Testimonial

It may be a little early for me to compose a testimonial as I still have a long way to reach my goal, but I need to get something down as an introduction to those who don't already know me.

I am 47 years old and I have been struggling with my weight my entire life, even as a child. My mother put me on Weight Watchers when I was 10 years old. I needed to lose 25 pounds and I only lost 15. Nevertheless, I made it all the way through high school at an average size, probably about 10 pounds overweight the whole time.

It wasn't until college that my weight control problems really got out of hand. I gain 30 pounds that first year in the dorms on the school meal plan. I lost those 30 pounds via starvation over the summer and went back to school looking great. It then began to creep up, slowly and steadily. I would lose and gain a little at a time, but I never returned to that high school weight.

From my 30th birthday on, I considered myself a vegetarian, although I did still eat fish, shrimp and lobster. I had hoped it would help with the weight control, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. Every once in awhile, I would fall of the wagon and eat fast food burgers and hot dogs for months at a time.

Fast forward to 2009. I am a mother of two beautiful girls that my husband and I adopted from China. They were just starting school. I love doing things with them. These two are active sporty girls and I don't want to be left behind. I want to be able to experience adventures and physical challenges with them. But, by this point, I was 150 pounds overweight. I was showing signs of being pre-diabetic. I had acid-reflux, bad skin, allergies, sinus issues and I was suffering from 5-7 colds a year and chronic bronchitis. I was always sick. I was also in fear of having to have a hysterectomy because of large multiple fibroid tumors. The biggest was the size of a large orange. I had talked my sister into gastric bypass surgery, but couldn't convince myself.

That year I lost 30 pounds and then by the end of the year, I gained it all back. Never one to quit, I tried again the next year and lost 38 pounds. I gained 30 back, at least leaving me with a deficit of 8 pounds. In 2011, I was floundering and trying different approaches. I believed my issue was binge eating at mealtimes. I could control myself just fine between meals, but when I sat down for a meal, I ate well beyond the point of satisfying physical hunger. Since I couldn't control this, I thought I would outsmart myself and eat only two meals a day. I found that I could not eat more than 1500 calories at a time. I stopped the weight gain and was even losing a little.

I was probably down about 20 pounds by June when I saw the film, "Forks Over Knives" with my husband.

For me, it was like an epiphany. Everything I had been wondering about when it came to food suddenly made sense. Why had I never considered these ideas before? I needed to change my focus from losing weight to gaining health. I walked out of that theater committed to a new direction and I was shocked to find that my husband was along for the ride.

It wasn't quite as simple as I made it sound. I am not superstitious or easily swayed by claims, especially health ones. I am an engineer and I subscribe to logic, science, studies and proof. I began reading whatever I could find that would both support whole food plant-based eating and also what would refute it. There is certainly plenty of material on both sides. However, I found most of the information refuting it was provided by the dairy industry, egg council, and commercial farming. Studies funded by these industries became easy to pick apart when I read the fine details. The evidence was overwhelming. While I couldn't quite understand every study I read, I was able to learn enough to feel confident in the science behind eating a whole foods plant-based diet, while completely eliminating animal products (except honey). I wholeheartedly reserve the right to change my mind if convinced otherwise. For now, results speak louder than words.

It was hard at first, but as I learned how to cook, it got easier and easier. I was able to overcome ALL of my health issues, including the fibroid tumors. If only I had known that my diet was causing me so much pain. While eating this way, my husband got off all his medications for acid-reflux, high blood pressure, anxiety and heart arrythmia. He no longer suffers from hemorrhoids or bad breath either. He lost over 50 pounds. The beauty of eating this way is that you can reap most of these health benefits BEFORE the weight comes off. Some things, like lower cholesterol numbers, can change significantly in just a couple of weeks. Acid-reflux goes away almost immediately. I still suffer from the occasional cold, but now it only lasts two days instead of two weeks. I hope in time, that even those will become a rarity.

So here I am, completely committed to a new lifestyle. I love and enjoy eating now more than I did when I was eating all my favorite heavy foods. Sometimes, I still slip up, but for the most part, I feel in control over food. I don't get strong cravings and I feel satisfied with my meals. I can actually stop when I feel full. I still track my food and calories, but not to limit myself. It is rather to see what I have eaten. The calories do not determine whether I eat, my hunger does.

I am down 99 pounds! I have 51 more to go. Fortunately, eating this way is like eating for maintenance while still losing weight. That means that I won't have to change a thing when I reach my goal. If you have weight or health issues, join me now in ending the cycle.

Below is a before picture at the beginning of 2011. I think I was down about 8 pounds from my highest weight.