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Your post is of great interest, Kawboy. Although I've not had a problem with my weight, in the mid 1970's I went through a period of ill health. One day I read a magazine article titled You Are What You Eat. That spurred me to completely reform my diet Out went anything refined or over processed, in came brown rice, whole wheat bread, nuts, pulses, soy milk, and a mostly vegetarian diet, with fish twice a week, and chicken now and then. No red meat. I have largely adhered to this diet for the last forty years, and have enjoyed good health. I'm sixty-one years old. I take various herbal and vitamin supplements. I had not heard of lectins until I read your post, and subsequently did an internet search to learn more. It seems that my diet is high in lectins. All the foods I have previously understood to be health giving, are potentially doing me harm. Yet I am active, have good endurance and strength, and feel healthy. It leads me to wonder if we are all different - some can thrive on a diet which another person might become ill on. One of my aunts lived to 101 years old; two more to their mid 90's. They all lived on diets low in modern processed convenience food, but quite high in animal fat, cheese, cooked breakfast etc., - many of the things they tell us are bad nowadays. We are bombarded with advice on what we should or should not be eating, and seemingly the advice changes week by week.
Do you have a wife, Kawboy, if you don't mind me asking? I ask only because it would be a great help in achieving your aims if both of you could adopt the plan contained in The Plant Paradox.
I sincerely wish you well in your health improving endeavor. We need and appreciate your wisdom on this forum. And, as an added incentive, every pound reduction in body weight will quicken the acceleration of that hot 'home workshop ground camshaft' KZ1300 when you get it up and running!
Looking forward to reading your updates.

Tonto wrote: John, all the best with your new regime - hope the new approach works for you.
I know first hand your frustrations: last couple of years Ive tried to lose weight, restricted diet, very healthy foods, loads of exercise etc etc - nada, zero, zilch - what worked for me in the past just wasnt working now ! I tried Atkins again (which worked before) and did even more exercise & work outs - again minimal almost zero weight loss My clinician said dont worry, just keep at it - but its bloody frustrating.

Be genuinely interested to see how you get on with "The Plant Paradox" - might yet convince me to part with $20 USD.

Cheers Tim

Well tim, You're exactly where I am. Paleo didn't work Atkins didn't work so WTF. I've been following the recipes for the last 3 days and I'm down 6 lbs from 3 days ago. That suggests a lot of water but it also indicates that whatever I was doing before was causing me to retain water.

I have to say, the first thing that comes to mind when you start a "new deit" is what do I have to give up and what crap will I have left to eat? There are a lot of veggies on the "Yes Please List" and quite a few on the "Just say No List" but all in all it's not that bad. The biggest issue with this diet is finding pasture raised beef and pasture raised chicken because the corn fed beef and chicken is a problem. The lectins in the corn get in to the meat and then in to your gut. I found sources for both the beef and the chicken and as it turns out, both are right around the corner. The beef I can get is Black Angus, pasture raised and not finished on corn, sent to the abbatoir, slaughtered and then hung for 18 days, then cut and wrapped. Doesn't get any better than that. The chicken is pasture raised and never fed corn, only flaxseed which has no lectins and is available in 3,4 or 5-6 lb birds. Yes they're more expensive. A pasture raised cow is typically 3 years old before slaughtering where a corn fed raised cow is mature in 1 - 1-1/2 years so the farmer is raising the beast for twice the length of time and deserves to be compensated for that. Same issue with the chickens. The growth is slower than corn fed chickens. But the taste difference in both is worth the extra cost. Yummy !! And if you stick to the diet, it really doesn't cost anymore to feed yourself because you're eating less than before.

The recipes in the book are wonderful. I've enjoyed everyone of them so far. Never cooked with Avocado Oil before and it's to die for. Tried a recipe the other day for Sweet Potatoe Scallop Potatoes and I couldn't get enough of that. There's coconut milk in them and that's another item we haven't used before. Tonight we dine on chicken breasts with Sweet Potatoe Fries. So far, I've been looking forward to the next try out recipe.

if you're curious to what's on the "Yes Please list" and the Just say No List" I invite you to review the 2 lists and I'll bet when you look at the Just Say No List you'll say wait a minute, I eat half of these items and they're not good for me? If that doesn't want you to spend $20 for the book just to find out why, I don't know what will.

gundrymd.com/wp-content/pdf/Plant-Paradox-Shopping-LIst.pdf

I MUST comment on this. Mine is NOT any of the NEw Years BS resolutions, and I see you'rs isn't as well Kawboy.
I've been keeping in focus this overweight thing for 3 weeks now. SO far 8 pounds. I gained 45 pounds in one year. It's time for getting back to sanity.. It's much harder for people after 50. I think despite you being few years older than me, we are in the same weight loss prognosis bracket. I have one advantage - sports, physical fitness. You MUST step up in that department.
I will be coming back much more than you wish me t to this thread, haha, as it IS my passion! I want tom get back to my normal weight!! At which I feel myself and natural.
What worked for me, and hopefully I can implement it again. Food - no quantity but only quality. No mountain of rice, potatoes, pasta, brad etc. - treat it as only a once a week treat. No bread, potatoes etc. as filling factor and meal base. Replace this fulling only volume with nutritious vegetables. Fish 3x week, red meat 2. Rest - whatever. Wake up with a glass of water: spoon of honey in it, and some ginger. Eat garlic, ginger, turmeric. One avocado a day, if available. Olive oil spoon in dishes. Handful of mix: almonds, walnut, cranberries, peanuts. 2 coffees, 5 different tees. Sleep more, stress is the worst health killer. Sorry, but exercise! Must be. You will get used to it. You can not get thinner and healthier with no exercise. MNake it walk, and otherwise as much diverse as possible. Hate and reject routines - lifestyle, food, physical activities and mental conformity leads to boredom and failure.
I am on my quest to loose 45 pounds. I will kick your ass! haha We must prevail!

Brother in fight for life.
Stan

StanG wrote: I am on my quest to loose 45 pounds. I will kick your ass! haha We must prevail!

Brother in fight for life.
Stan

Better get off your friggin' butt Stan. 8-1/2 pounds for me as of this morning. That's since starting on Wednesday. Give 'er.

John, 8.5lb loss - wow: looks like its working great
Thanks for the lists, serious food for thought (no pun intended) - even though I eat healthy, almost zero processed foods, lots of organic veg and little raw sugar or fat, I must make a concerted effort at radically altering my diet: just might be the key.
Cheers Tim

Congrats Kawboy!! Just don't go to the extreme - it's easy to loose lots when you put your mind to it, but the body will go into a starving mode eventually if done too drastically and you just can't stop it from trying to devour anything in sight later on. Like a yo yo, the weight goes back on and off..
I am quite relaxed in my way doing this. I give it lots of time. The no beer and alcohol rule just by itself cuts a lot of calories in my case. It's also healthier overall, because I am not your average drinker.
So.. My normal is 175 pounds. Now 214. Was 224 just three weeks ago. After a longer break I had my usual 4k beer calories last night, and I swear I grew allergic to alcohol judging by how I feel today. I appreciate being sober so much and that's it. I feel so much better even just a few pounds lighter.
If it helps any, I hope it will give you power to know there is someone on the other side of the keyboard working hard on getting physically better.