Weight loss journey

After seeing pictures of myself at my oldest daughters' combined birthday party last December, I thought, "Wow, something has to change." I looked disgusting and miserable. I was tipping the scales between 205-210 on any given day, not the most I've ever weighed, but the most being non-pregnant/lactating. I don't even want to post that picture because of how bad I think I looked. I'll post it when I lose all my weight :)

Now, I've never been a small girl. I'm 5'4", and I weighed 155 in high school (size 10). I weighed 174 the day I had my first child, but was down to 145 when he was 9 months old... then I was 230 the day I had my youngest in 2009. I've always leaned on the excuse that I'm big-boned and have thick legs because I was built for sports. But here I was, 34 years old, wearing a women's size 18WIDE pants and looking frumpy. Drinking lots of soda, eating a lot of fattening foods (sweets, fast food almost daily, Mexican food, etc.). I had no motivation and no concern; I was just angry that I let myself get that big and out of hand.

On December 18, 2011, I decided to change my habits, yet AGAIN. I started eating healthier, cut soda completely, quit fast and fried food, and ordered a box of MediFast. Although I didn't tell anyone about the Medifast because I was embarrassed, I stuck to the program religiously (including healthy snacks and dinners) and lost 20 pounds in 6 weeks. I was even exercising again. Not bad! Then life got crazy in February, my routine changed drastically, and I started eating out again. My excuse was convenience, and my stress levels were so high that I honestly didn't even care about what I ate or how much. I would eat, eat, and eat some more. I'd eat it if it was in front of me, I'd order it even if I just ate 30 minutes ago. My weakness was Chick-fil-a, and since I drove right by it every day, that's what I ate... sometimes twice a day. I'd come home and eat some more. I'd raid the pantry and eat sweets, snacks, whatever. I'd drink 3-4 sodas a day (32 ounces)... sometimes diet, sometimes regular. When I was done eating at the end of the night, I was so angry at myself. I'd say, "Why do I keep doing this to myself? Why do I have no willpower? I feel like CRAP after I eat like that, so WHY WHY WHY???!!!" I don't blame anyone or anything, or even my circumstances, I just didn't care enough to fix myself.

So naturally, the 20 pounds crept back up and with a vengeance. Let me insert here that I've probably never really been "in shape". I exercised in high school because I had to, I played co-ed softball as an adult because it was fun, but I never really worked out until I turned 32. Then I started training for a half marathon, which I found an excuse not to complete of course (blamed it on hurting my tailbone when I fell down the stairs halfway through the training, even when I still could've WALKED it). However, during this training time I was fit... I lost a few pounds, and the day of my longest run (so far), I jogged an entire SEVEN (7) miles without stopping!!! I hiked a pretty intense trail (Mt. Baden-Powell, 9400 ft elevation) the week before that. Then the fall... then the weight... you know. Same 'ole, same 'ole. I've yo-yo'd my entire adult life. Trying this fad diet, and that fad diet. You name it, I've probably tried it.

I honestly don't know what day it was (around July 20th), but I just woke up and decided I'd had enough of my food addiction, this was IT! I was changing for good, and I needed to find a way to do it. I wasn't going to diet, I was going to change my whole lifestyle. I posted something on Facebook about needing to change my habits, and a good friend told me about what she had been doing. It was called "Vegan"... yeah right... me not eat meat?! HA! But I checked into it anyway.

Based on recommendations from a few friends, I watched the following documentaries: Forks Over Knives (highly recommend), Food, Inc., and Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. I've read "Choose to Lose" by Chris Powell, "Eat to Live" by Dr. Joel Furhman, parts of "The China Study", and just finished reading "The Engine 2 Diet" by Rip Esselstyn.

Have I gone completely Vegan? No. Since July 29th (because that's when I started tracking my weight, exercise, and food), I have restricted my consumption of meat (chicken, fish, and eggs --oh I did have a burger ONCE) and dairy to about 1-2 times a week. The rest of the time I really have tried hard to incorporate a whole foods, plant-based diet. After watching the documentaries and reading the books I mentioned above, it all makes so much sense. A lot of you probably think I'm a whack-a-doo, but I really don't care. I'm taking care of my body and cleaning out the toxins.

As of today, I've lost 20 pounds! I accomplished my goal by today, which was awesome, and I know I'll keep reaching my goals because the fat and pounds just keep falling off. I walk or do some kind of heart-rate-increasing activity almost every day (usually at an incline), weights here and there, and I've lost 3 inches in my waist. I weighed about 204 when I started the new goals in July. Today I weigh 183.6, and I'm wearing a women's size 16, but regular not wide! Why am I giving you my numbers? Because I know this lifestyle is for the rest of my life, I know it works, and I know the numbers will keep decreasing. I have mini goals of 5 pounds at a time, but my final goal weight is 135. That's 48.4 more pounds! I don't care how long it takes, because I know I'll get there... but I really HOPE to reach this goal by the end of February.

When I talked to my grandpa about this a few weeks ago, he said, "That's the way to do it!" And I remembered that after his heart attack about 20 years ago, he reversed his heart disease by eating this way and avoided a double or triple bypass surgery! I had totally forgot about that. I'm sure he's probably not still eating like this, but the point is he knows it works and that motivated me even more.

In writing this post today, I'm making a new statement and a new goal. I taking the Engine 2 challenge, and I'm going 100% whole foods/plant-based foods for 28 days (this means no animal proteins including meat, eggs, and dairy) starting Monday. Since I've already been eating this way about 85% of the time for the past 6 weeks, I'm thinking it shouldn't bee too hard. Wish me luck!