How I Lost Half My Bodyweight By Eating a Mostly Plant-Based Diet

... started hiking! Yep, me, the gal who could just barely crank out a paved mile at the local park. I started hiking a week ago and am loving it! Some days, like this morning, I opted for a paved route. But most of my hike's have been on trails. Now I'm not climbing Mount Kilimanjaro just yet, but I am averaging 1.75-2.25 miles every time I set out. I'm really proud of myself. I decided I'll get out there everyday unless there's snow on the ground or lightning in the area (both possible this time of year!). Yesterday it was over 60F, while the day before it didn't break 30. To celebrate and help me along, I've purchased an amazing Merino wool long sleeve base layer top & some wool hiking sock. So far I've just been wearing sneakers, but I have my Amazon "try before you buy" cart loaded with lightweight waterproof hiking shoes to try (before I buy). Someone recommended that I hit up REI or somewhere similar, but as a person of size, I'v...

 Here ya go! I had only 2 non-plant-based meals this week, which brings my plant-based percentage to about 92%! WOOHOO. A note on the math - I count each day's snacks as a single meal. I don't know why I skipped a couple of breakfasts. Just got busy and forgot! I ate out a couple of times - once when visiting my college student and once when celebrating my high school senior's musical accomplishment - but tried to offset it by eating lighter in other meals. Weigh-in is tomorrow morning so will see how it goes! B L D S S S 15  2 slices avocado toast with bagel seasoning   2 bowls of curry udon. Should’ve stopped at one but it was good and i was hungy Fake cheese sammy, no tomato banana Tostadas and salsa. Prob ate more than i should;ve. Today’s theme i guess Lemon poppyseed muffins 16  2 slices PB toast Kung pao tofu leftover sesame beef Bread & pickles from Sammy’s meal Lemon poppyseed muffins 17  2 bowls lasagna soup Rest of the kung pao tofu + PB toast ban...

I went out to eat a lot more this week than the previous two. I've tried to balance it out with mindful eating on the other days. Did this work? Stay tuned for the weigh in coming up in a few days! It's hard, though, to pass up a celebratory meal. And I'm not sure if I really want to! This week my youngest son performed as the top high school clarinet player in the state! The entire state! A few of his friends made the trip to the concert, plus my other son and one of my good friends! The Italian in me just could not let all these dear people leave the concert without feeding them lol. And it was great! We had a big family style meal at a nearby Italian restaurant. One thing I could've done better: I'd purposely ordered a vegetarian dish, but also a chicken dish for the kids. But then my friend told me how good the chicken was and I caved. Not the end of the world as I'm still mostly plant-based per plan, but I wish I'd stood my ground. Next time. Oh, and I ...

I caved yesterday and ate beef. Specifically, sesame beef from a yummy Chinese restaurant.  Here's how it went down. I was visiting my son at college and took him to lunch. I ordered a kung pao tofu for myself and he got the beef. The portions were humongous and his looked amazing, but I resisted the urge to taste it (mine was pretty amazing too btw).   But then he didn't want to take his leftovers back to the dorm. I have such a struggle wasting food (hence my endless supply of feta cheese and Kodiak mix that I bought pre-lifestyle change). So I brought home that beef and ate it for dinner because the thought of tossing away $6-7 dollars worth of food seemed objectionable. But really? I've let food go bad in the fridge that was worth way more than $6-7. At one point driving home from the college I thought that I should just pitch the leftovers as soon as I got home, but I didn't. And I didn't really enjoy the beef, either. But while I'm beating myself up here, ...

Here ya go - week 2 complete! Weighing in the morning of Day 15 at I'm down about 6 pounds since I started.  I did much better keeping plant-based this week with only 2 meals that included the dairy I'm still trying to use up. Note I skipped breakfast one day because I was still feeling ill from the previous night's disastrous meal. Food note can be found on the left sidebar. B L D S S S 8  Fryup - shroom, bell pepper, potato, cajun seasoning, spray oil Personal pizza with vegan sausage, shrooms, feta*; side salad Lasagna soup, 2 bowls Turmeric latte sweetened with monkfruit stuff Lemon poppyseed muffins 9  Fake cheese & tomato sandwich Split pea soup. Lasagna soup; side salad Larabar Lemon poppyseed muffins 10 Kodiak waffles** with blueberries and flax Fake cheese & tomato sandwich + Split pea soup. Vegan fryup - shroom, bell pepper, potato, field roast sausage, cajun seasoning, spray oil + 3 tostadas with salsa Banana Lemon poppyseed muffins 11 Steel cut oats wi...

I worry about iron. Several years ago I was turned away at the blood donation center after an initial pinprick revealed insufficient iron. And several full-on vegan friends suffer from anemia.  So let's dig into it. 1. How much iron do I actually need? According to the NIH, as a 50+ year old female, I only need 8 mg of iron per day. Just 8! Note that younger women will need much more, especially if pregnant. And note that men of all ages really don't need all that much. Here's the source:  Table 1: Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for Iron [ 5 ] Age Male Female Pregnancy Lactation Birth to 6 months 0.27 mg* 0.27 mg* 7–12 months 11 mg 11 mg 1–3 years 7 mg 7 mg 4–8 years 10 mg 10 mg 9–13 years 8 mg 8 mg 14–18 years 11 mg 15 mg 27 mg 10 mg 19–50 years 8 mg 18 mg 27 mg 9 mg 51+ years 8 mg 8 mg 2. Am I getting enough iron? Ya know, despite my worries, I think I am on the whole! My go-to steel cut oats with ground flax have 2+ mg of iron. And my beloved fake cheese and tomat...

Yesterday was my first test. I was out of the house with my son for about 6 hours and he wanted chicken. I'd brought a Larabar to tide me over, but when I saw that the restaurant offered vegan chicken and fries, I caved. Plant-based, right? I should've just said no when I saw my plate but by that time I was hungry. Besides, I've had some awful looking vegan foods in the past that turned out to be delish. My awful vegan meal Sadly, this was not the case. BUT I ATE IT ANYWAY! The sauces - also vegan - were fantastic, so I dipped those sorry ass excuse for patties and ate away. We were home about 40 minutes later and in less than 10 minutes I was racing for the bathroom. And there went my meal - upchucked, vomited, barfed. Sorry for the gross but it is was it is. Lesson learned. Stick with whole-foods type vegan meals. Avoid the deep-fried.