by Nettie » Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:17 am
Thanks to everyone for their encouragement! Actually, I am ashamed to admit that this is my second time around trying to lose 100+ pounds. In 1997 I weighed 306, somehow by the grace of God discovered Dr. McDougall, and, despite being a MAJOR carnivore, I managed to give up meat and refined carbs for a couple of years. I never exercised, but I lost more than 160 pounds and easily kept it off. Then I got (or, more accurately, DISCOVERED) breast cancer. I went the rounds of surgery, chemo, radiation, and then was put on steroids for several months due to side effects from the chemo. As anyone who has ever been on steroids can confirm, I developed a HUGE appetite for everything, and started eating (and eating) SAD again. Somehow I never was able to return to McDougall until now, after putting back nearly all of the weight I had lost. I've paid such a high price for eating the SAD way, in terms of my social and professional life, loss of mobility, strength and stamina, that I no longer want to eat - and die - like that. My mother died 3 years ago and she never experienced good health due to her poor eating habits. I want to live longer than she did, and enjoy life right up to the end. And I've come to understand that a low-fat vegan diet has to be a big part of that. I'm ready to regain my lost health and rejoin the human race.