Guide to Optimal Health

I began my PD journey March 1, 2014. It all started because my FB friend posted a food picture from Julie's website protectivediet.com. Since starting protective diet, I have lost a total of 62 lbs in a little over 9 months! I didn't really have any health problems before starting my new plant based diet (that I know of) other than acid reflux, and I did have pretty bad carpel tunnel in my wrists that seems to have disappeared now!! I no longer have acid reflux and now I feel better than ever!!! I am no longer addicted to food or most of all addicted to chocolate!! I am so happy to have found this life style and I will never go back to eating a standard american diet (SAD) again!

After having 2 babies in 1 year, I was at my heaviest. I discovered when my daughter was 2 weeks old that I have chronic mononucleosis syndrome (chronic mono). By the time she was a year and a half, I had mono twice. It was incredibly difficult trying to take care of 2 little ones when I was so sick and tired all the time. My dear friend Julie introduced me to Protective Diet and told me that if I stick with it 100%, I should never get sick with mono again. Protective Diet is a whole food plant based diet that eliminates oil, sugar and nuts. There are no preservatives or additives in any of our food. I was nervous when i first started because I had to make everything from scratch and feared I wouldn't like this new food. I found 7 great recipes immediately that I loved. Buffalo potato wedges with ranch (tofu based), Mexican pizza, breakfast brownies, Asian Kale with rice and hot sauce, Tuna free tuna salad (taste like tuna salad i grew up eating! ), not yo cheeze sauce with baked chips and spicy bird seed. Between these recipes, I didn't miss anything that i was used to eating on a standard American diet, I was excited and looking forward to each new recipe I could try. I stayed fully committed and in 5 months i dropped 50 pounds! In the summer time, I went off plan and started to allow oils and sugars back into my diet. It was the worst thing i could of done! In 1 month, I gained back almost 20 lbs. I couldn't believe how much oil and sugar affected me. I have been back on plan, and I have never felt better! I'm celebrating my 1 year anniversary this week. In 1 year i have kept off 41 pounds, learned more than i could have ever imagined about nutrition and made some wonderful new friends through the online support group (and real life! ). My kids are now 2 and 3 and they eat this way with me :-) I offer them everything that I make, and make note of what they enjoy. I make sure I keep what they will eat in a constant rotation. Thank you Julie for introducing me to Protective Diet, and for bringing me samples almost everyday during the 2 years we lived next to each other! I'm glad I gave it a try, best decision I've ever made:-)