“Count nutrients, not calories, and you will be satisfied.”
— Gary Roopchand
Gary Roopchand is a 41-year-old truck driver, artist, and enthusiastic home chef.
Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, Gary’s parents provided him with wholesome, high fiber and nutrient rich meals, and encouraged an active lifestyle.
However, when he left home and got married, Gary began making poor decisions around his food choices. In eight years, he gained 165 pounds, going from his high school weight of 200 pounds, to 365 pounds by the age of 33.
When Gary’s doctor told him he had high cholesterol and was pre-diabetic, she recommended he go on a statin drug.
Dreading the idea of drugs as a fix, Gary asked his doctor to allow him three months to make a change for the better, and if he had not improved his health situation, he would agree to take the medication.
That same day Gary made a promise to himself — to take charge of his health and eat better. He began by adding many more fruits and vegetables to his meals. In 3 months, Gary returned to his doctor, and learned that his cholesterol had drastically dropped.
His doctor was amazed and told him; “Whatever you are doing, continue to do it!” Gary took his doctor’s advice, and over the following 18 months, he slowly adjusted his diet to ultimately become fully plant-based and lost 165 pounds, returning to his high school weight of 200.
Learn more about Gary’s journey…
When you left your doctor’s office with the mission to get healthy, what were the changes you put in place?
This was a major turning point in my life, and I knew that at age 33, the last thing I wanted was to be on chronic disease medication. In my heart, I knew what I needed to do, as my parents had taught me well. Three months later, when new tests confirmed that I could make such a remarkable change just by the way I ate, it was all the motivation I needed.
Starting out, I hadn’t given up meat completely, but reduced it to add more fruits and vegetables into my meals. As my positive results continued, I became vegetarian, then completely whole-foods, plant-based; I knew it was the fruits and vegetables making the difference for me. It took 1.5 years to lose 165 pounds and to go fully plant-based.
How do you feel today at 41 years old, compared to how you felt at age 33? What surprised you the most about the change?
I feel so much more energetic! I experienced immediate, multiple health benefits, along with a massive amount of newfound energy. I was not clogged up and inflamed. I was at ease. I wasn’t overtaxing and overstimulating my liver.
I learned that your stomach is your second brain. Whatever is happening in your stomach is also happening in your brain. We as humans have been given clean, nourishing, and perfect whole food, which can give us the optimum health we were meant to have, but in the modern world, this fact has been mostly forgotten.
What other changes have you made in your diet and your life?
I eventually started intermittent fasting; eating all the healthy foods I want between noon and 6pm, and fasting the other 18 hours. This wasn’t easy in the beginning, but I was getting fantastic results, and I was motivated by the change in my energy. I got used to my meal routine, and now I enjoy giving my digestive system a rest. Knowing I have most of the day to eat has become a comfortable and healthy routine for me.
Intermittent fasting is not for everyone, and you don’t have to eat inside a feeding window to get great results. I have just found that it works well for me.
For my physical activity, I enjoy walking, rebounding on a trampoline and rollerblading.
What is a typical day of food choices for you?
For breakfast (around 12pm) I have a smoothie, using a variety of fruits and vegetables, and I vary the ingredients from day to day.
During the day, I eat all the fruits and vegetables I want, in any amount I want, although the fiber from the produce fills me up and naturally regulates my eating.
Dinner is my main meal of the day, which I eat around 4 or 5pm. This might be a dish with quinoa, a salad, lentils, soup, or pretty much anything that is whole food, plant based.
Where do you get your inspiration and information?
I do a lot of reading and watch whole-food, plant-based documentaries. I will never stop learning! When you stop learning, you get old.
I have gained so much knowledge about the body-brain connection since going on this journey to health, not only through information from others, but also from what my body tells me.
Food gives your cells information. You need to ask yourself, What kind of information am I giving my body? Good? Bad?
Good food will totally change a person. When friends and family see you living a healthy life with an abundance of energy and a zest for life, the inspiration comes full circle. I count nutrients, not calories. Fiber and nutrient rich foods ease my body because it is getting what it wants. Eating this way makes a person satisfied without over stimulating dopamine.
The revelations I have made about food is what I enjoy sharing with people the most. I can talk for hours about proper care of the body, and the way my healthy lifestyle makes me feel is the big inspiration.
What advice do you have for others?
I want to help others get to the truth, and the truth is, diets don’t work.
90% of folks that diet gain their weight back.
I yo-yo’ed for 10 years.
If you ask yourself, ‘what is causing you to put the weight back on?’ the answer is important, and worth the time to figure out.
Plant-based eating is fantastic because it can truly be a lifelong lifestyle. Once you see and feel the results, you are inspired to do it forever. It is the optimal nutrition plan for human beings. You don’t have to count calories for it to work.
If you hit a plateau with weight loss, examine what you are doing or not doing during your days and you can usually find the answer to refresh your routine.
Stay consistent.
Ask yourself every morning, ‘How am I showing up today?’
The right meals are only part of the answer, the other part is to develop the routines that keep you consistent.
Everyone can lose weight, but not everybody keeps it off, and turning changes into a lifelong habit is initially the hardest part. It’s not an easy fix, but by showing up for yourself daily, you build that muscle and ultimately a solid routine.
You are enthusiastically dynamic. What were you like before you went on your food journey?
I was incredibly different. I felt sluggish and clogged.
Now, both physically and mentally I feel young again. There’s no stagnation, no blockage. I am able to be creative because of the way I eat.
I’m not stressed out, because my bloodstream, stomach, digestive system and cells are not inflamed. I no longer experience temptation because I am not overstimulating dopamine in my system or facilitating bad choices in my brain. It’s a total 180.
Perspective is reality. Whatever is going on in your body is happening outside of you.
I will be this way for the rest of my life. I am not afraid of aging. I am only afraid of regret, of not trying to eat well or live well, and expressing that higher life to kids, family, and community. This is why it’s so important to teach our kids good eating habits, because developing bad eating habits causes disfunction in their brains and in their lives.
What advice do you have for someone wanting to change to their health?
It starts at the table but also in your head. Life happens and you can be easily derailed.
Your family may not be supportive, and you may have to make sure you build your own like-minded community.
Put yourself around others who eat healthy. Find support, whether in your local community or an on-line community. It can make all the difference.
I find support in groups such as Forks over Knives, and many other plant-based Facebook groups.
I would someday like to start a local whole-food, plant-based meet-up group, as my local community doesn’t have one.
How can people follow you?
I have a YouTube channel, and will also have website soon.