Attempting to Flirt

Brick Wall: Going vegetarian? WHAT?!

My boyfriend and I are doing our own Biggest Loser competition. We weighed in on Sunday, January 10 to start...oh, when I think back to that day now it literally makes me feel nauseous. We knew we would only be going down in weight (hopefully) from that point, so we loaded up on all kinds of things that day; cinnamon rolls, Ghirardelli milkshakes, McDonald's french fries and more. Yep, bad stuff.

Sunday night, we weighed in again (we're doing it every two weeks), and I had not lost a pound. I was so upset. The last two weeks I have put in more effort than ever to eat healthy and get to the gym. I didn't understand why I didn't lose any weight. Then I couldn't help but wonder...maybe I'm not REALLY eating healthy? I mean, I'm watching my portions and sugar intake and eating more fruits and vegetables and protein, but maybe I should be doing something more? Not just to win this competition and lose weight, but for a greater purpose perhaps.

For a long time now I've been curious about a vegetarian diet. I've been interested in a "beginner's" approach to a plant-based diet for some time now, but I just didn't know where to find it.

Last Thursday, I found it. I got The Kind Diet book, by Alicia Silverstone, thanks to the Oprah show! (I was in the audience for this episode about food.) I remember seeing Alicia talk about the idea of "flirting" with going vegan and how she described it in her book. I leaned in to my friend and said, "I have a Borders gift certificate from Christmas, and I think I'm going to go buy her book!" But thankfully, I didn't even have to do that. After seeing Alicia on the show, and seeing the film Food Inc, I feel like I've had a revelation to make some serious changes in my life, and more importantly, I feel confident that I can actually do this!

Today was my first trip to Whole Foods where I didn't just run in to get a meal and run out. Today, I had pages 84 and 85 of the Kind Diet in my cart in front of me and I tried to find 10 items that I could start flirting with. It turns out I have a very small Whole Foods next to me. I was only able to find 5 of the items, but I supposed it's still a good start. I'm very eager and excited to try the flirting stage, though I already know it will be a real challenge for me to get off of dairy, but something about this just feels right. Maybe it's the fact that I haven't had meat since Saturday night and I'm already feeling better about myself? Maybe it's the excitement of trying something new? Maybe it's what I'm supposed to be doing with my life...and now I've finally realized it. Stay tuned!