The moment I read the title, it hit home. This was me just three months ago. I added the "overweight" to my blog title because that's exactly what I was. I was eating way too much food but none of it was good for me. Even through I was horribly overweight, I was literally starving for nutrition. I ate too much processed food, too much fat and too many empty calories. I felt miserable, sick and tired most of the time, plagued with acid reflux and other minor ailments. I rarely got a decent night's sleep so I was also sleep deprived. In fact, I was getting so little good sleep that I didn't remember dreaming for almost a year.
When I decided to take control of my diet, I never expected that I'd feel better so quickly. Within a week, my acid reflux was gone. I was sleeping better, I had more energy, I was happier and the veil of depression that seemed to hover over me was lifted. I was regaining some measure of health.
It's been nearly three months now and I can testify that eating a diet filled with whole foods -- fruits and veggies, whole grains and legumes -- has changed my life. I pay attention to nutrition now and when I make choices of what to eat, I do so with the knowledge that I need to feed my body first. I no longer give into cravings or use food as a reward or a comfort. Food is, first and foremost, fuel for my body.
I suspect that I will, for the most part, continue to eat vegan after my 365 day "experiment" is over. But I'm not going to be so hard on myself that I can't enjoy a piece of fish now and then or a tempting sweet made with butter and white flour. But those "cheats" will be few and far between. This is what works for me and I'm pretty sure that it's the best I can do to improve my health. I can honestly say that I am no longer overfed and starving to death. I'm still overweight, but I'm working on that!
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