30-Day Update (My One-Year Challenge)

As mentioned in my last article, I decided this year to do a No-Compromise Challenge. Here are the elements of my challenge, for 2023:

• Diet: Consuming no concentrated sources of fat (oil, avocados, nuts, seeds, and coconut products.) and eating strictly plant-based.
• Exercising daily. Im starting very slowly and increasing by a maximum of 10% per week. Im at 10 minutes of stationary bike every morning, plus a walk later in the day. But as the year progresses I will be adding more and more.
• Consuming no alcohol.
• Quitting caffeine. Im weaning it out completely, but not going cold-turkey. (Im down to a small coffee made with 14 grams of coffee. I should be done with the transition to zero caffeine in roughly two weeks.)

The reason Im doing this is because I felt I hit a personal low point in my health and fitness. Ill be going into the reasons in future updates, but essentially, the pandemic hit me hard. I lost two people dear to me and fell off the wagon.

The other reason is that for much of my twenties and thirties, I literally bathed in health information. I was young and made a lot of mistakes. In my twenties, I followed a raw-food diet because I believed in the philosophy behind it, but I wasnt motivated by a personal health problems. As I got older, I felt more invincible with my health, and started experimenting outside of the rigid rules I had set for myself when I was younger. Other things became a priority, including dating.

But now that Im turning 47 this year, Im finally motivated by my personal health. I cant stand having any preventable health problems, especially when I know what to do to avoid it!

Since I started my challenge on December 20th, I can now give you a 30-day update. Here are some interesting facts.

WeightMy weight when starting was 178.3, the highest its ever been for me (Im 510). For the first time in my life, I entered in the (slightly) overweight BMI category. 30 days later, my weight is 173.5, so I lost roughly one pound per week.

Cholesterol My starting total cholesterol was 186 mg/dl, considered normal by medical standards, but still too high for optimal cardiovascular health. 30 days later, my cholesterol is 134 mg/dl. I dont have data for LDL because I did not get it tested but will do a full lipid profile later this year. (And no: Im not worried that my cholesterol might get too low).

Resting Heart Rate I tracked several health metrics with my FitBit Charge. My resting heart rate was 67 when starting (also the highest its ever been). My resting heart rate, 30 days later, is 58 bpm. Today, 35 days into the challenge, my resting heart rate is 56 bpm!

Ill be reporting on other health markers, such as blood pressure, soon.

Other Symptoms.

One problem that has plagued me since my teens is bad cystic acne on my back. Nothing I ever did was able to get rid of it, including a raw-food diet and fasting for 23 days on water. As I got older, it did not get better. Because it didnt affect my face, I tolerated this problem. However, I knew that a low-fat plant-based diet could make a difference, and I experienced dramatic improvements in the past when I tried the Esselstyn diet. This time around, the improvements have been even more dramatic. My skin feels clear and smooth, and it took only two weeks to happen. I dont know why a low-fat raw vegan diet didnt produce those results, but I suspect that any amount of overt fats, even when kept below 10% of calories, can exacerbate the problem in people prone to cystic acne. A plant-based diet with no added oil, avocados, nuts or coconuts seems the closest thing to a cure as Ive found. I dont know why fasting didnt produce these results, though.

Overall, I prefer this way of eating to any other diet that Ive tried. Im enjoying my food, its inexpensive and I feel satisfied and happy.

Ive done low-fat in the past, in various forms, especially the raw vegan diet. But this is the first time Im not trying to keep fats down to some arbitrary percentage of total calories, or that Im not just doing this as some time of temporary diet. Im simply eating whole foods and skipping the high-fat ones. Im still getting all the essential fatty acids that I need.

Ill keep you posted on my progress. Hope your year is off to a good start!

Frederic

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