I had several things happen which just added up for me to "I must change my life." I went in for an annual checkup, and the doctor made a comment about my weight. When I got the result of my bloodwork online and looked up my chart, he had put "morbid obesity" on as an existing health condition. I took it on like a challenge. I know myself well enough to know that I can use something like that, and I decided "I'll show him." And by gosh, I am scheduling my physical this year after I am solidly in the "Normal" BMI range!

When I got started, I set the bar for success to a level I could reach, which would look really low to a lot of people. Like, "I will not eat a Reese's or a cinnamon roll today" low. Actually, back at the beginning, it was more like "I won't eat a Reese's or a cinnamon roll yet. Maybe later." That was a meal at a time, then a day at a time, a week at a time, and finally none. I knew I needed to give up sugar, and I finally did. It was my first big health change, back in January, 2018. It took a while for me to do that. And then it took a while for the cravings to go away, but they did. I now don't crave processed sweets. I do like fruit, though I have to eat it in moderation if I want my weight to go down. (If anyone reading this has a fraught relationship with some foods, you might check out the Bright Line Eating Food Freedom Quiz, and see what ideas that sparks.)

I did a lot of work on habits along the way, one at a time. I went vegan. I started planning meals. I started tracking all my food. I got careful about weighing all my food. I got careful about the time window, and having the kitchen close in the evening. As I got lighter, I started exercising more and more regularly, and set goals for that. I made changes one at a time. I kept each change at a level that was manageable for me, and didn't tackle anything new until I was reliable for the last new thing. (Resource: James Clear has some great articles, videos and a book about creating habits.)

As far as diet and exercise plans, it has been an evolution. I started with a fairly standard American diet minus the sugar (lost a little weight, but not a lot). Next was a vegan diet with no sugar (lost no weight over that first month, but felt noticeably better). Vegan diet, no sugar, high protein diet following strict MFP calorie counts was next, and I lost a couple of pounds a week steadily. My weight loss and health improvement really took off when I took on Dr. Joel Fuhrman's plan on Oct 1. I decided to try it, and stop if it didn't work for me after a few weeks. I had been doing research on diet and nutrition and realized that I might feel even better and get even better results if I tweaked what I was eating. I now eat a lot of vegetables, a fair amount of fruit, so a lot of fiber, and a good amount of fat from plant sources. If you are curious, see his books The End of Dieting or Eat to Live; here's an article with highlights. He has you focus your calories on nutrient-dense foods to help improve your health. The results have been great for me. I know this diet's not for everyone, but it works for me. I do enjoy what I am eating (your taste changes, and you can learn to enjoy different things). I am not hungry all the time, and it doesn't feel like a lot of work.

I hope this helps!