My Story!

Hi, I wanted to share my story so I can help others who have been in the same place that I have been in! Morbidly obese, Depressed and didn't think it was ever going to end! I thought I was stuck at my nearly 300 lbs and no where to go! I tried so many diets! I can't tell you the money I spent doing programs or buying food from other programs to just try to loose weight! Some things were even successful for a short time until I decided to go back to eating the food like I did before starting any program.  I was emotional eater and a yo-yo dieter my whole life! There were many things I would pass up doing because I was embarrassed to go out in public! Even when I tried and dressed up I felt like it didn't help I was still a pretty big girl! Just nothing seemed to help!

 I would pray about it a lot as well! I remember being in bed crying one day so sad because my mom had just died of colon cancer! My grandma died a short few months after that. I was just the biggest I have ever been and felt like there was nowhere to go.  I remember clear as day, which I believe was God, telling me you can lay here and feel sorry for yourself or you can get up and do something about it.  So I don't know why it clicked that day I believe its because I was tired of being depressed! I was tired of life just sucking all the time for me.  Tired of my weight and fighting it every single day! That is how I felt anyway! So for the next few days I decided I was going to do something about it.  I mean what is the alternate decision? Depression right and life sucking! So I know I didn't want that! So I prayed and asked God to help me! 

I really felt like I should not be eating meat.  I felt strong about that! I found ETL and was hopeful! I found it hard to stick with it though! After about a 6 months to a year trying to do Eat to Live I remember telling God OK this isn't working out for me.  So it would be awesome if you could lead me to a site that would help.  So I Google plant based and found plant purity (which was the name before protective diet).  I didn't really want to try something new but was willing to try some of the recipes! The ones I tried I liked! There were a couple I was like yuck (after being on PD some of those yuck recipes ended up being my favorites)! But most of them were quite enjoyable.  So I decided for 30 days I am going to commit and do it no matter what! I was thinking to myself how do I keep myself accountable! That is when I thought I would blog about it! I remember emailing Julie and asking her if she would mind! She was so excited and so was I! Now I know I had to do it especially if now I was going to write about it and give it a honest review! 

It was intention to only do it 30 days! Usually I was not good about sticking with diets so I thought I could do anything for 30 days right! I am going to tell you that was the hardest 30 days! Just because I was detoxing and wanted old foods that I was giving up.  I was happy that Julie helped me through that and having her coach me and encourage me was one of the best things ever!  After the 30 days and loosing 16 lbs in the first month I thought wow this isn't bad I could go longer! So I did! I have been doing PD for 18 months now! A year and a half which amazes me! If you would of told me I would not eat sugar, meat, oil, processed foods or nuts ever again I would of laughed at you! I am sharing this because I was where you are at! I do understand and know the things you face when it comes to food! After all that said I am so glad I have lost over 100 lbs and all my labs are better than ever! Last time I got my labs done my Total Cholesterol was 121! That was amazing to me! I can't remember the last time I got sick and I work in a hospital! I have never felt better!

  I just want to share this with other people who are fed up and just want more out of life! If that is you and your ready to make a change please use this link and go to Protective Diet Sign up for a free account and try some of the recipes! If you are ready to go all the way and never look back sign up for PD-ED! With that I will help you and encourage you! 

Another important thing I want to get out there is my my mom died of colon cancer which could be prevented by just the food we eat! I know there are a lot of programs out there that help you get healthy and loose weight but this program reduces your risk of cancer.  There are so many foods that are processed and meats that are just not made like they were back in the day! So many people have their fingers in our food and they are just out to make a buck! Do the research and you will see for yourself! I am looking forward to working with you! Please if you have any questions just ask:) You also can find me on Facebook this is my link! 

Thanks for reading!
Kristie

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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!

Embrace where you are at

I often find myself looking back on my past and feeling regretful.  Lately a thought pops in my head about how much I'm enjoying my life now that I've lost a huge amount of weight and feel so much healthier.

However, the very next thought is usually about all those wasted years and how I wish I would've changed so many years ago instead of lingering in the idea that I couldn't change.

Then I see pictures/quotes like this one on Facebook and sometimes I swear God is on my news feed! :)  

I guess I want to encourage anyone out there who feels like they can't change or that it would be too hard or that it would take too long, to start now where you are at with what you have.  If you have a desire to change at all, start now! Don't wait until Monday or the beginning of the month or even tomorrow...start right now!  I don't regret anything on my journey.  I know I had to take that journey to get the determination I have now to continue on my path to optimal wellness.

I'm so thankful for the people God has put into my life along the way who have inspired me and encouraged me to continue growing.  I hope I can repay that and inspire/encourage others as well.  

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?

Changing For The Better!

 

 

This is what I made for dinner tonight! I used Rice noodles instead of rice! It was good! I got the recipe and for the next month all my recipes from www.protectivediet.com! I love this site and it has a lot of great recipes! The one I made tonight you can get here http://protectivediet.com/chinese-take-in.html.  I am not big on spicy so usually if a recipe calls for something spicy I don't use it.  I sometimes skip the salt in recipes to. 

 

 

I am excited to share with you that I am going to change my lifestyle once and for all! I am sick of being fat! I am sick of craving sugar! Just once I would love to go past a bakery and not dream how I would buy a whole cake! Then I would go to the corner of the room and eat it in secret!  I don't want to eat anything in secret.  You know if your doing it in secret something is not right! I want to be proud of my health and proud of what I am eating!  I talked to the creator of the website Protective diet the other day! Her name is Julie and she was so inspiring and encouraging! I look forward to talking to her more and getting to know her! Read her inspiring story http://protectivediet.com/my-journey. You may have to sign up to see the recipes but it is free! Soooo worth it!  I am offically taking Sugar, Oil, Nuts, Dairy and Meat out of my diet Monday! I pretty much have for the most part already!  (Just in the last few days)  This isn't easy but I am so ready to do it! I hope you continue reading and going through this journey with me! I will blog before Monday about where I am at! You can actually read some of previous blogs and see not long ago I was in a rut.  Check out the sites and tell me what you think!

Envisions

Can you envision yourself where you want to be?  I can!  I think envisioning myself at my goal weight keeps me motivated to persist through all of the cravings.  By the time I'm 40 (a lil over a year away), I picture myself to be a picture of health!  I envision a glowing, youthful face and me standing tall and proud.  It's not about reaching a certain number on the scale for me but about having the energy to do whatever I want to do and not having pain to deal with every day!

I'm reading the Body Ecology Diet by Donna Gates and I've been stopped on page 79 for a couple days now.  I keep re-reading it and be like oh I already read this but then say wow that's really good and then read it again!  Lol Come on, I'm not the only one who does this am I?

Anyway page 79 says, "Beginning the diet is similar to climbing a mountain.  When you're at the bottom, at the first step, you can't see the health, happiness, and prosperity that may await you at the top.  But as you progress up the mountain, the top reveals itself more and more...when you master the principles of the diet, you'll be at the top of the mountain--vital, knowledgeable, and healthy.

That's why it is important to use your inherent ability to envision yourself in perfect, glowing health, radiating positive energy, feeling strong...Just remember how beautiful the world looks from the top of a mountain."

So can you see yourself at the top of the mountain, "radiating positive energy and feeling strong"?  I can and I imagine it to be a wonderful feeling!

Keep climbing!

Slow and steady wins the race

I hit another milestone today...151 pounds is gone (and never coming back!).  I have to admit that this is a very sweet moment for me because it seems like it has taken me forever to get here!

When I first started Weight Watchers the weight was coming off pretty fast (although at the time I didn't think so).  I watch shows like Biggest Loser and wish I could have numbers like that every week.  But I know I can't because I don't put the work in like they do.

I am very proud of this moment though and I realize that in order for me to keep the weight off, it's going to have to be slow and steady.  I'm ok with that because I have also completely changed my lifestyle, from what I eat to what I do.  I even do Pilates while I watch TV so that I can get in some extra exercise.  I would have never done that before!

I told myself a long time ago that I would set goals and rewards for myself because sometimes the scale is just not enough (we all know it lies!).  When I hit my 150 pound goal my reward was to buy the TRX training system for home.  It's been in my Amazon wish list for awhile but now I can buy it!

2008 on the left (with Charlie), 2011 in the middle and 2013 on the right