Seriously what the vegans and paleo diets do is avoid sugar and processed food. Avoiding sugar and sugar substitutes is key. The plant vs meat thing is secondary to not eating garbage in the first place.
I believe that based on my own experience, but I'd add excess starchy vegetables to the "avoid" list, as well. When I was eating vegetarian I gained weight and my lipid profile got worse, but I was also eating a lot of rice, potatoes, pasta, and other starchy stuff.
In my own defense, however, I was following the recipes in a book that the doctor had me buy pretty much to the letter except when I was at friends' or relatives' homes, which was maybe once a week on average. The recommended diet was, in retrospect, absurdly high in starches.
Interesting, I could also replace the green bar with 'Stress'.
When I visited Europe back in the early 1980's, I got stuck in a rail delay on the border of Switzerland and Italy. Back then, the trains had to switch locomotives and train crews at national borders. I don't know if that's still true.
When we stopped at the border, the Swiss conductor announced (in about half a dozen languages) that we'd be "briefly" delayed. Four or five hours later, we were still waiting for the Italians to scare up a crew and a locomotive. Just for the sake of perspective, the entire trip from Zurich to Ravenna should have taken about seven hours, and we were delayed for four or five.
The Italians didn't care, though. Once the announcement was made that we would be delayed -- literally before the Swiss conductor had finished his announcement -- the Italians broke out bottles of wine, loaves of bread, salamis, cheeses, accordions, guitars, violins, and other sundry instruments. They started singing, dancing, eating, drinking, and inviting everyone else on the train to join in. It was a spontaneous party.
When a young couple revealed that they were on their honeymoon, the party got even louder, with every verse of
Che la luna, mezza mare known to man ringing out in drunken harmony, with almost everyone in the train joining in and taking turns dancing with the young couple and toasting their future. It was a spontaneous explosion of cheer and good will, and everyone joined in.
Everyone except for most of the Americans, that is.
Most of the Americans were too busy fuming about the delay, fretting over their missed connections, leafing through their day-timers, and lining up on the platform waiting to use the pay phones (there were no cell phones back then) to repeatedly call whomever they were calling to tell them -- what, exactly? That they were still delayed and had no idea when the train would be rolling again?
As for me, I was an American, but of Italian blood and with dual citizenship; so I was only able to hold out until the second accordion. Or maybe it was the first
sopressata. Or possibly the second bottle of
Chianti. I forget. But whatever the case, my Italian side got the best of me; and within a few minutes of the announcement I too was singing, dancing, eating, and drinking alongside the rest of my ancestral countrymen.
Most of the Americans, on the other hand, just got more and more stressed out. They obviously resented the party going on around them more and more as the delay progressed. In fact, they were fit to be tied by the time I
passed out drunk returned to my seat when the train resumed its trip.
It was then that I realized that Americans, as a people, are so tight-assed that the whole country needs a massive enema.
The significance of the lifestyle difference was brought home to me during the rest of my stay in Italy. I spent most of my time in the rural countryside west of Ravenna, and I remember noticing the many very old people -- none of whom seemed particularly concerned about what they ate, many of whom smoked like chimneys, and yet almost all of whom seemed in remarkably good health -- and wondering how they'd stayed so healthy for so long.
I remember two old men playing cards on a little table on the sidewalk in front of their house. They must have been in their 80's. They were eating what looked like veal parmigiana sandwiches, drinking wine from the bottle, and smoking cigarettes: And the father of one of them was watching them from the second-story window.
I also remember what seemed like long delays at the restaurants and cafes. You can easily kill three or four hours having dinner in Italy. There are like a bazillion courses to the meals, with plenty of time in between them, and a wine bottle that seems to never empty. You barely get halfway through the bottle when another one miraculously appears.
During one of the waits between courses, I remember thinking, "Man, this place is slow. I wonder why they're so behind?" And then it dawned on me that the pace was exactly what they wanted it to be. The "wait" between courses wasn't a wait at all. It was a time to relax, to socialize, and to just enjoy life. The Italians weren't slow. The Americans were rushed! We treat everything like a mission -- even relaxation.
So yeah, I think stress has a lot to do with the increasing rates of chronic diseases among Americans. If you look at the metabolic and endocrine effects of stress upon the body, sure, it makes perfect sense that our bodies wear out before their time. All that stressing and obsessing takes it toll over time.
Rural Italians, on the other hand, just throw a few colorful cuss words at a potentially stressful situation, and a minute later it's over and forgotten. Then they break out a bottle of wine, an accordion, a loaf of bread, and a salami; and they never think about that problem again.
-Rich
Then the pumpkin melted in the oven into a gooey glob. It was not the crispy "roasted" pumpkin I envisioned, it was a soggy mess of hot garbage. However, being the prudent pilot I am, I had an alternate filed--a left-over lentil loaf from the previous day and it made an uneventful hot landing on my plate. 
I'm in Italy, it's Siesta time right now till 2:30-3:30, then things open back till 6:30-7:30. I kinda like it especially with the long days up north.