The Plan

Alright, here's what is going to happen for the next 21 days:

• All meat is out. That means chicken and seafood as well. Definitely no steak...

• All animal by products are not allowed. No milk, no eggs, no yogurt, no ice cream, no mayo, to ranch, no nothing. This I think will be the hardest part.

• Plant oils need to be greatly reduced. While these are plant-based, they are still fat. I won't be cooking with oil, eating any deep fried, or comsuming too many avocados or olives (though these things and other foods like seeds and nuts are fine in moderation). Fat amounts need to be two grams per serving or less--and that is in realistic servings, not the serving size listed on the package label.

• I'll be aiming for low glycemic index foods. While all plant products are allowed, I will still be trying to make good choices. Instead of eating a 111 GI baked Russet potato at every meal, I might opt for a 77 GI sweet potato once in a while. Or if I'm feeling extra healthful I can skip potatoes altogether and eat 16 GI raw carrots. With the preset meal plan in 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart however, all of my food choices are already set out for me. Check it out at www.glycemicindex.com.

• I will be eating whole grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, and tubers. Nothing more, nothing less.

Here is the book I've been talking about, which details the meal plan and recipes I will be using:

 

 

 

Also, the documentary Forks Over Knives is available for watching Instantly on Netflix. I highly recommend watching it, even if you do have to cover your eyes at the heart bypass surgery scene (Mother...). Click here to watch with your account now.



Introduction

Welcome to my new blog!

I think that at this point most of my readers know who I am, but I'll give you a little background. My name is Britney, and I am obese. 

From the summer of 2011.
(I'm feeding this injured turkey vulture some dead mice.)

I am 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weigh 255 pounds. I have struggled with my weight my entire life, maxing out at 275 pounds last year. Right now I am wearing size 16 jeans, but that's not my real size. I only buy jeans from Target because they run very large (which means I can get a smaller number) and even so I still have to do odd stretches and dances to get them on me every morning. My actual pants size is most likely 22, and I haven't worn a dress in so many years that I have no idea what dress size I would be. I enjoy exercise, and walk quite a bit, but my doctor tells me that my metabolism is so slow that exercise isn't enough. I have a food addiction and dream about sweets day and night. I am quite fat and out of shape--and very unhappy about that.

Thankfully, I am at a point in my life that I can do something about that. Last month I moved away from and got my own apartment, which I share with my two room mates, in Blacksburg, VA. While I attend college at Virginia Tech, I do not have a meal plan and therefor purchase my own groceries and prepare all my own meals. What is to stop me from making a dietary change then? Absolutely nothing.

There is me on the left and my room mates Helen (center) and Carla (right).

 

I've tried or looked into dozen of diets in the past, almost all with marginal success. The South Beach Diet works well while I am on Phase 1, but as soon as I move out of that phase the weight comes right back on. Last semester I did a nutrition research paper for my Human Anatomy class and discovered that a vegetarian diet provides all necessary nutrients and is a viable option for weight loss. When my professor read my work, she asked if I had ever seen the documentary named Forks Over Knives (www.forksoverknives.com). I hadn't, and didn't end up watching it until yesterday. It was wonderful, and provided me with a new option that I hadn't ever considered before...

 

I'm going to be a vegan for 21 days in order to lose weight.

 

And who knows after 21 days? I guess we'll have to wait and see. Those of you who know me really well are probably saying right now, "That girl has lost her damn mind..." Yes, I most likely have. I have slowly been driven mad with frustration, self-image issues, and anger with for being too weak to control myself. I am blind with rage at myself half of the time. Do you know how many stairs are at Virginia Tech? Do you know how large and spread out the VT campus is? Do you know how small the seats in the lecture hall are? Do you know how awkward it is to be touching the person next to you on the bus because your fat rolls hang over the seat into their personal space? Do you how embarrassing it is to be brick red and soaked with sweat when you arrive to a lecture because you just had to walk up a very small hill in order to get to the class in question? Well, it sucks. Bad. I am beyond fed up with all of this.

 

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

 

How I shall miss you, frosting...







The reason that this sounds so extremist is because I come from a meat, cheese, and potatoes family with a voracious appetite. We find occasions to get together that are centered around food. When it is someone's birthday we go out and get inch thick ribeye steaks to celebrate. Instead of turkey at Thanksgiving, we barbecue racks of ribs. At this moment in time I am having difficulty imagining not eating meat, not to mention things like milk and eggs. But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, and for at least 21 days this is how I am going to live--totally and completely vegan.

 

And you'll get to see how it works as I blog about it every step of the way. As recommended by Forks Over Knives, I'll be following Dr. Neal Barnard's book entitled 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart to begin with. As I follow his meal plan I will include recipes, thoughts, science, and progress in my upcoming posts during the next three weeks.

 

Stay tuned.