My 12 Week Plan...
 

Tear it apart if you want... I don't care. :p I do better with "cold turkey" type of changes in my diet. It'll be H E double toothpicks for the first couple of weeks... but after that it'll be a bit easier... and if it's not... oh well. It'll get easier. :p

I'm wanting to be in kind of tip top shape in 11 weeks (12 weeks if I'm including the week before I get to see my parents, 11 weeks for just my little brother, who I'm meeting in Paris a week before). And I'm also wanting to get into great shape so that I can hopefully go running with my older brother, hike up a couple mountains with him, and do all of the things I haven't been able to do. I also want to be able to no longer have my belly flab, and be able to wear a bikini when I'm at the beach. :)

So... here's my plan:

Week 1 -
Raw Foods (vegan appropriate dressing is OK for this week)
100 oz of water minimum (right now I drink around 120 oz of diet soda... I NEED to cut that out, and I do like the water at my dorm... so I just need to make the switch... my wallet will thank me later)
Tea is OK to drink in addition (no honey or sugar or similar... which I don't have anyways)
30 min a day of either yoga or pilates (I have videos for each, I want it to be a regular morning routine)

Week 2 -
Raw Foods (no dressing)
100 oz water minimum
Tea is OK
30 min a day yoga or pilates
C25K on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

Week 3 -
Raw Foods
30 min a day yoga or pilates
C25K on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Start some strength training Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday

Week 4 -
mostly Raw Foods
1 cooked veggie/fruit/nut/bean serving a day
30 min a day yoga or pilates
C25K on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Strength training Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday

Week 5 -
mostly Raw
1 serving non-gluten grain (rice or corn, I'm gluten intolerant)
1 serving cooked veggie/fruit/nut/bean
30 min a day yoga or pilates
C25K Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday (to mix it up)
Strength training Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

Week 6 -
vegan diet (whole foods, no animal products or by-products, cooked and raw)
30 min a day yoga or pilates
C25K Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday
Strength training Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

Week 7 -
vegan diet
30 min a day yoga or pilates
C25K Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday
Strength training Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

Week 8-11 -
vegan diet
30 min a day yoga or pilates
C25K Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Strength training Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday

Week 12 (I'll be overseas at this point, no access to weights and stuff, but I'll probably have some strengthening exercises to do that don't require weights) -
vegan diet
30 min to an hour run everyday
30 min a day yoga/pilates


So... yeah. :)

It's kinda started today... mostly starting Sunday (tomorrow morning).

I am allowing myself some leeway, but the leeway would be like... if I want more than just plain raw foods, I can have some applesauce (I REALLY like applesauce) or perhaps my favorite drink from starbucks, an iced chai latte with soy... something like that. Or I can skip a workout if I need to go do something that day, or whatever. But the vegan diet is for life... not just for "now". I need to cut out the dairy and gluten for my health... and I'm not a fan of eggs or meat... so those'll be easy. So... yeah. Strict vegetarian diet is what it'd actually be... I have nothing against using fur and products with animal in them... or with people eating meat, as long as it was killed humanely and... if it was raised and not wild, kept and raised in a very safe and humane environment.

So... yeah. :p

Tomorrow I'll get some pictures and have a "before". I can't right now because I'm at my Grandparents' and my camera is out of charge, and the battery charger (it has a special battery) is in my dorm room, and I'll just post updates and stuff on here, hoping to do weekly pictures so that I have a good timeline of it all. :)

I'm not a nutritionist or a doctor, but I have lots of experience with vegan/raw diets. It's going to be really, really hard. Also, why raw? I know raw is super trendy right now, but cooking improves the bioavailability of vitamins and makes your food easier to digest. The healthiest (and most sensible) plan is a mixture of cooked and raw veggies.

That said, watch your macronutrient ratios. Make sure you are getting enough protein and fat, which will make the transition much easier. I have been vegan so I know it is easy to get enough protein (to live) but you want to make this as easy as possible for yourself within the guidelines you set. Eat lots of nuts, nut butters, seitan, tempeh, tofu, beans, and whole grains!

I know you have a time line but I seriously recommend transitioning to vegan without a calorie/portion limit for at least two weeks. That gives your body the time to adjust to new foods, more fiber, and different nutrients. After your body has adjusted THEN it is okay to start fiddling with portions and calories. Or, if you want to restrict your calories you should do so and then slowly transition to veganism.

I've done hardcore cold turkey transitions and in many cases I recommend them but my last major diet change began with a switch to different types of food followed by calorie control- not all at once. Also think about investing in a good vegan multivitamin (b12 is your friend), and make sure you are getting plenty of fat and plenty of protein... it is easy to become an unhealthy vegan.

You will be so tired at the end of the 11th week with a so unhealthy diet (if you hold until then...) that I wonder if you will enjoy the holiday.
I am not even talking about the consequences on your body...
I know you want to lose weight to feel good etc... But this diet will not help you and I doubt you will reach your goal. There are so many other ways for you to lose your extra fat and still be healthy that I don't understand why you have to follow a 'programme' that is so drastic and unhealthy. And even if you manage to lose the weight you want you will gain it back as soon as you stop it...

Yet another crazy diet plan... :dunno:

With so many nutritionally sound plans out there, why reinvent the wheel? Especially given that this wheel isn't round! That is, it won't get you where you want to go.

Jay

3 weeks without fat or protein!? That's a terrible idea! Your body will absolutely hate you for it.

If you want to do a vegan diet, that's fine, but you need to make sure that you are getting all the nutrients you need for your body to function properly. Fat. Protein.

No fat or protein? Not at all. I will be eating nuts, legumes (just non cooked), etc. I also take a b12 (one vitamin supplement) and a b6 (I think, it is a mix of several b vitamins). I HAVE done something similar to this (minus the exercise) in the past. Did fine, spent five months as a vegetarian after eating raw for two weeks. Then it ended.

Also... Did I put it and forget? For the first three weeks there is going to be no caloric limit. Aiming for under 2000, but if I end up going over that due to nuts or whatever, so be it.

I appreciate the concern, but this is something I have kind of done before, and I had SO much more energy, my skin cleared up, and I just felt SO SO SO much better overall... Then I went off because it was easy to just stop (friends and family outings), so yeah.

Feel free to disagree, and any vitamin concerns or recommendations or different fruits of vegetables (no matter how obscure) are welcome. :)

First off, I'm glad to see you posting again, I was worried about you when you left last November.

I'll second the concerns of others about raw veggies often don't allow your body to make the most use of the nutrients. In fact, some things like broccoli apparently aren't very good for you raw but are quite good for you when they are cooked. Whatever other concerns I might have about your diet plans I honestly don't get why you'd go for "only raw" the first few weeks.

I also agree with healthyshakes that you'll be too weak at the end of 3 months of this diet to enjoy your vacation but I'm hopeful you'll moderate things after a week or two and go for a more balanced healthy diet. In the end you'll lose just as much weight and be much stronger and healthier.

Good luck! And don't pull a disappearing act again please.

:lol: Just what I was thinking!

Serbrider, honey, about every 6 months you start posting again and you have some great revolution about how you are going to drop x amount of weight in x amount of time. It's always some crash fad diet and you never last but a week or 2 on whatever crazy plan you invent for yourself. If you would have picked a healthy non-restrictive plan 2 years ago, you would have made it to your goal within 6 -8 months and still be there.

There is an old saying that goes something like this: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Why don't you just count your calories, move more and lay off the junk food? You'll lose weight and it won't make your body go crazy doing it. Please.

True, I may come on here with a new plan. All the time. Welcome to my life. Just "plain ol' calorie counting" was also one of those plans. About every six months I've also had to move, like, to a completely different country, a different way of life. Yeah, today's only day 1, nowhere near over, but I'm feeling and doing great. Maybe I'll change it and make the raw only a week. But I NEED that, otherwise I can't wean myself off of the junk. I've tried... Again and again and again, in a hundred different ways, and doing it like this had the longest lasting result.

I'm probably just a stupid insane immature little girl. That's ok. I am. I have made a lot of bad choices in the past, and maybe this is just another. I'm not looking for y'all to pat me on the back and support poor choices, but this HAS worked the longest for me in the past, in stopping the crap eating and making me more aware of the food I put into my body. It made me feel "right"... And I loved it. Did it cause weight loss? No... Not much, because my calorie portions were still high, and I wasn't adding any exercise.

Im not doing this to please you guys. I've been thinking, and to be honest, I'm not doing this to even lose weight and have a perfect figure. I'm doing this because I want to be healthy, and I want to get back to (or develop) a mindset of food and exercise in a way of it benefiting my body. Getting all my vitamins and nutrients, developing my muscles so that I can be a better rider, so I can have fun with friends, so I can feel happy. And when I had eaten raw (done the juicing for 20 days, and then the next 20 days I ate healthily, but I didn't think about food as anything but a source of palatable pleasure, so nothing stuck longer), I had felt amazing. Lots of energy, clear mind, and like everything was working like it should.

If I'm crazy for wanting that again, but with more knowledge, more understanding, then, ok, that's me. :)

I'm learning, I'm calculating my amounts of fat, protein, vitamins, minerals, etc etc. But why can't I learn along the way? I don't know everything, and I might change stuff along the way (not the basic veganism premise and doing yoga/pilates, those are the main two things I want to do for the rest of my life... The rest is well... The rest). But that's for me to decide based on what kind of new information I've learned about my body's needs. So... For now... It's a "plan", but I've decided today that it can change... If it needs to...

So far so good! I have switched it up a bit. I'm eating mostly raw, but I have had some cooked stuff. Primarily stuff like legumes to help me get my protein. Really enjoying it all, feeling good, loving my daily yoga (ended up just learning a variety of positions that I do for 20-30 minutes before I go to bed, hoping I can make myself wake up early enough to do some in the morning). I'm also looking forward to running and doing the strength exercises. So far just a two pound loss, most likely just water loss since my sodium intake is WAY down and water content is up. :)

So... Not quite what I was originally thinking of doing (I'm kind of moving straight over to gluten free vegan instead of the three weeks of raw), but that's ok. As long as most of my food is whole fresh foods, all's good.

Pictures will come, I do need a "before"... Camera battery needs to charge. Should have it later today. :D

You're acting pretty defensive for someone who asked for a diet plan critique. . People are just concerned that you may be repeating past mistakes. We all hope that you stick to your new plan and lose a ton of weight and get healthy. :hug:

Sebrider,

How do you better with "cold turkey"?

I'm sorry, but Lori is right.

"Cold turkey" is for addictions. If you are an addict, then you need more help, like OA or whatever.

Nobody here thinks you are an immature little girl, it's just that you do this repetitively and try and convince yourself that it's the only way you can succeed. It's been almost 2 years since you've joined, it's clear that your "cold turkey" or extreme methods do not lead to long-term success.

There are women here who are 2-3x your age and have been where you have. MILLIONS of women have been there, it's the standard extreme dieting/eating pattern that millions do every year and fuel all those fad diet cook books. BILLION dollar industry. And for what? Many of them have success now by living life in moderation and without resorting to extremes - something they could have done 10, 20, 30 years ago and probably regret not doing it then.

I don't claim to know it all but I have maintained for 8 years now. And I know most of the maintainers here. None of them got there through extreme dieting. Not a single one I can think of.

Thanks. :) i hadnt actually asked for a critique, but I'm sorry if I came off as defensive... As I'm doing now, I have some pathological need to explain myself in full... And sometimes I end up "twisting" people's words... But the majority of the time I end up agreeing with at least one part of their statement. And so... It either is defensive, or seems as though it is. But either way, I am sorry.

I really am enjoying this, I feel good, and yeah, I'm only 4 days into it... But I had only a couple cravings and then they were gone. I am monitoring my fats, proteins, carbs, sodium, sugar, vitamins, etc. And after I kind of "get" which foods I need to eat for this or that, this is definitely something I can do long-term.

So... Yeah. Really really trying hard to not let my rambling come off as defensive. :) I was upset about being insinuated as being "insane", but I need to not focus on that but the rest of the wonderful advice I had gotten.

Here's a quick summation of your "diet plan" (your words!)
Ok, "then it ended." ...??? perhaps you should examine WHY it ended. Was it because you just couldn't stick to it? Most "crazy diets" seem to suffer from that very problem.

Ok - going "over" your X-amount of calories is usually a dead-end halt to weight loss. I thought you wanted to LOSE weight? In general, the mathematical equation for weight loss is to simply burn more calories than you take in. Whether you eat only raw or completely give up junk food, or exercise yourself into a coma (whatever) your bottom line must be burn more than you take in. That's how the human body works. It's a scientific fact, & we can't UNDO OR IGNORE that fact.

Until "it ended" - right?

Oh really? - may I refer you to your earlier statements #3 and especially #4?

AND (this is just 4 days after you made your "plan")

Ok ... now... here's my response:

The main thing I consider to be your problem is that you have NO COMMITMENT to whatever "plan" you come up with. We are all here for the same reason - TO LOSE WEIGHT. Some for health reasons, some for vanity reasons, some for both reasons. We have different ways of achieving that goal - move more, eat less seems to be the #1 way to go for most people, altho many have had tremendous success with programs such as Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, Paleo, etc. But really, those "diets" are just DIFFERENT WAYS to take in LESS CALORIES. What works for some may not work for others. I know I could never engage in a diet plan that eschews (what a word!) macaroni & cheese! - which is why even tho I lost weight on South Beach, I couldn't MAINTAIN THAT LOSS, because I kept getting "stuck" & then I'd give up because it wasn't WORKING for me, even tho I'd chosen something that could NEVER "work for me".

Weight loss is a process - and after weight loss comes maintenance. If you can't stick to your plan for four days, what makes you think you can stick to it for 12 weeks or beyond? Because basically, if you lose the desired amount of weight, you'll gain it back (probably even more than you lost) when you return to old habits, which is what you seem to do (ALMOST everyone is guilty of that - me included!!!)

Simply put: you need to find the plan that works for you & then MAKE THAT PLAN WORK by continuing that plan FOR LIFE. Yes, I said FOR LIFE. Because once you lose the weight, maintenance is a LIFE LONG endeavor. When you finally bow to that mindset, you WILL find the plan that works for you & you will lose the weight & you will be able to maintain it - all without the constant bouncing back & forth from plan to plan to plan and growing ever frustrated after a few days or weeks because you didn't lose any weight or didn't lose it as fast as you thought you should.

I SAY THIS WITH LOVE & UNDERSTANDING BECAUSE I'VE BEEN THERE. Uncountable "diets" throughout 35 years of my 48-year life. Lost weight, gained weight... at least 7 times... 10 pounds, 60 pounds... and FINALLY, after all this **** I've put myself thru, I can FINALLY say that counting calories and moderate exercise is the way I can FINALLY do this - FOREVER.

You owe it to yourself to be honest with yourself about WHY you want to lose weight (there is no "wrong/right" - there is just YOUR reasons for YOUR body) and to find a plan that works for you that is healthy & sustainable for the long haul.

And I wish you all the luck in the world!!! :hug:

Thanks for letting me know all my flaws and failures. Sorry to bother you guys.

Oh, and to let you know WHY "it ended". My mom took me to a doctor for allergy testing, he pretty much said "eat meat or die", so my mom would not let me not eat meat, which in turn cycled into a whole bunch of other things. NOT because I wasn't commuted to it or failed it in some way. Was I losing weight on it? No, because that wasnt my goal. My goal was to cut out meat.

Also, so sorry for looking deeper and trying to figure out the REAL reason why I'm going vegan. Also didn't realize it was a crime to make modifications to something due to make sure I'm staying healthy. So sorry.

Serbrider,

People would love to help you but not if they are just going to be met with sarcasm or self-deprecation. Maybe you should speak with a nutritionist (even one who supports veganism) instead.

You see, you are memorable to most of us because most of us are mothers and when we know you're a younger poster, we take special interest. We care more. Sure, I'd love to help the average 50 year old too but when you're a young girl, we care more. Maybe it's the mommy, maybe it's that we know you have so much ahead of you and you CAN be successful.

But the mindset has brought you back to square 1 over and over again. It's not about allergies, it's not about veganism (there is a vegan section here, lots of successful vegan dieters with allergies), it's the MINDSET that does it.

The cold turkey/"grand plan" to fix everything mindset. This is a mindset that does not exist in the maintainers forum.

Isn't the whole point of "getting back on the wagon" etc. to not let one's past failures bring us down? I see several responses bringing up the OP's past attempts and changes in diet plans. Who cares? I understand offering advice about the plan that was posted. But let's not accuse her of not being committed to losing weight or w/e. I understand the OP pretty much asked for advice/critique on her plan, but some of what has been said here is just not helpful and detrimental to her "mindset".

OP: I'm not a nutritionist so I can't tell you if your plan is the healthiest option out there. I know many people are vegan and are perfectly healthy, as long as they get the proper nutrients obviously. I say, if you feel great and have energy, why not proceed with this? If you have trouble sticking to it, adjust accordingly or even try something else. There's NOTHING WRONG with trying multiple plans until you find one that works. Good luck to you!!

Thank you medchick. I'm sorry for being so defensive. It's really hard to express myself through only words (no tones to imply different things, etc), but I do want to assure you that sarcasm isn't something I do. When I'm saying I'm sorry, it's a tail-between-the-legs I'm sorry. I'm sorry for making y'all upset. I'm sorry for failing in the past. I'm sorry for not going about things the way I should. I have had a VERY tough past two to three years... And y'all have only seen the parts I broadcasted on here... And I shouldnt have made you guys worried about anything.

I'm not perfect, and I might fail this too... But while I have a 12 week plan (that I'm kinda only following now exercise-wise, not that it makes much difference), I'm wanting veganism for life. I'm wanting to run. I'm wanting to do yoga everyday. I want to do those things because they make me happy. They're not torture. I mean, they don't always feel good, but in the end, I love it, and it'll last far longer than just 12 weeks.

I'm seeing a counselor about various issues... And all of this is probably one of them. Something to work on.

While I do tend to agree with what a lot of the others have said about this plan, I also think it's important that you try different things and find what works best for you. I've tried a lot of different things and had them not go right, but I had to try them myself in order to find that out. People told me that it wasn't going to work at all, or not long term...and while I knew deep down that they were probably right, I had to find that out for myself. I'm not saying your plan won't work (though I'll be honest, it does seem a little extreme, just my opinion), I'm just telling you about my own experiences.
The best advice I can give you is: don't give up trying! You might try things and fail, but that's totally normal. Just keep going, keep trying things and you'll find what works for you.

I thought you wanted opinions? I"m confused! We are all here to help each other and i think you've received much valuable advise from the others here!

I've been on different fad diets, juice cleanse and so on for many years. Every time it fails, because they don't last in my opinion i've always gone back to Weight Watchers because i feel as though it's something I can sustain for LIFE. A juice cleanse, raw foods, diet drinks, whatever it may be, they do not last, it's not possible to do for X amount of years from now. Why not just follow a reasonable calorie count and follow the healthy guidelines?

Good luck on your journey!

Sweetie - there's no need for apologies, and no need for defensiveness either. We are all here to SUPPORT each other. Offer advice. Opinions. Share our experiences. I have discovered many helpful tips on this board, and sometimes I've received "tough love" - and while it may have stung a bit, it was definitely something I needed to hear, and think about.

You can "tuck your tail between your legs" and get defensive, or you can think - TRULY THINK - about what we're saying & then decide whether or not to apply that wisdom to your own life.

While it's true that you may have to try several diets before you find what truly works for you (sometimes we must try many different things before we find the perfect thing that works for our own personal journey, that's life in a nutshell!) it's also true about what your bottom-line goal is supposed to do for you. In one post you say you want to "lose weight" & then a few other posts later, you convey that you don't care if you lose weight, you're not trying to lose weight, you just want to be vegan and be healthier.

I strongly believe that for you to reach your goal, you must first be honest with yourself in what your goal is & what method(s) you will have to put to work in order to reach said goal.

Also try to keep in mind that no one here is trying to say/do anything to hurt your feelings or undermine your success thus far.

:hug:

i generally post once every six months or so but regularly read through these forums for advice and encouragement--it's such a great resource :) i read through this thread and wanted to share that i "cold turkey-d" to a true vegetarian (vegan) lifestyle in 2006, then added fish back in 2011 (i just missed it. it's delicious.). a plant based lifestyle can be a very sustainable, healthy, and rewarding choice. when i made the switch, it was so far from the way i had been eating that i told myself, as opposed to my usual all-or-nothing "diet" behavior, i would give myself the grace to add stuff back into my diet if it became too stressful or frustrating. the grace to make mistakes or transition back to a more tradional way of eating i think is what really helped me mentally stick with it for the five years that i did.

something regarding actual weightloss with veganism, and i know everyone's different, but for me i think i lost about 7 pounds by making the switch but really nothing after that. tracking what i eat and exercise have changed my body the most. (i think i was around 170 in 2006 and i currently pop between 148 and 152.)

i want encourage you while you're working on a new lifestyle to be open to the advice of people who have been where you are and to be really loving to yourself. some good resources if you need any are 'eat to live,' 'vegan planet,' 'balancing hormones naturally,' and 'women, food, and god.' (that last one was an oprah pick a few years ago and is so worth reading.)

good luck!

You are young. Your body needs protein to develop. Your brain needs fat to develop. Don't mess yourself up.

I crazy, self initiated diet planned myself to almost 300 lbs when I was a teenager, it's NOT worth it!

There are so many successful people on here who have so much good advice. Don't write them off.

I'm going to say to you what not enough people said to ME a decade or so back.

STOP BEING MELODRAMATIC!

Seriously.

Everyone here wants you to succeed, being sarcastic and overly defensive isn't helping us OR you, yes? If this plan works for you, that is excellent. Our concern is that it isn't nutritionally balanced and is too restrictive to maintain on. That doesn't mean anyone thinks you're stupid or a failure, we just don't want this to be harder on you or your body than it needs to be.

You don't need to defend yourself or prove us wrong - prove to YOURSELF that you can find a way to live that is healthy for your body and spirit. And keep us posted on how that search goes. We might want to give tips or cautions, but it is with the very best intentions and hope for your success. Really. :grouphug: