"I will decide if I will each Chicken again when I'm wearing a Bikini"

How does it feel...To host Thanksgiving Dinner with all the Traditional trimmings and not to eat any of it?  To carve the Turkey and not even taste a piece?  To see relatives need to unbutton their pants after enjoying their second plates as they head to the desert table?  To cut cake, slice pies and provide cups for ice cream? To stick with my eating habits and not compromise my resolve during Thanksgiving?

Black Bean Spaghetti with Peppers &
Mixed Greens with Onions

Well honestly I felt like a proud hostess, having satisfied guest enjoying the comforts of my home and not feeling any pressure to break my health regimen.  I made my Vegan dishes and had enough to share, which created more laughter than hunger pangs and that's okay.  It was a very gratifying Thanksgiving, from the morning beginning at the gym doing Turkey Burn Boot Camp and ad hoc Zumba class to the Pot Luck Thanksgiving Feast and finally the easy "take all this food with you" clean up afterwards.  I'm Thankful for many things and yesterday I proudly made it through the day.  When I left the gym that morning, a trainer, Keith, said to me, "Don't undo all the work you just did." I responded, "I won't, you know what I'm trying to do." (referring to my quest for a repeat title)

This morning I returned to the gym to find I was one of four regulars for the 6am Cardio Karate class taught by Keith. At the end of the workout, I proudly shared my picture of my Thanksgiving Plate and told them that my family often ask if I'm going to stay Vegan and I respond I'm not sure but tell them, "I will decide if I will each Chicken again when I'm wearing a Bikini."  See I am doing what is working for me right now and I don't recommend anybody do what I'm doing, I recommend they find and do what works for them.  I could never do meal replacement shakes successfully but others have and been very successful taking it off and keeping it off. I'm on a mission to get to that same success story but I know I have to eat food to stick with something, so I've changed what I allow myself to eat only to realize there are a lot of things I enjoy.  Yes I still miss Bacon, but I don't miss the effects it has on my body when I would over eat it.  I rather live without it and just have the memory of it right now, that is what is working for me.  I told my Aunt yesterday that at work Tuesday for lunch, Chick-Fil-A platters were ordered for everyone to enjoy and it was much easier to say I eat Vegan than to struggle over the "one nugget won't hurt conversation" between my brain and stomach if I was still eating meat.

My goal is overall health benefits inside and out (wearing a Bikini to show them off of course, just kidding...maybe, lol)!  Whether I do Clean Eating, Raw Foods or add lean meats or fish back into my eating habits is yet to be determined.  Just know I'm determined to get it done this time.  Lose it and keep it off!

Can someone pass me a fork because I'm eating just not the same things I used to,

-Lynnell

"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"When we complain, we remain. When we whine, we stay behind. When we praise, we raise." - Jim Baker