3 years ago and 20 more lbs.

November 1st 2008 marks 3 years since I decided to stop eating meat, lose weight and become healthier. Going vegetarian was more on the being healthier side than the loosing weight side.

Anyway, I set a goal in November of 05 to lose 80 lbs. I was 240 lbs at the time so 80 lbs would put me at 160, which is right in the middle of the normal weight range for my height and build (per the Body Mass Index). Well, since then I've lost 60 pounds! I'm 3/4 to my goal weight! I currently weigh about 180. So, basically it took me 3 years to lose 60 pounds, which equals 20 lbs a year.

HOW I LOST 60 LBS IN 3 YEARS

I went vegetarian on November 1st 2005 (after 2 years and 9 months of easing into it). Going veg didn't really help with weight loss by itself, but it did help me make healthier choices.

I stopped drinking pop in August of 06. I don't drink any kind of pop, not even the clear kind. I do, however, buy sparking water and make sparking drinks with juice.

My original plan in 05 was to join Bally's and start exercising, which I did, but I canceled my membership because at the time I didn't have a stable income and I didn't want to be under a 2 year contract. In March of 07 my job had a weight loss contest and I exercised my butt off and lost 30 pounds in 10 weeks, I won.

In May of 07 I learned about cleansing and fasting for detoxification. I did the Master Cleanse (a 10 day "lemonade" fast) and lost 10 pounds, which was part of the 30 I lost during the contest. That 10 pounds ended up coming back. I still cleanse and fast on a regular basis for health benefits.

I went vegan (no animal products of any kind) on March 1st 2008 and quickly lost about 20 pounds.

This took me from 240 to 180.

MY NEW PLAN

Exercise everyday.
This is the most important tool for weight loss. I have an elliptical and I plan on using it to burn at least 200 calories a day (takes about 25 minutes). I would like to burn 500 every other day, but I'll keep it at a minimum of 200. I'll do crunches, too. I'm also going to try to get up at 6am every morning to stretch, do some light cardio and jog. It's good to get your heart rate up in the morning because it helps speed up your metabolism.

Stop associating things with eating.
Especially with watching TV and movies. Rachel and I watch movies all the time and we just got digital cable a few days ago. I associate watching things with eating. I can eat a whole Amy's pizza, a whole pint of fake ice cream and a drink a whole bottle of sparkling grape juice in one sitting. So, basically I am going to cut down on these things in general and especially when watching TV and movies. My plan is to eat nothing during my favorite shows and movies, but if it's too hard in the beginning or I actually am hungry then I'll try to eat something healthy like celery w/ peanut butter, air popped corn or a few triscuits (with sliced tomato on top).

Avoid excess sugar.
If we don't burn up the sugar we eat then it gets stored as fat, so it's good to stay away from it. When I say excess sugar I'm not talking about carrots and beats, I'm talking about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and things with added sugar. My favorite green tea (Sobe) is loaded with HFCS. A lot of things have it. I'll get alternatives, like barbecue sauce, without it in the natural food section of Kroger or a health food store. I need to drink more water and fresh raw juice (I have a juicer). When I do buy juice from the store I will only get 100% juice with no added sugar. I may dilute the store bought juice with sparkling water. I'm going to start making my own soy milk (I have a soy milk maker) that way I can either not sweeten it or use a natural alternative to slightly sweeten it. I can use it for cereal, which I'm only going to start buying healthy kinds (instead of sugary kinds) from the natural food section of Kroger or the bulk bin at a health food store. I eventually want to get away from cereal and eat things like oatmeal or fruit smoothies. I'll slightly sweeten the oatmeal with agave nectar, stevia etc.

Avoid refined carbs and processed starches.
Carbs give us energy, if we don't use that energy then it gets stored as fat. Instead of white bread I'll use sprouted bread (which I've already started to). Instead of white rice I'll use brown or wild rice. Instead of white pasta I'll use whole wheat (and preferable without gluten which I can get from a health food store). I try to only eat complex carbs, but still I eat too much of them. I have a desk job and A LOT of people with desk jobs are overweight because of this. I'm also going to cut way down on things like fries, tater tots, etc.

Cut down on fake meat.
Fake meat is ideally supposed to be used as a transitional food for people to ease into vegetarianism. My transitional period was from 03 to 05, but I still eat it on a regular basis. It's not really meant to be a staple in a vegan diet. I'll still have a veggie burger or something once or twice a weak. I also need to cut down on fake cheese and fake ice cream.

Try to stay under 1600 calories a day.
I've been trying to stay under 1600 calories a day by keeping a running total in my head. I've been slacking the past couple months. I bought a new diet journal to keep track. I've revived my diet blog and I'm going to start using it more often.

Things I'm going to do in general

Stop eating potato chips. Lay's original and Lay's BBQ are my weakness. I've stopped buying them, but they still tempt me at my grandma's and at parties. So, no more chips. I don't care what kind they are, even if they are kettle cooked, no more.

Only eat when I'm hungry. I really need to stop eating as something to do. I need to only eat when I feel true hunger.

Start taking more soup and salad for lunch. Salad is healthy and low cal. I work close to home and a lot of times I'll come home and fill up on bread (PB&J) or eat bean burritos. Replacing bread with salad for lunch alone should show some results.

Try to control myself at lunch (when I come home) and especially at night. Like most people when I come home from work at night I want eat a lot, so I need to limit myself.

That's it! I'll start doing this and I'll post the results once I reach my goal!

Here's a motivational picture I made:



20 more lbs to go!

Here's the Body mass index:



I'm 6 foot, 180 pounds. As you can see I'm barely in the normal range.