Discussion Board

I just wanted to thank all you regulars on the board. I have struggled like so many others for a long time to stay on track and I finally feel like I'm there thanks to a lot of good advice. I started a few years ago at 208,my all time high being 230 a few years before that and am now within 10lbs of my goal. I'm at 160 and things have slowed way down now. Jeff's calorie density and fast food videos were the "aha" moment I needed and have helped me realize that being vegan wasn't enough and that I really couldn't continue to eat out on a regular basis and expect to see results. The cool thing is I've been able to use all the money I saved from not eating out and used it to buy new size 8/10s!! I realize that these are not the same 8/10s I wore in high school though. I'm relatively active, walking my dog 3 miles daily and sometimes running along with that (she's not a runner.) I also try to do strength training twice a week. I love to hike and climb in the summer and I fell in love with snowshoeing last year. Although the activity helps I know most of it is diet.
I don't get a chance to come to the board as often I would like but when I'm feeling like going out for burritos on a busy day or grabbing one of the kids granola bars I come here and find all the encouragement to grab a potato or bowl of rice instead. Although my teenage boys eat this way at home, and they know it's the healthiest they still eat bad with their own money. My tweenage daughter though loves the food. I have to fight her for the yukon golds when they come out of the oven. She still is transitioning though. She still loves soy cheese and fake lunch meat for school but I've been buying it farther and farther apart so she has to come up with other ideas for her lunches. She freaks her friends out at school with things like miso soup or baked tofu and kale chips or hummus with snap peas. They all think she's weird and she loves that. She's grossed out at the way they eat and when they try to say "ewww, that's soy milk" she says "ewwww, that's pus filled breast milk from a cow." She has no weight problem and I hope never has to worry about that.
I'm glad that enough people here said "just let your tastes change" and they have. I really enjoy the foods and so does my husband who has lost 35lbs! I love Jeff's SNAP recipes and have even created a few of my own. Christmas parties have been a pain. Nobody understands lowfat plant based. We just eat before we go now or bring something we can share.
Thanks to all you who have done it or are doing it now and keeping the motivation for the rest of us!
Peace,
Stella

What wonderful news! Thanks for sharing your success.

That's a great post Stella. Very well stated. Congratulations on all you've achieved. It sounds like the changes you've made have benefited not only you but your whole family. Wonderful! I know what you mean about Christmas parties. Things are going to have to change for me next year around Thanksgiving and Christmas foods and parties as I got stuck preparing things I don't want to cook, much less eat. Thanks for posting!

Stella, congratulations! What a great post! It is great that you are so active--I am still trying to get more activity in my life, but I'm not a fan of the big outdoors. What impresses met he most is how you have achieved this with kids in the house, and that your daughter is all over this way of eating! That is so great, and I wish that I could have given that gift to my children! Impressive, and keep it up!

Stella, Congratulations on your success, and thanks for sharing it! It's always so motivating to hear success stories like yours! Great job!!

Congrats!