Since Going Plant-Based, I’ve Ditched Statins, Prediabetes, and 50 Pounds

I stopped eating meat back in 1994, primarily because I thought it might help me lose weight. But I ate a lot of junk food, and I was totally hooked on cheese. Whenever I did manage to lose a few pounds, I always put them right back on.

In 2021, a year into the pandemic, I’d ballooned to my heaviest weight ever. I also had prediabetes; rosacea on my cheeks; high cholesterol, for which I was prescribed statins; and asthma that required three inhalers. I was fed up, and then I found out about whole-food, plant-based eating. On April 21, 2021, at 67 years old, I went all in. For me this also meant completely cutting out alcohol, cold turkey.

It was much easier than I anticipated. I had surprisingly few cravings, and the weight began coming off almost immediately. I’d always enjoyed cooking and baking; I just had to adjust to fixing new dishes. I found lots of oil-free plant-based recipes online, and they usually proved delicious. I dedicated myself to a modest daily walking routine for exercise. To keep myself on track, I decided to post about my progress on Facebook on the 21st of each month. Every month, friends cheered me on. That proved a huge help in keeping me focused and motivated.

For further motivation, I completed the Forks Over Knives Cooking Course through Rouxbe (and came in first in a class of over 600 students!), which was an absolute game-changer for my cooking. I also earned my certificate in plant-based nutrition through eCornell.

It took just seven months to reach my goal weight of 159 pounds, which put me into the normal BMI range. My cholesterol dropped enough that I was able to completely get off statins. My A1C (a measure of average blood sugar) dropped from 5.8 (prediabetic) to 5.2 (normal). My congestion receded so significantly that I no longer need inhalers, and my rosacea has significantly improved, too. I’ve astonished my doctor. She keeps asking me how I’m doing it!

I have always loved and craved both Italian and Mexican cuisines, so lately I’ve been experimenting with making various recipes compliant, and I recently perfected an awesome oil-free, dairy-free, veggie-packed “cheese” pizza.

I started with a modest walking routine for exercise, and now I typically walk two or more hours each day, which has helped me keep the weight off. I found an old pair of 32-inch Levi’s jeans that I hadn’t worn in over 20 years, and I can easily fit into them! I’m happy to say that at age 68, I’ve shed all excess weight and overcome all my other health issues simply by eating correctly.

I am excited to learn as much as I can about healthy eating and food as medicine. Feeling and looking so much better, I'll never go back to a standard American diet again!

Ready to get started? Check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path. To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer.