# ? about the WFPB lifestyle



## VICKI1 (Jul 23, 2004)

How hard was it to start eating the plant based way? I am trying but catch myself going for cheese and meat. Not at every meal but a couple of times a week. Sometimes I just feel that I need the meat. Same with sugar sometimes I just crave it but that soon passes. How long did it take you to get over the cravings of the old eating habits.


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

We've been living WFPB for over a year now. We went cold turkey from Day 1. Stopped meat, dairy, eggs, processed food, immediately. 

It's kinda like anything else a person might be addicted to, such as smoking, drugs, porn, or alcohol. Of course, you're gonna have cravings. You might even backslide on occasion. For any of these things, to stop one must make a commitment. For many of these obsessions, the only way of stopping is cold turkey from the start. YMMV


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

And, if you find yourself in the need of support, encouragement, and inspiration, become a member of the Forks Over Knives Plant Based Community on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/FOKPlantBasedCommunity/


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## CKelly78z (Jul 16, 2017)

I can see the Whole foods part of the diet, and even agree with having a mostly plant based diet, but to completely eliminate proteins, and carbs would be time consuming, and expensive if not growing yourself.

I enjoy all of the different foods, and tastes of all 4 food groups to consider this.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

fish is such a big part of my diet that I don't think I could go cold turkey. I'm on the Keto plan but i hardly eat any veggies. i can only eat them in hash . i have to try to make myself eat them. carrots i can eat alone no problem. fruit and fish is what I mostly live on. I couldn' t touch an avocado either when I started and now I eat them every day. so what would be a typical day foodwise for you CF? ~Georgia


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

CKelly78z said:


> I can see the Whole foods part of the diet, and even agree with having a mostly plant based diet, but to completely eliminate proteins, and carbs would be time consuming, and expensive if not growing yourself.
> 
> I enjoy all of the different foods, and tastes of all 4 food groups to consider this.


No one living a WFPB lifestyle eliminates protein or carbs. Where did you get that idea?


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

newfieannie said:


> fish is such a big part of my diet that I don't think I could go cold turkey. I'm on the Keto plan but i hardly eat any veggies. i can only eat them in hash . i have to try to make myself eat them. carrots i can eat alone no problem. fruit and fish is what I mostly live on. I couldn' t touch an avocado either when I started and now I eat them every day. so what would be a typical day foodwise for you CF? ~Georgia


Typical day:

Breakfast

oatmeal w/ banana, blueberries, flax seed, hemp seed, chia seed, walnuts, and maple syrup
smoothie made w/ kale, raw beets, raw carrot, blueberries, banana, nut milk, lax seed, hemp seed, chia seed
Southwestern tofu scramble made w/ rotel tomatoes, kale, red bell pepper, onion and a side of fried (no oil) potatoes
Lunch and Dinner

pizza made w/ whole wheat crust, red sauce, sliced mushrooms, onions, bell pepper, black & green olives (no cheese)
sushi made w/ brown rice, green onion, carrot, cucumber, avocado
vegetarian chili with lots of different beans, black olives, onion, crushed tortilla chips
large (8-cup) salad made with kale and/or spinach, onion, carrot, bell pepper, cucumber, cooked diced sweet potato, black beans, crushed tortilla chips, homemade no-oil dressing
Budda bowl made w/ roasted vegetables (potato, onion, Brussels sprouts, red cabbage, squash or sweet potato) served over quinoa and topped with a tahini dressing


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

They (the experts) have debunked a lot of the fears about Keto - does not hurt your kidneys, and heart - but they do agree that it can be very hard on your liver but easy to fix. Eat lots of veggies - 7 to 10 cups a day. If you cannot eat them easily try making soup. A minestrone/vegetable soup without the pasta or rice but with pulses would fit the keto diet easily. Before I entered my husband's life he thought there were only four veggies - potatoes, corn, carrots and cornflakes. He now loves soup and gets all the veggies he needs. And this led him to actually eating raw veggies and dip.


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## VICKI1 (Jul 23, 2004)

The hardest part is my husband would not eat this way. He like sweets way to much. He needs to loose weight the same as I do. But if I can work on my weight and over all health maybe he will follow. I do believe that sugar hurts my joints and I know I feel better when I leave it alone so that was an easy one. 
emdeengee...funny on the cornflakes as a veggie


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

VICKI1 said:


> The hardest part is my husband would not eat this way. He like sweets way to much. He needs to loose weight the same as I do. But if I can work on my weight and over all health maybe he will follow. I do believe that sugar hurts my joints and I know I feel better when I leave it alone so that was an easy one.
> emdeengee...funny on the cornflakes as a veggie


I think the reason we were successful is that we were supportive of each other and both jumped in together with both feet.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

Giving up sweets has to be a voluntary decision. I found it hard but made some changes to baking. Cabin Fever has a suggestion for using beans with a brownie mix and I have successfully used apple sauce in nearly all my sweet baking. I have also found that if you cut back on both sugar and fats in your baking - perhaps just a spoonful at a time - your taste buds will adjust. 

I will probably go to he!! as I conned my husband this way. But he now does not even require sweets - just rarely. Also did this cutting down from **** milk to 1% fat milk. He twigged to the skim milk. And also with the size of his steaks and pork chops. 

We have also found that dried fruit is a great little sweet and you don't need much at all. One maybe or a just a spoonful. Dates, raisins, figs, pineapple, papaya, mango, cherries, apples, pears, prunes, apricots. Drying fruit changes the starches to natural sugar so they are much sweeter.


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## kinderfeld (Jan 29, 2006)

CKelly78z said:


> I can see the Whole foods part of the diet, and even agree with having a mostly plant based diet,* but to completely eliminate proteins, and carbs would be time consuming, and expensive if not growing yourself.*
> I enjoy all of the different foods, and tastes of all 4 food groups to consider this.


All protein comes from plants. Animal protein is basically recycled plant protein. And, while I don't know where you shop, I find that pound for pound, a WFPB diet is much cheaper. Be alot cheaper the older I get. Won't need all the meds and treatments that the majority of our unhealthy country relies upon these days.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

I see some confusion prevails. WFPB doesn’t eliminate protein or carbohydrates.


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## kinderfeld (Jan 29, 2006)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> I see some confusion prevails. WFPB doesn’t eliminate protein or carbohydrates.


Of course not. Protein comes from plants. So do carbs. Fiber seems to be overlooked by many. Won't find any in meat.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

VICKI1 said:


> The hardest part is my husband would not eat this way. He like sweets way to much. He needs to loose weight the same as I do. But if I can work on my weight and over all health maybe he will follow. I do believe that sugar hurts my joints and I know I feel better when I leave it alone so that was an easy one.
> emdeengee...funny on the cornflakes as a veggie


My wife wanted me to help her lose weight a few years back by curbing my tastes in some foods.
I don't eat much junk, but I like to cook old style meals with meats, pastas, sauces, breads, etc.
My chicken fryer was for cooking not looking and if granny made it, so would I.
I'll admit, I didn't do so well at supporting her until my metabolism slowed down enough that the calorie stove couldn't burn the wood I was chucking in fast enough.
Now I do and as with anything in marriage from fighting to supporting, it takes two.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

kinderfeld said:


> All protein comes from plants. Animal protein is basically recycled plant protein. And, while I don't know where you shop, I find that pound for pound, a WFPB diet is much cheaper. Be alot cheaper the older I get. Won't need all the meds and treatments that the majority of our unhealthy country relies upon these days.


This is very true. Protein is built out of amino acids, and the different plants have different amino acids. Livestock eat the plants with amino acids in them and build protein with them, and so can you.

Beans have some of the amino acids and rice has the rest of the amino acids, which is why so many preppers stock up on beans and rice. If you only eat rice you will not get enough amino acids for a complete protein and if you only eat beans you will not be eating a complete protein, but if you eat both you will have PLENTY of high quality protein! Or you can eat meat and also have plenty of high quality protein. Your body will have enough protein either way

Again, different plants have different amino acids. If/when you eat all 16 essential amino acids you will be just FINE for protein!


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## kinderfeld (Jan 29, 2006)

Terri said:


> This is very true. Protein is built out of amino acids, and the different plants have different amino acids. Livestock eat the plants with amino acids in them and build protein with them, and so can you.


Plants have more than just amino acids. They have protein chains.



Terri said:


> Beans have some of the amino acids and rice has the rest of the amino acids, which is why so many preppers stock up on beans and rice. *If you only eat rice you will not get enough amino acids for a complete protein and if you only eat beans you will not be eating a complete protein, but if you eat both you will have PLENTY of high quality protein! *Or you can eat meat and also have plenty of high quality protein. Your body will have enough protein either way


Actually, all plant protein is complete. Where it differs from animal protein is in the amino acid composition, some plants having more of a particular amino acid than others. Really, to get them all in adequate amounts, you can just eat a variety of plant foods through out the day. There's no need for complementary proteins to be paired in the same meal. But, it is convenient. And rice goes well with beans.



Terri said:


> Again, different plants have different amino acids. If/when you eat all 16 essential amino acids you will be just FINE for protein!


Each protein chain contains 20 amino acids, 8 of which are "essential amino acids".


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## reneedarley (Jun 11, 2014)

Terri said:


> This is very true. Protein is built out of amino acids, and the different plants have different amino acids. Livestock eat the plants with amino acids in them and build protein with them, and so can you.
> 
> Beans have some of the amino acids and rice has the rest of the amino acids, which is why so many preppers stock up on beans and rice. If you only eat rice you will not get enough amino acids for a complete protein and if you only eat beans you will not be eating a complete protein, but if you eat both you will have PLENTY of high quality protein! Or you can eat meat and also have plenty of high quality protein. Your body will have enough protein either way
> 
> Again, different plants have different amino acids. If/when you eat all 16 essential amino acids you will be just FINE for protein!


Remember the nuts and seeds


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## reneedarley (Jun 11, 2014)

kinderfeld said:


> Plants have more than just amino acids. They have protein chains.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I am not too sure. I tend to agree with Terri and this article. 
https://www.verywellfit.com/vegetarian-protein-combining-88265
I was a vegetarian for many years and followed the complementary proteins guide line. Was never ill. Been eating home grown meat the last 20 years. Ain't been sick neither so ....I am not sure.


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## kinderfeld (Jan 29, 2006)

reneedarley said:


> I am not too sure. I tend to agree with Terri and this article.
> https://www.verywellfit.com/vegetarian-protein-combining-88265
> I was a vegetarian for many years and followed the complementary proteins guide line. Was never ill. Been eating home grown meat the last 20 years. Ain't been sick neither so ....I am not sure.


The point I was making about complimentary proteins is that it isn't necessary to get a complete protein because plant proteins aren't incomplete. The practice itself isn't wrong. The myth behind it of "incomplete protein" is.

As I said, though, the amino acid profile can vary from one plant to another. Same with vitamins, antioxidants, etc. This is why variety through out the day is important.

I would also add, meeting your daily caloric requirements is also important to this end.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

For me, the problem was finding a bean that was both satisfying and filling. I had never eaten garbanzo beans before, but they are now my go to food.

It's taken me 2 years, but I think I finally have a rhythm. I make a huge salad with lettuce, carrots, celery, tomato, cucumber, onion, peppers, etc that will last me 3 days. At the same time I make the salad, I make a stew in my ipot of carrots, onion, garlic, pepper, celery, beans (usually garbanzo), tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, and brown rice. So lunch is a big salad and stew. Often the same for dinner if real hungry or just a salad or just stew if not so hungry.

I've finally settled on a big bowl of cold oatmeal with a banana or berries for breakfast. For snacks, either fruit, raw vegetables, or occasionally a few nuts. My treats, which I have to limit, are muffins made with flax meal and either oat flour or spelt and pb2 which has most of the fat found in peanut butter removed.


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