Lifestyle Change, not a diet.

sabrebrat · May 2014

Hi there,
This is just a little blurb on why I've come to MFP. I am about to turn 38 next month and I am currently at the heaviest I've been in my whole life. I've tried to lose weight on a couple of occasions, but I fell back into my old ways pretty quickly. I know it's nobody's fault but my own; laziness and complacency got me to 304lbs, but my determination to be a better me brought me here!

I now have the motivation that I need to change my day to day life and start becoming a healthier person. I don't have any kids or obligations that would make it difficult to make such a change. So I've decided to go vegetarian (except for occasional seafood, which will be my only meat). My wife is vegetarian, but is also looking to become healthier, so I have her full support.

I don't have any medical issues (yet) and I have the free time, so there is no reason I can't eat healthy and exercise. I've signed up to play ice hockey twice a week all summer (yay, Canada) and I plan on walking regularly and eventually start doing 5k and 10k runs. But I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I am on day 4 of eating a plant based diet and I don't miss the meat at all so far.

And I just wanted to say that it has been great these past few days, reading these boards and seeing so much support and so many great results. It is great motivation!

-Jenn

scyian · May 2014

Welcome! Feel free to add me

allotmentgardener · May 2014

Hi. Add me, I am 39 and vegetarian

martinel2099 · May 2014

I really liked your topic title, the best way to lose weight is by making it a life style and not thinking of it as a diet. If everyone recorded everything they ate and made a reasonable attempt to keep at their calorie goals there wouldn't be as many obese people in the US there is now. I'm currently 248 and I'm already losing weight by counting calories as accurately as I can. Even on my cheat days (yesterday being one) I'm slowly losing weight so that's a win in my book. Just make sure you record everything, especially on the "bad" days. I say "bad" because on this diet you are allowed to eat like a normal person and there are bumps on the road once ina while.

Nothing wrong with going vegetarian, just make sure you are getting adequate protein and other nutrients. I'm not a vegetarian but there's plenty of them here on this site that you can go to for great advice.

imogeng114 · May 2014

Best of luck with your plans, but i would echo the post above about protein. The best thing I have found with MFP is the carbs/fat/protein tracking. I have been eating way too little protein and as I am training quite often it really makes a difference to performance. Greek yoghurt and cottage cheese seems to help boost the protein a lot

sabrebrat · May 2014

Thanks everyone. I will definitely be keeping an eye on my protein. I love cottage cheese, so that would be an easy way to incorporate some protein. And as I mentioned, I'll be eating some fish on occasion.

sabrebrat · May 2014

My first week of meal plans from Happy Herbivore is complete and I am delighted to find that I am down 5 lbs. I was very surprised to find that I didn't miss eating meat at all and I only had one evening where I felt a little hungry. (I didn't drink enough water that day, so it might really have been thirst and not hunger).

I know I shouldn't expect this kind of result every week, but I am definitely feeling good about everything and my motivation to keep eating healthy foods has never been higher.

PrintedWoman · May 2014

Hi and good luck! You can do it! Feel free to add me as a friend. I am also starting out as well.

disneymama73 · May 2014

You are doing great! Keep up the good work. I too am new here, so feel free to add me.

Lifestyle Change, not a diet.

Replies

Categories