The majority of those, who attend METI’s weekly Health Seminar walk away fully determined to follow the whole food plant based (WFPB) diet that we recommend for the control or reversal of various non-communicable disease (NCD) conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease or cancer. 

They have developed a new mindset, convinced that following the diet will help them regain their health. But immediately various stumbling blocks appear that frustrate their attempts to stick to the WFPB diet. As a result, our records show that on average only one in three will be able to make the radical change that is required to stop their disease. The other two thirds are basically worse off than before they came to the seminar: frustrated they say to themselves: ‘I know I need to follow the WFPB diet to lose weight or to reverse my medical condition… Why can’t I do it?’ 

In this column we will highlight some of the ways and decisions you should follow to win the struggle to bring lasting changes to your life. In the prevailing culture in the country where the great majority are meat eaters, it is not surprising that you will be considered a bit odd to be shying away from meat, eggs and dairy products. 

To be successful, one of the earliest moves you must make is to find a family member (perhaps your spouse?) or a friend to join you and form a team. We call such person your ‘Good Samaritan’, who will be there to help you steer through the difficult first few weeks. The next important decision you need to make is what WFPB recipes you are going to include in your meal plan.  

At the METI seminar you will have received handouts with some of the basic WFPB recipes and there is a METI Cookbook with 50 recipes that you can use as a guide. Whereas before you might have said: ‘I can’t live without my eggs and sausages for breakfast!’ you will now do your best to adopt a new habit: of wanting to have –say- oatmeal with soy milk and fruits for breakfast instead. Once you get used to a new habit, it becomes automatic and you will stick to it. The other reason why patients ‘slip’ and give up is because of powerful emotions. As a result, ‘emotional eating’ is a common coping tool to deal with difficult emotions. Powerful emotions block our logical thinking. 

For example, stress at work, loneliness, depression, anxiety: for some people, food is the drug of choice to manage these. More successful coping strategies will be different for each person and we can offer a few. Examples: going for a walk in nature; meditation to disrupt that emotional circuit; prayer; or keeping a journal. Listening to relaxing music helps to control our emotions as well. This is where your Good Samaritan will give you crucial help: it will allow you to unburden your emotions and find a solution together, before you give in to the temptation to ‘stray off the path’: it is a well-proven method used by ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’ when one of their members is about to reach out for an alcoholic drink. 

But if you doggedly persist, and keep reminding yourself that sticking to the WFPB diet is essential, than eventually the new habits and behaviours will gradually become more entrenched and become resistant to emotional hijacking. And finally, a most important habit that you will need to master: home cooking. You will need to learn how to prepare the new recipes: again, this is where the Good Samaritan will play an important collaborative role.   

Now, to save time, try to do ‘weekly shopping’ and then, usually over the weekend, do ‘batch cooking’. For example, prepare a big pot of soup or a large vegetable stew and divide them in daily portions to be stored in your freezer. In this way, during the week, all you have to do is defrost and ready is your meal! The same goes for a fresh ‘rainbow’ salad: you can make enough to last a few days and keep it in the refrigerator. 

Once you get used to a few critical new habits as we have identified, everything becomes automatic and you will stick to it. May you have a pleasant and rewarding culinary journey! In the meantime, we invite you to visit METI’s Healthy Living Clinic at House No. 51 at Motootua (across from the Kokobanana Restaurant) to become acquainted with METI’s whole food plant based diet and Lifestyle Change program. You can also purchase METI’s WFPB Cookbook written in English and Samoan. You can contact us at 30550.