Yummy Pizza

My favorite food is pizza. My family has a tradition on Friday nights to eat pizza and have soda pop. If you have read my previous post on Friday Pizza, I thought this new eating pattern would hinder my Friday night feast.

NO way, Jose. I do not have to give up pizza. I am learning anything can be altered to my new eating style.

My new pizza;

Pre-made Crust: Mama Mary's: come with 3 personal crust for $2.50 at Walmart
Sauce: Ragu Pizza Sauce
Toppings: lots of vegis I love
Green Bell Pepper
Black olives
Red onion
Mushrooms
Vegan mozzarella cheese (soy based): to melt cheese, cook pizza for 7-10 minutes, then broil on 'hi' for 1-2 minutes.

Interest vs. Commitment

I have been thinking about 'going' vegan since November last year. I started 'trying' to eat animal-free and soon found it to be too hard. I did not have enough interest.... but more importantly I was not committed.

I recently found there is a HUGE difference between interest and commitment. Interest is when you think you might want to do something when it is convenient for you. Commitment on the other hand is doing whatever it takes to do what you have to do to succeed!

I am committed to eating healthier, which means (to me) no animal products or in other-words a vegan diet. When I made the commitment to myself, I decided to take action and do what I needed to do to live this new life-style. I am educating myself on the subject to understand why I am doing what I am doing, to make the change within me, not be merely interested.

I have found success in the past 2 weeks. Temptations are so minimal, if any. I have learned that food is the fuel for my body. To be healthy I must provide the right fuel. I feel great with the food choices I am making and will continue to share some of my favorites and not so favorites to document, enforce, motivate and encourage on this journal to health.

Barriers

After I had Chase, I was able to lose about 20 lbs by simply nursing and doing a little exercise, but I needed to lose more than that because, well, I don't just gain 25 lbs when I am pregnant :( I was pretty stagnant after losing that initial weight and felt like I had reached a barrier.

For a little background...with Adie I gained a whole 50 lbs, and was ultimately able to lose about 40 before getting pregnant with Chase, but I still had that extra 10 lbs lingering. I only gained 35 lbs with Chase, but I still had 15 lbs to go to even get back to where I started, which was still 10 lbs more than before I started with Adie. That's a net gain of 25 lbs from pregnancy, On top of that, I had gained about 5 lbs from the time I was married until I got pregnant the first time, so ultimately, I'd like to lose all 30 lbs and be back to that place, which is entirely possible, since I've been there before, and I feel more healthy at that weight.

Now, back to the barriers. After losing that initial 20 lbs, I knew I needed to do more in order to not keep that weight on. I felt like I had reached a barrier and would remain stagnant unless I put in more effort. So, in November, I really started to run more and eat mostly a vegan diet, a goal I have had for a long time. During the first part of November I lost 10 lbs! It was so refreshing to see new numbers on the scale. Then, Thanksgiving, and the travel that accompanied that, happened and I mostly abandoned the vegan diet thing for the holiday season. The good news is I never gained anything back during the holiday season, but I wasn't going down either, and I still have plenty to go. It's actually fairly amazing that I didn't gain any weight considering my inconsistent exercise routine during that time too.

I really have wanted to see some more new numbers on the scale and that happened today again. Yay! I only lost 1 lb, but it's a number I haven't seen for a long, long time, so it was a welcome sight. I attribute it to again striving to avoid all animal protein in my diet and the fact that I have run 3 times this week already. It should be noted that I still saw the lb lost after having 4 pieces of toast with vegan butter and a tortilla right before going to bed last night (I was really hungry despite eating all my meals and snacking all day long). I am very encouraged. It seems any time I start eliminating the animal protein, I can break my barriers, and don't think I don't eat a lot. I totally do. I am not one to limit portion size. I've never been good at that.

Finally on Track (I think)

So, I joined a 12-week vegan weight loss challenge. I am trying to be 100% vegan until April 1st and hopefully lose 15 lbs in the process. I am supposed to check in weekly and share my experiences and then write an essay at the end to tell how it went, what I learned, how I've changed, etc. I am only on my 3rd day today and my resolve is still high, despite the many temptations I had yesterday to just cheat a little. If I can actually accomplish it, by 12 weeks, being vegan (or should I say eating a plant-based diet because I am not truly vegan as I don't abstain from every animal product, like leather or honey) should come pretty naturally for me, at least, that's my hope. I'll keep you, meaning Julia (and this blog) posted :)