I almost don't even know where to begin...there are so many things I want to say, and so little time to actually put them down. I have had so much success with my "life change" that people have started to ask me about the details, so I thought I would try to take the time to record it.
Over the past several years, I had begun to gain weight, especially around my middle. I am now 48 years old, and never really had a problem with my weight, until after ovaries were removed. Then I tried every diet known to man, without any success. I was tired all the time, had an average of 15 migraines a month, and took 3 different migraine medications, as well as blood pressure, cholesterol and thyroid prescriptions. I could not sleep at night, and was diagnosed with sleep apnea, and had to use a breathing machine at night. So, I bought a treadmill, and a pilates home gym. I was so tired I was never able to keep up an exercise program. I made several appeals to my doctors to help me, to make suggestions, to try to find what could be the problem. I was told many different things, which I'm not even going to go into here, but no really good advice. I spent countless hours, days, weeks researching diet plans, exercise programs, to see what might work for me. I should make it clear, that I do have a pretty long history of eating healthy and exercise, prior to beginning to feel the aches and pains of arthritis and the onset of the weight gain and tiredness.
I was laid off from my job Dec 29, 2009. When my husband made it clear he wanted the treadmill out of the house unless I was going to use it, I decided that no matter what it took, 2010 was going to be the year I made a change. In January, I set the treadmill up in the living room so I could watch tv while I walked. I put the pilates gym in the spare bedroom. Beginning January 7, I started walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes, every day. It nearly killed me at first. My knees and feet hurt. My hips hurt so bad I could barely sleep at night. I went from the treadmill to the pilates gym, for 30 minutes. So I worked out for one hour every day, except weekends. After two months, I had lost 2 pounds. I was so discouraged. Although I could tell the workout was getting easier, I really couldn't tell any difference in my body.
One day I was watching Oprah, and the show was about the harmful food we are putting in our bodies. She showed a clip of the movie "Food Inc", and had Alicia Silverstone as a guest, talking about her book "The Kind Diet". Oprah mentioned that Amazon was running a special for her show, so I purchased both the movie and Alicia's book. I can honestly say that it changed my life. While I had already removed fatty meat, sugars, most refined "white" foods, caffeine, and milk from my diet, I was still eating a lot of processed foods. Here is what I did, starting day 1.
I made a huge pot of vegetable soup. I froze some of it. I ate this vegetable soup every day, most of the time, twice a day. I bought maple syrup, honey and organic raw sugar. I already used brown rice, and love whole grains, I just added more to my diet. I started eating more beans, black beans in particular. I already used soymilk, and I added tofu to my diet. All this gives me lots of protein. I make my own hummus. I found organic, vegan items at my local Food Lion and online. I expected that I would be tired, but I actually have more energy. I don't eat any dairy, with the exception of greek yogurt, because it is just so good for you, I didn't want to give it up. I very rarely eat any meat, although I will, if I want it. When I eat meat, it is a lean beef, chicken or fish. I very rarely eat an egg, but again if I want it, I will. I eat lots of grains, vegetables, and fruit. I found a great website that has vegetarian recipes, and they are awesome!
Here's the good part. Since I began this diet in March, about 6 weeks ago (maybe 8), I have lost 6 more pounds, and several inches. You can actually see muscle definition now, and my husband is always telling me how much I'm shrinking. I am still losing weight, even though I have slowed down my workout schedule a little. I still exercise about 3 times a week now. I love the food, it does not feel restrictive to me at all. I think that when you know you are putting good things into your body, it makes you mentally healthier, as well. I am sleeping all night, and have not had a migraine since I began my new way of eating. I am hoping to be able to go off blood pressure and cholesterol meds someday.
I did not measure before I started, because I had done so so many times in the past, and nothing worked. I did find measurements that I had taken in May of 2009, and was not surprised to see that I had gained 11 pounds since those measurements were taken. I do weigh myself daily, so I know exactly what I weighed, but I really wish I had measured, becuase that's where the big difference is. When I started in April, I weighed 179 lbs. I now weigh 171. I'm 5'9" by the way. My goal is 150, but I know that since I am adding muscle, a slow weight loss is expected. Here are my results so far:
Hips lost 1 inch (and my butt is no longer jiggly!)
Waist lost 3 inches
Bust lost 2 inches
Upper arms lost 1/4 inch each
Thighs lost 2.5 inches each
Calves lost 3/4 inch each
So I'll keep you updated!
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