A challenge to eat better

Heidi Schild’s friends always thought she ate healthily, but she knew better.

Although she hadn’t eaten red meat in 20 years and avoided dairy because she was lactose intolerant, she still would feast on potato chips, crackers and plenty of other processed foods.

Then, in January 2017, a friend from Ohio challenged Schild to participate in “Vegan-uary,” a monthlong effort to eat a plant-based diet. No meat. No animal products.

It meant healthy eating to an extreme.

Schild and her husband, Harris, had just moved to Lakewood Ranch from Ohio and the perpetual sunny, good weather made her keen to meet the challenge.

Her month of plant-based eating began.

“I felt really good,” Schild said. “I just stuck with it. I didn’t have cholesterol or health issues. I was doing it more for the benefits of a healthy diet.”

Through eating a mixture of healthy grains, fruits and vegetables, Schild has maintained her weight without having to count calories, which she used to do when she still ate chicken and fish and more processed foods. 

She has more energy and just “feels better” than before.

She also walks at least six days a week, usually for 30 minutes to an hour, and attends fitness classes or swims at the Lakewood Ranch YMCA about twice per week.

The 53-year-old Schild, who works in medical billing, says her secret to consistency is remembering how she feels and taking time to prepare.

Sundays typically are her day to take a few hours and make foods she can have throughout the week. For example, she’ll cook a large batch of steel cut oats she can scoop into breakfast-sized portions and top with nuts and bananas, or maybe something savory, like steamed kale and sun-dried tomatoes. She’ll make brown rice and a salad dressing, which she says she can use for a variety of lunch options throughout the week.

“I don’t really miss (eating meat),” Schild said. “I felt like I was always watching my calories. I feel like on this, I can eat whatever I want. You can’t overeat. I feel satisfied.”

She said co-workers like to see what she’s eating because it looks interesting.

“Everyone thinks it’s so much work — and it is — but if you feel better, it’s worth it,” she said.

And on a Tuesday night, she pulled out a container of peeled carrots marinating in a mixture of ginger, soy sauce and vinegars. After tossing them in a grill pan, the mixture begin to look like recipe name — carrot dogs. She puts them on a whole wheat bun, dresses them as a normal hot dog and bakes quartered potatoes smothered in mustard and spices.

“They’re surprisingly good and surprisingly taste like hot dogs,” Harris Schild said.

While Harris Schild confesses he is not a vegan, he does eat what his wife cooks. However, he is known to throw a piece of meat on the grill when he feels the need.