Guest Blog: A Couple's Amazing Success Story - Going Vegan

7/12/2015

"We’ve found a new way to eat and most importantly a new energy and respect for our bodies." - #TEAMALDER

In late April of this year, I finally decided that enough was enough. I don’t know that it was conscious but it was just something that happened. As I began, for the 100th time to search for ways to lose weight and be healthy, I decided that I was the only one that could make this change. I decided that my brand of health did not have to be like everyone else's. I knew what worked for me but doing it was a whole different story.

Rewind 3 years before this day in April. I had been vegan over 6 months, loved every minute, weighed 135 pounds (10 pounds less than in high school), exercised daily, and didn’t think much of it. I knew I was healthy but had no idea how fit my body really was. That May, I met my now wife, and fell in love in a matter of days (hey, when ya know, ya know). I stayed vegan for several months until I had that first ice cream cone on vacation. From there my wife and I went on journey of eating what we wanted when we wanted and it often was not healthy. We were both incredibly healthy until you put us together! During that time we also went on a spiritual journey together and this I believe is where the miracle of us really began. We began to live our lives from kindness, love, giving, and positivity and tried to do everything we could to make that what we did naturally. Granted we were still eating like crap but our spirits were growing together. We were told that once the spirit straightened out the mind and body would follow. And it has…

We have not arrived. We are not at the end but we are at a new beginning for us. In April of this year I decided to return to a way of eating that has spoken to me deep inside for almost 5 years now. I was laying in bed 166 pounds, tired, stressed, wanting to quit my job, and searching the internet for some inspiration. I had started reading some vegan blogs again. I eventually came across Miss Bellevue Vegan. I was sure she was too good to be true. $75 for a month of boot camp with her? No way, I don’t believe it. This is just what I had been looking for, affordable support…who was this person and when can I meet her!

I emailed her, we met, and everything she said made total sense. She didn’t have to convince me that going vegan was a better way to eat, I already knew that. She just believed in me and educated me. That night I was lying in bed telling my wife about working with her and she decided she would try this 33 day boot camp challenge too. And we started yet another phase of our relationship together. Our teamwork is what has made every phase, every hiccup, every challenge, every success work, because we are committed to doing better for each other and for our family. Our food and our health was the next natural step.

So she signed up with Kristin the next day and within a few days we were off to the races. The first three days were intense, mainly because our bodies were detoxing from so much sugar and processed food. After the detox phase passed, our energy level rose, our skin cleared, and our blood sugar stabilized (I even had someone tell me my hair looked different!). The first two weeks working with Kristin we eliminated everything from our diet that she suggested we eliminate (wheat, gluten, soy, corn, sugar, caffeine, and of course, dairy and meat). We slowly worked fruit back in. I tried to work wheat, gluten and soy back in, but discovered my body doesn’t like these items much so now that I generally try to steer clear of them all. We almost never eat processed sugar (except for a vegan cupcake or treat for a birthday). And, on the whole, we don’t miss any of the foods from before.

We’ve found a new way to eat and most importantly a new energy and respect for our bodies. Shopping is an adventure, cooking is something we do together, new recipes are ways to jump out of a rut and our family is getting used to it too. They have healthy options for us at cookouts, they ask us what is vegan, and of course, they poke fun too. But what has changed for me is that when they poke fun, I no longer take it to heart and let it deter my direction. I just play along and eat my vitamin rich food with an understanding that it’s about so much more than food to me. It’s about listening to the voice inside that says I can do better and be better and then going out and doing it, even when it’s hard and even when it’s unpopular. I am my greatest advocate for my health. Thanks Miss Bellevue Vegan for helping my wife and I get enough new routine, behaviors, and positive reinforcement under our belt to do different. Thanks for the food journals, the thoughtful responses, the education, and the passion with which you work. Team Alder is on it’s vegan way and we’ve only just begun!

Team Alder Stats
Rachel Alder started at 166 lb..and is now 155 lb.. and has lost over 9 inches. Erin Alder started at 167 lb. and is now 156 lb. and has lost over 9 inches. One month of BEVEGAN Boot Camp with Miss Bellevue Vegan and now 6 weeks on their own for total of 10 weeks!

Comments