Still working on a Veggie Life

It has now been 1 year and 100 pounds since I started this “nutritiarian” way of life.  I can’t say it’s been easy, but I can say it has been worth it.  I am hopeful that this next year I will be successful in ridding myself of an additional 100 pounds.  I still won’t reach my “ideal” weight, however, it would still be an accomplishment I have never before succeeded in.

When I started this journey, I felt horrible.  I had very little energy.  My joints ached.  My blood pressure was through the roof.  I knew that I was not going to live much longer if I kept up my current “dieting” habits.  I was reluctant to visit with doctors.  They always stated the obvious.  “You need to loose weight.”  Thank you Captain Obvious.  I knew that.  I had read over 30 books on diet.  I had tried almost all of them over the years.  I had gone gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, egg free, all at various times in an effort to help my gut feel better.  Nothing.

I had come to my very last straw.  I wanted to live long enough to see my youngest child graduate from high school.  I finally found the courage to visit one last doctor.  I loved Dr. Bean from the minute I stepped in his office.  He didn’t judge.  In fact, he cried with me.  He told me that my problems were not my fault.  My problems were the result of trying to do the right thing.  He said he wouldn’t demand anything from me, but that he recommended that I read Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s book, The End of Dieting.  I ordered the book in the parking lot.  I decided, this was my last ditch effort.  I would commit to whatever this book had to say for one year.  I started, cold turkey, that day.

What a year!  I now look forward to eating vegetables.  I don’t weigh or track my food.  I don’t think about food all day long.I finally feel free from the never ending torture that food has brought me for most of my 52 years.  I don’t crave sugar.  I don’t crave soda.  I don’t craze breads.  I am able to move, and on most days I move pain free.

This coming year I plan on continuing to follow this life style.  This year I hope to be well enough to add a bit of exercise into my routine.  I have such a long way to go to be a healthy person.  However, this past year has brought me hope.  I may not have successfully followed every principle, nor had the perfect fridge that I see on some blogs.  I not have convinced my family to join me in this pursuit.  However, I succeeded in finding hope where I previously had none.  I’d call that a good year.

Most days I had a smoothie or sauteed veggies for breakfast.

I ate a salad for lunch everyday.

For dinner I made Fried Cabbage one night.  Click here for the recipe.  I made Japanese Ramen soup for one night.  Click here for the recipe.  I grated up sweet potatoes, mushrooms and onions and made a pancake like thing.  That lasted for two nights of dinners.  I made Cabbage Soup one night  Click here for the recipe.  And I made tomato soup, but I used a box tomato soup from the store due to a lack of time.

So here I go… on to year two of the nutritiarian life style!