New Progress Pics - Size 14 to Size 6!

So let's see - the questions I got:

the dress was from Boscovs dept. store! seriously, in the dress section, a little lace number - could not resist so it was not a ton of money!

the Louboutin's I got online at a huge discount and I LOVE them - they look like a work of art on my feet!

I decided to get a mani / pedi and eyebrows done on Wed. as the show is Friday night - had this idea to keep the little flash of red in the outfit going by doing a french mani but the tips that are normally emphasized in white, I am going to have them do in a subtle red on the tips........I am not a huge "nail" girl and I thought that could look cool for Cyndi!

as to the questions on how I am doing this weight loss as I still am about 25 lbs from my ideal weight - well after a year in 2012 being sick with 7 lung infections, I was put on alot of steroids and the battle of health and weight was awful. a friend told me about a movie on Netflix or Amazon Instant Video called Forks Over Knives.

I watched it that night and could not go back to eating how I was - it is a whole food plant based lifestyle which means no meat, no dairy and no oil of any kind. I even got certified in plant based nutrition from Cornell as the year progressed and I learned so much about the havoc animal based protein causes on the body but mainly the links to so many diseases and weight gain, much do to inflammation.

Initially when you switch, you lose alot up front as the inflammation leaves the body - but then as you progress and start to crave Kale as the taste buds change, the weight loss is more of a side effect to health - the body keeps shedding until you get to the weight you are meant to be at for your height. So perfect example, this summer while recuperating from an ankle surgery that implanted a plate and 7 screws and immobile for months, I still dropped 6 lbs just by eating WFPB.

Anyway, for me, the health issues were also so key - I was a lifelong asthma sufferer and now, all meds gone, not one attack in almost a year - my cholesterol #'s dropped to optimal levels within weeks of the change - my BP came down quickly - my skin silky smooth - not a single cold or illness - energy way up and sleeping amazingly.

Both the FOK and the Engine 2 folks posted my story a few months in and I just sent them an update with these new pics hoping they post again as I think visually the pics and the story help people to say they can change too:

http://engine2diet.com/the-daily-beet/kristens-incredible-story-plus-a-mbwm-giveaway/

http://www.forksoverknives.com/after-a-year-of-terrible-health-forks-over-knives-has-me-back-on-track/

The links show me at 16 lbs down so early on........I got laid off a week after my surgery and am seriously considering launching my own business with my other half to be a FT health coach / mentor teaching people all of the data I learned reg this lifestyle and why it is the best for health and of course weight. I want to take them food shopping, show them how to read labels, steer them to the best cookbooks b/c the food is actually really good, be a support for the emotional toll weight gain does, form exercise groups and so much more.

I did also start a plant based group here on MFP to exchange similar things so if anyone has any interest in this way of eating, let me know, more then happy to share the info, videos, links and more as well as be your biggest cheerleader!

Hope I got to all the questions and guys, thanks so much for the compliments on the pics! For so long I felt so ugly about myself, my body and helpless to change a thing - now, the power is all in what I put in my mouth and knowing I will be around a long time for my kids and getting skinny in the process

m_wilh,

could not agree more! age is a huge factor for alot and eating plant based allows for eating in abundance. even when we went out to the concert and did dinner first, I stopped halfway thru a veggie sandwich - I was full. and yet I craved all the veggies in it.

I am so glad to hear more and more people are at least watching the movie to understand it's importance to health and to weight loss. it is not a dry documentary or anything like it. and i at first felt concerned about all the food i had eaten in all my years and was it too late to reverse things - the answer is it is never too late.

i also learned so much more thru the Cornell course when i got certified in plant based nutrition and i respect that alot of people struggle with eating this way and that for most, you are only open to the change when something drastic happens like too much weight gain or a serious health issue.

i was being told about a year and a half ago to have a prophylactic double mastectomy due to the breast cancer in my family - I declined as it did not feel like the right thing. i learned in my courses at Cornell that so much of what we believe are genetic are really health issues that reappear in families because we are all eating the same way, the same bad things over generations.

granted, there are true genetic health issues so understand I am not discounting those but much is very linked to the food we eat - seeing the data and learning in the course, i counted myself lucky i did not go thru with the surgery. so much of my health issues have reversed - even the start of my RA symptoms, now all gone - and i believe many things can be kept at bay with ideal health.

but i am not perfect and i still have the lingering "bad foods" - there are many halloween things lingering in the house and yes, i am human and have a snack size mini bag of m&m's some days (shhh, don't tell anyone)........i just know that when i do, the bulk of my eating the bulk of the year is optimal and it allows for those times when processed foods are eaten and even then, they are so few.

the concert was amazing, cyndi was amazing - next time she comes, I am bringing my daughter would i know would love it!