Hello World

I decided to start blogging about my experiences with my new diet because I'm so excited about it. I'll admit the fact that it's new is part of it, but it's more than that. It just makes so much sense for me, the way I am, my lifestyle and how I feel about food.

A little about me: I'm 35, 5'9" and today I weigh 204 lbs. You're probably thinking "whoa! she sure let her self go," but I going to tell you that this is actually the least I've weighed in probably two years. I've been a yo yo dieter most of my life. It's kinda funny now when I look back at being 155 and thinking I was a cow. I don't look bad now, believe it or not, but I could look so much better. But enough about that. At the beginning of the year I was in the high 2-teens and climbing. Christmas was what set it off. I come from a food loving family - my mother and I, anyway. My mother's never really had to worry about her weight except for when she was younger and too skinny, so she's always cooked heavy starchy, high fat meals. Spending the holidays with her I ate piles of meat and rice and Christmas cake. I am not a moderate eater. I eat for pleasure as much as nourishment and there's not a lot of dishes I'd turn down. After the holidays the pattern just continued.

In January I decided I had to do something. I had tried every diet (I thought) and couldn't imagine one of them working, so I turned to exercise. I started going to the rock climbing gym and in February I bought a stationary bike and began to work out everyday. Since I wasn't dieting I set a target of burning off 500 extra calories a day. It worked for a while. My weight went down from a peak of 222 to 215, then 208, but that's around where it stalled, going back and forth from 206 to 210 and a couple of times up to 212. I was getting toned and fitter, but stalled. It didn't help that I started traveling for work during the summer which made it hard to stick to both the diet and the exercise regimen.

It was only about a month ago when I saw a documentary about food that I decided to try something new. It recommended a whole food plant based diet - basically strict veganism. I wasn't sure I could do it - I love meat. I spent the summer grilling every weekend. But I wanted to see if I could do. I will admit that I have not been strict and don't think I will ever be. I do eat some foods that do fit the definition - like pita and bagels. I add sugar to my tea. I'm even ok with a little honey and I've let myself have some meat on the weekend, but for the first time in recent memory, I'm not struggling. I feel good, I'm losing weight and I'm not hungry.

This blog will be a little about the "weight loss journey," but mostly about the food, my experiences, recipes, restaurants and stores. BTW, I don't consider myself vegan, not only because I eat non vegan items sometimes, but because veganism is an ideological stance and I think the term rightly belongs to people who avoid animal products and bi-products because they are opposed to the exploitation of animals. I am avoiding, meat, milk, eggs and animal derivatives because I think that's the healthy way to live.