IRONY IS..........

Irony is starting a blog to show healthier recipes and eating-and having a heart attack anyway.

Isn't that how it always goes though?

Once upon a time, I adored a lifestyle of stress, staying up mostly all night, smoking 2 packs of cigarettes, drinking whiskey and wine and otherwise getting into all sorts of debauchery and shennanigans……which I continued well into my 40′s. Besides have a shit ton of fun, good times, great memories and great blackouts where I remember nothing-I also ate whatever the hell I wanted. Also living in cities with some of the best food in the country-Chicago, New Orleans, the Gulf coast-made whatever I wanted typically oozing with cheese, butter, sour cream, cream sauces, and cheese (did I say cheese?)

I adored fish, chicken-and filet mignon. London broil. BBQ ribs. Corned beef-hash or St. Patricks style. Prime rib. Italian beef sandwhiches. Sausage on my deep dish Chicago oozing with mozzerella cheese delicacy. Butter and garlic all over my shrimp-I mean, you get it, right? I was a total foodie. And-no one understood where I put it. I stand at 5′4 and my weight averaged around 120-125 most of my life-often lower. Lower most likely due to my enormous caffeine addiction (in which I enjoyed a little coffee with my cream and sugar) and heavy smoking. It certainly wasn’t because I worked out or anything. My work outs mostly consisted of dancing at the club, walking around the city because I couldn’t afford a car there anymore, and-sex. Yep.

I got a good work out moving around the city and the country too, but where I call that a work out-others call it stress. And it mustve been, because shortly before my 48th birthday, I had a heart attack. Should’ve killed me, they said-blockage in my left descending artery of my heart. That’s the main motherfucker keeping it ticking and when that’s blocked, its known as a ‘widow maker’ because that’s usually what makes people drop dead from heart attacks.

Two stents later-I realized I needed to clean up my act. Now to be fair, I have always studied nutrition and had a very good background with it, as well as a background in health care-so I did in fact supplement my life with some pretty decent eating habits as well. But even when I was eating ‘healthy’-I still slathered on cheeses and oils and salts and sugars, many times-unbeknowst to me until I learned the code for sugar and how to read labels.
I intuitively avoided fake sugars, processed boxed and frozen foods and fake fats but it did leave me to eat the butters and real sugars and whole food dairy such as whole ricotta and sour cream and yogurt and it all played a role. While genetics, my smoking and stress were the big culprits in my heart disease-at 47 my coronary arteries were already blocked at 70% and 30% respectively. Hence the stents.

As you can see from the older posts-that's all true. But, as healthy as it seemed-wasn't healthy enough.

My cardiologist, being a rock star of a cardiologist, told me to watch the movie “Forks Over Knives.” He told me that if I became vegetarian and optimally vegan-I could in fact REVERSE my heart disease, heal my heart completely (luckily, I had no damage and my ejection fraction remained normal)-but not only reverse it but prevent this ever happening again.

My blood pressure was normal, my labs all perfect and my cholesterol normal. No diabetes, not overweight. On paper-this never should’ve happened to me. But I wasn’t going to risk it happening again, and then on top of my MI some atrial fibrillation kicked in. That is TOTALLY genetic, my 87 year old father has had it most his life. My mother may have as well-she died from a series of strokes starting in her 50′s and died at 73. A fib leads to a 500% chance of stroke. But-I was told I could fix it all. Merely through diet. I could go from the now 9 medications I must take daily for at least a year post MI-to perhaps one-if I just do this.

And.....if I didn't supplement my lifestyle with healthier foods-I probably wouldn't of survived the heart attack I'm told. So, I'm leaving the early posts, for those who are considering transitioning to plant-based or vegetarian, as its a stepping stone to getting used to those ingredients.

I figure its worth a try. So join me in the journey, as I learn how to remake all my favorite recipes to make them plant-based and healthy-I will show vegetarian and vegan versions-and live the frustrations and triumphs with me. Next post-why ‘low class’.