Some background info.

I'm going to use this blog as a way to chart my progress and try to keep myself accountable while doing this new way of eating.

Some background: Over Memorial Day weekend in 2008, I found my self at 159 lbs, which at 5'3" put me solidly in the overweight category. I was tired all the time. I decided I needed to lose weight. At that time I was 28 years old and throughout my 20's I'd had periods of gaining and losing weight. When I was 22 and in college I lost more than 20 lbs without a problem. All I had to do was be a bit more careful about what I ate and work out 3-4x/wk. I did the same thing at 25 after having gained a lot of the weight back. Both of those times I was able to lose 20 lbs in only about 3 months. Piece of cake.

Well, it hasn't been so easy this time. In May 2008 I was 159 lbs and joined Weight Watchers and began exercising a few days a week. My goal has been 130 lbs, which was where I was at previously and I felt really good at that weight. By November 2008 I was down to 136 lbs. Then I fell back into bad habits over the holidays. By February 2009, I was back up to 147 lbs. I'm getting married this September, so I knew I wanted to get back down to at least 135 before the wedding.

In February, I began exercising 5 days a week on average. I again began watching what I was eating. And four months later I've only lost 5 lbs. Very. Frustrating.

What I've been typically eating was a serving of steel cut oats (1/4 cup dry before cooking) with 1/2 cup of fruit for breakfast. For lunch I would eat what I previously thought was a large salad (probably 1/4 lb) made up of romaine and carrots with raspberry vinegar and 1 to 1 1/2 cups of a bean based homemade soup. I would have 1 oz raw almonds and an apple for a late afternoon snack right before starting my hour and a half commute home after work. For dinner, I would eat a Morningstar Farms Veggie Burger on a whole wheat light bun (80 cal, 0 fat, 5 grams fiber), and a large portion of steamed veggies with some salt. I did find myself going back for extra bread or a soy dream ice cream bar afterward... I always find the evenings to be the most difficult time to stick to any eating plan... Anyway, even though I thought that I was doing pretty well, I obviously wasn't losing much weight, so I decided I needed a change.

My sister, who has been a vegetarian for 12 years or so, had used the Eat to Live plan for about a month a few years ago. She said it was very effective, but somewhat difficult to maintain. I already don't eat a lot of meat, and it sounded like it might be a good plan for me to really "kick it up a notch."

I will be getting my wedding dress altered in mid-August, so I'll need to be at whatever weight I'm going to be at for the wedding by then. I'd love to lose 10 more lbs... Hopefully, this blog/diary will help me do that.

There are multiple reasons why this diet appeals to me. Over the years, I have moved closer and closer to a vegetarian diet as meat is just not as appealing to my tastebuds as are fruits, veggies and grains. Obviously, I have the short term goal of losing weight for my wedding. But my longer term goal is to eat in a way that will help me avoid heart disease, cancer, and other health problems. I have a family history of heart disease (father had a heart attack at age 61, mother died from heart disease/strokes at age 69) and cancer (mother, grandparents etc). There are a lot of things in life I can't control, but the food that I eat is not one of them. If I can change the way I eat and positively affect my health as I age, at least I'll know I did everything I could to stay healthy.