Graham grew up as a meat man, and was not really fond of fruit or vegetables apart from potatoes, fries and lettuce. With a family history of heart disease it was time for a change. Taking inspiration from his wife Laura, he decided to follow her on her vegetarian path. The benefits were almost immediate. Graham is working on plans to showcase the benefits of a WFPB lifestyle along with Yoga, Fitness, and Mindfulness.
My journey into the WFPB lifestyle started around 4 years ago. My wife was training as a Yoga teacher in India for a few weeks where they adopted a strict vegetarian diet and she decided that she would continue on this path when she returned. This coincided with one of my cholesterol check-ups which came in at 6.8 and it was strongly recommended by my doctors to go on statins for life, something I was not willing to do. I had struggled with high cholesterol for years and was doing “my best” to get it under control, eating a relatively “healthy” diet, taking plant sterols, fish oil supplements, and trying to exercise regularly. My previous test results had me peak at 7.0 so when I only reduced my numbers marginally I decided that moving to a vegetarian diet, along with my wife , could only be beneficial. Within weeks I started to feel the difference, increased consistent levels of energy, reduced slumps/lethargy, better mood overall along with some weight reduction. Fast forward a few years and after moving to Australia, turning vegan and adopting the WFPB lifestyle, the positive effects/impacts are there for everyone to see. I’ve dropped almost 7 kg of body fat, my BMI is back in the teens (18.8%, down from 26%) for the first time since my 20s, all my blood levels are normal (aside from a slight B12 dip) and my cholesterol is now a very healthy 4.8, the lowest I’ve even known it to be! Having struggled for years with my weight the WFPB lifestyle has finally allowed me to get a healthy body and maintain it whilst still being able to enjoy food!
I did a fair bit of Googling over a number of months on nutritional courses as it was something I was keen on investing in. When I saw the Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate I was extremely interested, as most of the other nutritional courses were not vegetarian/vegan based so being a vegan it ticked all the boxes for what I wanted. Being an online course also gave the extra flexibility allowing me to do it from home in my own time which is what I wanted! I also recognised the Dr. Campbell’s name from a few Netflix documentaries which added to the attractiveness of the course.
The course gave me greater insight into the actual facts of the benefits of a WFPB diet. Being vegan carries a lot of emotional elements when discussing my food/lifestyle choices with others. Having actual evidence-based data on the health benefits of adopting a WFPB diet adds so much more substance to these conversations and helps people understand that there are real health benefits along with benefits to the environment, animal welfare etc. The fact that I have been able to physically improve my own health has drawn compliments from many of my friends and colleagues with some of them beginning to adopt some elements of the WFPB lifestyle!! My wife and I eventually hope to start our own vlogging site which will showcase the benefits of a WFPB lifestyle along with our other lifestyle choices such as veganism, yoga, Mindfulness etc. We want to show that adopting these lifestyle choices can be easy, fun and super beneficial to health, the environment and animal welfare! It will include information I learned in the course along with recipes, how to guides, general info and more!
I particularly liked the references and the fact that all of the beneficial claims were backed up with hard facts and figures. The whole course was easy to navigate, the videos were engaging and the content was not too overwhelming which allowed someone like myself to understand the materials. I would thoroughly recommend this to anyone who has an interest in improving their health/lifestyle. I also believe that all medical practitioners/dieticians/nutritionists/personal trainers etc. should take this program. The lessons I have learned from the Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate have become an integral part of my life and will stay with me forever!
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