Breaking a Family Curse - Belly Fat!!!

EE and my beautiful Mother in 1964

All the ladies on my Mother's side of the family make reference to "Voncile's Belly."  My grandmother, who I affectionately referred to as "EE" was cursed with a bloated belly.  She was a thin, attractive lady but still had a belly.  I have always seen it as always looking like we are 4 months pregnant.  We have all allowed that characteristic to remain in our appearance because it we viewed it as a physical curse passed on from EE.

I can recall being a size 6 and still needing to wear a girdle.  That was so frustrating!

I've switched to a vegan (plant-based) diet in the last year and I've been surprised at how I lose weight but the belly fat remains.  WHAT?  That didn't seem fair that I was depriving myself of cheese and still have belly fat.  (The reminder of the cows not suffering engorgement for my cheese consumption brings me out of my pity party.)

Someone at my work mentioned that gluten is a common culprit in keeping belly fat - well, fat.  A light bulb went off!  Don't worry I'm bald so nothing to catch on fire...

So I tested this theory!

I woke up one morning after not having any gluten the days before and was amazed when I put on a dress with no girdle and no belly fat.

Keep in mind, I am the biggest I have ever been and I am trying to lose weight.  I have been wearing a size 12 dress because of my belly.  This was an empire waist dress so it was a size 8.

I looked in the mirror and saw a clean line.  No belly fat!  The dress looked very nice...

Two hours later I ate some homemade zucchini bread and guess what?  I found myself trying to hide my protruding belly under the conference table in our meeting.  That light bulb turned on me, busted me over the head and said, "I told you so."

So - this week without gluten, I have lost 5 pounds and the bloating is gone!

I know it is hard to imagine a life without gluten but it can be done and it is so worth it!

Keeping My Word Y'all

A couple of blog posts down (stay with me now) I promised to exercise. I'm so doing it!!! I found a co-worker willing to walk with me each day. So, I eat while I work and then use my lunch hour to walk. We walk an uphill/downhill trail for 2 miles at The Villages of Hallelujah Acres. Monday, we did this in 45 minutes. Yesterday, we did it in 35 minutes. I am hoping that soon I will be doing a 10 minute mile. That's running you know?

I've had quite a few views of my blog - to you all I say "THANKS!!!" I even had someone in Germany view the blog. To you I say "Danke!" (I took German in High School - loved it! I don't speak it fluently though because I was not one to do homework.)

Talk to me:

Are you exercising? Do you speak German?

How's that for random!?!?!?

What's missing?

I am trying to lose weight and I have been eating really well. I'm talking raw vegan eating really well! I'm not gaining weight, which is a step in the right direction but I am not losing it very fast either. Wanna know why?

Exercise! I just can't seem to find the time in my day. I have got to do better with this. Someone here at the office suggested I get up at 5am. WHAT? ME? I did really well when I was doing the Exercise Essentials Program but when that ended, so did my fitness schedule.

Here's my plan, hold me to this now, this weekend I am going to start up on exercising again. I think I'll go through the Exercise Essentials program again for the motivation.

Revamping the Blog...

I neglected my blog, I was too blind to see it. I had other things on my plate. I am here to show it the love it deserves. I have revamped the blog, don't worry - Random still Rules!

However, I am always getting asked to review products and tell about it so I thought...

"USE THAT BLOG!!!" So here I am.

As a new vegan, I am trying something new every day. I work for a vegan company so that makes it really easy. Don't worry vegan product suppliers - there's no conflict. In fact, the last product I liked is now being sold on the store's shelf! Can I say that? Nevermind...

I think I'll review my new kitchen appliance tomorrow. That will be fun!

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog. I tend to think about a ton of random things at a time so WHY NOT BLOG ABOUT IT!!!

In the future blogs, I will cover all my randomness like Bargains, Product Opinions, Homeschooling, Motivation, Weight loss, Fitness and my latest obsession - Growing Old!