Many of you know that we’ve made significant changes to our diet over the past year and a half. We started with buying more organic produce and other food items, along with switching our meat to grass fed beef & hormone-free chicken. We also started drinking organic milk and bought organic butter, yogurt, cheeses, etc… We bought eggs that came from free-range chickens and cut out aspartame and as much MSG as possible from our diet.
All of these changes made a significant improvement to our health. I’m convinced of this. We’ve lost weight collectively as a family, feel better, and don’t struggle constantly with stomach issues.
But as we’ve continued on this journey to healthy living and as we strive to prevent diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease from attacking our bodies, we’ve come to realize that we need to go a little bit further in our diet changes. Over the last few weeks we have worked to transition our diet to one that is mostly meat & dairy-free. Instead it’s a whole foods plant-based diet where we consume lots of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains including pastas, rice, and breads.
The result so far?
I have more energy than I’ve had in a long time, and I lost 2 lbs. last week! That means my current weight is 203 lbs.
Here’s what my overall progress looks like:
Beginning weight: 220 lbs.
Current Weight: 203 lbs.
Goal Weight: 170 lbs.
# of total pounds I want to lose in 2012: 50lbs.
# of pounds to go until I reach my goal: 33 lbs.
Total # of pounds lost to date: 17 lbs.
I’m also mentally keeping track of how much weight I’ve lost post-partum. Elisabeth is 6 months old now, and since I’ve come home from the hospital, I’ve lost 45.5 lbs.
Here’s what my post-partum results look like:
Weight on the day I came home from the hospital: 248.5 lbs.
Weight 6 months post-partum: 203 lbs.
Total weight loss post-partum: 45.5 lbs.
I know I said I’d share a picture this week, but Elisabeth came down with a fever last night, and we had a rough night. I was up at 2am with a sick baby, and she had to be nursed constantly, so….this basically means I haven’t combed my hair yet. 😉 I’ll post a picture as soon as I can. Elisabeth is still sick, and I’m hoping this fever doesn’t last long or worse….spread to our other 4 children.
Oh Sandra, I hope Elizabeth is doing better soon. I hope her fever is gone soon.
Great job on your weight loss. We do dairy free, well my husband and the kids, because they are allergic to milk. I don’t know if we could go meat free. We do eat meat free meals on occasion. I am glad to here your family is doing well with the change in your diet.
Thank you, Shelly. Unfortunately, Elisabeth is still sick. 🙁 She has had a rough day and the fever hasn’t let up yet.
Thank you for the encouragement on the weight loss! Going meat free is definitely something I wouldn’t recommend doing ‘cold-turkey.’ 🙂 We’ve gradually transitioned to mainly meat free meals except for about 3x per week. We are going to move this down to around 1x per month on this new diet. I’ll be sure to update on our progress.
I love how your diet is changing for the better and it changes you and your whole family for the better! I definitely need to add some more vegetables in our diet. Maybe juicing would be a good way to do it. Do you have a favorite juice recipe?
I so admire you guys for doing all the hard work and making all the sacrifices involved in such drastic diet changes. Way to have the long-range view of your family’s health! That’s inspiring.
Good for you Sandra! Keep up the good work 🙂
Hi Sandra! I came here via Paula over at the averagehousewife.com! I can’t imagine going meat and dairy free, though it is something I have thought about. I have a difficult time eating a lot of fruits and veggies. I was such a picky eater as a kid that I just never developed a taste for it. I lived off PB & J’s, chips, and Little Debbie snack cakes as a kid!
I’m a new follower of your blog and hope to glean from your experience!
P.s. – hope the baby’s feeling better by now!