Herbie of the Week: Kelli G (Currently Active Duty Air Force & bloated no more!)

Posted by:Lindsay S. Nixon Category: Herbies

Meet our Herbie of the Week: Kelli G!

Suffering from chronic bloating and constipation Kelli wanted a change. She switched to a vegetarian diet while deployed with the Air Force. Still struggling with her weight, she decided to try a strict plant-based diet and has since lost 40 pounds while following the meal plans.

Read Kelli's story in her own words...

I'm proud to say I'm a very happy herbivore! I had always thought of myself as a bit overweight but still athletic and strong. After graduating college I gradually gained about 30 pounds and seemed to be stuck despite what I thought was a fairly healthy diet and almost all homemade food. While I was deployed in 2012-2013 (I'm active duty Air Force) I ate vegetarian for about 4 months, felt pretty good and lost some weight. During this time I came across the Happy Herbivore website/blog and although recipes looked good at the time I had a ton of recipes I had found on Pinterest to try and after being gone for 6-7 months I wanted to celebrate! No surprise I gained the weight back plus a little bit. I also struggled for as long as I can remember with constipation and bloating but with a meat and potatoes husband I didn't think a full diet change was realistic.

At the end of 2014 I stumbled upon the VB6 diet and thought it would be the perfect balance as I could eat vegan all day and then have what we had been used to for dinner with my husband. It worked, sort of, but I wasn't losing weight and I still got bloated and uncomfortable and at the same time as starting VB6 I subscribed to the meal plan for the full year. I passed up lots of recipes that I didn't think my husband would like and had accumulated quite the collection of unused meal plans.

Finally, I moved to Texas in August for a year long training while my husband would stay in VA. I committed to following the meal plans since I only had to cater to my own tastes and gave up dairy for the first time. After a few weeks I noticed my skin clearing, and I started to lose weight. I've yet to deprive myself, and if I'm hungry I'll eat, but now I rarely resort to junk food and instead eat fruit/potatoes/overnight oats. Since August I've lost 40 lbs., brought my BMI down from almost 30 to under 24, and am wearing jeans again that I wore back in high school! I never feel deprived because I constantly have new recipes to try and with a busy schedule the ease of batch cooking my meals ahead of time makes it so simple to grab my breakfast and lunch on my way out the door and have quick options for dinner when I get home. My husband enjoyed the meal plan foods when I went home for a visit and now brags to me when he has meals that are vegan/vegetarian. I'm still a work in progress and still struggle when I eat out at restaurants (not very often) but I'm confident this is my new normal and my husband (who has heart disease/diabetes in his family and carries his excess weight in his midsection) will come around - at least mostly - once we're living together again and I'll be doing most of the cooking for us.

Thank you Meal Mentor for making the WFPB way of life so delicious, cheap, accessible and fun!

Thank you so much Kelli for sharing your plant-based journey with us!

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