Tag Archives: Protective Diet Living

Kill Those Cravings

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It’s another morning with Julie, as I sit at work, watching and listening to her teach Class #007 (12/10/2013), telling me how “un-heart healthy” those “healthy” oils are as it relates to our endothelium. It’s a great feeling to have the knowledge of a protective diet. Moving to a plant based lifestyle from the traditional “Standard American Diet” was that “extreme” step my doctor couldn’t fathom, but neither could his words convince me otherwise. Honestly, I believe with all my heart this is the lifestyle I want to continue to follow. As I mentioned yesterday, it brought me to a health level I had never previously experienced. Never in my wildest imagination did I think I would be running a 50-mile race! An unachievable goal that was achieved, thanks in part to taking control of my health.

Let me rewind, it’s Tuesday afternoon, extended at work for an additional four hours, with a 90-minute commute home. I think that pre-COVID, Bay Area traffic is back to normal. Failing to bring breakfast to work and only one serving of the Mix & Mac with spinach and tomato, I arrived home with hunger cravings. You know that feeling, standing in front of the refrigerator or pantry wondering what to cook or eat? That was me yesterday, but that isn’t the PD way. While not following intermittent fasting, I need to get back onto a eating regime where I don’t eat after 6/7pm. Yes, I could have easily made a salad but decided to drink a glass of water and call it an evening.

Now this isn’t how I wanted to satisfy my cravings, knowing Julie would say eat! Sadly, I was restricting myself from food that my body needed. Remember Julie talking about “SUS”? I haven’t “SUS-ed” (is that a word?) in a long time, so I had nothing prepared. Salad. Frozen or fresh veggies. Pasta. How quick and simple are each of those foods? I could have followed Jerry and consumed a bowl of oatmeal. Better yet, as Julie just reminded me in the video, eat a frosty! Yet I decided not to eat in an attempt to break out of that habit of eating later than I wanted. At some point in the future, I am sure I will return to intermittent fasting (IF) but right now, it’s about being consistent.

THE CHALLENGE OF RECIPE BUILDING

Let me quickly shift to recipe building. Before I do, all I can do is rave about the flavor of that Mix & Mac! So creamy, filling and delicious. This recipe makes is easy to mix in many different add ins. That alone should make this restart easier. I’ve got no plans menu plan the first 30 days, feel that is where I failed my last attempt in 2018. While Julie has created enough recipes to keep any PD student going, I have this fascination with a few You Tube chefs, some vegan, others not so. The most recent video comes from Gaz Oakley at Avant-Garde Vegan, who recent created a Sticky Braised Jackfruit Bao Buns. While the video left me in stiches, the bao buns looked nothing short of fantastic!

The problem I have seen with many social media vegan chefs, their dishes don’t follow the Protective Diet guidelines (can’t believe the amount of fried tofu!), but does provide inspiration to hack their recipes. I recently “veganized” Sam the Cooking Guy‘s tostada recipe. Not going to share my changes since it wasn’t PD, but a bit of trial and error and even vegan or vegetarian recipes can be transformed into one that fits the Protective Diet. I could have even made the free PD tostada recipe. No-brainer, right?

Back to my buns, well Gaz’s buns. No surprise he used an AP or plan flour and caster sugar for the bao. Searching the internet there are some whole wheat bao recipes that could be modified, using erythritol in place of sugar and whole wheat flour. for the AP. My current hang up, hoisin sauce. Nearly ever vegan hoisin recipe I’ve reviewed use peanut butter, oils, sugar (including dates, raisins and prunes) or maple syrup and molasses.

The last challenge, Gochujang, which is a Korean Red Pepper Paste. Now, I have a tube of Bibigo Gochujang, needless to say it’s not PD. But this ingredient can made and used to provide a sweet and spicy addition to MANY foods. At some point in the next few weeks I will put this recipe together and see how the PD bao buns tastes, sharing my results with you.

Doesn’t Happen Overnight

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Day 2 hanging out with Julie and Protective Diet education. To be honest I don’t believe I have joined any of her live, online sessions, but it’s never too late to start. Last night I kicked out her Mix & Mac recipe in my Instapot, which was so quick and easy. I added in about a pound of spinach and chopped fresh tomatoes to add flavor and color. It was absolutely fantastic! While I am well off the path I want to walk when it comes to my healthy living this was a perfect recipe to start with.

While it might sound odd, I’ve gone back and read what I wrote years ago when I decided to “go extreme” (my doctor’s words) and change my lifestyle to take control of my health. While nothing happens overnight, it’s been very challenging the last few years attempting to restart a lifestyle that doesn’t include sugar, oils, dairy and meat products. While dairy and meat haven’t been in my diet, but I’ll admit there have been more times than I want to admit I’ve used sugar and oil in my cooking knowing it was going to drop me deeper into that unhealthy hole I’d been struggling to get out of. The key for me, restarting (again!) is that first 30 days and commit to the simple changes using simple recipes. Believe me, the recipes I originally started with were so damn simple, even easier than what Julie provides for her free recipes. Many of the recipes, which you can read in my 12 Day Journal came from a Dr. McDougall book.

As I sit listening to Julie I am reminded of the work and effort I put in to run and finish two, 50 mile races called the American River 50. You can relive the 2016 adventure. Why do I bring this up? This race was more than than just 50 miles of grueling pain, it was a test of just how far I could push my body. A demonstration of just how far I had come in taking control of my health. How I kept going, I will never know but at some point after mile 29, I found myself alone. My running partner had dropped out due to heat exhaustion and our pacer fell back to get him to an aid station. From this point on, the race was a mental battlefield. Thankfully, nothing was going to keep me from that finish line and while I was struggling physically, as you can see in some of the images, I stayed mentally strong, knowing I had I time on my side and I would complete this race.

It is that sort of mindset I approach PD with, knowing “I’ve done it before and I damn well know, I can do it again.” It’s very motivating to see the physical accomplishments since changing to a plant based lifestyle. Running, strength, health and a clear mindset were all beneficial in my life. Now, I know I am not where I want to be, but rest assured, it’s like running past mile 29 in 2016. I need that strong mental state in order to complete this race. I do appreciate all the support I’ve received the past few days from the Protective Diet Lifestyle Group on Facebook. As I stated in there, “you are all rock stars!” Now let’s win that race!

PD – Day 15

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This is the health I want to recapture from 2014. Trim, fit and healthy. Smiling after my first 50k finish with Otto.

Now 2 weeks in I get to look back on what has transpired since jumping into the PDL pool with both feet. As expected, the water is warm, refreshing and quite comfortable. Thanks in part to the many wonderful people who follow the principles set forth by Julie Christensen, creator of the Protective Diet. While I subscribed to the entire program, I have yet to achieve that 100% PD lifestyle, it’s a goal I will continue to strive to attain. Right now, day 15 as I look back what have I learned?

First, this lifestyle is an ultra marathon, not a sprint. While I have expectations, I know for a fact, if I follow the the Guide to Optimal Health I will see improvements in my overall life. Weight will be down, clothes will fit better. Energy will be up and I will be living to eat, instead of eating to live. The steps are simple to follow and to date, I am setting a good pace in the early portion of my journey back into the Protective Diet lifestyle.

Keeping a journal has been great fun, then again I enjoy sharing my experiences, not only to help myself but to help others who could potentially run into issues moving forward. It was great to hear Julie mention my previous success (56:00 minutes) in Class #200 Stop the Snacks Challenge. What made a difference recently, as Julie cited, was going back and re-reading my PD testimonial I posted  in October, 2013. Reading can influence our decisions, but “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

I know I fall back on this repeated in just 2 weeks. Looking at where I was, bloated, heavy, out of shape and otherwise miserable, living with pains and unsettling blood work numbers. The after picture, taken at a Tough Mudder event and just slim and trim I look. I still remember how I felt that day and may days after it. The feeling was one in a million! Comparable to crossing the finish line in one of my 50 mile races. It’s something that I just can’t describe, but that feeling is short lived if you don’t follow through and resolve to maintain that lifestyle you created for yourself.

While I am not one for excuses, I know I have slipped a few in on my wife, one too many times and they get tiring to hear, over and over. While I don’t have any excuses, I know the mistakes I made, they were made knowingly that it would compromise my health and start me down a dark path, that left unchecked would take me to a place I vowed I would not return to. Looking in the mirror daily I didn’t get a sense of the regression. Stepping on the scale it was more apparent that my poor decisions were putting weight back on that I didn’t want to carry at age 48.

Still a few years away from 50, I vow now to have the best health in my life when I hit this milestone! It WILL be done! Why? Because I have been there before and I have the road map and experience to get there. Setting goals and monitor progress aided me in my journey, thus the reason I continuously write about my experiences, weigh myself and track the foods I eat. All these working together put get me in “my zone” where I feel I have the best chance to succeed.

Next milestone in this journey is 30 days. I know what to expect and where I believe I will stand when I report back. It my intention to “stay the course” and remain engaged with the PDL community for the love and support of those who follow this lifestyle. That aspect alone is priceless. I appreciate all the feedback and comments from those on the Facebook group as we all continue on this journey together.

Commitment to Health

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pd_comparisonThis October will represent 5 years since I have taken control of my health thanks in part to Dr. John McDougall and Julie-Marie Christensen of Protective Diet. It’s amazing and powerful to see the foods we eat and their effect on our health. While I don’t want to measure my success solely in terms of weight loss, there were many benefits that went along with losing 44 pounds in 10 months. Many ailments and problems I had seemingly disappeared as a result to my commitment to health, results of my blood tests revealed my high cholesterol had decreased by 134 points! Looking in the mirror I saw a new, slimmer, healthier person looking back. It was a great feeling! Here’s a quick video, look for me at the 5:21 mark.

Along with these benefits, I took up running, to help supplement the weight training I had started. With a renewed vigor I started participated in Tough Mudder with co-workers, which tested my mental and physical abilities. I wanted to push  and learn what limits my body could endure, so I signed up for my first half marathon, which I finished in 1:58, followed by my first 50k (31.7 miles) a year later in 8:53. If that wasn’t enough I have run three 50 mile races the past 2 years, posting a PR earlier this year of 13:40! The results were proof to me that without taking control of my health none of this would have been possible.

It’s amazing to hear Julie speak about her passion that is Protective Diet, she inspires many she touches with her (and Jerry’s) positive message about health and the foods we eat. Reading and hearing testimonies from other ‘PD lifers’ should be proof that what Julie teaches works. While I was never skeptical, I was impressed with how I further cleaned up a diet that already had removed meats, dairy and oils. Seeing the many vibrant and smiling individuals on the Protective Diet Living page only helped to reinforce her message and my life changing decision.

Somewhere during my journey, over the past 4 years I hit a bump, which turned into a slide and suddenly I found myself out of control, falling back on poor decisions and bad habits. Through it all I stuck to the basics that got me here; no meat, dairy and oil while following a starch based diet as Dr. John McDougall promotes. Yet the gains I had achieved were slowly fading into the past. I attempted to remain positive, knowing that if I achieved these improvements before I could do it again! A list could be draw up, excuses made but honestly, what good would it serve? None, I lapsed and now it’s time to refocus and get my health back on track.

Today was ‘Day 1’ and I am sure MANY Protective Diet Living subscribers know what I am talking about. As the saying goes, “tomorrow is a new day…” That is what today was, a new day, one in which I watch Lesson #97 on Protective Diet to get me pointed in the right direction and take control of my health, so I can look and feel like I did a short time ago.

At no point do I feel as if I failed myself or others when it comes to this lifestyle, as I was able to stick to the basic principles, but Julie is able to take that change to the next level. That is where I want to return to. Being able to confidently say I love what I eat and how I feel. No one should ever feel as if they “can’t do this” or “won’t have success.” I know both of these statements will not hold me back as I have bigger plans in the future.

With so much going on in life, free time hasn’t been abundant, but the time I had could have been spent more wisely with regards to running, an activity I thoroughly enjoy. Earlier this year I had plans to add two more ultra marathons to my list. The first, Pioneer Spirit 50, a 50 mile race from Cool to Folsom with a portion of the trail familiar thanks in part to running the American River 50 Mile Endurance Run, twice. This was supposed to be a training run in August, for the Folsom Lake Ultra Trail 110k, a a 68.35 mile race around Folsom Reservoir. Both races are more difficult and challenging, mentally and physically. Right now I am not at my best health, but both these races are on my calendar for 2017.

If that’s not enough running, I plan on attempting my first 100 mile race in March next year at the Razorback Endurance. This will be the first time at this distance with a 36 hour cutoff and relatively no vertical component on the 2-mile loop. This is truly the biggest challenge I want to attempt, even if it’s only one time. In order to be successful I need to be mentally and physically prepared for this challenge.

The 21 meal menu is complete, ingredients purchased as I look forward to the next few weeks using the Guide to Optimal Health as a reference to regain my health, fitness and feel better about myself. Lots of support from many individuals who are following the same lifestyle, so I am not going at this alone. If I can master this, ANYONE can! Time to eat…


Here’s a quick video, look for me at the 5:21 mark.