Standard American Diet (SAD) or Vegan?

Ok so I officially became vegan on April 9,2012. That means that as of November 9th I will have been vegan for 7 months now. I did start losing weight before I became vegan. I started with cutting out soda. I lost 10 pounds in the first week when I started drinking more water and juice and no soda. I quit cold turkey. Now when I drink soda I am only able to get a few sips down before I get a bad taste in my mouth. Soda is disgusting when you aren't used to drinking it anymore.
After cutting out soda I stopped snacking and eating all the junk I was used to. I was feeling more energetic but I wasn't losing anymore weight. I was still eating meat and a lot of cheese. I switched to soy milk because cow's milk was starting to bother my stomach. Someone posted a link to the 30 day vegan pledge. I believe it was on PETAs website. So I took the pledge and I bought all kinds of vegan products. I started losing more weight. I liked the meat alternatives and the soy milk but I "couldn't give up cheese." So I was a vegetarian. Then I watched a few videos online of what happens to the animals on factory farms. I, being an animal lover, was outraged. I was angry, I was upset. I became obsessed with watching these videos. I had to know everything that was happening. I had to be vegan. So I started my transition to veganism, losing more weight along the way. I finally made the full change April 9th and I couldnt be happier. My goal is to lose another 50 lbs.
I am happy that I am healthier than I ever have been and my daughter is following in my footsteps now too. Pretty soon our whole household will be vegan. I will probably post another blog in the near future about all that is wrong with the Standard American Diet. I am so grossed out by the Standard American these days. It really is sickening to think that not even a year ago I was one of these people stuffing my face with what is really not edible. Just because it doesn't kill you TODAY doesn't mean it isn't toxic.

Weight Loss so far/being vegan

I have lost 4 more pounds since the last pic was taken. I have lost a total of 45 pounds. I also became a vegan in the time since I last posted. Yesterday marked 7 months since I became a vegetarian. I became officially vegan on May 9th although I was mostly vegan for a couple months before that. Everything is going well although I have been sick with allergies (lilacs, daffodils and pollen) for the last 3 weeks and haven't been exercising much. I hope to start walking, running and exercising more in the next week. :) I'd like to lose more weight soon so I can post another picture on my weight loss progress.

27 lbs and 11 inches

I lost another pound as of yesterday. My total weight loss so far is 27 lbs and I also did my measurements today. I found that I have lost another inch off of my waist, bringing the total inches lost from my waist to 11. Wow... I have lost 11 inches from my waist. That is amazing and I had no idea!
Yesterday I got a new pair of running shoes. If it stops raining I may go break them in. I am excited. I got them on sale and now I will be able to go jogging again. I need to get alot of practice in so Im ready for my fitness exam in 2 months.

Day 5 under 200 lbs

Wow! So it's real. I've been under 200 lbs for 5 days now. I am really liking this. I feel accomplished. Being under 200, especially for 5 whole days in a row makes my weight loss seem more real now. I can't wait to lose more weight and I know I will. I am still trying to eat healthy foods. I am trying to cook most foods from scratch with natural ingredients... although those Golden Oreos get the best of me sometimes. This week I got signed up for school. I have been accepted into the Law Enforcement program and I am all registered for classes. I know with my daily practicing of situps and running the 1.5 miles I will lose weight faster... hopefully. For the fitness entrance exam for law enforcement I have to do 26 situps in 1 minute.... I got that down. I have to run 1.5 miles in in 15 minutes. I can walk 1 mile in 15 minutes so running 1.5 should be simple. I will find out sometime this weekend how fast I can run 1.5 miles. Once I am timed I will know if I need to work harder at it or not. Don't get me wrong, I am still gonna push myself because I want this weight loss. Plus the more I lose before I start school, the better I will feel and the more confidence I will have. I also have to be able to sit and reach 13.5 inches for the flexibility test. I have no clue how far I am reaching because I dont have one of those little boxes to practice on but the last time I did it I believe I reached 17 inches but I was also skinny and didn't have a belly in my way. So even more reason to lose this belly before school starts. I also have to do 14 line steps in a minute but I am still not quite sure how to do a line step. That I will have to figure out but if I can do all the rest I should be able to do it. Ha. Hopefully my next post is to announce that I have lost more weight! :) Wish me luck.

Under 200

Yesterday I weighed in at 199 lbs. I was so excited. Finally, after 4 years of being over 200 lbs, I am now under 200 lbs. It's not close to where I want to be yet but I did achieve a mini goal. Under 200, it's amazing! I can say I weigh 100 something now. I feel good. I feel happy. I feel like I have achieved something. Things seem to be looking up and up. I do believe that with a little bit of hard work and a positive attitude we can achieve the things we really want. I am also going back to school this fall. I am going into the law enforcement program. I am so excited about this. I am going to be a DNR conservation officer. 2 years from now I will graduate. I just feel a little on top of the world right now and hopefully things only get better and better for me. :)

My progress so far

I haven't been writing but I have decided to start posting regularly. I am now down to 200 lbs. Things are going quite well. I try to walk at least 5 miles a day and ride my bike as often as I can. Yesterday I walked 10 miles and rode my bike 6.25 miles. Today I only made it 5 miles but I did get other things done too. I planted some green onions. I also got everything figured out for school. I am planning to take a couple classes this fall to get my financial aide reinstated. Then I will take a full course load next spring. Next fall I will take my fitness test and hopefully be accepted into the law enforcement program. I stopped seeing my therapist and took my life into my own hands. I now feel like my depression is almost non existent and I don't even have to take drugs. I just eat better and get exercise. It really is the best medicine. That is all for now. I will post more when I can.

My goals

I am trying to make my life more enjoyable and to make myself a better person. I want my life to be simpler, happier and healthier. First of all I need to lose weight. My starting weight was 220 lbs. I am down to 208. I had lost 15 pounds then gained 4 back and then lost 1 more. So here I am at 208 lbs. My goal is to get down to somewhere around 130 lbs but I will be extremely happy if I can get anywhere even close to that. I am also working on my depression and seeing a therapist. I almost feel like I am doing more for myself on my own than my therapist actually is but I will see how it goes.
I signed my divorce papers on Friday and my divorce should be final soon. I have mixed feelings. In a way it is like a relief. It is finally over after being broken up since November of 2009 and my husband was doing anything in his power to stop the divorce from happening but he has finally agreed. But I am also feeling sad because I do love him.... and it sucks that it had to end in divorce. I am thankful we are getting along and right now I have to focus on my life and making my daughter into a good happy healthy person. I am dating Sandy who is a girl and we are doing pretty good right now. We had some problems in the past and most of our problems right now are just lack of trust. I am confident we can get through this but when I make goals and plans for my life they need to be for ME and my daughter not anyone else. I was so low and felt like nothing good could happen to me. I am 26 about to be 27 years old and I have felt like I wasted my life and now I can never have anything I want(ed). I was wrong. I CAN do this.  I just need to get a place to live and get a job for now. Most of my bad credit will be falling off soon and once I get everything figured out I will start paying off the newest stuff. Eventually in a few years I should be at a situation where I can buy a house in the country it will be great. I have alot more to say and I will say it later because I have to go.