Denny Wilson reached a weight of 350 pounds at his highest weight. Dealing with a variety of illnesses and diseases, he finally took control of his life when he realized much of the information he was being given by medical professionals was a band-aide rather than a solution.
Denny lives in west Texas in what is known as the Permian Basin, in the city of Odessa, home of the real Friday Night Lights. He has been on a journey from the Standard American Diet (SAD) to a whole food plant based lifestyle.
Denny had a heart attack 7 years ago after having 100% blockage in the left anterior descending artery (LAD). He was living in a rural town at the time where the staff treated him for heartburn.
When the blood enzyme levels were reported back to the staff after being sent two towns over to be tested in a lab, they sent him by life flight to the hospital. He received a stent and spent a week in the hospital trying to recover.
After being released, Denny was scheduled for rehab for 12 weeks, which included making some adjustments to the diet, but with what was basically a calorie restricted diet combined with 5 day a week exercise.
Initially, Denny lost some weight and started seeing some of the numbers of his astronomical blood glucose levels come down (had been in the 600s) and his blood pressure stabilize after being at stroke and heart attack levels for years).
But these successes were short lived. Find out what happened and how Denny finally took control of his health.
Food is Medicine
Denny heard about a program called “Food is Medicine” which is held by one of the area hospitals and staff which introduced him to Whole Food Plant Based eating. Dr. Scot Stoll, Dr. Michael Gregor, Nelson Campbell, and others present information that caused Denny to research the idea of giving up meats, dairy, eggs, and eat only vegetables, fruits, and grains.
While looking for more information, Denny found Dr. McDougall, Dr. Esselstyn, and others, who had written books and he begin to read and study. Finding out about the Esselstyn program in Cleveland, Denny attended the program to learn about how to be able to turn his health around. He started to eat better meals but did not fully commit to the program.
After gaining weight once again and seeing his blood sugar and blood pressure start to climb once again, Denny knew he had to get help. He started once again to work on eating a WFPB diet. He enrolled in a program through My Healthy City in Midland, Texas, designed to reverse diabetes through WFPB eating. It is a 12 week program with instruction by coaches that work with you on education on label reading, exercise, food choices, mental preparation, life coaching, and doctor interaction with patience in a group setting.
Denny learned the more he is engaged and communicating with others about the path forward, the better he does at planning his meals, controlling what he puts in his mouth, and in taking control of his vital signs.
Denny’s Plant Based Journey YouTube Channel is Born
He created a YouTube channel to chronicle his own progress as well as show others simple foods that taste great and are healthy: Denny’s Plant Based Journey. He is working to build the channel as he continues to grow and to help others through interaction on his YouTube Channel as well as his Facebook page (same name).
At his highest weight, Denny was 350 lbs and has maintained 285-335 lbs most of his adult life. With the transition to a Whole Food Plant Based Diet, Denny is down to 228 pounds and falling. His blood pressure and blood sugar levels are now well in the normal range. His cholesterol levels have been very low. As a result of his vital signs and blood work, the last two visits have seen decreases in the strength of prescriptions and he anticipates either complete removal of some of his medications or severe restrictions to these medications on his next visit.
Denny’s YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_U4GPaCE59IDIqAOsvQMgQ
Denny’s Facebook Group
https://www.facebook.com/dennysplantbasedjourney
