Show Notes:
Hey, what’s up guys? It’s Tavo from DADGOESGREEN.COM. Hope you guys are doing well. I just wanted to do a plant based diet 5 month update for you guys. We’re just finishing up dinner here today. It’s Friday night and I thought I’d put this together in a quick impromptu video. I know last time I did it, I was a little bit more organized, I wanted to do this one a little bit more on the fly. So here we go. Let’s see how this goes. The kids are even in the background playing some Mario Brothers and having a good time.
Coronavirus Check-In
So, how are you guys doing? We’re in the midst of this COVID- 19 quarantine and I’m just wondering how you guys are faIring?
My family and I are good. We’ve been doing the best we can and are hunkered down. I’m working from home. My wife is working for home from home. Our companies and the State of California are quarantined. There’s a stay at home order in place, or “shelter in place”, whatever we’re calling it these days. Bottom line is, we’re getting by. The kids are being homeschooled. You’ve got classes that take them up to usually two o’clock in the afternoon and they’re slowly adjusting, as well.
I hope you guys are doing the same thing, probably having similar results as we are, too. We’re not teachers. So, kudos to you guys and to everyone else who is having to adjust to this big change while we try to level out the curve, so to speak. We’re trying to prevent as many people as possible from getting this horrible, horrible illness.
I’m focused on staying positive for my family, for my wife and for the rest of our friends and family, colleagues, etc. I hope you’re doing the same thing. I encourage you guys to stay positive. We’re going to get through this. Everything is going to be back to normal at some point. Hopefully, sooner rather than later.
Stay Positive
So, how do you stay positive? Here are a couple of tips that have helped me, big time:
FaceTime
Staying connected is my main thing. Stay connected with your friends and family. Be connected with your coworkers, loved ones, and anyone that’s important to you. FaceTime has been tremendously effective with family and cousins and extended family..
There’s something about being able to see one another, even if it’s just on the phone, or on the laptop screen. This has a way of connecting us. It’s powerful and it’s tangible. I encourage you guys to see one another on video, on FaceTime, however possible, as often as possible.
Zoom
Zoom is another way to do it. Some friends and I got together for a Zoom ‘Happy Hour” a couple of days ago. That was amazing. And, you know, we each had a beer and we were just, kinda chilling out in the evening. We really had a chance to connect and commiserate with one another. That’s huge. It’s really easy to feel like we’re isolated within this quarantine and within the confines of our homes. We joke about vacationing in the living room or vacationing in the backyard.
That’s kind of how it’s going to have to be for the time being. So, try to be okay with that. You gotta be okay with that.
Facebook is another great way to connect. I’m part of a number of different Facebook groups and just hearing other people’s stories motivates me. It inspires me, it makes me know that we’ll get through this together. So, I encourage you guys to do the same thing. Find a group, stay connected with your friends through FaceTime and Zoom ‘Happy Hour’, if that fits the bill. In fact, maybe I’ll even host one of those at some point in the future, too. There a lot of fun. So I encourage you guys to do this.
John Krasinski’s (SGN)- ‘Some Good News’, channel is amazing.
I’ll probably send you guys that link on the Facebook group just so you get a chance to enjoy that (Or, you can see it hear- ended up embedding it for your convenience!) I saw the first episode and was so impressed. Then, I saw the second episode yesterday and it just brought me tears, man. It was great. That YouTube video was just a bright shining light in the darkest, right now. So I’m really enjoying that and I think we’re going to continue to follow it. So, staying connected is what I’m trying to say.
Plant Based Diet Update- 5 Months
What I really wanted to update you guys within this short video is my plate based diet update. How am I doing after five months of my plant based journey?
It’s been fun. I feel great.
I do most of the cooking at home. It’s taken some adjustment to. The way I’ve approached it with our family, because the kids aren’t fully on board, which is fine. I’m not going to force them to do that. But, I always make a veggie meal that I can then supplement with some sort of protein or animal protein for the kids. So, tonight we made a Pasta Primavera. I then grilled up some Italian chicken sausage that I added to their plates, as well. They loved it. It was great. My wife and I had a great time enjoying our pasta bowl with tons of veggies. This is how I’ve had to get creative in terms of meeting my family’s needs as well as staying on track with my personal goals as well.
Confidence
So I’m feeling more confident every week that I’m on my plant based diet journey. Don’t get me wrong. I love the taste of meat. I’m doing this predominantly for nutrition reasons. However, the longer I’m on this, the more I’m starting to understand and relate and empathize with some of the environmental and animal ethics and values that a lot of vegans, and a lot of plant based diet share, as well. So who knows, I may end up being more in it for the animals or for the environment.
But right now it’s mostly a nutrition thing and it’s really been great. It’s been great for my gut really. My digestion is better. I just feel lighter. I feel cleaner. It’s been really great. I hope you guys get a chance or I hope you guys are enjoying that part of the journey as well if you’re on your plant based diet journey already.
I’m feeling more confident about my ability to provide a good meal for my family. I’m staying on track with my shopping list every week or every few days. I’m feeling more confident in my ability to cook those meals, to prepare them. I feel more confident with my message to you guys.
I’m more comfortable in my shoes, so to speak at this point, after five months of doing this. I still consider myself a newbie. I’d love to see more questions come in and see if there’s anything that you’re having struggles with that I can help you out with. Perhaps, I can give you some of the advice that others have given me and maybe pass that on as value to you. So, let me know. Feel free to post that in the comments on our Facebook page or send in an email on our weekly, weekly email newsletter that goes out.
Can I lose weight on a plant based diet?
There was one thing that was kind of a surprise. I’ve actually lost weight on this plant based journey. That wasn’t the goal, per se. It was just a nice afterthought, so to speak. I had a few pounds to lose, so that’s kind of a nice surprise. It’s been about 20 pounds now in about five months. Not super aggressive weight loss, but kind of a pound a week, or so, which is really, in my opinion, the healthiest way to do it. And the best part about it is I didn’t even try to do that. It just came as a result of staying consistent eating this way.
Honestly, I believe it’s all the fiber that I’m eating. I mean, I’m ‘going’ a lot more than I used to. Just to be very candid, I used to ‘go’ once a day. Now, it’s multiple times a day. It feels healthy. It feels really good. Some people think it’s an inconvenience, but it’s quick and it’s cleaner. I don’t want to get all gross on you. But I did want to mention that because it’s a big part of feeling healthy, in my opinion. So proud to share that with you guys.
Protein
As far as protein goes, I get this question all the time. How do you get your protein on a plant based diet? If you listen to what Dr. Michael Greger says from nutritionfacts.org He says, basically, that as long as you’re getting your calorie requirements for the day, you usually don’t have to worry about getting enough protein. And that’s the way I’m doing it. I’m eating a ton. And so I know I’m getting my calorie requirements in. I usually get somewhere between 2000 and 2,400 calories per day.
So, I’m not concerned about the amount of protein I’m getting. I’m still working out. I have all the energy and more that I need to get through my workouts.
Multivitamins
I am taking a multivitamin, a men’s multivitamin that I get from whole foods. In addition, I’m supplementing with a B12 that I get from Costco. It’s the Kirkland brand and it tastes really good. Those two are the minimum that I would do right now. For right now that’s what I’m taking.
I’m just really enjoying this process. It’s been a lot of fun.
I’m also loving sharing this journey with you guys. Posting on the blog every week has been a nice addition to my schedule. I’m really enjoying it. I hope I’m adding value to you guys and I would love to hear more feedback from you guys. I’d like to see what I can do to focus that message and that content to something that would be more of what you’re interested in.
Please feel free to share that feedback whenever you can. That’d be awesome.
5 Takeaways
My five takeaways from my ‘5 month update’ are:
1. Plan your shopping list
This is huge. I’m going to put together a shopping list of items that you should always have in your pantry. Stuff that would make it easy for you to always be able to make a meal, when you’re hungry. That is key. If you have this stuff on hand, you’re going to eat healthy and you’re going to eat more healthy more consistently. That’s key to your plant based diet- consistency.
You don’t have to start this journey 100% compliant. Crowd out your plate by just eating more of the good stuff, eating more of the veggies, eating more of the greens and more of the legumes. Stuff like that, that’s good for you. And by the time you’re halfway full with that, the rest will just be a ‘seasoning’. It will be more of a supplement to what you’ve been eating.
2. Be patient and Be flexible
It takes time to adjust, especially if you’ve been eating a traditional American diet all your life. It took me a while and it’s still taking me an adjustment to a certain extent. But, the results are worth it and the way I feel is worth it. So it, I’d encourage you to just keep muscling through.
If you slip up, just get back on it the next day. It’s not a big deal. Just crowd out your plate with good stuff as opposed to leaning on the animal proteins to make you feel full and make you feel satiated.
3. Get out and move
Get some exercise, especially these days that were cooped up and quarantined.. I don’t know about you, but I would get cabin cabin fever if I didn’t get out multiple times per day. I need to get some fresh air, to walk the dog. Having a dog has been really helpful for that because he forces us to take him out on a walk. This is great.
In addition to that, either do multiple walks with the dog or just get outside. I go running a few times a week in addition to my workouts that I’m doing here at home. It’s one of the best things that you can do to get your circulation going. It helps cleanse yourselves of all the toxins that are in there and helps your body to eliminate that.
My suggestion to you is at least 30 minutes a day, three or four times a week, just to get moving. It doesn’t have to be anything really specific. Just get out there and try to break a sweat at least three or four times a week.
4. Stay connected.
That’s a big takeaway- Stay connected. Make sure you’re associating with other people that are positive. People that are supporting you, that are your biggest advocates. People that are understanding if you slip up and don’t try to sabotage you by tempting you with things you shouldn’t eat. You know who those people are in your lives. Focus on those people that are supportive or those groups that are supportive. Make sure that they’re positive associates, positive examples, positive friends.
5. Be kind to yourselves
Be kind to each other, especially when we’re quarantined like this, It’s really easy to get upset with one another. We’re not used to being on top of each other in the house day after day after day. We talk openly with our kids about this, about just trying to be kind with one another. Try to understand that when you’re all in the same house all day, every day for multiple weeks on end, it could get kind of tiresome and it’s easy to get on each other’s nerves. So, be kind to yourselves, be kind to each other and recognize that we’re all in a tough situation. This is all brand new and this will be done eventually at some point. Then, we can get back to our regular lives, the way we used to run them.
Maybe, we’ll take away some positives from this experience, if we’re smart. That’s the way I’m looking at it. I’m really trying to focus on the gratitude side of this. This is an opportunity to spend a lot more time with my kids, a lot more time with my wife. It’s an opportunity to really kind of slow the pace down a little bit. It’s probably in some ways healthier for our bodies, for our minds, for our spirit.
Wrap Up
I’m gonna leave it at that, you guys. That’s my plant based diet 5 month update. I really appreciate you guys tuning in. I’m so grateful that you guys allow me to come into your lives even for a little snippet of time, every week.
subscribe to the YouTube channel, hit that like button and make sure that you comment if there’s anything I can do to help produce content that will support you in your journey.
God bless, have a wonderful Easter and stay safe. Wash those hands and stay positive. We’re going to get through this together. All right, thanks guys.
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