How I Lost 20 lbs in 2 Months…Without Any Exercise

It has always been relatively easy for me to lose weight whenever I stuck to a good ’starvation’ diet and workout routine.  Problem is, with 3 kids and a business, it’s hard for me right now to make the time to exercise.  I can’t even remember the last time I’ve been to the gym.  I’ve tried a few types of diets in the past, mostly just different variations of portion control and keeping track of calories.  But what has been the most effortless diet for me is eating a vegan diet.  I have experimented with this way of eating on and off for over 15 years now but never really stuck with it.  However,  I have noticed that the pounds always seem to melt away fast whenever I commit to not eating meat.  Eating a vegan diet doesn’t necessarily translate to salads, tofu and rabbit food all the time.  Once you get the hang of it, it’s really no big deal and not as strange as it may seem.

I gained about 35 lbs. with this last pregnancy, lost 10 lbs with the birth and another 5 lbs. a month after.  Beginning May 1st of this year, about a month after I gave birth to Isabella, I decided to get serious about losing all this extra weight, and easily lost the last 20 lbs just by eating vegan as much as I can.  I didn’t really have a structured meal plan, or a caloric limit intake.  Here is what I’ve been eating the last 2 months:

Breakfast (I eat/drink all morning long from 8 a.m. until lunch time):

Fresh fruit juices (fresh squeezed orange & grapefruit; sometimes I’ll mix in some fresh apple juice if the grapefruit is too bitter)

Fresh fruit smoothie (pineapple, berries, bananas, apples, etc)

Any type of fruit and as much as I want of it

Recently I’ve started adding a vegetable juice concoction (found in Natalia Rose’s book Raw Food Life Force Energy) before eating any of the above

Lunch:

Some type of gazpacho soup or other veggie soup

Vegetable fried rice

Stir-fried veggies & rice

If I get too lazy…peanut butter & jelly sandwich

Snack:

Muffin, mini-bagel or fruit

Dinner:

If I’m good, it’s some type of grilled seafood and veggies.  Otherwise, I just eat whatever my husband and kids are eating…including dessert

What has made this easy for me is the fact that my kids generally don’t like to eat meat (or any kind of unidentifiable object for that matter), so I don’t really have to buy or fix special meals just for me.  And I also take it easy on myself during dinner, since my husband likes “regular” food.  As long as my first 2 meals of the day is vegan, I get the benefits of that diet.  Eventually, I’d like to eat a 100% vegan diet, just because it feels right to me.  I feel lighter, have more energy, and can concentrate better.  I also don’t get sleepy after a big vegan meal like I do after a big meal at a Chinese buffet.  I feel like the food is cleaner, more pure, and not as complicated to prepare.  Other than brown rice, most vegan meals can be fixed in 15 minutes or less.

My interest in vegan eating was initially spiked by the fact that the people that I know that eat this way have really clear skin.  At that time, I was probably 18 or 19 and obsessed about my skin (at that age, who wasn’t??).  When I moved to the U.S., where vegan meals are a little bit more common than where I grew up, I started reading up more about it.  Then I learned about all the different types of vegetarian/vegan diets, including eating raw vegan and organic.  But more than just another unconventional way of eating, or a way to lose weight, get clear skin, or to live past 100, what it really boils down for me is that it’s a more conscious way of eating.  It has led me to really examine and question the type of food we all eat, why we eat it, and if they’re really good for us.  There are lots of different reasons people convert to vegan diets.  For me, it’s the sheer simplicity of it.  The resulting weight loss is just icing on the cake.  And it’s a more sustainable way of eating for me because I can realistically continue eating this way for the rest of my life and anywhere I go.

A lot of people may think, well, now I won’t get to eat all the good stuff I used to eat.  I personally don’t think of it as deprivation because it’s a conscious choice.  And what we consider as “good stuff” is very subjective.  There are people in certain parts of the world, and even in this country, that consider cow testicles, sheep brains and fish eye balls as edible, and even a delicacy.  For the majority of the population, those things are considered pretty repulsive and chosen not to be eaten.  Same thing with meat and processed food.  Some people choose to eat them and think they’re good for you, while others don’t.  I highly doubt many people will get bummed by not being able to eat sheep brains or fish eyeballs…ever.  So it’s really not a big issue for me to no longer eat steak or pork chops.

Eventually, as Isabella starts weaning herself from needing me just about every hour of the day, I will start adding excercise back into my life.  And as I learn to undo the lifelong eating habits I’ve formed, I will eventually wean myself completely off of all types of animal products and processed food.  But I’m taking it slow for now and allowing a few slip-ups here and there because once in a while, I still like to eat my fried chicken and donuts.  Maybe by next year, they will be as appetizing as cow testicles to me.