New + a few questions

[Guest guest]

Hi, I have been lurking for a couple of weeks and tried to read

through many of the messages here. I read Walford last fall and in

January began a CRON diet following the meal plans suggested in Dr.

Walford's book. BTW, I'm a 46-year-old female.

I started by alternating days of Walford menus/my own regular menus

(and attempting to cut out junk), until I had upped it to 7 days of

Walford meals. I never used fitday or any other nutritional

software and simply follow the menus from the book as closely

as I can, with some variations for my own preferences. I also take

a multivitamin daily.

I'm down 23 pounds since January 4. This weight loss was the result

of both the Walford menus and an exercise regime consisting of 30

minutes twice weekly of some arm and leg weight lifting, usually

with an exercise video, and jogging 3-5 miles three times a week at

about 10 minutes per mile pace.

I realize my weight loss has been rather quick, but I felt so good

that my motivation went through the roof, and I continued on with

the plan. I am about 12 pounds away from a BMI of 22.

My question is about transitioning to a more fruit-and-vegetable

oriented diet. Dr. Walford's menus contain eggs, grains, dairy, and

meat, and I would like to start moving away from these foods and

using even larger quantities of fruits and veggies. I noticed in the

earlier posts of this website that many of you were following the

Zone Diet, which I understand to be heavily meat-based, and I'm

wondering what folks have transitioned to since the Zone Diet has

been debunked.

Should I just do a calorie-for-calorie substitution of fruits and

veggies for any dairy and meat in my menus? I am not proposing this

new style of eating for ethical reasons about animals, but rather

simply to continue with my experimentation and optimization of my

plan for nutritional reasons. For example, I would not want to cut

out fish because of its omega-3 properties, and right now this is

the only animal flesh I'm using. Letting go of dairy may be more of

a psychological battle for me. For those of you not using dairy,

is your calcium intake through supplements? And I would appreciate

any suggestions for transitioning to a more vegetable-based eating

style.

Thanks for the great website; I hope to lurk more in the future!

Chloe