[remickmom]

Hi Glory! I really enjoyed reading your story. It was very motivational. In fact, when I saw the picture of you bending over to feed the goat (I think it was a goat) it looks exactly like me! I felt like it was a picture of me! To see your after photos was extremely motivating. Could I ever look like that? I already had the book, so I made a shopping list and went out and bought all of those healthy foods. I've lost 30 pound several times in the past on weight watchers, and once on Atkins. But as soon as I lost that much, I stalled and lost my motivation and went back to my former way of eating and gained it all back. This past time, I lost 30 and so far have gained back 15. I like what you did: you changed your way of eating forever, not just for the period of the "diet". Do you have any suggestions for me as I get started? When you posted at 3 Fat Chicks, what category did you call your diet? Thanks for the help and inspiration. Kris

[Glory87]

Originally Posted by remickmom

Hi Glory! I really enjoyed reading your story. It was very motivational. In fact, when I saw the picture of you bending over to feed the goat (I think it was a goat) it looks exactly like me! I felt like it was a picture of me! To see your after photos was extremely motivating. Could I ever look like that? I already had the book, so I made a shopping list and went out and bought all of those healthy foods. I've lost 30 pound several times in the past on weight watchers, and once on Atkins. But as soon as I lost that much, I stalled and lost my motivation and went back to my former way of eating and gained it all back. This past time, I lost 30 and so far have gained back 15. I like what you did: you changed your way of eating forever, not just for the period of the "diet". Do you have any suggestions for me as I get started? When you posted at 3 Fat Chicks, what category did you call your diet? Thanks for the help and inspiration. Kris

Hey, sorry it took me so long to respond to this post, I didn't see it!

I always called the way I ate the "super foods" diet, based on the book I read Super Foods Rx: 14 Foods That Will Change Your Life. Over time, it has evolved more into a whole foods approach and now I actively post in the Whole Foods Lifestyle forum on 3 Fat Chicks.

As for getting started...that kinda depends on you. I pretty much jumped in to healthy eating immediately, banning all soda, packaged baked goods, fast food and most sweets right away. I'm very much an all or nothing kind of person, other people might prefer to ease into it and make small changes as they go. My eating did evolve, becoming more and more healthy. For example, when I started, I knew yogurt was a super food, but to me yogurt while dieting meant yoplait fat free or that whipped stuff. Over time, I realized that I needed to pay attention to the active cultures and sugar and started eating organic plain yogurt mixed with chopped fresh fruit. I also started eating more protein and healthy fats every day.

I would definitely recommend getting into the habit of PLANNING what you eat in advance (preferably several days in advance), in my experience, healthy eating just can't happen by accident in our society. Vending machines at work don't have apples! On Sundays, I menu plan for the week. I look up recipes, I make shopping lists for those ingredients, I go to the store and shop for B/L/D/Snacks for the week. On Sunday night, I pack lunches for the week and get them ready to go. I bag up veggies for snacks and get them ready to go. I pretty much know what I'm going to eat at every meal for the week (although I recognize the importance of realizing that real life is messy and complicated and sometimes I will eat offplan, the important thing is to get IMMEDIATELY back on plan!)

Counting/recording is a pain, but a food journal at the beginning might be a good idea just to get an idea of why/when you eat. I was able to determine I was a super afternoon snacker and make appropriate changes (planning frequent healthy snacks in the afternoon, trying to stay busy, drinking a lot of tea, etc). I generally rotate through the same set of foods, so doing a lot of counting helped me to get an idea of what 1600 calories a day looked like so I didn't have to count so specifically when I started to maintain.

The last thing I would suggest - find healthy foods you love because if you don't like what you're eating, if it feels like punishment, you will have a harder time sticking to it. It was a huge surprise to discover that I loved baked sweet potatoes and grilled salmon and roasted cherry tomatoes and greek yogurt with blackberries. I would have never stuck to this if I didn't look forward to what I eat everyday!

Good luck to you!

Jen

PS I was feeding little deer at Marineland near Canada!

[WyoRN]

Glory,

I've been lurking over at whole foods for a couple of days now. All I can say is, your story sounds exactly like mine, right down to us being the same age and around the same weight when then light bulb went off. The only difference is that I have never quite made it to my goal: within 20 lbs is good enough to go "off the diet".

I am cozying up to this idea kind of slowly..I want this to be permanent this time. I do think this is the way for me to go though, and am really excited, like a light-bulb just went off. It's just the way it's gotta be if I want to be healthy. Anyway, I'll be posting over on 'whole foods' in the near future..just had to pop into this thread and say thank you for your most inspiring post.

Deana

[djs06]

I saw the link to this on your signature, so I'm a little late "chiming in" but I wanted to thank you so much for sharing your journey. I'm going to hunt down that book because it sounds so worthwhile. Congratulations on your transformation

[40love]

I just read your wonderful success story. I also just bought the super food book. Thanks for the inspiration and excellent tips. You completely got my attention at the breakfast suggestion of tortilla with pb and banana. That I must try!
Donna

[PinkyPie]

AWESOME!!!! That's all I have to say!!! Thank you so much for sharing this with us! I too am very much into Superfoods, even before I knew there was a book about it! I just want to be HEALTHY and eat things which are good for my body. Of course I want to lose weight too but that's really not my top priority - actually it's 1) Eat whole and clean, 2) MOVE my body and 3) Lose weight

You are so incredibly inspiring - it's even MORE motivation for me to keep doing what I'm doing! THANK YOU!!!

[clvquilts]

Glory,

You should write a book on your weight loss strategies. You've already got several chapters well out lined.

[lbruhn]

Your post was inspiring! I could relate to everything you said. I'm going to try those ideas. I am 5'5"ish and weighed 125 in college. After having children in my mid-thirties I just kept gaining weight little by little. I am now 200 lbs! It's disgraceful! However, I bought the book, "Walk Away the Pounds Diet" by Leslie Sansone which I really like! It's not a diet per se but rather a walking regime. I have also gotten more interested in whole foods and started seeing a naturopath, who promotes organic, whole food eating. I really like the "diet" that you posted. I grew up in the 60s where you always had a big slab of meat (beef usually), potatoes, and a small portion of greens. I do believe that it takes a real adjustment in thinking regarding what foods are healthy and what a person really needs to eat. Starving yourself on a diet or feeling deprived just doesn't work because the weight loss doesn't last. It has to be a complete life style change.

Thanks for your posting. I'm excited about trying it!

lbruhn

[Kery]

How come I had never seen your post before. Whatever. ^_^ It is a very inspiring story, and I took quite some pleasure in reading it. I know I definitely need to get back on track myself (having a job and also studying were just the perfect excuses combined to make me slip more and more), and this kind of read is exactly what I needed. Not that I can't be motivated all by myself, but seeing that other people have managed to do it is always more spirit-lifting than doing my stuff in my little corner.

[smisen]

Wow - thanks for sharing your story. There were a lot of things that really resonated with me and highlighted some more of the changes that I need to make to start being healthier. Another thing - I have really small hands and wrists too. I wonder if I've been lying to myself as well about what type of frame I have in there? I guess I'll just have to wait and find out!

[gertiegumdrop]

Thank you so much for that post Glory..you are a true inspiration.
Excellent
x

[NurseChef]

I read your entire post and I want to tell you that you sure inspired me for the day and beyond!!!!

Thank you!

[Jeannette311]

Wow! I'm going to get the book from the library tomorrow! I have 28 weeks to lose as much as I can, and this sounds like it would be great for me. I love organics and veggies and fruits!

[K8-EEE]

I just wanted to let you know how inspirational your post in the "goal" section was to me! I am attempting to remake my fridge, lifestyle and head as you describe. I had already come to that conclusion anyhow and dropped fast food and a few other things but I love the positive aspect of your program - the opportunity we have every day to "indulge" in the correct portions of "power foods."

I've come to the conclusion I have to make over my head and my body will follow. Off to make myself a smoothie (frozen berries, nonfat yogurt, yum!) I find this really can be an enjoyable way to eat.

Just wanted to let you know that your words resonated with me and I'm sure a lot of other people. Thanks for being an inspiration and role model!

Katie in L.A.

[Brightside]

Glory - you are such an inspiration. When you talked about having 1 pair of pants that fit, it really hit home. I have 2. It's hard to believe you are the same person in the before/after photos. You positively glow with health & well-being. Thank you so much for sharing your journey!