Plant Powered College – Pulling out the Old Jeans

It’s been a few months now that I’ve been following a fully plant powered diet. After being vegetarian my entire life, it wasn’t too huge of a leap. The only thing left to give up eating was dairy, but it has been making more of an impact on my life than I ever anticipated.

All throughout high school my weight has been a steady 140 lbs – 148 lbs. Not much gain or loss, just very consistent. I’m not the type of person that has ever felt the need to weigh myself often. I never wanted to concern myself with how much I weigh on a daily basis, but it’s always good to check in every so often. So of course I found myself faced with a scale at the UCSD gym last Tuesday. I let two friends hop on it before me, but when I got on the scale and saw the measurement, my jaw dropped! It displayed a perfect 130 lbs. I haven’t been at that weight in 6 years. Almost 20 lbs. less than I expected myself to be!

Now mind you, I’ve never considered myself as being fat, out of shape, or unhealthy but I’ve always been aware of the little extra weight I carried regardless of the large amount of physical activity I’ve always been involved in. Soccer, softball, field hockey, cross country, track, swimming; during high school, I basically did it all. Little did I know the only missing link was to eliminate eggs, milk, and cheese from my eating habits entirely. To me this shows that you can’t just exercise alone to help your body run at functional levels, it has to be a combination of a plant powered diet as well as exercise.  Now I can see the difference in my face, thighs, tummy as well as everywhere else! I’ve had numerous people approach me because they’ve noticed my weight loss long before I noticed myself.

Any inkling of missing the taste of cheese or wishing I could still eat certain things has just been blown out of the water. That moment on the scale made everything worth it to me.

My confidence with my own body has been exponentially growing, my eyes seem to shine clearer, my mind feels like it runs smoother, and living within my body is such a more pleasurable experience.

Which brings me back to the title… Ever since, I’ve been pulling out all of the jeans that have been around in my drawer for years and trying them on again. They all fit, and some are even too loose on me. Before, many of them were uncomfortably small, cut into my sides and weren’t flattering on my shape. Since I’ve been in the habit of wearing comfortable stretch yoga/dance style pants for so long now, I didn’t even realize the change was happening.

As a college student, it feels phenomenal to actually be losing weight as opposed to gaining it (Freshman 15 anyone?). These years of my life are supposed to be prime time, optimal body functioning Nothing makes me happier than feeling all of this success for myself, and then being able to share it with others, who inevitably, also experience amazing success.

And the point of all of this is that anyone can make this shift and allow their body to slim down to it’s optimum shape! Let me be an example of what can and will happen to you if you take your eating habits into your own hands. Get powered for college! The midterms coming up are going to go so much smoother without having to be worried about my body.

Before – One Year Previous in 2010