Meet our Herbie of the Week: Jeanne!
Jeanne has struggled with weight since her first pregnancy. She had temporary success with various diets, but could not keep the weight off long-term. She was at the point of considering bariatric surgery, and then she transitioned to a plant-based diet. Since then she has lost 90 pounds and broken through her weight loss plateau with the Meal Mentor meal plans !
Here's Jeanne's story in her own words...
Like too many of us, I sometimes wish I were as "fat" as I was the first time I thought I was fat. I really was NOT back in high school, I just had a different shape body than I wanted. I was fairly active and in college was mostly vegetarian because it was cheaper. But when I started dating a dedicated carnivore, that pretty much stopped. Boyfriend turned into husband, and he was just uninterested in any dietary changes. By the time our son was born, I had gained 50 pounds. I did, at least, lose my baby weight very quickly, thanks to a very hungry baby.
Chasing a small child around, I managed to keep the rate of weight gain down a bit. Found my first McDougall book, Maximum Weight Loss , and gave it my best shot, but cooking separate meals for my husband just wasn't going to happen with a toddler, so that didn't last very long. When my daughter was born, I was another 30 pounds up, and was certain it could never get any worse. Over the years I had joined Weight Watchers, done various versions of low-carb diets, and occasionally tried again to follow McDougall. I even had various levels of success with each of them, for a time.
Eight years ago, my very, very frail mother-in-law moved in with us. I spent the following three years as her mostly full-time caregiver, and pretty much everything else in our lives screeched to a halt. I wouldn't have had her go anywhere else, but it did take quite a toll on my own health. When I finally started paying attention to myself again, nearly a full year after she passed, I weighed 321 pounds on my 5'4" body. I'm actually certain it got at least a bit worse than that, but I just didn't want to know, so didn't check. I was feeling completely hopeless and was considering bariatric surgery when I ran into a friend at my 30th high school reunion who gave me a kick in my very large behind, and a copy of the Forks Over Knives book . That was October 11, 2014, and it felt like I had finally, finally found a lifeboat after decades of near-drowning.
Within six months, I had lost 70 pounds from my highest known weight. I'm not sure what happened, but I really lost my focus for most of a year before getting serious again this past fall. I hadn't gained any back, but also hadn't lost any more. When what I call my Shrinkiversary came up last October, I got back on plan and lost another ten. My friend sent me the original Happy Herbivore cookbook , and through that, I found Meal Mentor . I bought an annual membership over New Year's weekend and have lost an additional ten pounds since then. I still have a long way to go, but at least I am confident I am finally on the right path. I am not 100% WFPB, and don't know if I even aspire to be. But this gives me the tools I need to keep the weight off, even when I have occasional dietary detours.
One final thought.... In just the last couple of weeks, I have discarded or donated a lot of saggy, baggy clothing, and suddenly EVERYONE is commenting on my progress. Not that much recent progress, but the clothes hid a lot of what I had lost. Clothes that fit just feel better. So I challenge you all to take a good, hard look at your clothes, and if they don't fit, find ones that do. I know how hard it is to keep up when your body is continually changing, but the effort is more than worthwhile.
Thank you so much Jeanne for sharing your plant-based journey with us!
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