I took notes so I could report in an intelligent way about how my body responded sugar-wise to the plant-based whole food diet after six weeks. The news is good. The test my doctor uses to track my insulin levels is an A1c blood test. A normal number (not diabetic or pre-diabetic) is 5.8. As the number goes to 5.9 the body hits the pre-diabetic range. It stays pre-diabetes until 6.5. At 6.5, you are a diabetic. I was 6.4 at my last test six weeks ago. This time, I am 6. I basically cut my risk of diabetes in half in just six weeks.
Does this mean that another six weeks of eating this way will see my sugar in the normal range? I hope so. Meanwhile, not eating dairy has cleared up the digestive problems, so this is a double win. I’m very cheered with the results. The diet is not difficult. Shopping for the food is easy, as you mostly use the produce section of the store. Putting together a meal is a snap. I’ve been using my crockpots for cooking dried bean and lentil dishes and I’ve also put together an easy two week meal plan so I don’t have to think about what I’m going to eat.
I use my medium crockpot for a lentil-potato stew and my larger one for recipes with dried beans. (Cooked beans taste so much better than beans from a can.) The little crock pot is great for appetizers, sauces and dips. Most recipes freeze well, so that’s another plus. I am a big fan of cooking once and eating twice. With the large crockpot you’ll have three or four meals for two people.
For the medium crock pot lentil potato recipe, I quarter 4-5 potatoes, 2-3 carrots, onion and celery if I have it, 16 oz. canned tomatoes, and about a cup of lentils. I use green but red lentils will work. You can add any other veggies you want, like corn or peas. I spice mine up with pepper and curry, although one time I forgot the curry and the dish still tasted great. I don’t salt recipes anymore, but herbs are great. Parsley, basil and thyme would be good with this, too. I do add salt to taste once the food is on my plate.
There are tons of recipes out there for vegan crock pot meals, and some of them do so much prep it puts me off, but I made this one up from ingredients I had on hand. I didn’t pre-cook anything, just scrubbed the potatoes and rinsed the lentils. Easy!
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