From Atkins to Plants - A Family Story
Last week I received this incredible email from one of our meal plan users -- I just had to share it on the blog today:
My husband, who is quite overweight, has long believed that the only way he can lose weight was on the Atkins diet. But, even if I was willing to stock the freezer with the massive amounts of eggs and meat that he said he needed, he couldn't stick to the diet. Every few days he would eat something not on his diet, declare the day shot, and binge on carbs. It was frustrating and expensive.
In June, I saw Forks Over Knives. My mother had heart disease. My father has heart disease. My brother has already had his first heart attack. I decided that I would try to ease into a plant-strong diet, but allow myself to eat meat and dairy on weekends. To my surprise, when my two youngest daughters learned what I was doing, they wanted to as well. So, I started gathering recipes and cooking plant-strong. Over time, we reduced our meat and dairy consumption to maybe one or two meals a week.
Meanwhile my husband kept insisting that Atkins was the only way that he would lose weight and continued to cook separately for himself. But, when he tasted our plant-based food, he agreed that it was good. So, that was a start.
Two weeks ago, I was working from home. I asked my husband if he would mind if I put something on Netflix to listen to while I worked, and put on Forks Over Knives. I didn't say anything about the movie to him. I didn't ask him to change his diet. But, I could see that the movie was gradually gaining his interest. He started asking me questions. And, by the time the movie was over, he said he wanted to go plant-strong as well.
He's still had a bit of meat and cheese on the weekends, but nothing like before. And, when we went to the doctor last night, he learned that he had already lost 10 pounds, and his blood pressure was WAY down. He complained bitterly to me (with a huge smile on his face) that he really hated when I was right.
As for me, I've lost about 20 pounds since June. We aren't perfect vegans yet because I don't want the kids or hubby to feel they can't have something or that I'm depriving them. But, I've learned a lot of new recipes from the meal plans and I'm finding that the cravings for meat and dairy have gone way down. Thank you for helping to make the switch easier for us.