I grew up on a typical Midwestern diet; also known as the Standard American Diet or SAD. This is how I was raised and it is how everyone around me ate. As time passed, I observed that everyone around me was not very healthy though and realized that the main causes were diet and sedentary lifestyles. My weight wasn't much of a concern to me until I reached my mid-twenties.
My weight would fluctuate between 130-135 pounds. My energy was pretty good and I felt healthy. When I was 23, I started to put on a few extra pounds.
I decided to become vegetarian. My reasons were partly ethical and partly personal health.
I soon learned this was a wise choice. I dropped the pounds; I was looking and feeling great and my skin was in great shape, plus I had plenty of energy. I lived on a diet of mostly granola, oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, soups and salads for a little over a year.
I really enjoyed being a vegetarian, but I eventually allowed myself to start eating meat again.
Due to influences from friends and the inconvenience of my full-time work and school schedules, I slowly started to creep back into a SAD diet; chicken, steak, fast food, sweets, etc. and as a result, started to gain weight again. I also noticed that I was frequently congested and I came down with a bad bout of influenza and a severe sinus infection that I battled for several weeks.
My energy had also been very low, I thought I was anemic or maybe had a thyroid problem. The truth was that my diet was the primary cause for the weight gain and the low energy. I ate this way for about three years and my weight had slowly climbed to 175 pounds! I was scared when I saw the scale, and at only 5' 7", this was definitely too much weight for my body and it certainly wasn't muscle gain! I have a family history of obesity and diabetes, which has always been motivation for me to not allow myself to become obese.
I had to do something about this extra weight before it got really out of control. I thought back to the time when I had felt my best, this was when I had been a vegetarian, so I decided to revisit that.
I re-adopted my vegetarian diet and started working out. At first I was happy with it, because I lost about 10-15 pounds, but then I plateaued. I was still overweight for my height and frame, and didn't know what else to do. I thought by eating a vegetarian diet and being more active I was doing right by my body. The problem was that I wasn't doing it correctly.
I was still eating dessert all too often, snacking on chips and eating significant amounts of cheese, pasta and bread. I was replacing the meat that I previously ate with foods that were just as unhealthy.
I had become a junk food vegetarian and I needed a more drastic change to get the results I wanted.
This was happening around the time that I began to take a more sincere interest in nutrition. I had started taking some nutrition classes at a local college; I also began a nutritional consultant program and a holistic health practitioner program. In addition to my formal education, I was reading everything I could get my hands on regarding nutrition.
That is when I discovered Dr. Douglas N. Graham and his book, The 80/10/10 Diet along with T. Colin Campbell's, The China Study. I couldn't put these books down. Everything these guys said made perfect sense to me.
As I read these books, I started to include more fresh fruits into my diet while reading the 80/10/10
book and I quickly began to notice that my energy was increasing and my bowels became more frequent.
I was ecstatic about these changes and I knew if I implemented more of what I had learned, this would only improve. I followed Dr. Graham's recommendations for breakfast and lunch, but would eat a regular, cooked vegetarian dinner, I did this for about a week.
I noticed that I felt lighter, stronger, more energized and that my waistband was loosening.
I decided I would attempt to immerse myself fully in a raw, vegan diet and see what further benefits I could experience.
I ate strictly by the book, only raw, vegan mostly organic foods and in the recommended ratios for almost two weeks. Afterwards, the way that I felt improved considerably. I lost some more weight and I noticed I that my body was detoxifying.
I had some minor breakouts as the toxins were being flushed out and my bowel movements went from once a day to 2-3 and their quality improved. One more thing that I noticed was that my sinuses were much clearer. I was no longer congested, which had been a frequent occurrence for me.
This raw, vegan diet changed my life and my relationship with food. I have since practiced a primarily raw vegan diet and as a result, continue to experience improved health and vibrant energy. I also have become an advocate for a vegan lifestyle, as I wish everyone to know the health and energy I have gained through it.
My journey to veganism started with an interest in losing weight and being healthier and then as I learned more about nutrition, I was convinced that this is the best diet. After adopting a vegan diet, I started to become more aware and compassionate towards the animals that I previously consumed. This awareness led me to pursue more knowledge and this knowledge transformed into a passion to do everything that I can to honor my body, honor my fellow beings and honor my planet.
View the original article here
My weight would fluctuate between 130-135 pounds. My energy was pretty good and I felt healthy. When I was 23, I started to put on a few extra pounds.
I decided to become vegetarian. My reasons were partly ethical and partly personal health.
I soon learned this was a wise choice. I dropped the pounds; I was looking and feeling great and my skin was in great shape, plus I had plenty of energy. I lived on a diet of mostly granola, oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, soups and salads for a little over a year.
I really enjoyed being a vegetarian, but I eventually allowed myself to start eating meat again.
Due to influences from friends and the inconvenience of my full-time work and school schedules, I slowly started to creep back into a SAD diet; chicken, steak, fast food, sweets, etc. and as a result, started to gain weight again. I also noticed that I was frequently congested and I came down with a bad bout of influenza and a severe sinus infection that I battled for several weeks.
My energy had also been very low, I thought I was anemic or maybe had a thyroid problem. The truth was that my diet was the primary cause for the weight gain and the low energy. I ate this way for about three years and my weight had slowly climbed to 175 pounds! I was scared when I saw the scale, and at only 5' 7", this was definitely too much weight for my body and it certainly wasn't muscle gain! I have a family history of obesity and diabetes, which has always been motivation for me to not allow myself to become obese.
I had to do something about this extra weight before it got really out of control. I thought back to the time when I had felt my best, this was when I had been a vegetarian, so I decided to revisit that.
I re-adopted my vegetarian diet and started working out. At first I was happy with it, because I lost about 10-15 pounds, but then I plateaued. I was still overweight for my height and frame, and didn't know what else to do. I thought by eating a vegetarian diet and being more active I was doing right by my body. The problem was that I wasn't doing it correctly.
I was still eating dessert all too often, snacking on chips and eating significant amounts of cheese, pasta and bread. I was replacing the meat that I previously ate with foods that were just as unhealthy.
I had become a junk food vegetarian and I needed a more drastic change to get the results I wanted.
This was happening around the time that I began to take a more sincere interest in nutrition. I had started taking some nutrition classes at a local college; I also began a nutritional consultant program and a holistic health practitioner program. In addition to my formal education, I was reading everything I could get my hands on regarding nutrition.
That is when I discovered Dr. Douglas N. Graham and his book, The 80/10/10 Diet along with T. Colin Campbell's, The China Study. I couldn't put these books down. Everything these guys said made perfect sense to me.
As I read these books, I started to include more fresh fruits into my diet while reading the 80/10/10
book and I quickly began to notice that my energy was increasing and my bowels became more frequent.
I was ecstatic about these changes and I knew if I implemented more of what I had learned, this would only improve. I followed Dr. Graham's recommendations for breakfast and lunch, but would eat a regular, cooked vegetarian dinner, I did this for about a week.
I noticed that I felt lighter, stronger, more energized and that my waistband was loosening.
I decided I would attempt to immerse myself fully in a raw, vegan diet and see what further benefits I could experience.
I ate strictly by the book, only raw, vegan mostly organic foods and in the recommended ratios for almost two weeks. Afterwards, the way that I felt improved considerably. I lost some more weight and I noticed I that my body was detoxifying.
I had some minor breakouts as the toxins were being flushed out and my bowel movements went from once a day to 2-3 and their quality improved. One more thing that I noticed was that my sinuses were much clearer. I was no longer congested, which had been a frequent occurrence for me.
This raw, vegan diet changed my life and my relationship with food. I have since practiced a primarily raw vegan diet and as a result, continue to experience improved health and vibrant energy. I also have become an advocate for a vegan lifestyle, as I wish everyone to know the health and energy I have gained through it.
My journey to veganism started with an interest in losing weight and being healthier and then as I learned more about nutrition, I was convinced that this is the best diet. After adopting a vegan diet, I started to become more aware and compassionate towards the animals that I previously consumed. This awareness led me to pursue more knowledge and this knowledge transformed into a passion to do everything that I can to honor my body, honor my fellow beings and honor my planet.
View the original article here
