Okay...where do I begin??

Over the course of the last year I feel like I have yo-yo'd and tried everything to lose weight. I've always desired to not only lose weight but to start feeling "normal" towards food. I feel like I've suffered from disordered eating for way too many years. Instead of eating to live (while enjoying it too) food would take on this whole new life of itself. I would "do good" for a while, counting every calorie, or watching my "points", restricting my calories too much or staying away from carbs...you get the point. During this time, sure I may have lost a few pounds here or there, but sure enough they would always come back on whenever I had enough of whatever it was I was doing. It still controlled me.

Even when I was doing the raw diet. It was too restrictive for me as well. I can't do High raw. It doesn't provide enough variety in my foods. I'm sure if I had all the kitchen gadgets AND time that is needed to make a wide variety of satisfying raw meals it would be easier, but lets face it...who does?

So what am I up to now??? About 4 weeks ago I decided enough was enough and I was ready to get this fluff off my body before I outgrew anymore pants! :) I read Alicia Silverstone's new cookbook "The Kind Diet" and really liked what I was reading. I started to incorporate a lot of what I was doing when I was doing High Raw back in my diet, however, I also started to way up my intake of sweet potatoes, oats, and brown rice.

What happened to me last time, happened again...that is when I'm seriously increasing my greens consumption, my sweet tooth disappears, as well as my desire for chicken, fish and meat. Since I wasn't eating those types of proteins I also decided that I would give up other animal by-products (ie. dairy, cheese, eggs). Went back to Almond Milk, got Earthly balance "butter" and use flax/water combo to substitute for eggs when baking.

Let me tell you...this has been the easiest transition. I am no longer counting calories, no longer tracking points, no longer depriving myself of foods I enjoy eating, no starving then bingeing. My body is naturally CRAVING crazy amounts of vegetables, and when I eat fruits the sweetness of those taste out of this world. Everything is intensified.

I've made some AWESOME vegan desserts, that many of my family and friends have LOVED!

The weight seems to be coming right off of me. I've lost 8.5 lbs. in the past 4 weeks.

The most important change in all of it??? How I FEEL! I feel like I'm on top of the world. I don't ever want this feeling to go away!

Later I'll post more about some of the delicious food that I've been eating. It's been a GREAT four weeks of discovering some awesome recipes with incredible food!