Encouragement for those who need to lose more than 100 pounds

Now that I've lost over 200 pounds people ask me to share some tips on how I got started and stayed motivated.  So I thought I would blog about it and hopefully it will help someone.

• Set small goals & reward yourself
• Every time I thought about having to lose 200+ pounds I got discouraged and would think there is no way I would be able to do it.  When you focus on the large number it makes it seem impossible.  It's like thinking about having to climb a mountain.  Yes it is going to be hard but take it one step at a time and before you know it, you'll reach the top!  I started with 5 pound weight loss goal.  This is one of the best things Weight Watchers did for me.  You got a sticker for every 5 pounds you lost.  I started collecting those stickers and before you know it, they add up.  I wrote out a list of rewards that I would give myself at certain intervals.  At first, the rewards were at smaller increments like 10 pounds and 20 pounds then I started spacing them out more.  Some examples of my rewards were: music, books, new shoes, new clothes, jewelry, nails painted, massage.  Some that are still on my list:  horseback riding, ride a roller coaster, go on a zip line tour, get another ear piercing, and a tattoo. 

• Positive Affirmations
• Your mind is very powerful.  What you think and what you say eventually comes to fruition.  Write down some positive affirmations and say them every day (whether you believe it or not).  Before long you will memorize them and can say them to yourself when you start to get discouraged.  Some of the ones I used are:
• I accept and love myself just the way I am.
• I am worth loving myself.
• I am grateful for this amazing gift God gave me and my body's ability to heal itself.
• The choices I make every day will improve my health.
• I am in control of my thoughts and actions.
• I take good care of my body, I eat right, I look good, I feel good, and I weigh what God wants me to weigh.
• As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he; therefore, all of my thoughts are positive.

• Stop the excuses
• "I'll start on Monday." "I'm too stressed."  "I can't afford to eat healthy."  "I have no support."  Every one can come up with an excuse.  You will always have an excuse, but you will always also have a choice!  Decide to find a way no matter what!  Decide that you are worth more than the excuses.

• Start a success journal or wall
• I sectioned off part of the wall in my office where I hung cork-board.  I have quotes and pictures on there that motivate me.  I also have a success journal.  I record all of my monthly measurements in there but I also journal about other milestones.  For example, when I noticed that I could buckle my seat belt again.  Or when I was finally off all of my medications.  I made a list of all of the ailments I suffered from and as I no longer had to deal with them, I checked them off my list.  

• Track your progress monthly
• I tell this to people all the time and wish I would've done it when I first started.  It's so important to take pictures and body measurements from the beginning.  I know we avoid the camera at all cost when we are overweight, but believe me, you will wish you had them later.  I would suggest taking your weight, body measurements, and pictures at the beginning of every month.  

• Make sure when you take the pictures that it is on the same background (like in front of a blank wall).  Be sure to take a picture from the front and the side.  Use a photo editor to add the date and current weight.  There were many times that I would pull up my old pictures and compare them side by side.  It helps keep you going when you see how far you have come.  Sometimes we can get stuck in the old mind thinking we are still as fat as we were when we started.  Seeing the pictures helps you realize that your mind can lie to you!   Take notice of and appreciate the things you do like about your body.  Don't always focus on what still needs to improve.  There will always be something that needs changing.  Instead of standing in the mirror and thinking your saggy skin looks gross.  Focus on the things you find beauty in, like the contours of your face, neck and shoulders.  Feel the strength of your muscles or celebrate the fact you can feel muscles or bone at all! 

• Learn to appreciate the small changes.  When you hit that plateau (every one will!), you need to learn to celebrate the small things.  Even if you have to take it hour by hour and celebrate the fact that you didn't eat the pan of chocolate chip brownies that your husband made and screams your name every time you walk by them!

• Find support
• If you live alone or don't have family and friends around you that support you living a healthy lifestyle, get online.  There are lots of support groups on Facebook.  The one I like the best is Protective Diet Living.  

• Before you put it in your mouth ask yourself if it will harm you or heal you?
• When you can focus on only consuming foods that will not harm you then you can shift your mindset from one of deprivation (I can't eat chocolate, chips, etc.) to one of offering.  I offer myself the ability to eat healthy foods that will help me reach my ideal weight and live life to the fullest.  

I'm officially half the person I used to be!

The upper left corner was in 2009 when I got my workout buddy, the lower right corner is Nov., 2013

As of today I have lost 201 pounds!  I'm excited but sometimes it's hard for me to believe.  I think the one thing that I am so thankful for Weight Watchers teaching me, is to take it 5 pounds at a time.  When I first started WW January, 2011 I never thought I would be able to lose the weight.  My heaviest weight was 421 pounds.  When I started with WW I had lost some on my own and was down to 393.  I needed WW at the time for the support and like I said to focus on small goals instead of the big picture.

Since WW, I've gone on quite a journey of transformation.  By the end of 2011 I decided to go vegetarian.  I was never really 100% on it though.  I never really had a hard time giving up meat because I always had severe allergic reactions to meat.  So that was kind of a no brainer.

The following year I decided to take it a step further and go vegan.  OMG that was hard!  Cheese was the hardest to give up.  I put cheese on everything, including salads and veggies.

Then sometime in 2012 I discovered Dr. Fuhrman and the nutritarian lifestyle.  I tried it for awhile but never really could commit 100% for more than 2 weeks.  I always felt deprived.

In the summer of 2013 I found Julie Marie and www.protectivediet.com and never looked back.  I'm not going to lie and say that detoxing from sugar, oil, nuts, etc was easy because it was not.  But by this time I had decided to commit to myself to stick with it for 30 days and see what happens.  I felt so proud of myself after the 30 days and having lost 16 pounds that month that I decided to keep going.  It's only been about 4-5 months (can't remember exact day I started) since I've been 100% completely free of meat, dairy, sugar, oil, and nuts.  I know I'll be able to continue this for the rest of my life.

I feel so much better now since I have more energy and less headaches.  I don't take any medications at all.  I have been able to reverse GERD, Sleep Apnea, Depression, Migraines, and painful PMS.  I'm still working on arthritis but I have no doubt it will resolve itself in time.

I am so looking forward to turning 40 next year because I will be the healthiest and slimmest I've ever been.  I want to encourage all of you reading this to jump on board with www.protectivediet.com.  You won't regret it and I guarantee you will be able to maintain this lifestyle with ease.  And best of all, without taking diet supplements!

Best of health to you all!

6 months on Protective Diet:)

I have been on Protective Diet for 6 months Nov 8th and I thought I should say something about that:) I have not blogged in a while because life gets in the way! I will try to be better at it!

I am so amazed by PD everyday! The food is amazing and for once in my life my weight is not Yo-Yoing! If you have ever tried to loose weight you understand! Not only have I become heart attack proof I am loosing weight! I just got my blood work back a few days ago and all my tests were better than ever.  So I know everything I am putting into my body is healthy that is such a awesome feeling:)  Another thing I really contribute to PD is my confidence has increased so much.  Knowing I could do something and stick with it just amazes me.  Usually diets always made me feel like a failure because I could never stick with them but not PD! It has given me the confidence to do even more things in my life.  I don't know if that is weird to some people but when you are told you are stupid and can't do anything you tend to believe it.  You live that way because you begin to believe it.  When I say PD has changed my life I am meaning it and not just in my eating.  Julie is doing amazing things and trying to help so many people.  I am so blessed to be able to call her a friend!  I also appreciate my bff Denise because she has been such a great support! I don't know if I could of done it without her! She was supportive before she even started PD:) So glad we are doing PD together now:)

Julie started doing Live video lessons! Last night was a great class with lots of information to help me even go further in this journey! I am so glad she has started this now:) There is a small fee but worth it! I don't want to think about how much money I have spent on books and diet plans! Never again:) I found my lifestyle for the rest of my life:) I feel like if I can do it anybody can do it! So when I say PD has changed my life now you know how:)

Now I know what you are saying I can't do that! My family won't eat that.  Guess what my family does not do it either.  I had to plan ahead and make my meals for the week on Sundays.  As long as I do that I am good.  Even now I know how long certain foods take to cook so I may wait and cook something during the week.   I still cook for my family:) Last night I made meatloaf, potatoes, corn and mac and cheese.  I didn't touch any of it.  Also so many of the meals are cheap! You can make a huge crock pot of different kinds of beans and freeze them.  You can also do that with rice and other cheap things you can buy in bulk.  Most of the the stuff that is pricey you don't use a whole lot of anyway.  So it does not seem like you have this huge grocery bill.  I think the first time I went to the store probably was the only time I spent quite a bit.  I was trying to buy everything and a lot of it..lol  I am just saying it is very doable.  I committed to 30 days and it was a challenge.  There is so much food I said no to.  However when that 30 days was up it was not so bad so I continued.  60 days later I was like this is easy how am I still doing it.  Now we are at 6 months still in awe about it and wonder if its to good to be true.  However I have the labs, I am loosing weight and I have never felt better:) So no its not to good to be true, its just true:)

Then & Now

I never really looked forward to birthdays because I really didn't have much to celebrate.  My life was increasingly becoming more and more miserable the more weight I gained.  I was suffering from intense GERD, almost daily migraines, and very depressed among other things.

Even more than the weight loss, I am really proud of the results and changes in my lab work!

                           2011                                             2013
Weight:                  344                                            239
Total Cholesterol:   192                                            137
HDL:                       39                                              34
LDL:                      123                                              88
Trigylcerides:          152                                              75
Blood Pressure:      139/92                                       122/70

I always heard that since I don't eat meat or dairy that my B12 and D levels would be low and I would have to supplement.  I did for awhile but haven't taken any in about 6 months.  Those levels are both within normal range too!

So there you have it, proof that eating a whole foods, plant-based diet works and if I can do it anyone can do it! What are you waiting for?

Through Thick and Hopefully Thin!

2011, 2012, 2013

I've known Kristie since I moved here to Indiana almost 13 years ago.  We have been through a lot together but the one constant struggle for both of us was our weight.

I'm so proud of us both that we have finally gotten to a point in our lives where we are focused on getting healthy instead of just doing whatever to lose the weight and get skinny.

It would have been so easy to give up and just not even try and believe me we did at one time or another.  Actually we just took breaks.  It was weird how we rarely were in the same place at the same time.

One of us would be doing well with our goals and losing weight and the other seemed to be struggling. I guess God had things planned that way so we could support each other and encourage each other to keep fighting.

It's exciting now that both of us are on the same page at the same time with plant-based, no oil, no sugar, eating.

I'm excited to see what this year brings and know that we will touch a lot of lives with all the years of experience of battling but learning how to overcome!