Stephen T

By : Stephen Toumi | 0 Comments April 1, 2015 | Category :

August, 2011 had me utter the word, “vegan” for the first time. After my yearly physical total cholesterol had climbed to 264 mg/dL and would continue to increase unless I took preventive measures. My family physician prescribed me a statin, which was told would help “control” my TC but not reverse the condition. Weeks later I discontinued medication in search of alternatives. On October 30, 2011 I made the decision to take control of my health and look at the alternatives after viewing Forks Over Knives.

Julie Christensen’s Plant Purity (website before Protective Diet) came into my life after transitioning to a plant-based lifestyle based around Dr. John McDougall’s teachings. This lifestyle made sense, reading success stories and experiencing weight loss and maladies disappear personally give me the confirmation I made the right decision.

Prior to going plant-based my weight was borderline obese, I was plagued by constant migraine headaches, side aches, plantar fasciitis, constipation and underwent two knee surgery that could possibly have been avoided. My numbers prior to a plant based lifestyle were staggering:

July 26, 2011
Weight: 216 pounds
Chol: 263 mg/dL
Trig: 269 mg/dL
HDLC: 37 mg/dL
Chol/HDLC Ratio: 7.1 H
LDL: 172 mg/dL
Non-HDLC: 225 mg/dL

The first recipe I cooked were Julie’s Cheezy Scalloped Potatoes. It was the first time I used nutritional yeast in a recipe but I was hooked when the pan was pulled from the oven. It wouldn’t take a year to see impressive changes in my health. Inside of 30 days I felt better, looked better and had made impressive strides down my road to health. On December 20, just 51 days later I was shocked with my blood results:

December 20, 2011
Weight 193 pounds
Chol: 199 mg/dL
Trig: 210 mg/dL
HDLC: 37 mg/dL
Chol/HDLC Ratio: 5.4 H
LDL: 120 mg/dL
Non-HDLC: 162 mg/dL

While I remember Julie rolling out PD-ed, I hesitated to join, not because I didn’t believe in her program, but due to procrastination. I wanted the exclusive recipes, I wanted to be part of a group who accepted and supported each other, not to mention access to Julie and Jerry and everything they bring to Protective Diet.

On December 31, 2013 I made a resolution “to drive out the sodium and sugar” in my already clean approach to eating. Julie had the perfect solution to this. I registered for her PD-ed to “to decrease the dependency on sugars and nuts while enhancing my health with further education and information regarding nutrition.”

Since joining PD-ed I have continued my education in nutrition through Julie’s webcasts. Every recipe I have made from Protective Diet has been wonderful, but more importantly quick and easy. Her direction and inspiration has allowed me to further improve my plant based lifestyle. As of October 30, 2013 my health continued to flourish. Blood results were excellent:

October 10, 2013
Weight 175 pounds
Chol: 152 mg/dL
Trig: 147 mg/dL
HDLC: 38 mg/dL
Chol/HDLC Ratio: 4.0 H
LDL: 85 mg/dL
Non-HDLC: 114 mg/dL