3 months and counting – A new lifestyle not a diet

I have never been one for ‘diets’ unless you are talking about diet in the truest sense of the word to mean the foods that we consume. Since changing to plant-based living three months ago I have never felt I have been on a ‘fad diet’ but the idea of bucking the system, going against the majority of information and traditions I have come to know and limiting my food options from the mainstream has made me feel a little like a weirdo. I am convinced, however, that I will continue to be a weirdo and live and eat this way.

In previous posts I have rattled off the myriad of benefits my family and I have seen eating plant-based. The health benefits have continued the list has increased beyond what I would have ever thought possible. I have had a thyroid condition since my first child was born seven years ago. Tests at that time showed my thyroid to be heterogenous. My levels were way too high. I started medication and was monitored annually for changes in the nodules in my thyroid and every three-six months for my thyroid levels. Last year, I had a ‘problematic nodule’ that was growing larger. We decided to reassess in a year and if it was still growing, it would be biopsied. I wasn’t looking forward to this and the idea that something could potentially be wrong, even if it was fixable, was scary.

At the beginning of April I went for the ultrasound. The technician looked and what she saw was…..nothing. There were no nodules. It wasn’t that they had gotten smaller, they were gone. I understand that this could have happened because of the medication that I was on. But given the response of the technician and the fact that I have been on the medication for years and the nodules were only getting bigger, my inclination that this was due to my change in diet. I feel VERY strongly that God has been leading me to this very path through the opportunities for change He has placed before me in my life. In my mind, what happened was a miracle.

Now, I will only have to have my thyroid levels checked annually and my next ultrasound is in five years. My total cholesterol, too, has gone from 211 to 148. I feel great. I feel alive.

So for all of those people who wonder if changing to plant based will work for them. If you think this lifestyle is too hard or too drastic. I do not understand. What I know is that it is scary to change what you have known for your whole life. But it is scarier to be diagnosed with cancer (or even the thought of it), it is scary to be wheeled into an ER with everyone thinking you are having a heart attack…at the age of 32. It is scary to feed your children medication every day because their digestive tracks aren’t working just right or worry about agressive behaviors. It is not ok to be tired and run down when you are thinking you are doing all the ‘right’ things to be healthy.