REDIRECT How I Learned to Feel Good About Eating

Eating was never fun for me.

 

It’s not that I don’t like food. I love food.

 

But for much of my life, I couldn’t eat anything without having some negative feeling attached to it.

 

Eat something delicious? Guilt. (Because I always ate too much of it!)

 

Go on a diet? Resentment. (Because the food either tasted lousy or didn’t fill me up.)

 

How did some people have the luxury of loving their food AND their bodies at the same time? And why couldn't I be like that?

I'M NOT VAIN. AM I?

 

I always figured that fit women had either superhuman self-control or really fast metabolisms.

 

I hated that I secretly envied that. After all, my body doesn’t define me.

 

And yet I had spent most of my life wishing that I at least looked like someone with more discipline.

 

Then, 15 years ago, my already rocky relationship with food got even more complicated.

 

My husband Philip went vegan.

 

 

NO MIRACLE DIET

 

In order to reverse his high cholesterol and blood pressure, Philip stopped eating meat, dairy and eggs.

 

There were plenty of reasons for me to tag along. The promise of weight loss was one of them.

 

But while Philip lost weight and quickly got his numbers in order, I actually gained weight and felt lousy.

 

Years went by and things got worse. I eventually mustered enough self-discipline to keep my weight constant, but my energy still seemed to be going down.

 

Not liking how I looked was now the least of my problems.

 

 

THE BIGGEST PROBLEM

 

Why was I exhausted all the time?

 

You would think that doctors or nutritionists would have answers, but mine kept coming up blank.

 

And why couldn’t I lose weight on a vegan diet?

 

I thought I was eating healthy. I didn’t eat much packaged food or drink soda pop. I tried to steer clear of desserts and I knew enough to avoid other calorie bombs.

 

But there was clearly more to it than that.

 

And I was forced to figure it out on my own.

 

 

THE ELUSIVE ANSWER

 

Sometimes it takes a lot of digging to uncover the truth – so many holes lead to nowhere.

 

There’s the bad science: industry-funded studies designed to sell products.

 

There are the experts, whose conflicting advice will make your head spin.

 

But eventually I found advice I could trust.

 

Here’s what I learned: While the healthiest foods are plants, not all plant-based foods are healthy.

 

In short: Unprocessed plants are healthy. But processed plants? Not so much.

 

It's a simple concept. But pretty limiting if you're not a whiz in the kitchen.

 

 

SUCCESS - AT LAST!

 

At that point, I would have done anything to get my health back. So I got myself to work.

 

Once I learned how to bring the healthiest foods into my daily routine, my energy began to soar. Not only that, the excess weight I'd been carrying for decades started to pour off.

 

It was pretty time consuming at first. But not only was I enjoying my food, I had no more hunger. So no more bad feelings!

 

Now I know how to use these healthy foods to satisfy any craving I have. And I don't have to worry about how much I eat. Best of all, I figured out how to do it in a pinch.

 

Fast-forward a few years and I’m officially thriving, just like Philip – loaded with energy, loving my food and enjoying the figure that evaded me for decades – in my fifties!

 

Through all this trial and error, I developed a weight loss method – really a "reach-your-perfect-weight-and-maintain-it-for-good" method that can help anyone achieve a healthier relationship with their food.

 

Today I get to show other people how they can enjoy their food and lose weight without hunger - all while giving their bodies the nutrients they need to thrive.

 

Knowing my experience is helping others, well, you could almost say all that suffering was worth it.