Meet our Herbie of the Week: Rebecca A.!
After years of struggling with her weight and being unhappy with her overall health, Rebecca decided to make some changes to her diet by eliminating meat and dairy. Before she knew it she started to lose weight and was able to move around without being in pain.
As much as Rebecca liked the results, it wasn't until she went fully plant-based and focused on health rather than size that she saw the biggest change of all:a weight-loss of 150 lbs!!!
Read on for Rebecca's incredible story!
Ever since I can remember, I’d always wanted to be smaller. I wanted to be petite like all the other (popular) little girls. So much so, at the age of 10 I joined Weight Watchers. It didn’t work and it put the zap in my head (even more than I already had) about how different I really wanted to be. With two or three exceptions, I’d been overweight, and even then I was still bigger that I wanted to be. Losing weight had always been a struggle; my weight/size had always been a source of unhappiness.
Fast forward to after my son was born (almost 10 years ago), I was very overweight (275 lbs). Simply moving around hurt and was difficult. I just didn’t feel healthy and was so very unhappy with my health and my size. After years of yo-yo dieting I decided to make some positive eating changes. I started to exclude dairy and land animals. I kept on that path, lost some weight, and was feeling more positive about exercising. I began to take daily walks, and soon my body pains became less and less.
About 3 years ago, I was given Everyday Happy Herbivore as a present for Christmas from my (omnivore) step Mom. She said, "It seems like you're moving in that (plant-based) direction, so here you go!" I loved EHH and quickly purchased The Happy Herbivore Cookbook as well. I have been completely plant-based ever since.
My health has never been better! Tummy issues I had throughout my life became a thing of the past. I rarely get sick (and I work with young children!). Around the same time I became plant-based, I started exercising more. Exercising was no longer a chore, but a pleasure. In addition to my walks, I began to practice yoga and light weight training. I can now do headstands and hold plank pose for quite a while. I can see my muscles! I had never been able to that before. When I became plant-based, I stopped focusing on my "size" and started enjoying to road to better health. In so doing, I've lost a total of 150 pounds!
And, I love to cook. In the past, dieting was so restrictive. Now, I eat when I'm hungry, and eat what I want. And I eat a lot. I love the taste of good, simple food. I love all four of Lindsay's books and have found them an integral part of my overall health.
I have helped motivate friends, colleagues, and family members to make healthier food choices. And now they're encouraging their loved ones. I also have a health blog, where (I like to think) I motivate strangers as well to make positive plant-based changes.
As I mentioned before, I work with children. I'm the director of an Early Education School. I have a complete set of Lindsay's books at the school and I encourage the teachers to bake plant-based goodies with the children. I think the overall favorite are the chocolate zucchini muffins. I also like to regularly incorporate other recipes when we have Parent Events (plant-based nacho bar with tofu sour cream, beans, and quick queso). I am regularly referring friends, family, clients, and blog followers to the HH books, blog, and meal plans for healthy, quick, family (kid) friendly food.
What an inspiring story! Thank you so much Rebecca for sharing your plant-based journey with us!
