In October 2010 I watched the film Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. It was an eye opener for me, and I decided that I would try to do a juice fast just like Joe in the film. I went on the website: www.jointhereboot.com and read as much as possible, and I ended up doing a 30-day all juice reboot from 11/25/11 - 12/24/11. I lost 30lbs in those thirty days, and it was the best I've ever felt. During those thirty days, I learned as much as I could about vegetarian nutrition.I also took that time to find as many recipes as possible that I would try once I was "eating" again.
While I was doing the thirty days, I realized that I was ready to make the commitment to a plant-based diet. January was definitely an exciting month for me. I got to try out new vegetarian recipes, and I was especially excited about the fact that I was able to maintain the weight loss.
I still have about 15-20lbs left to lose, so I decided to do another 15-day reboot. I started yesterday, but I wasn't able to post about it, so here goes...
I have to say that it was more difficult for me to stick with it this "first" day than the first time I did the Juice Reboot. I guess it's because I've been eating new foods every day for the past month. It's hard to go from that kind of excitement to a more structured eating--or rather drinking--plan.
The one big motivator that keeps me going is an innocent picture that a friend took which kind of shattered my self-image. After losing the 30 lbs, I felt thin...I mean I knew I was still overweight, but compared to what I used to look like, I thought I looked pretty good. THEN, I traveled to Tampa (I wrote about this trip in a previous post) where my friend Amy lives. She was at the workshop that I presented, and she took a picture of me at the front of the group.
The picture was hilarious because I was making a crazy face, but I actually didn't even recognize the person in the picture when I first looked at it. In the few seconds that it took me to realize that it was me in the picture, my brain kind of went like this, "Hey that lady has the same shirt I'm wearing...wait a minute...that's ME." I couldn't believe how big I actually looked. The picture that I had of myself in my head definitely did NOT match the picture I was looking at in front of me.
As I looked at the picture, I re-evaluated my self-image. I definitely look A LOT better than I used to before, BUT I was ignoring the fact that I am still overweight and that I still need to lose weight. Before you judge me for being vain, I want to explain why this wasn't a vain reaction. My shock wasn't so much about looking bad or good, it was about looking fat and unhealthy. Because of all of the changes I had made, I was convinced that I was in a good place, weight and health-wise, and that simply isn't the case.
Soooo, I deleted the picture because I hated the person in the picture. I hated that person because she wasn't honest with herself. I want to be true to who I am with both the good AND the bad. The truth is that I have made a lot of positive changes for my health; but, it's also true that I am still at an unhealthy weight, and I still have unhealthy habits.
So, that's where the reboot comes into play. I'm going to approach these two weeks with my health in mind and with my true self in mind. I've been overweight so long that I had forgotten to care about how it was affecting my health.
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