I often feel like I must have some kind of goal I’m working toward so that I don’t just wonder about for months on end accomplishing nothing. I’m sure this isn’t entirely positive, but it’s how I’m wired I guess. So, I’ve decided to challenge myself for six weeks of whole-food, plant-based eating. You may be thinking, “I thought you were vegan already?” It’s true, I am, but when you consider that Oreos and root beer are technically vegan… you can see that not all vegan options are “whole food”, or “healthful” for that matter. During my break, I’ve added in some junk food, cereals, and as I mentioned yesterday, coffee. These things are highly addictive for me, so I’m going to use Dr. Fuhrman’s plan to break that chain.

What is his “nutritarian” plan? Well, it’s a whole-food, plant based program that focuses on getting the most nutrition per calorie possible. He pushes fresh fruits and veggies in large quantities, as well as cooked veggies. He advocates healthful fats like avocado and raw nuts, as well as beans and some grains. It’s far more detailed than that in his book, Eat to Live, but this is the jist of what I’ll be eating for the next six weeks. In addition, I will add exercise back in. It will be moderate compared to the marathon training plan I was on though.

The six weeks will begin on December 20th and end January 30th. I’ll plan to post weekly (each Friday), with an update of how it’s going and whether I lost weight or not. Dr. Fuhrman claims rapid, lasting weightloss on this plan, so I’m curious to see what that equates to for me personally. Since becoming vegan, I haven’t had any trouble keeping weight off, but it hasn’t decreased much at all and I am clearly still overweight. I’m really interested in breaking the cravings for those foods I mentioned above and getting back to discerning the difference between “true hunger” and “toxic hunger” – he defines both in his book. I know this will help me feel better overall. I’m doing this plan over “raw fruitarian” because it allows for some cooked foods that will give me a bit more variety. Still, this plan is definitely “high fruit” when compared to others.

I really want to reach my ideal weight this year. I don’t know what that number will be, but I’m told my body should naturally reach it and stay there when it’s fed a nutrient rich diet. I’m really curious to find out how true that is.

So, let the games begin!

Week 1 Results