first steps run together

I heard somewhere that your body's natural state is healthy. Everything it does is to protect you and keep you safe. The problem is that we don't understand how to work WITH our body to achieve our desired goals.

When i first questioned my belief that I'm happy with my size, i realised that i was actually ignoring my body. I was telling my body it wasn't part of who i was and i wasn't going to care for it. The message i was trying to send myself was that i don't need to obsess about my weight. So i took a long hard look in the mirror and told myself that I (mind, spirit, and BODY too) were going to get healthy. No matter where that took us, we were all going to get there in peace. It took me a few weeks of saying this to my reflection before i started believing it.



While my new outlook was sinking in, my doctor had proscribed me Diaformin which i was dutifully taking and increasing by 1/4 a capsule every week or so. I was also keeping up with my newly found love of bike riding. Every weekend my family would go for anywhere between 1-2 hour long rides. Other than that, my physical activity was limited to keeping up with a toddler.

My next step to getting me healthy (i took at the same time as my first) i started listening to people talk about what makes your body healthy. As a vegetarian, i have a natural bias towards believing that fruits and veg are good for me. So I was more willing to believe this. One of the strongest things that influenced my choice of diet was the documentary called "Hungry for a Change". It was a good place to start but not particularly great for originality. I've tried a few of their suggestions and i'll only be sharing what i found worked for me. I chose to start by increasing my vegetable intake by about 50%. You may think a vegetarian already eats a lot of vegetables, i didn't. I liked fruits and i liked sugar.


My first diet
-No white processed sugar (AT ALL)
-Anything that had more than 3% sugar on the label was banned
-Whole grain pastas and breads were IN, but only 3 times a week.
-Lots of vegetables! If i wouldn't eat them, i juiced them.
- No white potatoes. Sweet Potatoes were a fine substitute.
-No fruit juices. Water and milk were fine for drinking. (along with my veg juice)
-Instead of focusing on a daily diet, i meal planned by week to make sure i was getting the foods i needed on a weekly basis (your body works SO much better on weekly planning than by day)
-my last rule: if i went to a party i was allowed 1 slice of any kind of desert i wanted. ANY KIND!

By the end of my first month i'd dropped 5kg (or about 10 pounds). My body and I had set out at a breakneck speed. I was flying high. little did i know this speed and ease wasn't going to last forever.