This is a journal of my weight loss progress starting August 08, 2014. It shows each time I weighed as well as notes about my progress. This is very personal information. Remember once you read something you can’t unread it.
I tried Soylent for weight loss. It worked for me but it is very expensive and made from genetically modified foods. Soylent is more suited to someone who is in a coma. It will keep you alive and healthy but it is not mentally or physically satisfying. As you can see below I could only manage 2 shakes a day not 3 because it was boring and depressing so I had to eat at least a single meal of real food.
Weight Loss Progress
2014
2014-08-09 – 303.0 lbs. (Soylent Protein Shake – 2 shakes 1000 calories and 1 meal of real food at 300-500 calories daily. Totaling approximately 1500 calories a day.)
2014-08-15 – 299.8 lbs.
2014-08-22 – 299.0 lbs.
2014-09-11 – 295.8 lbs.
2014-09-19 – 292.0 lbs.
2014-10-04 – 286.6 lbs.
2014-10-10 – 285.0 lbs.
2014-10-17 – 284.4 lbs.
2014-11-07 – 277.0 lbs.
2014-12-12 – 269.6 lbs.
2014-12-19 – 267.4 lbs. (took break from diet)
2015
2015-02-06 – 262.4 lbs.
2015-02-24 – 260.4 lbs.
2015-07-09 – 261.4 lbs. (gained weight) (took break from diet)
2015-07-20 – 254.4 lbs. (Started food journal at fitday.com)
2015-07-31 – 247.2 lbs.
2015-09-06 – 234.8 lbs. *(1st Year complete – 68.2 lbs lost)
2015-10-09 – 224.6 lbs. (Stopped drinking Soylent Protein Shake (Moved into new house.)
2015-11-09 – 209.6 lbs.
2015-12-09 – 198.8 lbs.
2016
2016-01-09 – 187.2 lbs.
2016-02-09 – 174.6 lbs.
2016-03-09 – 164.2 lbs.
2016-04-09 – 151.2 lbs. (Body Mass Index 23.7 Normal Weight) *(Goal Reached, trying to maintain.)
2016-05-09 – 141.0 lbs. (BMI 22.1 Normal)
2016-05-16 – 139.2 lbs. (Sick have Colitis. Had to switch to clear diet and then bland diet. Only eating 600-1200 cal a day.) (BMI 21.8)
2016-06-04 – 140.2 lbs. (Feel tired all the time like I could faint any second. Probably still sick.)
2016-06-11 – 132.4 lbs. (Still feel tired. lost 8 lbs. in a week? BMI 20.7)
2016-06-15 – 132.4 lbs. (Added 300 calories to diet. Eating 1850 calories a day. Feeling better.)
2016-06-24 – 138.6 lbs.
2016-07-01 – 140.8 lbs. (Removed 140 calories from diet. Eating 1710 calories a day.)
2016-07-08 – 139.4 lbs. (Pescatarian Diet Started – Meat restricted to Seafood)
2016-07-14 – 137.4 lbs.
2016-07-22 – 137.4 lbs. (BMI 21.5 – Normal Weight)
2016-07-29 – 135 lbs. (Still loosing weight. No change in diet.)
2016-08-05 – 135 lbs. *(2nd Year Complete – 99.8 lbs lost)
2016-08-13 – 135 lbs. (Eating 1700-1750 calories a day. Mostly raw fruits and vegetables.)
2016-08-19 – 137.6 lbs. (Water weight.)
2016-08-20 – 137 lbs.
2016-08-21 – 134.2 lbs. (Ha! Told you. Water weight.)
2016-08-26 – 134.6 lbs.
2016-09-02 – 134.8 lbs.
2016-09-09 – 134.6 lbs. (Eating about 1670 calories a day.) (Stopped using soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, deodorant. Beginning switch to Veganism and more natural products.)
2016-09-15 – 134.6 lbs.
2016-09-27 – 132.8 lbs. (Replaced milk with lower calorie protein drink.)
2016-10-14 – 133.2 lbs.
2016-10-23 – ???.? lbs. (On cruise vacation from 2016-10-16 – 2016-10-22. Ate mostly fruit, healthy cereal, nuts, and some vegetables. Vegetables were harder to find than fruit. If I had stayed on this cruise another week I would have died of starvation or had a mental break down from not being able to prepare my own food.)
2016-11-07 – 131.4 lbs. (After cruise.) (Stopped using dryer sheets and household cleaners.)
2016-11-11 – 131.4 lbs.
2016-11-19 – 130.4 lbs.
2016-11-25 – 132.4 lbs.
2016-12-09 – 128.8 lbs.
2016-12-16 – 129.8 lbs.
2016-12-23 – 124.8 lbs.
2016-12-30 – 127.2 lbs.
2017
2017-01-06 – 125.2 lbs., 19.6 Body Mass Index Normal (Only getting 1570 calories a day after I replaced milk on 2016-09-27. Have modified caloric intake to make up for the milk substitute.)
2017-01-13 – 125.6 lbs. Getting about 1650 calories a day.
2017-01-21 – 123.2 lbs. Raising caloric intake to 1730 calories a day.
2017-01-27 – 125.8 lbs.
2017-02-03 – 124.8 lbs. Water sauteing more foods for easier digestion. Still eating about half raw.
2017-02-09 – 125.8 lbs.
2017-02-12 – 123.6 lbs.
2017-02-17 – 125.0 lbs.
2017-02-24 – 128.2 lbs.
2017-02-26 – 126.0 lbs. (Cold tolerance is much lower now that I am the correct weight but I am not cold all the time. Normally keep thermostat at 75 day and 65 night. I don’t get bothered unless it gets above 83 degrees or below 65 at night. I read that it takes 18-24 months for body temperature to regulate during maintenance.)
2017-03-02 – 127.5 lbs.
2017-03-10 – 125.4 lbs.
2017-03-17 – 126.4 lbs.
2017-03-24 – 125.4 lbs.
2017-04-07 – 126.2 lbs.
2017-04-14 – 128.2 lbs.
2017-04-15 – 124.4 lbs. Ate too much fermented plum (130g) at a time. Lost 3.79 lbs of water weight in a day. It was very painful. 124.4 is much closer to my actual weight.
2017-04-21 – 128.6 lbs.
2017-04-28 – 128.2 lbs.
2017-05-04 – 124 lbs. Actual weight. Ate something bad or too much melon.
2017-05-11 – 129.6 lbs. (Ate 1/2 qt bag of grapes in middle of the night.)
2017-05-19 – 128.6 lbs. Eating about 1600 calories a day and doing yard work.
2017-05-27 – 124 lbs. I think my damn scale is broken. It shows the correct weight first and changes to the wrong weight. It never used to do this before. I ordered a new one and a dumbbell so I can see if it is calibrated correctly. Have started eating 50% vegetables and 50% fruit to help with digestion. Vegetables for breakfast and lunch and fruit for dinner and 4th meal. I have also started exercising again. I am also not doing as much yard work as before.
2017-06-03 – 126.8 lbs. Should be close to correct since I replaced my scale.
2017-06-10 – 128.8 lbs. Lowering calorie intake to 1488 calories a day for a month.
2017-06-16 – 127.2 lbs. Exercising switching between a Pilates video and lifting a 10 lb. weight every other day. Switched from fitday.com to cronometer.com calorie counter which is much better because it allows me to track water intake. Water intake was too high 285% of dv. I have reduced water intake by 80% of dv by removing 12 cups of water from my diet now I am able to sleep better and I have more energy.
2017-06-23 – 126.2 lbs. Was low in zinc and selenium. Since I am off grains right now I will start eating a box of mushrooms a day which should provide enough. I am also trying to figure out how to sleep through the night without waking up every 2 hours to use the bathroom. I will also stop drinking Decaf Tea before bed unless I am unable to fall asleep.
2017-06-30 – 127.4 lbs.
2017-07-07 – 127.4 lbs. Try adding grains, starches, and beans to each meal. Each meal should contain 200c Vegetables, and then 100c Grains (brown rice, black rice, whole wheat spaghetti, quinoa), Starches (potatoes, corn) , or Beans (dried, black, lima, pinto) . Also will need to start taking a zinc supplement because a box of mushrooms a day will cost about 100.00 a month.
2017-07-14 – 125.8 lbs. Have been using free weights more especially when I feel tired. I am taking a zinc supplement and 3mg of Melatonin every night. I have started freezing my Vitamin D Mushrooms so that I can eat the recommended amount each day and not have to wolf down 2 boxes of mushrooms in 2 days.
2017-07-21 – 128 lbs.
2017-07-28 – 127.4 lbs.
2017-08-04 – 131 lbs. *(3rd Year Complete – Maintaining Weight)
2017-08-12 – 128.4 lbs.
2017-08-18 – 128 lbs.
2017-08-25 – 127.2 lbs.
2017-09-01 – 127.6 lbs.
2017-09-09 – 125.8 lbs. One year since starting veganism. Everything is going great. I have been walking in the morning for about 30 minutes everyday to help keep my heart rate up.
2017-09-15 – 123 lbs. – Got a Squatty Potty.
2017-09-22 – 123.2 lbs.
2017-09-29 – 122.8 lbs. Walking 30 minutes a day except Saturday which is for 15 minutes. Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday I have been lifting a 10 pound free weight, 7 sets and 10 reps of standing curls and overhead presses. Monday, Wednesday, Friday I do Pilates.
2017-10-06 – 116 lbs.
2017-10-13 – 118.6 lbs. – I have stopped taking all supplements and as a result I am able to sleep better. For B12 I eat Bragg’s Nutritional Yeast and for vitamin D I eat irradiated mushrooms.
2017-10-20 – 118.6 lbs.
2017-10-27 – 117.8 lbs.
2017-11-03 – 117.2 lbs. – I am doing 9 sets of 10 reps with free weights now. The squatty potty, walking, and free weights are probably why I have lost more weight.
2017-11-11 – 118.4 lbs
2017-11-19 – 118.4 lbs – I am up to 10 sets of 10 reps with free weights.
2017-11-26 – 118.4 lbs
2017-12-01 – 119.2 lbs – Stomach and Intestinal Problems, Diarrhea for 24 hours. Lifting 11 sets of 10 reps with free weights.
2017-12-08 – 118.4 lbs
2017-12-15 – 116 lbs
2017-12-22 – 115.4 lbs.
2017-12-29 – 115.8 lbs. – Eating less vegetables and more legumes, grains, and nuts to save money and make me feel less heavy after meals. Lifting 12 sets of 10 reps with free weights.
2018
2018-01-05 – 114.6 lbs.
2018-01-12 – 117.8 lbs.
2018-01-19 – 118.2 lbs.
2018-01-26 – 117.6 lbs.
2018-02-02 – 113.4 lbs.
2018-02-09 – 115 lbs. – Eating beans and leafy greens everyday. Rarely eating nuts. The bad weather is causing me to feel depressed. Need some sunlight here. Weightlifting is at 14 sets of 10 every other day.
2018-02-16 – 118.4 lbs.
2018-02-23 – 114.4 lbs.
2018-03-02 – 116.4 lbs.
2018-03-09 – 117.2 lbs.
2018-03-16 – 116.8 lbs.
2018-03-23 – 119.4 lbs.
2018-03-30 – 117 lbs. – Experimenting with fasting to reduce appetite. Reducing size of meals by limiting weight of fresh vegetables to 200 grams total. Eating soy bread and drinking more homemade plant milks. Using lots of spices.
2018-04-06 – 115 lbs.
2018-04-13 – 115.4 lbs.
2018-04-20 – 115.8 lbs.
2018-04-27 – 113.6 lbs.
2018-05-04 – 117.2 lbs.
2018-05-11 – 116.6 lbs.
2018-05-18 – 116 lbs.
2018-05-25 – 115.8 lbs.
2018-06-01 – 116.6 lbs.
2018-06-08 – 118 lbs.
2018-06-15 – 117 lbs.
2018-06-22 – 116.6 lbs.
2018-07-06 – 116.4 lbs.
2018-07-13 – 117.6 lbs.
2018-07-20 – 115.8 lbs.
2018-07-27 – 116.2 lbs.
2018-08-03 – 115.8 lbs.
2018-08-04 – ???? – 4th Year Complete – Maintaining Weight
2018-08-10 – 119 lbs. – Sugar Kiss Melons are in and I purchased 32 of them at once. Trying to fill my freezer with diced Sugar Kiss for winter when they are no longer available and as you can see I eat a lot of them while I prepare them. I ended up with 70 melons in my freezer.
2018-08-17 – 117.6 lbs.
2018-08-24 – 114.8 lbs.
2018-08-31 – 114.6 lbs – I walk for 30 minutes each morning, noon, and night. I do Pilates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I also lift weights 10 lbs. 14 sets of 10 presses and curls every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Saturday I rest.
I have started eating breakfast at 3pm and lunch at 3:30pm – 4pm each day. Then I prepare fruit for freezing if I need to. I eat dinner at about 7:30pm and 4th meal at around 8:30pm – 9pm. I go to sleep at about 10pm. This helps to reduce cravings for me at least.
Also I have had upper back problems for the last year. I have noticed that I have not been standing up straight so I have corrected this behavior and it has been such an improvement. My upper back pain is gone.
2018-09-07 – 114.2 lbs.
2018-09-09 – ???? – Two year Veganniversary!
2018-09-14 – 114.6 lbs.
2018-09-21 – 114.6 lbs.
2018-09-28 – 111.8 lbs. – Digestive problems, stomach virus.
2018-10-05 – 115 lbs. – Feeling great!
2018-10-12 – 116 lbs.
2018-10-19 – 112.6 lbs.
2018-10-26 – 111.6 lbs.
2018-11-02 – 113.8 lbs.
2018-11-09 – 112.8 lbs.
2018-11-16 – 112.6 lbs. – Since I seem to be maintaining my weight pretty well. I have decided to only weigh once a month.
I have been eating a snack of grains such as spaghetti or rice at around 3 – 3:30pm or cutting up fruit for freezing and snacking on that. I find that when I eat grains I don’t get cravings but if I eat fruit I do get them.
My Diet:
3 – 3:30pm Snack – Eat grains or cut up fresh fruit to freeze.
6pm – Breakfast & Lunch – 2/3 Grains, Beans, or Potatoes, 1/3 Vegetables.
7pm – Dinner & 4th Meal – Dinner 1/2 Oatmeal, 1/2 Banana, 4th Meal – 1/2 Banana, 1/2 Melon or other fruit.
Also I have noticed that I don’t get as cold as I used to. I am able to sleep using a thin blanket while wearing a light long sleeved shirt when it is 30 degrees outside and I have the heater on 65-68 degrees. Sometimes I use a fan at night. During the day I set the heater to 72 deg. I also do more cooking such as baking potatoes and boiling vegetables or grains which helps heat the house during the day. I think eating more bananas and less melon has also contributed to this.
2018-11-26 – I have purchased a stationary exercise bike. Will be trying to use it for about 15 minutes a day and replacing the calories burned with rice and spaghetti.
2019
2019-01-01 – 112.2 lbs.
2019-02-01 – 116.6 lbs.
2019-03-01 – 118.4 lbs.
2019-03-19 –
Stationary bike broke down after 2 months. It needs a new belt and wheel. I am unable to repair so I will be getting rid of it. https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B005T4YHCE Don’t buy this bike. The extra exercise really helped mentally and physically. I felt even better. I was doing 15-20 miles a day but I reduced it to 30 minutes a day because it was taking up a lot of time.
I found out that we don’t need Nuts or Avocado for Omega-3, ALA, DHA, EPA. We only need the trace fats found in any vegetables and legumes. I never liked including compact calorie, high fat foods in my diet. Caffeine and theobromine should be avoided because they are stimulants and affect sleep. So avoid caffeinated coffee, tea, and chocolate. Carob is a good replacement for chocolate because it does not contain the stimulants caffeine and theobromine.
Instead of solely focusing on my weight I will be looking at other factors. Weight doesn’t really matter but body fat percentage does. So I got a scale that measures body fat and many other things. It was only about $30.00 too! https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B078HW8BPY
2019-04-01 – Weight 119.4 lbs, BMI 19, Body Fat 9.7%, Muscle Mass 102.4 lb.
Have been doing free weight floor presses in addition to my usual exercise. I have also been watching videos by ChefAJ and Dr. John McDougall. Have started eating more sweet potatoes, rice, beans, and whole wheat pasta. Have stopped eating garlic, onions, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts because they give me digestive problems. I also stopped eating avocado, nuts, and seeds because they are high in fat.
2019-04-02 –
For the last few months I have practicing intermittent fasting to maintain my weight. I usually have breakfast at around 6-8pm and continue eating until bedtime 9-10pm. I guess you would call this the 20:4 method which is 20 hours fasting 4 hours eating. It is not constant unrestricted eating for 4 hours. It is eating 4 meals in a 4 hour window. Sometimes I get tired at around 2-3pm and I will have a snack at that time. People are not supposed to eat right before bed if they want to lose weight but this has been working for me. I cannot go to sleep hungry. I may be doing 20:4 but I am still Vegan. This is not The Warrior Diet.
2019-05-01 – Weight 119.8 lbs, BMI 19, Body Fat 9.7%, Muscle Mass 102.8 lb.
I have increased my muscle mass by 0.4 lb. I have been using an aerobic stepper and 1.25 lbs of ankle weights each.
Everyday
Walk 2.3 mph for 90 minutes with 1.25 lbs each Ankle Weights while using aerobic stepper for 30 minutes each leg.
Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday
Arm Exercises: Lift 10 lb weights 21 sets of 10 reps curls and military presses.
Chest Exercises: Floor Press and Lying Fly 15 reps each.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
15 minutes of Pilates with 1.25 lbs each Ankle Weights.
Back Exercises: Dead Lift and Wide Row 15 reps each.
2019-06-01 – Weight 123.6 lbs, BMI 19.6, Body Fat 10.6%, Muscle Mass 105 lb.
One day I was too full to eat my last meal of the day so I skipped it. Felt great the next day. So I have reduced calories by about 120. Bringing each meal to about 300 kcal. At 4 total meals that is about 1200 kcal a day. Which has worked for me in the past. This month I’m trying to learn about “hari hachi bu” or eating until 80% full which is practiced by the Okinawans. If I feel I need to skip a meal I will. I am also sequencing my food. I am eating non-starchy vegetables like zucchini and spinach for breakfast and saving the starches for the rest of my meals.
Muscle Mass has increased by 2.2 lbs.
Everyday Walk
2.3 mph
Morning, Afternoon, Evening 45 minutes each
1.25 lbs ankle weights
aerobic stepper 30 minutes each leg
Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday
Arm Exercises –
10 reps curls and military presses
Lift 15 lb weights 2 sets
Lift 10 lb weights 20 sets
Chest Exercises –
15 reps
Floor Presses
Lying Fly
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Pilates 15 minutes
1.25 lb ankle weights
Back Exercises –
15 reps
Dead Lift
Wide Row
2019-07-01 – Weight 123.6 lbs, BMI 19.6, Body Fat 10.7%, Muscle Mass 105 lb.
2019-08-01 – Weight 123.0 lbs, BMI 19.5, Body Fat 10.5%, Muscle Mass 104.4 lb.
2019-08-04 – 5th Year Complete – Maintaining Weight
2019-08-23 – Weight 118.0 lbs, BMI 18.7, Body Fat 9.3%, Muscle Mass 101.8 lb.
2019-09-09 – Third year Veganniversary!
2019-10-04 – Weight 122.2 lbs, BMI 19.4, Body Fat 10.4%, Muscle Mass 104 lb.
2019-11-26 – Weight 125.8 lbs, BMI 20, Body Fat 11.3%, Muscle Mass 106 lb.
2019-12-30 – Weight 123.2 lbs, BMI 19.6, Body Fat 10.7%, Muscle Mass 104.4 lb.
2020
2020-03-04 – Weight 122.6 lbs, BMI 19.5, Body Fat 10.5%, Muscle Mass 104.2 lb.
2020-04-25 – Weight 128.2 lbs, BMI 20.4, Body Fat 11.9%, Muscle Mass 107.2 lb.
2020-07-11 – Weight 123.6 lbs, BMI 19.6, Body Fat 10.7%, Muscle Mass 104.8 lb.
2020-08-04 – 6th Year Complete – Maintaining Weight
2020-09-09 – Fourth year Veganniversary!
2021
2021-01-07 – Weight 128.8 lbs, BMI 20.5, Body Fat 12.1%, Muscle Mass 107.6 lb.
2021-07-10 – Weight 111.8 lbs, BMI 17.8, Body Fat 8.0%, Muscle Mass 97.8 lb.
I’m in the National Weight Control Registry at nwcr.ws. Every year I receive an email with a questionnaire about my weight and diet. I was kind of dreading weighing myself because I thought I was getting fat but it turns out I’m not. Last year I was 10-15lbs more. I think it was because I was off my thyroid medicine that year.
I have stopped doing any exercise where I have to get down on the floor, weight lifting, and bike riding. I am walking for 3 hours a day which is about 5 miles for me. While walking I watch Chef AJ Live, listen to a book on Audible, watch a Plant-Based lecture or class, or watch a Plant-Based cooking demo.
I am on The Potato Reset diet just for fun and I like eating huge quantities of sweet potato. I practice intermittent fasting 22:2. Intermittent fasting narrows the feeding window so that I do not overeat or feel hungry all the time. My feeding window is between the hours of 8pm and 10pm. I don’t like to break my fast before 8pm so I wear a mask while preparing food. I practice mindful eating and chew each bite until it is a fine paste. I watch television while eating, mostly old TV shows like Star Trek or X-Files.
I eat a mixing bowl full of salad which is mostly raw non-starchy vegetables such as kale, carrots, zucchini, celery, cabbage followed by a large bowl of roasted diced frozen sweet potato. Japanese sweet potato is my favorite but I also enjoy hannah / jersey , jewel, garnet, and stokes purple. I only eat until I am about 80% full because I don’t like overeating or feeling full. I am one of those people that will eat whatever amount of food is placed in front of me so I count calories and make sure I get 1200kcal a day. I also practice volume eating. Knowing that non-starchy vegetables are 100kcal a pound and sweet potatoes are 400kcal a pound helps keep me slim.
Sometimes I overeat but only on whole foods as grown and nothing over 600kcal a pound. I don’t buy processed foods like cookies, candies, cakes, chips, soda, juice, crackers so I am not tempted to eat them. I don’t allow other people to cook for me ever and I don’t eat outside my home. So no friends food, family food, fast food, or restaurant food under any circumstances. In the worst possible case I can just skip the meal.
For hydration I drink a mix of chaga and cordyceps mushroom powder with a pot liquor made from sweet potatoes, mixed vegetables, and beans. I stop drinking an hour before dinner because drinking will lower the acidity of stomach acid and mess with digestion. I was waking up in the middle of the night binging on sweet potatoes so I got locks for my freezer and refrigerator. Eating during the middle of the night makes it harder to get quality sleep.
I am also sleeping quite well. I can usually fall asleep within 15 minutes. I like to listen to The No Sleep Podcast while falling asleep. It helps to have someone read you a story. I also sleep with a plush animal because it helps me fall asleep faster. I set the thermostat to 62 degrees and use box fans to block out the highway noise. I also use a standing fan to blow air on me so that I don’t get too hot. I sleep under 4 layers of blankets and don’t start getting warm until about 4 hours have passed. I usually wake up around 9am and go to bed around 10:30pm. I have written out a daily schedule to help keep me on this routine.
2021-08-04 – 7th Year Complete – Maintaining Weight
2021-09-09 – Fifth year Veganniversary!
2022
2022-02-24 – Weight 116.4 lbs, BMI 18.5, Body Fat 9.2%, Muscle Mass 100.4 lb.
My Struggle with Depression & Binge Eating
I usually feel great most of the time. I eat a very clean vegan diet which includes plenty of vegetables, fruit, and starches like beans, rice, and sweet potatoes. I avoid all processed foods and ingredients like sugar, oil, flour, alcohol, salt. I also avoid wheat because during harvest it is sprayed with pesticides and left to dry in the sun. I avoid all rice except Indian Basmati Brown Rice because it is the lowest in arsenic. I was walking as exercise for mental and physical health for about 3 hours a day.
I am an introvert so this means that I find being around people drains my energy and I need to be alone to recharge. For the last 18 years (2004-2022) I have been working from my house with very little human contact. Then I sprained my ankle getting out of bed one morning and I had to stay off it for a month. I knew that I had to stop walking but walking was one of the things keeping me sane. I stopped walking to allow my ankle to heal. Eventually I was able to walk with a cane so I could go grocery shopping and to the movies.
Then around my 39th birthday I started to become incredibly depressed and lonely. I thought about killing myself but never actually planned to do it. I thought the easiest way to do it would be to slice my wrist vertically. Other than the wrist pain I would think it would be just like falling asleep.
Anyway when I became depressed I started binge eating as a way to deal with the pain. At first I was binging on sweet potatoes. Instead of the 2-3 sweet potatoes a day I was eating 8 or more in a day. I even ate 2 boxes of dry spaghetti with sauce. When I was binge eating my body became bored with food and I was unable to taste anything. Normally I would eat a big salad and the vegetables would taste sweet but after binging on sweet potatoes the salad had no flavor. If I binge eat I have to fast for a day or two before I regain my sense of taste for the lower calorie foods. At one point I drank an entire bottle of date syrup which is just dates and water. It was so sweet that it killed my sense of sweet taste and burned my throat and stomach.
Then I started getting bored with the healthy foods so I went to 3 different grocery stores and purchased about $500.00 in vegan junk food. I was eating ice cream, bread, chikn nuggets, buffalo wings, onion rings, french fries, strawberry preserve, peanuts, pizza, burgers and other meats. Now all of this food was vegan but it was made to replicate foods that are complete crap and I knew this. I even went to a restaurant for the first time in 5 years. It was a vegan tex-mex restaurant and the food was terrible. I remember the guacamole tasted like pure fat and the chips tasted like pure salt.
The amount of food I had purchased would have lasted a normal person anywhere from a week to a month. I ate most of it in about 3 days then I gave it all away. I gave 6 pints of ice cream to my mother along with a few vegan meats. But it didn’t stop there, I knew where she was keeping them so I would sneak over to her house and grab some ice cream every night for a few days. Eventually I had her put a keyed lock on her freezer so that I could not access it.
I knew I had to do something to get my diet and health back on track so I purchased several juices. Since store bought tomato juice has added salt and other ingredients I made my own out of tomato paste and water. I learned that it is best to stick with juices that are low in sugar like tomato and carrot. The other juices are too high in sugar and make me anxious. I drank nothing but juice for about 2-3 days. I got back to keeping up with my meals on cronometer.com and started eating salad, apples, and canned beans.
Apples really helped me because they are an easy to eat hand fruit that I could grab anytime of the day or night. I was eating apples at night while in bed when I felt lonely and depressed instead of getting up and eating ice cream. I eventually replaced the night eating with vegan sparkling water which is just water with natural flavor and contains zero calories.
I began going into work about 4-5 days a week and associating with family, friends, and customers which has helped me immensely. I wake up in the morning and do 15 minutes of pilates and 1 hour of walking a day while watching ChefAJ Live on Youtube or shows on Netflix. I have also been taking SAMe 400mg for depression and it really seems to help. I no longer feel depressed or lonely even when I am alone. I don’t get cravings either. Oh and my ankle eventually healed too.
What I have learned from this experience:
- Vegan junk food is terrible crap and makes me sick to my stomach to even think about it.
- Restaurant foods are too salty and oily.
- Too much salt causes edema. I swelled up to twice my size.
- Binge eating causes me to get way too hot. I’m usually cold all the time.
- I need to be around people so that I do not feel lonely and depressed.
- Exercise keeps me sane. Just light exercise like pilates and walking are great.
- I have to keep up with what I eat on cronometer.com because I will overeat if I do not.
- I will never eat another vegan junk food or restaurant food for as long as I live.
- It is ok to eat canned and bagged vegetables when you don’t have the time to make food. The extra cost will be worth the time saved.
- Apples are an excellent food. They can be very sweet to very tart, soft or crisp and they have that satisfying crunch that sounds like a tree falling in the forest.
- Big Salad, Apples, Canned Beans are all great.2022-04-25 –Unable to sleep all night. I was very tired and could not stop thinking about food so I went to the grocery store and bought a bunch of junk food.
2022-07-24 – Weight 181.8 lbs, BMI 28.9, Body Fat 25%, Muscle Mass 129.4 lb.
Have been binge eating junk food and unable to sleep because I am always eating even in the middle of the night.
2023
2023-11-19 – Weight 121.4 lbs, BMI 19.3, Body Fat 10.6%, Muscle Mass 103.2 lb.
I got my weight back down. I have been walking for about an hour a day and eating only whole foods, not junk food. I have been very wired all day eventhough I haven’t eaten or drank anything. I was cleaning my house from 8am – 6:30pm. I had so much energy that I just kept going. I didn’t want to stop and take a break because I thought I might not finish. This was the first day I had spent this long on my feet. Depression makes you want to sit and do nothing all day. I am feeling much better now. Anyway as I type this it is 11:55 pm and I am unable to sleep, just too wired. Oh by the way I am still Vegan. I didn’t even consider eating animals because It is wrong.
How I Earned 60 lbs. Of Fat and Made it Disappear
I was going to the gym 4-5 times a day and lifting weights in addition to walking for an hour. I was also eating a diet of only 1200 kcal.This was not enough calories to maintain my health.
Then I started getting some pretty intense cravings so I would go to the grocery store and purchase a shopping cart overflowing with junk food. I was feeling very hungry and depressed but binge eating at all hours of the night doesn’t allow your body to rest so it is impossible to get sleep. When you do get sleep you wake up with a food hangover.
Well at this point I had stopped going to work so I was sitting, not exercising, and watching a lot of mediocre stuff on Netflix, while binge eating until I could no longer taste anything. My problems were insomnia, headaches, constipation, diarrhea, depression, anxiety, and of course fat gain. I was a complete mess.
So I decided to do something about it. I put together three meals that I really love, recipes linked below. Then after a while I purchased a treadmill and started walking daily. I started playing a video game or MMO by the name of Guild Wars 2. As an introvert I try to avoid being around negative people so I don’t usually interact with other people in video games but Guild Wars 2 has some of the nicest people I have ever met in a video game and this has helped me immensely.
176 lbs. (58%) lost as of 2016-12-30
Weight Loss and Cold Tolerance:
Losing Weight and Changes in Cold Tolerance
9 Things No One Ever Warned You About Losing Weight