Forks over Knives

After falling off the band wagon due to a shortage of money two days before a payday, it's been so freakin difficult to get back on! Which surprised me, honestly, because we were genuinely enjoying our food choices. Since bad food eerily resembles a low-grade addiction, I guess it's not terribly surprising that it took some time to get off of it. And sadly, the cheap food is almost always the bad food...

I will say that during this last grocery shopping trip, we've made an effort to improve. Half of our cart consisted of lean meat Turkey burgers (no added sauces or anything), chipotle salmon fillets (unfortunately, they are breaded), BBQ Tilapia fillets (still haven't tried these), and hummus. UN-fortunately, our cart also consisted of baklava and caramel apples. I love me some gourmet sugar!

I would post a picture of the apples and baklava, but they are gone. Already. <oink!>

Last night, Ryan found a video on Netflix called "Forks over Knives". It is definitely on my top ten must-see movies. If you get the chance to watch it, DO! It shows the research of two doctors that over a lifetime discovered that -- ta da! -- a plant-based diet is basically the best cure for every major medical problem in America. And yes, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and weight issues are almost exclusively an American problem. Although we have seen other documentaries emphasizing the importance of a plant-based diet, we still had meat as an essential part of our diet. It was certainly reduced, but it was still a part of at least one meal every day. In America, we've been taught that the only source of protein is meat. "Eat plenty of meat, 'cause you won't get any protein if you don't!!"

This is not the case.

Even in the least protein-filled vegetable (potatoes, in case you were wondering), it is composed of approximately 9-12% protein, which is actually about how much daily protein you need anyway.

Crazy!!


This movie also went into exactly why animal protein is not necessarily healthy, which is something I never quite got a satisfactory answer to. And now I know. But, that's a topic I'll save for another day, seeing as I've ranted enough for one post :)

*Disclaimer: I'm not saying meat is bad. Not at all. But our conception of meat as a nation is wrong. It's not a main dish item. It should be treated as a topping. For flavor, as it were.

In addition to "Forks over Knives", I highly recommend two other movies: "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" (the movie that originally jump started our diet) as well as "Food Matters". If you're the book-reading type, then I highly suggest "Eat to Live". (Yup, Kaysie, we love it!!)

SO, with our new-found motivation, Ryan and I have constructed our diet again, this time almost eliminating meat entirely. If we do eat meat, it will be a topping, or very small side dish. Non of this main course business. We are back on a plant-based diet, consisting of fruits, veggies, grains, beans, and nuts. No gluten, dairy, animal products (including cheese, sadly), processed nastiness, or sugar (perfect right before Halloween... note the sarcasm). Our plan is to be VERY strict for a least a month, not allowing ANY of the "No" items on our list into our diet. That's so we can get all the addictive stuff out of our systems. Then, we can slowly sprinkle a little bit of naughty into the diet. And by sprinkle, I mean you can barely see it.

You are what you eat!