Loose Jeans, Baggy T's

My history with weight gain and weight loss has been a fairly lengthy and complicated one. I spent my childhood and teenage years as a lithe, 5’5” thing thanks to eating normally and dancing every chance I got. Once mental illness entered my life, though, and I started being treated with atypical antipsychotics to balance my mood, my weight spiraled out of control. At one point I was nearly 300lbs!

 

Being that heavy, for me, was not fun. My blood sugar was too high, my joints ached, and I had issues with my self-esteem. I know there are women that size and bigger who are happy with their weight and even celebrate it, but I could never manage to do that. You can call it bowing to social pressure, but when I went on a diet what I was really doing was trying to lower my cholesterol and my blood sugar.

 

In one year, after spending years above a size 20, I lost more than 80lbs with regular exercise and a low carb diet. Then I did what no person with the goal of losing weight should do – I slacked off. I spent some time hovering around 215lbs, feeling lighter but no better. It was only when my mother adopted the Mediterranean diet for health reasons that I started to get back into dieting and back into losing weight.

 

I am proud to say that after a few months of cooking mostly vegetarian and chicken dinners, I am down to 189lbs and my blood sugar is finally normal. My cholesterol is a work in progress, but I’m getting there. Honestly, isn’t it a pain the way medication screws with your body??

 

So, my blog fam, even if you’re not trying to lose weight I encourage you to Google some recipes from the Mediterranean diet. It is bursting with flavor and great for your heart and if you love pasta there are quite a few amazing pasta and grain recipes. 

Chicken, Steamed Veggies, and Brown Rice in a Tahini Dressing w. a Naan Round