In my last post I stated that I fell off the vegan wagon while traveling for a funeral and had a hard time getting back on track. I also began to gain back the weight I had lost from my time on a 100% vegan diet which really depressed me. I went on the vegan diet for a multitude of reasons, but I would be a bold-faced liar if I didn't admit that weight loss was not a top reason.
Exploring more into why I so easily fell off the vegan diet that I was enjoying and why it took me so long to get back on, I have concluded that I need to have: more flexibility and options for eating out; more self-compassion for any breaks in vegan eating; and more carbohydrates -preferably sweeter things, as I broke my vegan diet for sweet pancakes and have stayed away indulging in ice cream and decadent coffee drinks.
I believe I have found my solution: High Carb, Low Fat, Vegan Lifestyle!!! I never ever knew that I could eat a high quantity of carbohydrates and not pack on the pounds. In my mind carbs have always equaled packed on pounds. Even more, I have always known that if I ate over 1,200 calories in a day I would not be able to lose weight. And I am never satisfied with such a little amount of calories.
I recently stumbled upon a youtube video by a youtuber that goes by the name, "Freelee The Banana Girl." After I got past the shock of her eating habits (she eats an excessive amount of bananas!) I began to think about what she had to say about how important carbohydrates are for our cells and for our brains and when we deprive ourselves of abundant carbohydrates we are in essence starving our bodies and set us up for failure on diets that are carbohydrate restrictive. But, to be clear, when I say "abundance" I mean an amount that is just short of absurd. ;-)
Freelee explains that she had a background of anorexia, bulimia and a sprinkling of health issues. Though I have never suffered from anorexia or bulimia, I connected with her weight gain she experienced post anorexia. After starving for nearly 9 months during my HG pregnancy with Rockwell, I experienced a steady weight gain, accelerated by medication that causes weight gain. As I type these words, I am miserably over weight and nothing less than obese. I hate typing that. Hate it, tremendously. But it is a fact. Denying it has only gained me more fat around the middle.
In keeping with what I have been learning to practice in therapy I must remind myself that I did not ask to starve for nearly 9 months, I did not ask to have a body so weakened by a debilitating pregnancy disease, and I did not ask to have PTSD and postpartum depression and a drug that not only aided in my weight gain, but that I had a bad reaction to and left me with months of vertigo, among other things. I have my part to play in my obesity, but I am not just a lazy fat slob (even if the negative voice in my head tells me that I am).
So back to this high carb, low fat vegan plan. I decided to give it a try. It flies in the face of all that I have known, but I also know that what she says makes sense to me. I am not sure if it will work for me, but what do I have to lose?
What is the plan? From what I am gathering there are several variations of the eating plan, but in general it is a high fruit diet and women are supposed to eat at least 2,500 calories of mainly fruit and other carbs like cooked potatoes, rice and other grains. There are versions in which you only eat raw -no cooked foods and there is a focus on simple food pairing (like smoothies of bananas and kale or bananas and mangoes). Some strive for an 80/10/10 eating plan: 80% carbohydrates; 10% fat and 10% protein. The Banana Girl diet runs more like 90/5/5.
I am going to try it for 30 days, completely raw, but am okay with modifying it if I don't feel like it works for me or I just need more flexibility. Like I said, I don't have much to lose -beyond unwanted fat and health issues I am beyond sick of suffering from. I have a lot of digestion issues, among other things, and I am excited by the fact that many who have followed this eating plan have found improvements in their digestion.
I am excited to try this diet -at any level I can, as I know it will be healthy and that it has the potential in helping me to lose this excess weight. I am hopeful that with some time eating at higher calorie diet -but one that is low fat, high carb will retrain my body to stop holding on to every calorie it consumes by letting go of its "fear" of starvation.
Exploring more into why I so easily fell off the vegan diet that I was enjoying and why it took me so long to get back on, I have concluded that I need to have: more flexibility and options for eating out; more self-compassion for any breaks in vegan eating; and more carbohydrates -preferably sweeter things, as I broke my vegan diet for sweet pancakes and have stayed away indulging in ice cream and decadent coffee drinks.
I believe I have found my solution: High Carb, Low Fat, Vegan Lifestyle!!! I never ever knew that I could eat a high quantity of carbohydrates and not pack on the pounds. In my mind carbs have always equaled packed on pounds. Even more, I have always known that if I ate over 1,200 calories in a day I would not be able to lose weight. And I am never satisfied with such a little amount of calories.
I recently stumbled upon a youtube video by a youtuber that goes by the name, "Freelee The Banana Girl." After I got past the shock of her eating habits (she eats an excessive amount of bananas!) I began to think about what she had to say about how important carbohydrates are for our cells and for our brains and when we deprive ourselves of abundant carbohydrates we are in essence starving our bodies and set us up for failure on diets that are carbohydrate restrictive. But, to be clear, when I say "abundance" I mean an amount that is just short of absurd. ;-)
Freelee explains that she had a background of anorexia, bulimia and a sprinkling of health issues. Though I have never suffered from anorexia or bulimia, I connected with her weight gain she experienced post anorexia. After starving for nearly 9 months during my HG pregnancy with Rockwell, I experienced a steady weight gain, accelerated by medication that causes weight gain. As I type these words, I am miserably over weight and nothing less than obese. I hate typing that. Hate it, tremendously. But it is a fact. Denying it has only gained me more fat around the middle.
In keeping with what I have been learning to practice in therapy I must remind myself that I did not ask to starve for nearly 9 months, I did not ask to have a body so weakened by a debilitating pregnancy disease, and I did not ask to have PTSD and postpartum depression and a drug that not only aided in my weight gain, but that I had a bad reaction to and left me with months of vertigo, among other things. I have my part to play in my obesity, but I am not just a lazy fat slob (even if the negative voice in my head tells me that I am).
So back to this high carb, low fat vegan plan. I decided to give it a try. It flies in the face of all that I have known, but I also know that what she says makes sense to me. I am not sure if it will work for me, but what do I have to lose?
What is the plan? From what I am gathering there are several variations of the eating plan, but in general it is a high fruit diet and women are supposed to eat at least 2,500 calories of mainly fruit and other carbs like cooked potatoes, rice and other grains. There are versions in which you only eat raw -no cooked foods and there is a focus on simple food pairing (like smoothies of bananas and kale or bananas and mangoes). Some strive for an 80/10/10 eating plan: 80% carbohydrates; 10% fat and 10% protein. The Banana Girl diet runs more like 90/5/5.
I am going to try it for 30 days, completely raw, but am okay with modifying it if I don't feel like it works for me or I just need more flexibility. Like I said, I don't have much to lose -beyond unwanted fat and health issues I am beyond sick of suffering from. I have a lot of digestion issues, among other things, and I am excited by the fact that many who have followed this eating plan have found improvements in their digestion.
I am excited to try this diet -at any level I can, as I know it will be healthy and that it has the potential in helping me to lose this excess weight. I am hopeful that with some time eating at higher calorie diet -but one that is low fat, high carb will retrain my body to stop holding on to every calorie it consumes by letting go of its "fear" of starvation.
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