Getting into shape is surely no easy task. Many people struggle with it for years and I was no different. For the last three years, I found it nearly impossible to shed those last 15 pounds. I did the diets. I did the excessive workouts. I did the starvation and the rice cakes. I even tried pills, laxatives, and an assortment of different methods, but i just could not lose those last 15 pounds! They stuck to my midsection like an old tire and I was sick of it!
After a series of unsuccessful attempts, I ended 2012 off with a bummer. I never considered myself fat.I tried to eat the right things, and I really believed that I ate healthy, but junk food and candy always snuck its way back into my diet. I am a naturally active person and couldn't figure out why my gut was not moving, no matter how many crunches I did : ( I was also very unhappy in my personal life which really didn't help matters.
So what made me change?
Knowledge. I started to research about getting healthy and stumbled upon a few raw vegan websites. I tried the Paleo-diet for a little while. It wasn't for me. I also tried the Raw Vegan diet, another craze sweeping America. It wasn't for me either lol. After tons and tons of research, and a gazillion grocery shopping trips, i realized that my ideal diet consisted of the combination of both methods! 80% Raw, fresh fruits and veggies + 20% cooked foods = 100% HEALTHY ME. Muhahahahha hahaha I had found it!
I tread forward on my new journey, and have been extremely pleased with my over all well being and weight. I not only realized the mistakes I was making with my eating habits, but I isolated the things in my life that were making me unhappy as well. That meant moving out of my apartment in the middle of beautiful downtown HOTLANTA, ditching my old friends, and finding things to do that really made me smile. I really wanted to enjoy the world. You only get one life to live right? So with that thought realized, i made a commitment to my body that i will treat it correctly; nourish it. This is the only body i will ever have and if i don't take care of it,no one else will do it for me.
So to keep things short, below is a list of simple steps that i took that helped me to reach my weightloss goal and be a overall healthier person:
- Drink LOTS of water. It is recommended starting with half your body weight in ounces and then increasing your intake from there. Example. If you weigh 180 pounds, you should drink 90+ ounces of water a day; with 90 ounces being your minimum goal.
- Cut the fat. Its not easy to just cut fat from our diets. Greasy, fried foods are just downright awful for us. It is important to switch from bad fats to heart healthy fats that can be found in avocados, fatty fish (salmon, tuna), nuts and in seeds. An easy way to start is by changing the oil you cook with. Extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil and grape seed oil are excellent healthy alternatives to traditional canola, soybean, and vegetable oils.
- Limit Gluten. They not only sound alike, but gluten acts just like glue in your body! Its the main cause of IBS and constipation and most Americans do not even know it. It blocks your body from flowing naturally and clogs your colon. Gluten binds your food, making it difficult for your body to absorb adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals. I could go on and on about why gluten is bad for you. The bottom line is that gluten is present in most of the foods that are just not good for us.Please research this matter, its effect is more far reaching than most people can see. Gluten is in nearly every wheat product that is not specifically marked "Gluten-free". Rice and oats are naturally gluten free, which make them excellent substitutes for wheat.
- Limit Dairy. What other animal besides humans drink another animals by-product? Hell, we don't even drink our own mothers milk past infancy. Dairy reacts in the body similarly to gluten. It also DEPLETES the body of calcium. We can barely absorb the calcium from it anyway. I use a natural plant-based supplement in my smoothies. It has more calcium than milk, more vitamin c than oranges, more potassium than a banana, more protein than an ounce of chicken!; and this is in one teaspoon. Please stay tuned for details on my supplements.
- Less Salt. Salt causes a lot of water retention. You ever see those little old ladies with ankles so swollen that they can barely walk? I know most of us have that aunt or uncle who always had to keep a foot or ankle up! That my friends, is the long term effect of sodium.
So here a few tips that helped me to reach my weight loss goal! These tips are not just things I used temporarily to shed a few pounds, these are things that I live by. Diets do not work. They will never work. A diet is a temporary fix that will show you results at first, but in the long run the weight will come right back if permanent healthy eating habits aren't formed. Make a permanent commitment to yourself and your body! Remember, we are givin only one life, and only one body.So treat it right!
With Much Love
-Melissa
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