Fantastic Food Documentaries and my initial "stats" prior to starting my plant-based, whole foods diet

Ok.

So before I began this journey, I needed to get a baseline stat as to where my body was so that I could track the progress along the way.  It's totally humbling to do these "stats" because you realize that perhaps you're not the hot tamale you were years ago.  But hey, it must be done.... And hey, when I get to supermodel-super-fit status (lol), I can say that, at one point, I was a slow moving couch potato lady. Yes, I know you're thinking, this is HOT!

Oh, and before I get into all these details, I wanted to share the great documentaries that opened my eyes and started me on this process.  My all-time favorite, hopeful documentary that has shifted my belief system and empowered me immensely is Forks Over Knives.  So amazing!  It's so cool how I happened to hear about this movie from a Starbucks employee, and then a bunch of synchronistic events occured that started to shift my life. Yipee! I feel so strongly about this movie. This documentary will save your life and show you how you can prevent heart disease, strokes, diabetes, cancer, and live a beautiful and energetic life.  Yes! I'm pumped!

 

This is me recommending the
documentaries as well as having
no clue why this photo is sideways.



Besides the aforementioned documentary, I highly recommend watching the following movies.  They all can be found on Netflix.  And if you don't have a Netflix account, you can do a 30-day free trial and watch all of these during that time.  They are eye-opening...





Food Matters - Nutritionists, naturopaths, scientists, doctors, medical journalists and more weigh in on everything from using food as medicine to the value of organic food and the safety of the food we consume.  Ask yourself the question: Is your food hurting or helping you?

The Gerson Miracle - Sharing the stories of nine longtime cancer survivors, this program explores the principles and effectiveness of Gerson Therapy, a holistic method of treating cancer and other degenerative diseases developed by Dr. Max Gerson in 1928.  Gerson rocks it!



Earthlings - I think this is a really important film to see so that you become aware of what really goes on in the food, entertainment and medical industries; and so that you can make better and more informed decisions. The film delves into the food, entertainment and medical industries' use of animals and links each to the world economy. Unflinching footage, some shot by hidden cameras, explores slaughterhouses, puppy mills, factory farms and medical labs and reveals the roles they play in perpetuating society's disrespect for animals.  A veil will be lifted after seeing this film.

 The Cove - This movie is like watching Bourne Identity mixed with a documentary.  Really great film, and really eye opening about how our choices (even in the United States) affects things that occur in Japan.  Some of the mini-documentaries that are in "Special Features" portion of this movie also discuss mercury poisoning and how it relates to the fish we eat.  That really opened my eyes as well.  But regarding the movie the Cove, it's about these daring animal activists who capture footage of a secretive and heavily guarded operation run by the world's largest supplier of dolphins. As the group sets out to expose the truths behind the capture of dolphins for the lucrative tourist industry, they also uncover an environmental catastrophe. This documentary was so bad ass that it won an Oscar.  Some serious bad-assery!

The Vanishing of the Bees -  This movie makes you look at your fruits and veggies (and magnificent honeybees) in a whole different light.  I actually was scared of bees before I watched this movie, and now I have a whole new understanding and appreciation for them.  This documentary details the economic, political and ecological consequences of a dwindling world honeybee population.

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead - Focusing on two men whose bodies have been trashed by poor eating, obesity and illness, this documentary chronicles their rigorous healing path -- including a two-month diet of fruits and vegetables and juicing -- that both men attempt in a bid to rescue their health.  And besides this, this movie was created by an Australian with a hot Australian accent! Did I say there was a hot Australian accent?! hehehe

• The Future of Food - GMOs, baby! As per the Netflix description... Before compiling your next grocery list, you might want to watch filmmaker Deborah Koons Garcia's eye-opening documentary, which sheds light on a shadowy relationship between agriculture, big business and government. By examining the effects of biotechnology on the nation's smallest farmers, the film reveals the unappetizing truth about genetically modified foods: You could unknowingly be serving them for dinner.

• Fresh - This absorbing 2009 documentary surveys American farmers' and researchers' pioneering efforts to develop efficient systems for growing food. All of those profiled share a common goal of limiting pollution while creating healthier products.

• The World According to Monsanto - Nuf said.

• Eating - This is an older-school-type piece that can be found at this link http://archive.org/details/Eating_2nd_Edition.  It really will make you think.  A viewer has said about this piece, "Anderson's Eating DVD is a gift to humanity. This has changed my life forever! Do yourself a favor and buy 10 of these for your friends and family. You will learn the absolute truth about the power of eating the right food. You will know with confidence that you are doing the right thing. Learn the secrets to improved health. Learn that it's never too late to start eating right."

So there you have it! These are some of the documentaries I watched that really opened my eyes prior to starting on this plant-based-whole-foods-diet journey.  It's really pretty amazing how much we are kept in the dark about where our food comes from. I encourage you to watch these documentaries and decide for yourself what works best for you and what aligns with your values.

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Alright. Alright. Back to the stats.  I may have diverged from my stats and focused on documentaries as a brief form of stat-avoidance.  But now I'm back.

I thought I'd post these so that I can see the progress I've made along the way.  This is not posted so much for other people to look at this and snicker, but for some sort of accountability and commitment on my part to make this change.  My "stats" are as follows:

My total cholesterol is 188 mg/dl.
My LDL ("bad") cholesterol is 117 mg/dl.
(In the book, Preventing and Reversing Heart Disease, it's recommended that to prevent heart disease, my total cholesterol should be below 150 mg/dl and my LDL cholesterol should be below 80 mg/dl.  These are recommendations made by a leader in the field of heart disease and by someone who has witnessed stopping heart disease in its tracks. Cool.)
My HDL ("good") cholesterol is 53 mg/dl.
My Triglycerides are 89 mg/dl.
My blood pressure is 110/70.
My heart rate is 78.
My blood sugar screening is 108.
It was cool that there was a free clinic in town this past month and I was able to get these baseline tests done for free.

Regarding weight and the fun fat facts of my body, I was going to share all my measurements and such, but I think I'll wait a little bit. :)  I do know that my BMI (or body mass index) shows that I'm in the overweight category for my height and weight.  I'm excited to see the changes that will occur to my body as I adopt this healthier lifestyle.  I know it doesn't happen over-night.  But at least I know I'm starting to make a shift.

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On a final note...

Lately, I've been staring up at the stars in the sky and seeing them as a metaphor for one's body.  What I mean by this is that when one looks up at the sky and sees the stars, what one is really seeing is the history of that star (since it takes many light years for the star's light to reach us).  Relatedly, I think of the fat on one's body and the health of one's body as an indicator of our past food choices.  Thus, if we start making changes to our food choices in the present, our body will reflect that in the future... And be like a shining light piercing through time.

I like this image :).

In closing, I'd like to finish with a rockin' quote.,,
"Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food." ~Hippocrates

Nighty nites, y'all... And remember to look up at those stars!