I’ve been living whole food plant based over the past few months. The first month I was getting rid of meat I had in my freezer. I either gave it away of cooked with it. Currently I think I still have 1 lb of lamb to cook. I will likely cook it in curry and feed it to Filo.

Filo is my cat, he is a 14 yr old rag doll that rules our home. And yes, he loves lamb. He will climb onto my lap and eat lamb out of my mouth if I let him.

Anyway, I digress. I never had much of a pantry, Everything was protein and very few carbs. The only items in the pantry was tomato paste, chilis and cat food. Everything else I cooked was eggs, meat or vegetables. I had not had pasta or rice in my pantry in over 5 years. I spent quite a bit of money getting my kitchen ready for a whole food plant based diet. Thanks to Forksoverknives.com I was able to find out exactly what staples I needed to be successful. Do I consider myself successful? No, I don’t. It has only been just over 2 months, but I am well on my way.

My belief when following a lifestyle or way of life is to fully immerse myself into it. I get rid of everything that is a temptation and cook what is in my home. For example, I realized that Weekends were a huge problem for me. I would follow my plan (keto, low carb, etc); perfectly Monday – Friday. Saturday and Sunday were my challenges. I would get up early, clean my apartment then run errands. I would stop at the grocery store and then realize that I was hungry . I would shop and pick up sushi, pizza or the dreaded fast food joints. Or even worse, I would bring my groceries home and order through Grub Hub, Door dash or such. And you know when you order from these places, you end up with 2 or 3 times the food. And consume them in one day.

When I started my journey into bariatric surgery, I deleted all the food delivery apps on my phone. I was therefore not tempted to place orders. I also started ordering food curbside (pick up at the store without shopping) for pickup on Friday afternoon. Thereby having food available for Saturday morning before I ran errands. I firmly believe in the saying “failing to plan is planning to fail”.

So, it has been months on this journey, I have successfully cooked quinoa, farro (never heard of it before) and I’m baking carrot cake (cupcakes) out of oats. Who knew oats could be a flour. well it works well. Who knew dates could become a sweetener. Who knew you could make a creamy sauce using cashews, plant based milk and a high powered blender.

We never take a long journey without being planning and preparing. I look at Whole food plant based as a journey with no end. Plan, prepare and enjoy your best life.