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In January 2001 I was determined to lose the weight I gained during the first three years of college. Thanks to the bookstore gift card AJ gave me for Christmas that year, I was able to buy a diet book. The book of choice was Mary Lou Henner's Total Health Makeover. I was expecting to read a book about restriction and diet tips. Mary Lou provided much more. I read about the poor effects red meat and dairy have on the body. I was curious to see how omitting those things from my diet would change my body. I was thrilled to find I felt better. I had struggled with asthma my entire life, but without the red meat and dairy in my diet my asthma symptoms all but stopped. I had energy I had never experienced before. Over the years I reverted to my old eating habits and I could feel it! Luckily I went back to being a vegetarian a couple years before getting pregnant (2005-2007). I was not a healthy vegetarian. I did not eat meat, but I still ate a lot of bread and candy and SUGAR. I lost most of my muscle mass and was weak. Fearful of not giving Ava the nutrition she needed during the pregnancy, I began eating meat again. Now, nearly three years later, I am ready to go back to my old lifestyle. I want to be smarter about it this time, getting the iron and protein I was lacking last time. I even want to take it a step further and move from vegetarian to vegan. I read The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. Note: I am not switching back to this way of eating to lose weight - althought that would be a bonus. I am looking for a healthier, more energized life. The information in the book is very similar to Total Health Makeover, but the recipes are strictly vegan and much more intriguing to me. I plan to record my experience making this switch on this blog.
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