So I
never thought I would post this.
NEVER.
At first I was too embarrassed to
upload a photo of me that made me so unhappy.
The left was just under 2 years
ago. I was at my heaviest weight 12 stone 6lbs, eating all the wrong things, addicted to
Coca-Cola(full fat) and just not looking after myself. I had terrible stomach issues,
constantly seeing one consultant after the other, doing all these tests to figure
out what the cause was. Eventually it got to the point where there were no
more tests to take and I was left in constant agony and always feeling sick.
But still for some reason the thought never occurred to me that what I was
putting into my body had something to do with it; or maybe it did and I just
ignored it?
When this photo was taken I
looked at it with disappointment and disgust. How did I get here? And in that
moment something clicked. I decided that more than anything I wanted to change.
April 2015 (when that photo was taken)
I started
off by cutting out Coca-Cola all together. NOT. ONE. DROP. Meanwhile I began to
eat healthier foods and make better choices.
July 2015
The
weight was gradually starting to come off (I'd probably lost around a stone) and
began to feel a little better inside and out.
October 2015
After
eating better and joining the gym I had lost nearly 2 and 1/2 stone all together and
started my first year at uni feeling much better about the way I looked.
Although they weren't as bad as they had been, I still had my
stomach troubles.
June 2016
Up until
this point the weight had still slowly been coming off, which was boosting my
mentality; losing weight wasn't really my goal anymore. My goal was to tackle my stomach issue head on, as I was still so unhappy about the way I felt inside. I wanted so much to feel as good as I
did in, as I had been feeling out.
After everything I had been through I
thought to myself this isn't too much to ask! So after a good amount of
research, I switched to a Plant based/Vegan diet. I also started running
regularly and going to the gym more, I wanted to be the fittest me possible.
At first
I said to myself give it 2 weeks and see how you feel. I had never been a big
"meat eater" so that was never going to be an issue but all my life I had
loved cheese. LOVE. IT. If there was anything that I'd cheat on it would have
been cheese. 2 weeks had past I hadn't had one bit of cheese and I felt pretty
darn good!
It's been 7 months and I haven't looked back.
I don’t want to saying going plant based/vegan has "cured" my stomach issues because "cured" is a BIG and kind of scary word, which can sometimes be thrown around too much. But I want to be open and completely honest, I have had NO STOMACH ISSUES WHATSOEVER.
Best of all I LOVE plant based/vegan Food and I LOVE running (which I never thought I'd hear myself say!). I have never felt restricted in what I can eat. What I've found is you just have to be willing to be open and try things you wouldn’t normally try, and you shouldn’t look at that with a scared outlook. It can be exciting and so enjoyable! Don’t get me wrong there are still foods no matter how much I try I just cant stand. Cucumbers… I HATE cucumbers with a passion! Haha!
I don’t want to saying going plant based/vegan has "cured" my stomach issues because "cured" is a BIG and kind of scary word, which can sometimes be thrown around too much. But I want to be open and completely honest, I have had NO STOMACH ISSUES WHATSOEVER.
Best of all I LOVE plant based/vegan Food and I LOVE running (which I never thought I'd hear myself say!). I have never felt restricted in what I can eat. What I've found is you just have to be willing to be open and try things you wouldn’t normally try, and you shouldn’t look at that with a scared outlook. It can be exciting and so enjoyable! Don’t get me wrong there are still foods no matter how much I try I just cant stand. Cucumbers… I HATE cucumbers with a passion! Haha!
This is me now...
More than anything I am so happy with the way I feel
inside. I can go for runs I never thought I would be able to do (before I
couldn’t go 5 mins without having to stop!).
The
hardest part is making that decision. Making that one change like getting rid of all Coca-Cola in your house and only drinking water, after that it gets easier. I had done something that I
didn’t think I could do. From then I knew that if I REALLY wanted to I
could do more...
I could lose the excess weight (overall somewhere around 4 stone).
I could get fitter.
I could go
plant based/vegan.
I could run 30 minutes without having to stop.
I could help my body to feel amazing.
I know its cliché, but it IS POSSIBLE to achieve your goals. I still have goals now I want
to achieve and I know with determination and a positive outlook I can get
there. I look back to 2 years ago and I probably thought I'd never be here. But
I am. I look at that last photo and I feel PROUD of myself. Not because of how much weight of lost but how I've changed my health for (what I think is) the better.
Thanks for reading.
Jess
x
P.S. If anyone has any questions or want me to talk more about certain things then let me know in the comments!
