About

My name is Chris. I live in Southern California. I ate like crap and now I’m not. 😂

In all seriousness, though, thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I suppose I find the affirmation a boost to my psyche when things are feeling too hard.

❤️

February, 2017 – I was in pain. Not just a little pain, mind you; it was mind numbing, want to run away and hide, pass the pills, kind of pain. My joints were stiff and swollen. My back and hips felt like I had ice cold knives driven into them. My skin hurt, even gentle touches made me cringe. It hurt to turn my head, to grip the steering wheel, to walk, to live.

My pain had been ongoing for over a year, slowly building. I went to the doctor. I don’t usually do that. I was given a choice: steroids or radical diet change. I chose diet.

In the interest of transparency, let me give you my stats:

I’m 40, married with 2 children, love Jesus, love animals, love food.

I have struggled with weight my entire life. I was the fat girl in middle school and high school. I became anorexic my Sophomore year and spent an entire summer living on gummy bears and Dr. Pepper. I panicked every time I gained a pound. I was obsessed.

After having kids I started gaining weight at an alarming weight. “I’m pregnant, I need to gain weight, right?” “I’m nursing, I need to keep my calories up.” “It’s so hard to eat right when the kids are little.” “I’ll have more time to exercise once they are more independent.” “We are always on the go, I don’t have time to eat right.” It’s been almost 18 years.

Oh sure, I had a few good months. I once even lost 40 pounds through clean eating and kept it off for almost a year. But life happened, emotional eating happened, discouragement happened, fat happened.

Food was always a crutch for me. It was happiness, fun, celebration, comfort. It was slowly killing me. I weighed 225 pounds. 115 pounds heavier than my wedding day. Not good.

February 27th, 2017, was my first day as a sugar-free, gluten-free, oil-free vegan. It happened to coincide with the day I had to drive my daughter to LA to check out her new school she will begin attending in the fall. I could barely walk. We ate out twice that day. I had a tofu bowl from Waba Grill and a Vegan burger from Red Robin (I was too hungry to forego the bun so I compromised and had half.) I was sad. No sauce, no condiments, just plain.

I’m finally getting downright good at food choices. I spend a lot of time on Pinterest and even more time shopping and prepping.

I am down 21 pounds and my pain has been reduced by 90%. I am getting back my energy. I have started walking again.

I will share my triumphs, my struggles, my recipe wins and my utter failures.

Hold on tight, it’s gonna be a long trip!