So far I have lost over 40lbs. That's a lot since I wasn't exactly a whale before, or so I thought. I've looked at a bunch of pictures and I was much tubbier than I realized. Sad to say, but true. I don't remember being that fat, but I guess I surely was. Now I am thin.... for me. By other people's standards, I'd be just average, but I have never been this thin, nor worn clothes this small in my entire adult life. So for me, I'm thin.
This has created quite the stir among my friends and family. As you can imagine, I get asked all the time "how did I do it!?" There is only one small problem with that question and the answer is........ YOU REALLY DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! That's correct. People ask, but they don't really want to know. They don't want to hear that I'm vegan. That is dismissed as impossible for them. And frankly, one doesn't need to become vegan to lose weight, although if you know what they do to your meat why you would eat it anyway is beyond me, but I digress. So most people dismiss my advice instantaneously once I tell them that I am now a vegan.
To make matters worse, I tell them that I go to the gym for a minimum of an hour and a half five times a week, plus I do HaganaH, (yes capital H at the end), which is Israeli hand to hand fighting three times a week at night. I get up at 5:30 or earlier, am at the gym by 6:30 at the latest and leave at 8:00. Last week I clocked over 15 miles on the treadmill. The week before that I did 20. I lift for thirty minutes and then I do the ski machine, or the treadmill for a minimum of an hour. Most days I go an hour and 15 minutes.
Now here's the sad part. I STILL cannot eat "whatever I want" and I have to watch everything that goes into my mouth. I live on pecans, tofu, black beans, wild rice, quinoa, muesli, almond milk, yes... salad although it takes a lot for me to want to eat one these days, and spelt. I eat about 90% organic, except when I go out and half the time I go to a vegan restaurant. I rarely drink caffeine, and only in tea. I consume NO ARTIFICIAL sweeteners of any kind. I don't eat wheat. I eat only spelt bread or flax seed bread and it has to be the 8 bucks a loaf health food kind that's organic. And then it's only once or twice a week. I eat no dairy of any kind.
For those of you that think that is a pretty restrictive way to live, look at it this way. I am alive! I no longer have major heel pain. (At one time I was up for surgery to lengthen my Achilles Heel as the pain was so bad I needed crutches. Thank you artificial sugar. The minute I stopped consuming diet soda, it went away!) I have tons of energy. More than people half my age. I am the oldest woman in HaganaH, and one of the oldest people in there period. Plus, I am now sparring with people much bigger than myself and keeping up! Mostly men! My skin has improved greatly, although the sagging skin from weight loss is a drag. Honesty here! I rarely get sick, I almost never have a headache or sinus issues that I was plagued with before, and I look pretty darn good. Not to mention my blood sugar is down, way down and I only take a maximum of 10 units a day, down from 120. So not bad.
So..... you didn't really want to hear that, did you?? It's like Dr. Laura says, it's not rocket science. Eat less, move more. And in my case, eat a LOT less and move a LOT more. I have always had the metabolism that would make me the last man standing in a famine! If I were a horse I'd be an easy keeper. And although I would love to eat chocolate and pasta, and bread, and, and, and everyday of my life, it's not worth it. Food has become something I enjoy, but not the end all or be all of my existance. I gotta say that fitting into a size eight is a lot more fun than a candy bar. Not to mention the looks I get when I wear my more form fitting clothes.
So to all those people who ask me, "how did you do it"? Don't ask unless you REALLY want to know. Because frankly, I really don't want to see that blank look on your face and hear all those crappy excuses you come up with on why you can't do it. If I can do it, anyone can. I was the biggest food lover on the planet!!! But there came a time where food started killing me, and I guess I just wanted to live more.
It's true that I have become the "ex smoker". I look around and wonder why more people don't make the effort, especially young people. And I'll tell you this, I was one of those people. Because I had friends who would tell me all about their successes, cause I asked, and I really didn't want to hear it. SO I sympathize.
Any of those of you out there who really want to make a change and would like some encouragement, please feel free to email me at liloredhead@yahoo.com But don't ask, unless you want to hear it!!!
