Health.

Why hello!

I've been outfit-lazy lately; but all the while hording awesome new finds to unleash when I'm feeling particularly inspired :).  

No, today, I'm going talk a little bit about my journey to health(iness).  I'm going to keep it short!

Growing up, I was overweight.  I'm 5 feet tall, so weight was always a challenge, and a puzzle I could never quite solve.  I just really didn't understand the connection between food/weight/overall mental & physical health.  The only thing the world told me was: you're fat.  They didn't tell me why, or how to fix it.  

Well, up until a 3 years ago (this July!), I was terribly confused, unhappy, and not connected to my body what-so-ever.  One day, fed up, I decided to CHANGE.  

I read one book about Nutrition, and was instantly hooked!  Over the next year and a half, I devoured every Health/Nutrition/Alternative Diet book I could find.  I fell head over heels in love with the subject, and found that I knew VERY little about real food and the human body. 

I also set out to try each alternative diet I was feverishly studying:  Macrobiotics, Raw Foods, 80/10/10, etc.  I really wanted to experience the way my body felt while on each one, so that I could find exactly what made my body feel the best.  

Overnight, I became Vegan (previously being a vegetarian for around 12 years), started eating healthy, and taught myself to cook.  It was a whole new world!  

Over the course of a year, I lost 45 pounds.  Insane right?  I can't believe it myself!!!  

Yes, I did start exercising more, but the bulk of it came off with healthy eating.  

I radically changed my diet.  

The other day, a friend asked me what I did to lose weight, and here is the full list:

I stopped eating Sugar.  

(I read one book about sugar, and immediately got rid of any and all foods containing it.  If I eat something with sugar in it these days, my body feels TERRIBLE).

I stopped eating all Chemicals.

No Canned foods.

( I do occasionally use a can of tomatoes now-a-days)

I started eating all Organic produce, Grains, and Beans.

I started eating a Green Smoothie every morning, and generally added tons of greens to my daily diet.  (Green smoothies made the most immediate change in the way I felt.)

I went Vegan.  

(I love animals -alot-, but the health outcome feels great too!)

I stopped drinking soft drinks.

I stopped eating processed foods.

I started eating only Whole Foods.

Before I went Vegan, I was eating mass amounts of CHEESE (which I thought I would die without), Pasta, and bread.  Yes, I had cheese cravings now and then, but my body felt SO much better immediately.  Honestly, I don't crave cheese at all.  Also, pasta was one of my favorite foods ever, and now I rarely, if ever, want it.  Once I started forcing myself to eat healthy, I eventually just naturally stopped wanting crap, and craved good food.  

From my experience and research, the most important thing about weight loss is DIGESTION.  You want to eat things that are going to move through you the quickest, and that are going to fill you up nutrionally, mentally & pshyically.  Fruit!, Veggies, Grains, and Beans.  You can eat as much as you want!  My body was doing cartwheels after a few weeks of healthy eating.  When I look back, I can't believe the way I ate.  All canned veggies, mostly canned fruit, soda every day, etc.  :(

One thing to remember, is that you are retraining your brain!  It's not going to be easy!  But like they say, nothing worth having comes easy.  I feel like a totally different person now than I did 3 years ago.  

So after all of my researching/diet trials, I found that, for me, my ideal daily eating is:

Raw Breakfast & Lunch, and a Cooked Dinner.

My typical (and ideal) day is:

Raw Green Smoothie (Greens, Fruit, a little Water)

Big Salad (Veggies, Greens, Avo & Lemon/Ume/Orange for dressing)

Cooked Dinner (Grains/Beans, or a Meal out)

I've also armed myself with several quick raw dessert recipes to quench my sweet tooth. 

Again, this is just what I have found works for me!  Everyone is different, so just seek out your weak spots and find a healthy alternative! :)

I really wanted to share a little of my experience to answer my friends question, but also to give you my weight success story ( I love to read other peoples!).  If you have one, please share!

Have an awesome day <3  ally.