Thoroughly enjoying my new life!!!

A quick update, for those of you who asked:
I am thoroughly enjoying my new life, and weight loss is finally happening. Slowly, but steadily.

I am back below the BMI 30 mark, so only overweight, no longer obese!!!

That's  -4 kg (8.8 lbs) since April 15. And I am eating everything in sight ...

I have no problem with veganism, as it is an ethical choice I completely believe in, and not a diet (that makes it SO MUCH easier!!!)

I had been toying with the idea of going back vegan for two decades, but really thought I'd miss things like cheese too much.
Well, strangely enough I don't.
And I was a cheese fiend. For me it basically went with everything.
I had heard that taste buds can be reeducated. I totally did not believe it!!! Not me! For me a vegetable was a vitamin pill and I loved Dukan above all because I didn't have to eat fruit! Seriously, without exaggeration.

The non-fat part I am trying to do is a bit of a challenge (that's the "diet" and not lifestyle part). If I would get that down better, the weight would come off faster. But right now I am basically eating like a maniac and am still losing weight consistently and slowly ... and I love it! I also have amazing energy, no mood swings etc.

Only people react weird here in Italy when you tell them you are vegan. As if it's a personal insult to them or something. I guess that in the UK and the USA it's something a bit more mainstream. Or not really? Last time around I went vegan I was the "holier than thou" type and tried to convince everybody that I was right and they were wrong.

This time I have a "live and let live" approach - and I get kind of pissed when people pass judgement about what I put or don't put into my mouth. 

Last time around I also wasn't into cooking all that much. I guess I ate the stereotypical "brown rice, tofu and steamed kale" kind of food all the time. This time: no way! I am really getting creative and am enjoying the cooking part.

But since people always ask me what I eat as a vegan, here is yesterday's menu (it was Sunday, so a bit fancier than usual):

Breakfast:
coffee with almond milk (which I prefer to soy milk)
Buckwheat Blueberry Pancakes with Real Maple Syrup

Lunch:
Vietnamese Spring Rolls with two kinds of dip (sweet/spicy and peanut-soy)
Spring salad with tahini dressing

Snack:
fruit salad and a piece of dark chocolate (ok, two pieces) 

Dinner:
roasted asparagus, chickpea and potatoe "salad" with toasted almond slivers in a garlic-sesame oil - umbeboshi dressing that was out of this world
2 slices of still-warm homemade bread

Today started off with homemade cranberry muffins (fat free, I found a great recipe) and fruit and will continue with hummous on that yummy bread I made yesterday and lots of raw veggies stuck into the same hummous (whenever I make it, it doesn't survive, so it is imperative I make a light version). Tonight probably sesame noodles and a salad with my tahini dressing (very little tahini, lemon, a bit of soy sauce and water).

Not exactly a martyr's diet :-).

I am so happy that I don't have to apologize to my dinner anymore before eating it. While I was doing Dukan, I had gone back to eating chicken and turkey and even the occasional cured beef. Plus I was consuming loads and loads of  dairy and eggs. It just felt wrong to me personally.

Full stop here. 


But if anyone is interested, check out amazon.com Dr. Neal Barnard's 21 Day kickstart Program (it's also free on the Internet).

For ethical push: nothing beats John Robin's "Diet for a New America", "No Happy Cows" and Peter Singer's classic"Animal Liberation".

You can also e-mail me at unisheep@gmail.com

I might start a new blog about my vegan weight loss diet.

Please be assured that this post is about me and about what I feel ... and that I am not passing judgement on anybody else or on what anybody else eats!!! 

The Dukan Diet definitely works and it really worked for me while I was doing it!!!

Complete changes ...

So I haven't written in a long time. A lot has happened, and I at least want to update you.

My knee is almost completely healed. I can participate in normal day to day activities again and I can almost bend it completely. I still have some lateral instability and running isn't quite in the cards yet, but I am definnitely getting back to normal.

I have given up alcohol completely. I haven't had a drop to drink for almost two months.

And I have changed my diet. After a lot of soul searching, thinking back to times when I felt best in my life, reading about issues that concern me etc. etc., I have decided to embrace the vegan lifestyle again. For most of my life I have been a vegetarian, for two years a vegan (many years ago) - and right now that is what I chose to do and what makes sense to me. I feel very positive about my decision and in a certain way completely "liberated".  I don't think I have felt this good about my eating in a long, long time.

Of course I am aware that eating vegan is not a magic key to weight loss - French fries and chips are both vegan! I still have to make good choices. I haven't weighed myself lately, as I am still learning to navigate this new lifestyle.

So I am bidding farewell to Dukan. I am grateful for the weightloss that I have had following his diet. In the end, 14 kg off is not bad (even if at one point it was 25 off, with 11 regained). But it's not a lifestyle that I can or (more importantly) want to maintain.

I wish all of you tons of good luck!!!!!!

Positive changes!

Weight: 85.9 kg (188,98 lbs) [highest weight pre-Dukan July 2011: <100kg/220lbs]

Weight lost: 2,7 kg (5,94 lbs)

Hello everybody!

 

This is going to be a positive post. A few things have happened in the last few weeks that have made a big difference in my life:

• I have stopped drinking alcohol completely.

As far as my diet goes, this has removed a huge source of empty calories as well as a temptation to cheat! It also has removed the source of a depressant (that's what alcohol is) and my mood is so much brighter these days!!!
 

• My knee is feeling much better and I am back at the gym doing rehabilitation 

I am moving much better - as of today I can even walk stairs again! I am really encouraged by my progress and although I am not burning major calories at the gym, I am atl least able to do something ...! I am hoping to be able to do some hiking in summer ... and maybe I will be skiing again next winter!!!

So although I haven't had a huge drop in weight yet (could that be related to the strnge meds I still have to take?) I am doing very well and am feeling very positive!!!

 

First timid yoga moves

Weight: 86.7 kg (190,74 lbs) [highest weight pre-Dukan July 2011: <100kg/220lbs]

Weight lost: 1,9 kg (4,18 lbs)

BMI: 30,3 (obese)      BMI points lost: 1,2

Hello all. No sorry, no pic of my hair. I still hate my hair cut!

But some good news: I started doing my leg strengthening exercises and some timid yoga moves again. That felt so good! I can't remember the last time I felt such a joy during physical exercise. Like light rushing through me. All brought on by some light twisting and stretching... I can't even begin to tell you how human it made me feel after more than a month of crutches, pain, injections, limping. I still have all that, but I am also beginning to do other things with my body again!

The weekend went well food-wise, although I did indulge in some bubbly on Valentine's Day and wine on the other days. But I stayed away from carbohydrates. Which means weight loss stalled, but I didn't gain. During the week, I am back to strict Dukan. I can't wait to be below the 30 BMI mark again! I will get there this week.

Random post about hair

Sorry, guys, no weight update this morning, but I am sticking to plan.

So I decided to dye my hair strawberry blond, and as I was doing it, I simply knew that I was going to hate the result! Been there, done that, walked around with carrot colored hair before, right? But I still couldn't resist. I had gotten sick of my mousy blondish hair with a growing-out-short-not-quite-medium-length cut yet! 

So out with the color ...

And ... I loved it!!! It turned out really, really pretty and not carrottish at all! Which goes to show ... uhm, I don't know. I don't know where I was going with that thought.

So I am happy with the results for right now, and hope they will maintain for a while ... now if my stupid hair would just grow faster. Why on earth did I ever get it hacked off on the spur of a (bad) moment?

So will I ever ski again???

Weight: 87.4 kg (192,28 lbs) [highest weight pre-Dukan July 2011: <100kg/220lbs]

Weight lost: 1,4 kg (3,08 lbs)

BMI: 30,9 (obese)      BMI points lost: 0,6

Thank you all for your encouraging comments! It's nice to be back, if only because you all are so great. I have been reluctant to blog, as I really hate being down and bitch and complain on my blog. So if you are not into reading complaints, skip! ;-)

But let's start off with the good parts: I am starting to be able to move a bit better. I am supposed to keep my leg still, but as a single mom, that's simply not an option. Driving the car still hurts a bit (dratted stick shift!), but at least I can walk short distances now, even without crutches. And since I have started putting on compression stockings (so sexy!!!), my legs don't hurt that much anymore, either.

I am supposed to be doing isometric exercises for my injured leg ... but they are sooooo extremely boring. You basically sit on your butt and lift you leg up slowly. And they are quite difficult, too. I can't wait to get back to the gym and do something real. As soon as I have a bit more energy, I'll go back and at least do some upper body workout.

So will I ever ski again? I can't believe that just by a small fall I caused all this trouble. I can still see myself, deciding whether to ski left or right!!! WRONG choice!!! 

I feel like an old little lady at times now: compression stockings, daily injections of blood thinners, limping along slowly ...

Anyway, as far as the diet goes, alcohol is still my downfall. I am not having much trouble with the food, but when I drink, I start craving everything I shouldn't be eating. I can usually make it three days without any wine, and then I simply crave a glass like crazy (which then turns into 2,3 or 4 glasses accompanied by carbohydrates). If I could simply banish wine from my life forever, I would be in the clear. But so far I haven't been able to do so.

Right now my food plan sort of looks like this:

Breakfast:
200 g yoghurt (regular, not low fat ... I like living on the edge!)
30 g Dukan cereal
2 cups of coffee with sweetener and skim milk

Lunch:
100 g turkey breast
250 g non-fat quark
2 diet cokes

Dinner:
roasted turkey or chicken 
salad or other vegetable on PV days

throughout the day: 1.5 l water or more

If I am hungry on afternoons, I might have another cup of coffee and a pack of Dukan cookies.

So far this is working well for me. (My weight hasn't dropped faster as I had a wine and carb binge three days ago.)

Fessing up ...

Weight: 88.6 kg (194,92 lbs) [highest weight pre-Dukan July 2011: <100kg/220lbs]

BMI: 31.3 obese

Ok, so I finally weighed in this morning ... and the result was not pleasurable. Many month ago I promised myself never to go over 80 kg again ... and here I am way, way over it. And although I weighed in with a big, sturdy knee brace, I am not illuding myself that that thing weighs a lot.

So I am not back to square one, but definitely on my way there unless I do something about it. I am not motivated at all to go back on the diet, but I simply have to do something. Now that I am so inactive and can barely walk, Dukan seems to be the only way to hold  my weight in check. 

So I am back ... but not enthusiastic.  ... (on the other hand, enthusiasm doesn't burn calories, not eating certain foods does).