In 2015, I was trapped in a cycle of stress and poor habits. Overwhelmed by the demands of being a hospital doctor and the responsibilities of a growing family, I indulged in unhealthy foods as a coping mechanism, and my health declined. I developed obesity, prediabetes, hypertension, and elevated cholesterol.
The turning point came when my wife called out the negative energy I was bringing home each day. Looking for help, I attended an after-work wellness session, where I learned that happiness could be a choice. I replaced fast food with mindfulness meditation, which shifted not just my energy but also the atmosphere at home.
Making the Transition to Plant-Based
In the spring of 2016, I attended a talk highlighting the power of plant-based eating. Motivated by what I learned, I joined my hospital’s “Plant-Powered Challenge,” eating a whole-food, plant-based (WFPB) diet consistently for three weeks.
It wasn’t an easy transition; old habits die hard, and I had to continually resist the siren call of fast food. For inspiration, I watched the Forks Over Knives documentary and read How Not to Die by Michael Greger, M.D. Both deepened my understanding of the health benefits of a WFPB diet and reinforced my commitment.
Life-Changing Results
Soon after going WFPB, I began experiencing undeniable results. Within just a few weeks, my blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels normalized. A year later, I’d lost 50 pounds, and my blood markers had improved even more.
This diet has been nothing short of transformative. I’ve lost more than 70 pounds in total, and I’ve kept the weight off.
Beyond the remarkable improvements in my health, this lifestyle has fundamentally shifted my approach to medicine. I have become deeply engaged with lifestyle medicine, and I obtained board certification from the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine in 2018. I also helped launch a lifestyle medicine program at Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco, and last year, I started my own virtual lifestyle medicine and health coaching practice. I co-host a health podcast with a friend, where we share insights into meditation, our relationships with food, and our mindsets around change.
WFPB eating has changed my reason for being.
To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer. For meal-planning support, check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path.
