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Knowing Better

For about a week and a half now I've been on a basically vegetarian diet. What's really surprising to me is how much easier it's been than I expected. I tend to get it in my head that I need to do all this planning and preparation to make dietary changes. It really just takes awareness and determination, both of which are improved by the diet itself.

For years I've been learning about nutrition and how your body processes food, not just in a weight loss program capacity, but in a science and health research capacity. The more I learn the more I'm convinced that being completely or nearly vegetarian and even vegan is what's best for humans to maintain their health.

Because I know better, I thought that I'd continue to improve on my knowing better. I spent a bit of time researching foods that improve high cholesterol and found that what I've been eating is basically in line with multiple recommendations. Speaking of recommendations, a friend recommended "Forks Over Knives" on Netflix stream, and so do I. If you don't believe me, maybe you'll believe the research and results of doctors and patients who have reversed their diseases by diet alone.

The exact diseases they talk about in the documentary are the ones that have crippled my family. Hypertension, diabetes, cancer... these are things that could have been avoided with diet changes. It's sad to me how our culture and money motivated interests have planted (ha planted) the idea in our head that we need meat and dairy to be healthy and strong. I don't know about you, but I see an awful lot of people that eat meat that are far from healthy, myself being a prime example.

I feel like I'm doing pretty well, but I have a bit of room for improvement still. My primary cause for complaint is cookies. We are in full holiday mode and it's kind of impossible to avoid them. I've managed to do pretty well avoiding meat and fried food, but I've had some hiccups here and there.

You can see the difference with the two journals I've posted. I made a key to highlight what the different foods are so I'd have more of a visual on my eating habits. I think it's effective. More green and brown is better! They'll go to a readable size if you click on them.




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