Where the journey all began. My Story.

Lets see. Without going into great details I will start here....I have had a food addiction since I was about 5/6 years old when traumatic events began in my life.  All I could find near me was food to comfort me and suppress my overwhelming feelings of confusion, pain and feeling alone. Food became and has been essentially my "best friend" ever since.  Fast Forward many years to high school and I found myself at a full grown height of 6 ft 1 inches and always around 200 lbs (big, but athletic girl:). I had been playing basketball since 3rd grade so it was keeping my food addiction and very poor eating habits from totally ballooning out control, weight wise that is. Health wise, it was already taking it affects on me and it was showing in many ways by high school. Some of the things I experienced were various skin rashes, which were labeled as psoriasis and eczema depending on the doctor. I would get outbreaks on my upper arms and thighs often that could never be explained. I was prescribed a array of lotions and creams, and had skin biopsies preformed on the outbreaks to no avail. I had a very sensitive digestive system most of my life, that only recently I have learned was most likely being tormented by pasteurized milk and dairy products as well as wheat gluten.  I always felt tired and never felt fully alive. My memory and thoughts were always foggy.  After high school I found myself getting out of shape quickly and starting to gain weight.  About 35-40 lbs.  So I quickly joined Weight Watchers and got crazy addicted to working out at the gym. Because of this I quickly found myself at about 200 lbs once again,  but this time much more  fit and tone and I was pretty happy. (Note: the ideal weight range for women of my height is 152-189.  Now I am big boned, so I feel pretty fit and good right around 200, but would love to be in the 180 range.)  Right after this weight loss (before reaching "goal") I then made a big life decision with my husband to move to Las Vegas. This was my first time away from all my friends and family and  I found myself falling into my bad eating habits shortly after moving. I began binge eating on fast food most days and it just spiraled out of controlled fast . I ballooned to almost 300 lbs in just 2 years by the young age of 22.  I know, crazy huh?! I found myself pregnant with my first daughter at 25 and my second at 27 all while being well over 300 lbs. So from 22 years old to 27 I was very obese.  But finally it all changed.  After my 2nd daughter was born I realized I HAD TO CHANGE for my children. When my 2nd daughter was just 3 months old I went back to good ol' Weight Watchers (start April 2007-July 2008 end). I weighed in at 324.8 (ouch!!!) and lost 109 lbs in 15 months landing myself at 215.8. I was almost to my ultimate goal of "being in the 180s" (or even just under 200!) I learned a lot about nutrition and was eating mostly whole and organic foods.  But then LIFE BEGAN TO GET TOUGH! And I mean pretty darn tough!  I found myself going through MANY MANY life trials and I turned right back to my old habits and food addictions. I slowly (if you call it that) gained back 50 lbs in 3 years!!! I found myself back in my hometown in California at the end of the 3 year period and  at an unhappy 266.4 lbs (June of 2011).  I realized once again, something HAD TO BE DONE!!! This time I was at a completely different place mentally though. I had learned so much during my 10 years in Vegas (again, crazy huh?!)   realized how important it was to eat a Whole Foods diet rich in Organic Fruits and Vegetables as a main staple. This time I wanted to take it to another level. See, rewind to back just 7 months to November 2010.  I met and amazing woman named Darlene Navarre that taught me the basics of Raw Foods and what they had done for her and her family and I was so inspired! I began reading up on Raw Foods and the benefits of a high or all raw food diet and I started to incorporate them into my diet. I made Green Smoothies on most mornings and was having big salads almost daily and lots of seeds and nuts and fruits as snacks. But it just wasn't enough. My food addiction was so powerful I kept gaining...Fast Forward now to June 2011. The scale was reading a 50 lb weight gain! I knew it was time to do something and soon...but what?!  Weight Watchers was great but I could NEVER keep the weight off. My food addiction always won in the end. So on June 30th I was browsing Facebook and found a link by a Raw Food Consultant I followed for a 10 day Juice Feast. I swear it was like blinking in bright yellow and screaming at me to read it. I read about it and immediately signed up.  I did the 10 day juice feast and felt amazing and didnt want it to end! So I researched and learned I could do this much longer as many many people do. Lots of people do 90-100 day Juice Feasts. So that is where I am now. I am on day 24 now and feeling AMAZING!!! I am shooting for 92 days or possibly 100. We shall see! I am so excited about what the future holds and I hope you enjoy traveling this journey with me as much as I do on the actual journey itself. Have a great night friends.

Peace and Love,
Laura.

P.S. Stay tuned for a photo slide show of my weight loss from 324lbs, to where I am as of this morning (I took a new pic and will continue to take new pics.) I am 80.2 lbs from my starting weight of 324.8 at Weight Watchers 3 years ago. My starting weight on the morning of July 1st 2011, day 1 of the Juice Feast  was 266.4. Today is day 23 of the Juice Feast and when I weighed in this morning I was 244.6 so I am down 21.8 lbs to date!!! That's about 55 lbs from my ultimate goal of 189 (or less). Cant wait to see what the future holds!!! Good night friends.