Ok, updated on my Vegan status? Still going strong. Yep. I am still committed to making it to March 28th. I'm not even worried about the Holidays. I have found enough Vegan recipes that I know I can handle it. It will just take planning and preparation on my part. But, I can do that!
I have added a new level to my quest for health. Although my Vegan lifestyle has done WONDERS for my health, it has not done much for my weight. I have always said that weight is not the goal and it isn't. I still maintain that position, however, I feel like I'm in the middle of this journey and I might as well make the most of it. So, last week, I started adding calorie counting to my already Vegan choices... this has proven to be the toughest thing I have done so far.
I have always been honest in this blog and if I am to continue that trend, I must say, this is tough. I have counted calories before and had tremendous success on it. In fact, this was the first course of action recommended by a nutritionist and by my family practitioner back in Feb when I started this journey. It works very well, however, pairing it with being Vegan is much tougher than one might think. My options, as a Vegan are already limited, adding calorie counting to the mix cuts way down on the already limited!
I have been seeing the reason why I'm not loosing weight, however, I have never realized how many calories I take in during the course of a single day. For instance, Taco Bell is a Vegan fast food gift from the Almighty! Been Burritos, Black Bean and Rice Burritos, Cantina Bowls and Burritos! I'm telling ya, has saved my life on more than one occasion! However, I would order 3 been burritos. It's fine because it doesn't have meat or dairy, so , technically, it's ok to eat. I just recently found out that a single Fresco style been burrito has 350 calories. 350 x 3 is 1050! Thast' right! And my daily calorie allottment is 1200. So, in just on sitting, I was injesting over 1000's calories! That's INSANE!
Insane and sobering all at the same time. Since I have been holding myself accountable for every bite, I am eating alot less. And as a result, I'm starving! Yes! I really am. Starving! 2 Tbs of peanut butter has 190 calories in it, that doesn't include whatever you put the peanut butter one to eat it! I am forcing myself to get creative once again, which is always a good thing. I feel challenged and I will conquer it. I am interested to see my weight loss at the end of this. If I have lost any at all.
Honestly? Honestly, I'm very hungry, all the time, I am a little grouchy because I'm not eating until I'm so full I can't feel my extremidies! I'm just believing that. once again, my labors will not be in vein. Health depends 100% on what I eat, so I'm an eating the right things! Weight loss depends 100% on how much I eat, so I'm eating alot less.
This has been a good journey with all it's ups and downs. Even in the hardest days, I know down deep in my knower that I'm doing what I'm suppossed to be doing. Thank you for taking it with me. Thank you for cheering me on! I will be on the other side of this trip at some point... and I'm pretty sure, when I get there, the first thing I'm going to get is an Arby's Giant Roast Beef sandwhich!!! I'm not even going to be sorry!
Make your difficult decsion, jump in your new life, get rid of old habits, become accountable for what you eat, say and do. Whatever it is, just go for it! We will all reach the other side, no matter how challenging the journey may be, I am worth it and so are you!
Things I learned in med school:
ReplyDelete#1 Simple sugars make you hungry later.
#2 When you're hungry (maybe because of the simple sugar) wait 20-30 minutes before deciding to eat to let your glucagon levels and blood sugar come back up to normal.
#3 Doctors prescribe lots of drugs to deal with problems that come about because people don't have the self discipline to do something like what you're doing. I have a lot of respect for the discipline you're showing. Way to go!
- Shaun