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In order to conceal my water weight gain after overdosing on salt during July, I avoided Fat Secret and journaling for over a month. I've been wearing my husband's neutral clothes since then, a masochistic version of punishment and shaming. But also a means of self-preservation and avoidance. I've been fine-tuning my lifestyle since July, slowly and experimentally, to achieve optimum personal preference and benefit.
I started eating strictly plant-based in November 2013. I'm now roughly 2-1/2 months from hitting a year. I've read a lot, heard many apparently conflicting arguments (as such is the case with all science) and I think I've come to a conclusion similar to the 80 / 10 / 10 theory. 80% carb, 10% protein, 10% fat. The fats and sodium were the last men standing (so to speak) for several months. I believed that the oils and natural fats were what kept me satisfied on the plant-based lifestyle. I forged on Planter's nuts for days at a time, ate my veggies and salads with olive oil or sesame oil and lots of salt and other seasonings. I even noticed the unpleasant heaviness and nausea that came with it, but I reasoned that it was a good "bad". I became addicted in the truest sense to the salt and oils, the crunch and taste of cashews, macadamia nuts, Spanish peanuts, pecans, pistachio nuts, and almonds. I never gained weight even after I ate whole bottles of mixed nuts. But the sodium and oil caused bloating, water retention, more cravings, heaviness, nausea punctuated with disgust. I read some more and came to accept that I can't live on Planter's nuts. It has to be au naturel. The sodium and oil had to go. I was eating highly processed food and it wasn't good. When I tried unprocessed nuts, they were not as tasty; they were the very opposite of addicting. In fact, they were downright bland, earthy and unappealing. The salt and oils were the true sources of my addiction and nausea.
With that, I began to study more on oils and natural fats. The conclusion: they are only necessary when I'm facing a famine, or planning a long hibernation. I don't need to seek them out; they're naturally available in some fruits and vegetables. Intentionally adding them to my diet was like adding fuel to a full tank of gas - futile and it left me feeling lethargic, weighed down and sluggish. Giving them up though was like saying goodbye to a lover, like denying myself the last available pleasures in the food world. I gave it up for a few days at a time, all the while reading more on the specific topic of fats and oils and fat loss.
Then it dawned on me one afternoon while I was trying to enjoy some cooked potatoes without oil and without salt, two ingredients that added the YUM factor to my vegetables. I wondered why it hadn't occurred sooner, that all the world over, French fries are eaten with ketchup! I drove to a high-end grocer and went to the condiments aisle. There I found the answer to my need for taste, depth and variety in my vegetables. I grabbed a bottle of Heinz' Organic ketchup, Stubbs Natural Sticky Sweet BBQ Sauce, Thai Sweet Chili Sauce and Sriracha Sauce - all very low in calories and low to nonfat. It was the best switch I've made and it was definitely worth giving up the oils and fats. Suddenly, the bloat was gone, the nausea was gone, the scale started moving down again. The best part was that I finally got my mojo back...I started running more frequently. At first, I would run guilt-fuelled 9 mile stretches of road and then nothing for almost a month. Once I gave up the added oils and sodium, my energy increased and I felt lighter, bursting with desire to dance, run, keep moving.
All along I'd been a purist with the wrong information. I had avoided rice and pasta as though they were non-natural sources of empty fuel. I embraced good fats and oils believing them to have healing properties, unlike rice, potatoes and pasta. These were half-truths however, and I'm sure I may still have some tweaking to do. Now I eat lots of potatoes and I'm in love with brown rice and quinoa. Delicious beans have replaced the nuts and seeds I once revered. I start each day with a rich variety of fruits and end the day with some delicious vegetables. I don't miss the oils or the salt but walking past the nuts at any supermarket will trigger a craving almost every time. When that happens, I know I've gone too long without eating. Here's to a high-carb low-fat plant-based lifestyle!
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