was happening recently seemed even worse. I decided to sit down and look at my food diary and figure out what my trigger food(s) could be. I'd naturally started reducing my soy intake by replacing veggie meats with legumes and avoiding heavily processed treat foods, so the occasions when I did eat soy really stood out. I started to notice that on days we had tofu for dinner or soy lattes for treats, I was in serious pain a few hours later. After seeing the pattern, I decided to try a soy elimination diet. Within days I saw a drastic alleviation in the symptoms I'd had for years. I'm two weeks in now, and the change is like night and day!

If I hadn't cleaned up my diet I don't think I would have been able to pick out the food culprit and attempt an elimination diet; I didn't used to know how to eat without soy, and I was eating so many processed foods that I wouldn't have been able to escape the sneaky soy in foods like chocolate. I'm glad I figured out the problem, but I want to smack myself upside the head for putting up with this health issue for years and years when all I had to do was change my diet.

kmcosgrove115

A great tribute to why we keep the food diaries - even if we know we are eating well and in the right portions, it helps - thanks for this!

kmcosgrove115

I am almost at week 3 at more calories , still nervous, feeling like I am maintaining but, a big BUT, I just got into my size smaller jeans AND went from notch 3 to notch 5 on my belt - if the scale has moved slightly or stayed, something is surely shifting b/c clothes fit better, shape is changing - it's my TOTM so waiting to weigh for a bit.

The other thing many probably do not affiliate with weight is turning on metabolism AND immune system - I am an asthmatic and last year (2012) had 7 (yes SEVEN) lung infections and antibiotics - was even out on STD for a bit I was so sick. Switched to plant based around 2/8 (last infection was mid Jan 2013) - no illness but late last week (around 3/21) my neck felt swollen on right side, it hurt, my throat hurt on right side and right ear hurt.............

It was a swollen lymph node - I know, sounds dumb, but I had never had ANY immune system to know what a swollen node felt like and why - I had no stuffy nose or pounding head or asthma - just this sore spot on my neck - it was system (that immune system that was shut off for years) working to fight a cold or illness - had a little cough and tickle but functional - I have NEVER been sick so mildly and like this - this is an absolute first.

I really believe eating the last 2 months plant based gave me back the immune system and that this is a sign the metabolism is sure to follow, esp with getting in my smaller jeans and the belt notch - I am now out of belt holes.............pumping in fruit, veggies, grains, legumes - all whole food, no meat, no dairy and no oil - with B12 supp of course, I am battling a cold the way most do - you have no idea how SICK I always got and how unbelievably different this is - cannot wait for my PCP to run BW in June!

Just an affirmation of good health all the way thru and now I know why my skin is so soft like a baby's bottom - it is the LAST outward factor you see once truly detoxified - I cannot stop touching myself! LOL!

RumpusP

Nothing measurable, no. When I went veggie then later vegan I didn't have BP issues or such. But unmeasurable stuff is that I just physically "felt" better after a while as a veggie (I went just as an experiment and then ended up staying), then again when I went vegan.

My constant, unending, intense mucus sinus issues that I'd had since a child cleared up; that was a very big deal for me. Not to be graphic, but when I wake up in the morning I no longer had to go immediately into the bathroom and hack and snort huge gobs of stuff out of my nose and throat every day and snuffle my way through the rest of it.

jeannie0312

I just had a check up last week.
2012 total cholesterol 215
2013 total cholesterol 149
i don't have my paperwork with me (I'm at work) but that was the number I was most impressed with

kmcosgrove115

Jeannie - wow! I cannot wait for my cholesterol stuff in June to compare to last August - I know it will drop but I love seeing the #'s like you have! So amazing just by refueling our bodies with better whole foods!

And Rumpus, I can totally get the coughing and mucus in the AM - funny what has gone away since switching, isn't it? And when it's gone and you notice, you think damn, amazing!

linalovekitty

I just started WFPB a week ago! I feel so much better & find so much inspiration here.

Here are some NSV Ive experienced in less than a week!
One change I noticed already - my rings are looser. My hands & feet were ALWAYS swollen, no matter how organic I ate or how much water w fresh lemon I drank, my hands & feet were constantly swollen. I could see and feel it. It was awful well no more. My rings are loose, my shoes are loose!