Loving the VEGAN LIFE!!

It's been a little over a month since I have decided to totally change my eating habits and go FULL VEGAN!! August 1st marked the beginning of the third 21 day vegan challenge of 2017 for me. The first one was a bust, the second one was a bit easier and this one was a no brainer! Through out the year I stuck to many of the vegan ways but still ate chicken (my one time weakness) and seafood. Approaching this third challenge and dealing with some health issues was when the final decision was made to get rid of all diary and animal products.

As told in a previous blog, I also began juicing. That has been a blessing in itself. The ability to make my own juices instead of constantly buying Bolthouse Farms (my favorite) has saved a lot of money. This is what a typical day looks like for me, not shown are Ezekiel toast with organic peanut butter topped with sliced bananas and cinnamon drizzled with agave nector, black beans, brown rice and zucchini. This is the goodness of what meal prepping normally consist.

Let me tell you, this is not a cheap lifestyle at all but I had to weigh my options. I can pay less for unhealthy food and pay more for frequent doctors/hospital visits and prescriptions OR pay more for my healthy lifestyle and only visit my doctor as needed, hospital for emergencies and no prescriptions. I have not had to use my asthma inhaler as frequently as I used to and have not used my nebulizer since the first of the year. My headaches have decreased, I sleep better and I feel MARVELOUS! I attribute every piece of this (in Tony Bakers voice) to my lifestyle change.

Upon completion of my third 21 day vegan challenge I was supposed to blog my results but life happened. I was preparing to return to school as a SENIOR (ALMOST DONE) and accepting a new management role at my job so it fell through the cracks. So lets discuss now. My goal, as it was for every challenge, was 12 lbs. That's an odd number, sure, but 10 lbs seemed to every day'ish and 15 was a bit much in my opinion for a 21 day challenge. The first 2 challenges I lost 9 lbs, both times and gained that PLUS back. In March, I was my heaviest weighing in at 210 lbs. I had not been that heavy since 2012 when I began using the Body By Vi program. I lost 50 lbs total over a years time (see previous blogs) and felt great but was a bit too skinny for my liking. I had gotten down to a size 6 and weighed 160 lbs. Of course, once I began school in 2015 I gained a little over 30 of those pounds back. This year I had to make a change and I did! On August 21st, weigh in day, I jumped on the scale happily and here are the results.

I exceeded my goal by .5 lbs! That's not a lot but to know that the previous challenges I failed and this one I exceeded my goal felt awesome. This was the kicker to my remaining vegan on top of how great I was feeling. I looked back at a few pictures from the college tour I was blessed to be a part of in March with the Jacksonville chapter of the 100 Black Men and I was in awe! I had gotten up to 210 lbs. and was very embarrassed at how I'd had let myself go. I did not take a picture of that because earlier in the month I'd taken a picture and it said 203 lbs.

I could not believe I had gained 7 lbs in a time span of about 2 weeks. I had not been that heavy since 2012 when I started my first major weight loss journey as mentioned above. So I grabbed that picture from the tour and made a grid with some pictures I had taken recently. I was more than pleased with what I saw.

What did I do? I totally changed my eating habits. I am a line dance aerobics instructor and an avid bridge walker. That's my physical activity but nothing overwhelming or too hard. I never stepped foot in a gym, it wasn't necessary. There were no gimmicks, no cutting corners just simply changing what I put in my body. I even cut out alcohol. I am not a VEGAN LIFE ADVOCATE so don't think this is to persuade anyone to stop eating meat and live healthy BUT if it does GOOD FOR YOU! I am looking forward to living a long healthy life. I have grandchildren that I want to see become great members of society and that starts with taking care of myself and finding peace and love for myself. I think I have done a great job of that. This is a never-ending journey and I am ALL in.