Have any of you ever wanted "to be" a certain person? Like, I want to be the person who remembers to mail people birthday cards on time. But, I'm not (Sorry mom, dad, nan, pop, Val, Missy, Amy, Megan). I want to be the person who will wake up every morning to get my workout in, no matter how early. But I'm not. Shout out to my Maine bestie, Sarah, here who I admire because she is that person. Girlfriend wakes up at 5:30am to workout before work, and I love that about her. I love that it's such a part of who she is. Yet, try as I might, that's one of her traits I can't get to rub off on me. I also want to be the person who doesn't have cable or watch TV. But, I'm
not. Okay, so I only want to be that person very hypothetically 'cause I
love me some New Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Real Housewives franchise... um, you
get the idea. :)
My point is that on this journey through life we all have intentions for ourselves and goals we really want to reach, but deep down know we never will for one reason or another. Except that, sometimes, we do reach those goals. We wake up one day and realize we have become the person we were aiming to be. And it feels pretty damn good.
For me, that was this morning as I reached into my big bag of clementines and pulled out two for breakfast, not even thinking of another option. As I munched happily on them, thinking that maybe I'd also eat the half of banana in the fridge, it dawned on me that I am now the person who eats healthy almost all of the time. I thought, "Holy shit. I became that person!"
About 4 months ago, I gave up meat and dairy. My parents were here on a visit when I made the switch and when my mom asked why I wanted to do it, I simply said, "I've always wanted to be the person who eats healthy most of the time and I never have been. This seems like the way to do it."
As you know from my Fit-Fat and Fabulous post, I have a healthy body image (despite having some extra cushion), and health has definitely been a goal of mine for a while. But I never could really be the person who made healthy choices as the rule. I could be the person who ate within her calories and lost weight at a snail's pace. And I certainly wasn't eating McDonald's for every meal or anything. But I also wasn't looking at food as fuel or medicine (or poison).
But then, I watched Forks Over Knives and something clicked. I spent the next few weeks getting myself ready, and then I made the switch, and I haven't looked back. (In full disclosure, I do have shrimp every once in a while, so instead of calling myself vegan, I like to call myself plant-based).
And I can honestly say that what has helped to me not feel deprived for even one second (and we're talking not even feeling deprived about not having Gifford's ice cream this summer, people) is that I have based my changes around knowledge, not willpower. I found vegan and plant-based blogs that I read every day, and I often read articles like this. I got a cookbook that is THE BOMB (Everyday Happy Herbivore). I learned about how our body works and what vitamins I need. Things I never knew about before. And I stopped counting calories, focusing instead on whether I was getting enough nutrients each day.
And guess what happened? I lost 17 pounds effortlessly, I stopped craving real ice cream, I stopped having blood sugar spikes, and I became a healthier person. Now, don't get me wrong. I still indulge in fun things, but they are always dairy and meat free. Tomorrow, I'll be making the vegan chocolate chip pancakes that have become the Sunday tradition in my house.
So even though there are lots of people you might never be, don't ever give up completely, because you just might surprise yourself. Maybe, since I've been successful with one goal, I should tackle the TV thing. Ha! Who am I kidding? That one just ain't happening, folks. I'll eat carrot sticks instead of cinnamon sticks, but I won't give up my Bravo TV.
