Our New Diet

Life is good! Maybe our trials have changed our attitude or maybe things really have gotten better. Either way, 2014 is already looking happy, bright, and beautiful!

Greg LOVES his new job. The environment is great and he likes all of his co-workers. Plus, he gets to make films for work! As a media arts major, it is pretty hard to land a job with a steady paycheck right out of college. This one just kind of fell into Greg's lap. The stark contrast between his previous job as a teacher and this one is like night and day. And believe me, the ripple effect of this has spilled over into our home; it's like a breath of fresh air!



Hinckley has been very active lately and is already starting to assert his independence. He is 17 1/2 pounds and 28 inches tall. He just discovered how much he loves rolling over, so he does it all the time now. I think he would like to be running and on the move if he only knew how to do it! He also loves food. So far he has only eaten rice cereal and sweet potatoes, but he clearly makes it known that he prefers the sweet potatoes to the cereal. He is also very vocal when it comes to nap time and refuses to take naps sometimes. I hate to say it, but sometimes he wins that battle. After listening to him cry and going in to comfort him every ten minutes for an hour and a half today, I decided it just wasn't worth it. So we had a tired, grumpy baby until his next nap time when he easily fell asleep. I hope this independence is not a sign of grief as he gets older...




In addition to this, we made another HUGE change in our lives. We decided to dedicate at least three months to eating purely a whole food, plant-based diet. That means no meat, no dairy, no eggs, no sugar,  and no refined flours. Oh, and no oil either. Yes, it is pretty drastic. We cleaned out our kitchen and gave away anything that did not fit into this plan--even our white flour.

  

Eat'n WFPB diet like a boss! 

We came to this decision after reading the book Discovering the Word of Wisdom. Greg's dad gave us this book for Christmas. My first thought was, "Hmm, this will be a 'shelf-warmer'." Greg thought we should at least look at it, though. I was very resistant to the idea...don't really know why. I think I just didn't want to hear it because I had an idea that it would encourage me to change my eating habits and I didn't want to do it. Don't get me wrong, we did't eat terribly. (We probably did have way too many sweets during the Christmas season, though.) Anyway, I kind of started reading it to just prove to Greg that I was open to it. Well, it didn't take me long to realize that the diet Jane Birch describes is probably a lot healthier for my mind, body, and spirit. And after that realization, I really couldn't just throw it aside and keep eating how I was used to.

Tasty homemade whole wheat tortilla
with all sorts of goodness on top

Greg and I decided to try it for three months because that is a more attainable goal than saying we will do it for our whole lives. We definitely lack commitment when we think of giving up cheese, tasty treats, and, for Greg, hot chocolate. When we actually cleaned out our kitchen, though, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be; I guess we were mentally prepared at that point.

Whole Wheat Pasta with quinoa, chickpea, avocado salad

It has been six days and neither of us have had any big problems with the diet yet. In fact, we have tried some new recipes that have been great! We went to a really good vegetarian restaurant, Cafe Samana, and enjoyed some food we would have never imagined eating before. And Greg really likes that he can eat as much as he wants (as long as it is WFPB)! The one drawback is that it takes longer to prepare meals; we just have to be better at planning them out beforehand.

Cafe Semana - a very tasty place indeed

"I never thought I would be eating more extreme than a vegan" - Greg

Chickpea patties with salad. 

Just so I'm not misunderstood, I don't think there is anything wrong with the occasional serving of chicken, beef, etc. However, the fact of the matter is that the standard American diet contains so much meat that it is probably causing problems. We are just choosing to have very occasional meat. My diligence in continuing with our WFPB plan is even greater since I read The China Study. This book is based on admirable research and shows the connection that our diet plays in heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes, and many other chronic diseases. Greg and I are just trying to be the healthiest that we can be so that we can enjoy life to its fullest!

So, that's life in a nutshell for us here in Tulsa!