For many of us that have a lot of weight to lose and have made the decision to give it a go, possibly for the 19th million time, the first day always feels like D-Day. Ours was September 8, 2015. But it actually started well before that as we spent the Spring and Summer planning and researching.
But wait, I am getting a bit ahead of myself.
We had dieted numerous times. Unsuccessfully.
Sure we had some initial success but never anything that resulted in substantial weight loss. And like many dieters, the weight came back on and then some. Our most successful foray was in 2005 when we gave one of the protein diets a shot. We had some success and even kept it off for a period of time. Most successful thing that came out of all of that was learning how to control the constant heartburn Jim (hubby) and I were both having. But we never could seem to get all the way to our goals and before long, we were completely off of it and on the fast track for regaining it all.
Over the next several years, we tried similar diets like the Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) and the Paleo diets. Oh and of course, there were a few other crazy things tried… especially on my part. Too silly to provide details but to give you an idea at one point I was eating tablespoons of olive oil… (extra virgin… of course…insert eye roll) as it was supposed to help satiate me which in turn was supposed to help me lose weight.
Anyway, they were silly fads not worth talking about. So let’s just move on.
I then moved into working out like a fiend. Joined a gym, got a personal trainer and worked out 4-5 times a week plus started doing Bikram yoga. Sure I felt good, but no weight loss. Yes I lost a few inches and was continuing down the path until I hurt myself. Pulled my Achilles in a cross-fit class. Ouch! But the worse part was the length of time it took to heal, which of course, circumvented my workouts.
At one point, I simply gave up. Decided I was destined to be fat and was tired of obsessing over it. I wanted to live my life and enjoy myself. Somehow, I convinced myself it was okay. That lasted for about 3 to 4 years. During which I continued to add-on the lbs as did Jim.
Then in early 2015, Jim announced he was going to do something. Wasn’t sure what, but something had to be done. Neither of us were happy and I was getting very scared about my health especially since heart disease is so big in my family.
So we both started reading/researching. Separately.
Then in April, we registered for a marketing conference where it turned out Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller fame would be speaking. Jim and I are big fans of his and identify strongly with his Libertarian and atheist views, so we were excited to attend. It was then we learned he had dropped 100 lbs and were shocked at his transformation when he appeared on stage. This sent our research in a completely different direction as we began to learn how he did it.
I spent most of the summer absorbing as many of the details of his plan as I could get my hands on. Spent hours on a blog written by Ray Cronise — an individual that was instrumental in Penn’s transformation. I also read Eat to Live — a book written by Dr. Joel Furhman — as it also helped shape Penn’s weight loss plan. Both of these introduced me to other information about plant-based diets including the documentary, website& books called Forks Over Knives.
I was transfixed and transformed.
After sharing my notes with Jim, we knew we had found our plan!
We decided we would start after the summer was over, specifically the Tuesday after Labor Day weekend. This was going to be a major change to a plant-based diet and a long break from imbibing alcohol. It was also going to be a major reduction in calories and the elimination of diary, animal protein, sugar and salt.
Despite all of these changes & eliminations, we were excited and oddly confident. I downloaded MyFitnessPal to track my calories & progress as well as to journal my thoughts throughout the process.
On the first day, I wrote the following…
Day #1:
Started vegan/Penn Jillette/Ray Cronise/Dr. Furhman diet. Not sure what to call it. Also going to do Cronise’s cold therapy. [Note: I actually decided to forego the cold therapy as felt there wasn’t enough evidence to support its use.]
Basically eating veggies & fruit, fibrous foods like barley/rice. No drinking. No diary, animal protein, eggs, etc. Trying to stay below 800-1000 calories but only eating if hungry. Counting calories until I get the hang of eating without documenting. Not always easy to estimate calories in any food item as Jim cooking but he is on the plan too so he is being conscious.
Starting weight this AM: 265.2. This was after eating/drinking pretty much whatever I wanted all weekend especially Monday, Labor Day when we had Jim’s homemade mac/cheese, a huge steak, and lots of drinks. Before this morning’s weigh in I was consistently at 263 so I feel the weight difference is from the binge/last supper eating. Feel the weight of the steak in my belly pretty significantly. But truth be told, I have been as high as 288 this summer. Yikes!!
Excited to finally be on this. Wanted to start 2 weeks ago but Jim not ready.
Not sure if I will do the cheat day in 2 weeks or not. Diet allows and encourages a cheat day 1x every 2 weeks. Not going to think about that for right now other than to know it is there if I struggle. Will decide in 2 weeks. [Note: Didn’t implement the bimonthly cheat days as diet going well and didn’t feel the desire. Did take a break from December 16-January 1 to enjoy birthday & holidays.]
My starting weight = 265.2
Jim’s starting weight = 368.4Goal: Lose as much as I can. 66 lbs would put me below 200 lbs. 100 lbs seems doable. Not sure I have the confidence to believe I can get to 120 but that would be 145.2 lbs. Can I do that????
Anyway… let’s start!
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