How much weight I lost:
68 lbs
What motivated me to lose weight:
Throughout my life I've been on the bigger side, but still had high self-esteem. My weight didn't bug me until freshman year of college, when I realized just how large and unhealthy I was. I did gain the Freshman Fifteen, my dorm room smelled like cheeseburgers, and frequently I slept from about 4 a.m. until 6 p.m. I even slept through some of my 6 p.m. classes. I was almost 200 lbs, and I didn't want to see that number on the scale. I also read a lot of comic books, and everyone in comic books is so fit and ready for anything: I modeled my goals after cartoons, ha ha. I wanted to be physically able to do anything.
How I lost weight:
During the summer between freshman and sophomore year of college, I did a lot of comic book reading. For the first time, I really felt uncomfortable in my own body. It's easy to just accept being big if you're used to it, and maybe that first year of living away from home made me realize that I had choices; I could change myself. The first lifestyle change I made was the addition of exercise: I did 20 crunches every morning, then gradually upped them to 30, 40, 50. I brought my bicycle to school and rode to class. I stopped buying and eating junk foods - Doritos, ice cream, pudding cups, fast food - and started (roughly) counting calories. Eventually I cut out all meats but fish, then all meats including fish, and now I am a full-fledged vegan. I took my first yoga class during my senior year, and fell in love with it. I started going to the school gym with my room-mate, and I kept it up after graduation at a gym near my house. I've found that the best way to succeed in drastically changing something about myself is to change everything about myself. Growing up in a comfortable environment, with a home-cooked meal and a bowl of ice cream every night, caused me to accept everything as it was: eat what Momma cooks, that's just how it works. I'm not complaining, though - I had a wonderful childhood that I wouldn't want to edit, otherwise I wouldn't be who I am today - but it's so liberating to realize that I have choices, that I can do what I want to do, I can eat what I want to eat, and anything I don't like about myself can be altered. I went from 196 lbs to 128 lbs in approximately 3 years, a size 14-16/large-extra large to a size 4/small-extra small. And last month my mother decided to follow my plant-based diet to lose weight, and so far she's lost over 20 pounds (and is still consistently losing!) - even more recently she's added a few spare-time exercises, such as leg lifts in bed and wall push-ups every time she's leaving the bathroom. In both my case and my mom's (who at first committed to only one week of veganism, but has yet to look back), one small change led to other small changes, which in the end accumulated to yield a significant result.
Tips and Tricks:
- weight loss=lifestyle change
- Being big because I've always been big isn't a reason (or excuse) to remain big for the rest of my life
- Eating fresh, mostly raw, non-animal foods (and avoiding any other products made from animals) makes me feel clean, energized, happy, and alive
- Yoga is the best thing I've ever done for my mind, body, and spirit
- It is 100% possible to change alone
- Eat for nutrition, not just for taste
- Hold no expectations for foods: cleanse your palate and love simple, natural flavors
- Veggies, rice, etc don't need butter and salt - too many flavors can make you over-eat!
