Heather Goodwin Shares her 300 pound Weight Loss Journey - weight loss before and after

tonight I'm here with Heather Goodwin who's got an amazing story to tell unbelievable you've lost 275 pounds Heather yeah my god amazing I can't I can't even begin to fathom your story I mean when you began your and it's a plant-based journey that you that you did what health issues where you faced with well I was really in terrible shape Jean when I first started when I at my highest weight went I would say at my darkest hour I weighed 436 pounds and yeah if you could see me you would see that I'm only about 5 foot 2 so I'm not a very tall person and if you captivate that out that's a BMI of almost 80 that is a BMI of 79 Wow seven degree is 0.7 so I was a really and I was in rough shape from head to toe I had probably the most serious things where I had really high cholesterol it was over 400 Ike left high triglycerides I was taking three different blood pressure medicines and still my blood pressure was elevated to scary levels but um the thing that bothered me the most is I was just in constant pain um from head to toe from migraine to plantar fasciitis I had knee pain and back pain and you know I just couldn't when you're that big when you lay down it puts pressure on any one area and so I just feel like I didn't get a good night's sleep for about five days I mean wow I was in pretty terrible shape I use I have sleep apnea I had asthma I could only walk from my desk get worked to the bathroom without being like something and huffing and out of breath and my heart pounding and I just I really felt like I was dying well I know along the way your trip included you know your journey included a trip to the emergency room what what happened there so right around that time I was taking a lot of ibuprofen because I was just in so much pain I was smiley like pretty positive person you props and I hit it I thought I hit it pretty well I was just in constant pain and so one night I'm laying in bed and I start to really have chest pain Wow when you weigh that much and you get chest pain you pay attention right I mean it was alarming and I thought to myself it was about midnight and I said if it doesn't go away you know in a few hours maybe I'll call the advisors so maybe I'll go into the doctor and it's 5:00 in the morning I was in worse and worse pain and I was terrified that I was having a heart attack and I woke my sister up and asked her to take me to this hospital and I got there and they thought I was not having a heart attack but it was pretty darn bad I have actually taken so much ibuprofen and for so long that I hadn't made a hole in my esophagus and in my stomach I had show my gosh and that's what I was feeling was from the pain from that and it just was a wake-up call because I felt like I dodged a bullet I didn't have a heart attack this time but you know the next time I could it wasn't the first time that I made a really concerted effort but it definitely renewed my results feel at home well how did they come up the diagnosis oh my goodness well first they rule out that you're having a heart attack by doing blood tests and testing for cardiac enzymes and so then you get to have a lovely camera go down your throat and that is of really oh yeah oh so that wasn't pleasant either but you know the funny thing is I went to a certain doctor after that emergency room because I had the emergency room doctor Tommy absolutely several medications you're taking you need to stop taking you can't take those anymore oh wow I went to the doctor to you know say I have one of my options what should i do right and his reaction was nope you need these medicines and so we're just going to give you my cup protonix or a medicine that will turn off the acid pump in your stomach and heal your stomach but you're still going to take all these drugs and I said well what about diet and exercise you know I understand that I can get a lot of the help really from from doing these what do you think about this idea and he he almost laughed at me he told me at my at the point that I was a gastric bypass would be a really good idea for me it would probably be the only thing that would help and it would only maybe take have me take off possibly half with the weight that I needed to you know he said I could expend 150 pounds and I really need to take off 300 you know and he told me the chances of you taking it off 300 pounds and keeping it off are roughly equivalent to winning the lottery and being struck by lightning and oh thank you for those comforting words okay I know it was really discouraging but part of it it may be it was a good thing you know maybe it was a big favor he did me because I went out of that office place in tears but they were mad tears they weren't they weren't scared tears anymore it moved me into action you know and with that I'm like well I guess I'm the 1% you know I certainly am NOT by income but I guess I'm going to have to prove this to myself and through this to everyone that I can do this and maybe maybe if I can do it I can help someone else oh my gosh after you were in the emergency room what how did you start this plant baster an alien just did you know how long you know - today at today's the day and you just climbed out your house what did you do what how did you do this okay well I have to go back just a little ways so around 2010 but this was before this happened I had a girlfriend who have was very into the raw food diet so she was a raw vegan and she really wanted to she was coming to Portland where I live which is vegan topia right we we have all be vegan restaurants and everything and she wanted to go to this particular raw food restaurant which is called blossoming Lotus she asked me to meet her there and I had raw food what that doesn't fixturing raw bread dough or raw I knew she was vegan but couldn't be raw meat but I thought what do they give you salad and carrots and I just didn't sound good to me at all and so I was planning on meeting her and then very frankly I was planning on benjin on the junk foods that I was addicted to I had it all planned out I was going to go meet her and eat whatever rabbit foods there was and then go eat my real food afterwards you know because I was very big compulsive eater in my whole life revolved around what I was going to eat when I was going to eat how I was going to eat without someone knowing about it I asked what that was my plan and what I didn't expect because I got to the restaurant and I tried their little sampler platter thing and it was incredible it was so good that I almost wanted to cry because I was like oh my goodness you're telling me this is healthy food she's been you know she spent all of this and they're telling me about how good it was for me and how much better she felt and how much weight she had really used him all that good stuff in her so I was like oh my goodness I could eat this this actually tastes good I could do this finish and it made me want to try again so that got me going and I in for a long time I ate a very gourmet raw food like very high fat now I know it's very high fat I had to change something but I took off the first hundred and forty pounds doing that doing the raw food diet and so when after and then some things happened in the middle as I said I'm a compulsive eater I wasn't able to stay on it I wasn't able to maintain that and it was too bad because I had that I took about 140 grams I was doing really well some things happened with my parents I lost both my parents within six months of each other gosh okay I'm going yeah and I was their caregiver and I had moved in with my mom and you know now I needed to move out of her condo so I was just going through a lot of stuff right then I had slowly started to put the weight back on and yeah so about about half of it came back on which is you know my pattern because this is the this is the third time in my life when I've shaken off more than a hundred pounds I hope when people hear that they'll donate you think yeah maybe Joe thinks well hey she did she kept data and she finally figured out what's worked for her and got what works for me when I had that scare then I decided I was going to try the raw food diet again and that's that's kind of when I started my channel I was I didn't know what else to do I that had worked better for me than anything else and I was firmly convinced that a plant-based diet was the proper diet for me and honestly for humans by then I was ethical vegan for many reasons not only for the animals but also for the environment also because I care about the world so and I care about people with hungry yeah so I knew that I knew that vegan was the way to go and I just I ended up doing nothing not just a raw food diet but including some some starch you know and that made it so that I could stick with it and that seems to be the key well did you follow like McDougall with starch or did you go with like yeah I saw anyone yeah so I first started out with I read a Nick giggles program for maximum weight loss and I had read Dean Ornish's eat more weigh less which is very similar and so yeah I when I decided I needed to add back starch I'm I'm I was like a fan girl love all the plant-based doctors I know a lot of us are but I really love dr. Gregers book I think dr. Fuhrman's got a lot of a merit too so I looked for a plant-based diet that was really high in nutrition so a lot of beans a lot of sweet potatoes a kind of vegetables a lot of know the cruciferous vegetables things like that and so the diet the thing I ended up with the and the end was chef AJ's plan which is like it's basically mcdougal maximum weight loss but specifically tailored for food at it and that was definitely me yeah so well your what was your food that just would set you off oh my goodness well before I gave up animal products that was animal products I was horribly addicted to you know pizza and cheese and ice cream and all the I would plan my binges around what kind of gross fast food I would get it makes me really sad and think about it now but it's that's where I was you know I just have to I have to love the me that I was and forgive her for the mistakes that she made I do I feel bad for how I fed my kids when they were younger and things like that but all we can do is do better when we know better it's the way I think about it now all right right and I was a sugar fiend just just straight-up sugar flour pastries and eagle-eye no salt was mine might that was my big one laughs yeah I like salt um I have a hard time completely giving you know chef AJ's program would prefer that you completely give up salt but the only like non-negotiables are like sugar and flour and alcohol and I'm completely off of those squeezing in it I'm on completely off of processed food so I I don't eat anything out of packages deserve cancer you know it's amazing to me where from where I came from which was all processed to right nope so how much you lost 275 so what would you what was your highest weight 436 pounds with the highest so I'm at 161 was last Wednesday I weigh in every Wednesday on my channel and I was so excited Jean I think so I have been you know overweight and then obese and then morbidly obese and then they had to invent a new category for people like me which was severe or morbidly severely morbidly obese so this time when I was 161 I pivoted in the BMI calculator to you know and it just said overweight I crossed back down and to merely overweight which I know I know I need no no no I get that did my analogy for me my big big moment you know because I just I've there at this point I'm close to coming up to like coming on a hundred pounds for me that's great that my big moment was when face to shop a lot it Dress Barn and they have two sides one side is for larger people and then the other side is for normal-sized people and I'll never forget being in the dressing room they had to go because I was smaller than the smallest size on the big size and they had to go over and get clothes for me from the other side that's you know wonderful yes when that happens over I crossed over I crossed over so that was huge for me that was a huge that was a you know big head moment yes and this you know honestly how I picked Michael wait was two things by the time I hit my goal weight which is 136 pounds I will have them taken off and even 300 pounds and that boggles my mind right there that's a local whatever that's a lot of weight and this is the other thing is it also puts my BMI at twenty four point nine so twenty four point nine is normal 25 is not you know is overweight and so friendly I once in my life that would literally be probably after birth because I was a normal birth weight and then I've never seen it again I've been overweight my whole life and so that will be the first time that will be promising to normal for me and I'm ready to get there after that seven years I'm ready to get there I bet so you took it it's sittin up there with my next question how long how long is this journey taking you I'm gonna just if I you know I've been it's so hard to answer that question it seems like such a straightforward question but for me you know where do I start from I was on my first diet when I was 11 and honestly I would be there always on a diet or breaking a diet my whole life and I've lost over a hundred pounds three different times I've lost between 40 and 60 pounds probably 20 times you know made really concerted efforts to do this promise myself this time is the time you know one thing that so I'm going to so I'm going to say that it really started in earnest in 2010 when I that roughly diet and at least it got me started and I and I managed to keep off took off 100 for me managed to keep off 70 and then I built on that once I started my channel but around that time around 2014 my momma was done and I was taking care of her I had been doing really well it was really challenging for me because between you know yep and she was not a plant they feed her and I was making all her favorite foods and being you know really tempted to go back to my ways and she sat me down and I was like oh goodness what's this going to be about and she said you know what I'm not going to be here and I'm not going to be able to take care of you anymore and I need to know that you're going to do this and you're going to take care of yourself I need you to promise me that you won't fall apart you're doing so well right now and I need you to not fall apart when I go and drop conversation yeah she loved me so much I say that the woman who gave me life saved my life too because once I made that promise to my mom I just felt like there was it was a point of no return you know I had to I knew that I couldn't promise to be perfect or even to do a good job because I had a terrible track record of working my very hardest and my largest effort forward and still every time I'd end up in the dirt on my face you know I hope it's a boy I know I share your pain because I've been on that same rollercoaster you know that probably not the same as extreme but been there done that and I yeah I yeah I know it's a tough journey and being an emotional leader it's tough when you're hit and hit with such you know your parents leaving within six months of each other and knowing that there's no safety net after that and tag you're it yeah you're the next generation so those are those are some huge you know milestones to do so they're doctors throughout the way do they support you doing a plant-based diet or did they have no clue some of them did and so I am lucky enough that for one thing I sought out I was lucky enough to have for about ten minutes I got to have Craig MacDougall a doctor so that was really great the reason why it was so brief is because our schedules didn't match he was he was a doctor from the healthcare organization that I belonged to just for a really short amount of time so I got to see him for one visit by the time I knew he was there you know he was already on his way out but um that was when I had already taken off around 160 town so he was um he was awesome he really helped to quell my fears because you know I still had high cholesterol and I thought my goodness am I ever going to be able to have normal cholesterol I've been vegan for so long and it's still terrible and he just was like don't even worry about that if you know he sounded like a staff like it's the food don't worry about it it will come down on its own and he was perfectly right it has come down on its own finally it just took a long time because some of the genetic side of it but so that was really wonderful I had him and then I do it along to a healthy living program that is list with my health care organization and so I got access to some plant-based doctors and plant based some really wonderful nurses that would check in on me and encouraged me but when you know that support did it help oh my goodness it helps so much and again you know I've talked to so many people that say I'm the only began' in my whole town or I'm trying to do this way of eating and my family doesn't support me and they actually sabotage me and stuff and I just hope people get support wherever you can find it and thank God for the internet seriously boys yeah I have my Facebook group that I have myself called the butterfly effect like my channel and then I have I have my youtube channel and man those people have been so there for me I have had some relapses even on this journey like my last one was last September and put like serious real AB put back on 60 pounds Oh again proud of myself for that good but um I think it's kind of good to be a real person's journey you know right why is your triggering on your back what were your triggers when you stopped I mean what's yeah and then you put on 60 pounds what what was it what trigger what would happen I am such I am such a compulsive eater what it was this is so crazy there was a plant-based ice cream on sale for like a crazy amount I think it was on sale for like a dollar right and I thought oh my goodness that's too good of a deal to pass up I'm just going to have it this one time right the lies we tell ourselves when we're under the influence and stuff are drugs right and so I'm just going to have it this one time and then it was so good and if I know the feeling yeah I go to see out it was still on sale and it kept being on sale and then well then while you're off your plan so you might as well have X Y & Z that you have been craving and it might be plant-based but it sure isn't oil free and it sure is an unprocessed and so that's what I did I got vegan did myself right back up yeah I mean I know a lot of area and healthy vegans I know a lot uh you know yeah but you can easily do it eating the processed foods and eating you know because what they do is when they take out the animal products they replace it with a lot of oil oil sugar and salt you know flour yeah well there's a button right there's a book called by Michael wants you know fat sugar salt see I got a great fantastic read I mean you get right and it's on it's all deliberate that's what gets me is I see somebody like me and they go ah she I can hook her I can you know and this I take it personally because it you know it almost killed me right on if I was a very sick person and and and all of that but even if I even if I was been dying it was definite stealing my joy you know young life in pain and just feeling so bad about yourself that's one of the best things about this whole journey is you just feel like I'm in integrity with my own values and what I'm actually doing what I say I'll do and that just feels so good you know and I don't ever completely had that well as you were starting to lose your weight and I think this is a question that nobody like really talks about but I want to ask is did you have a lot of loose skin I really do I do I still do and I haven't had surgery or anything although I won't rule that out so part of it is just heredity how much your skin is gonna bounce back I actually got pretty lucky there so I have I have pretty good skin for that kind of thing part of it is your age when you lose weight and I'm 47 so you know it's blocked on the left to city because of my age and then part of it is just the sheer amount that you have to take off if you think about a latex balloon and you blow it way up them and it back down that's never going to go back to its to its original shape and 300 pounds I don't know it anybody that can take off 300 pounds without having some loose skin I have pretty much made peace with it to be honest with you the what bugs me the most are my upper arms because I I do a twirl oh yeah they call it the bat when I feel more like a flying squirrel I believe I can fly you know I probably don't I try to keep a sense of humor about it I'll tell you one thing it's a lot easier to hide some upper arm flab than it is at 300 pounds of fat Sara wait fair point thank God for clothes yes yes no I don't want to get on on the nude beach that's for sure it does honey like the little model under my shin and and sometimes I'll scratch side of my arms in a in a video or something and I'll be like oh I wish I didn't have that but if it bugs me or not you can get it taken off it doesn't bug me enough right now honestly I did this to save my life and to be here for my kids yes you know I want to say to moms I feel like mom's been so much time taking care of everybody but themselves right I was a single mom my fifth word since my kids were 2 years old and 2 weeks old so that was some poor planning on my part but I have taken care of everybody else I took care of my kids and then I took care of my parents and that was my privilege both of those that have been the blood best and most meaningful parts of my life but you know who I forgot to take care of was the booth really need a round yeah and I now think of it as the ultimate act of taking care of your family is to take care of yourself and what I mean by that is when my parents lost their health shortly because of lifestyle diseases I mean it is true that's what happened it was partly because of that and so when they lost their health not only did they lose their freedom and their money and their independence and their live shrank down so far and we just I would wish it on anybody right I definitely don't want that no it's a tough it's tough just from just the day-to-day aspects of it and and I know because my family has dealt with this you know our whole lives I mean both sides of my family had have issues and you know I think one of the things that I one of my my family members said when they were starting to lose some of their weight was you know I can't wait to go to Disney so I can actually ride the rides and and not have to get the extra seat belt you know to go around or to be able to ride on the airplane seat and not have to worry about taking up two seats you know that at one point I did have to buy an extra seat I did have to do that at one point but you know and then together excited yeah so I don't want my kids to have to take care of me he the way I had to take care of my parents and when you think about your family is that the life you want for them like if you don't take care of yourself somebody's going to end up taking care of you and is that what you want for your for your kids and right that's really motivating for me I have to think the best way I can take care of my kids and protect their future is to take care of their mom right and I don't want to think about their lives without me in the picture I want to be there I want to play with my grandkids I do want to go to Disney actually I would really want to go to Harry Potter world yeah I have been there either so that's on my bucket list I'm really excited about that and I just recently flew on a plane and I was so excited I took a picture of the seat belt because I was like buckle and I have like six inches and I'm not even sitting in my neighbors seat you know it'll be a little thing I take the train to work and I'll see a feet available and I'll be like oh I'll be sitting on that guys laughs or fight another no I won't I could fit there you know I get down so if a little things and I never get I never get sick of it I never get sick of like holding up the underwear and thinking you can't possibly be my underwear you know it's the miracle of the Underpants every morning gene I put them on and they magically fit it's craziest thing I know I know and just being able to go buy clothes and and try on I think what I call normal sizes and being able to that mindset because I just did that I chef AJ said to purge all your clothes get rid of them yeah so I did I went through my closets and I had a stack that I posted on my Facebook group and it's just this enormous pile of clothing that I must have taken out two-thirds of my closet of varying sizes and most of them couldn't they were so big on me I couldn't believe how how did enormous that they were so I got rid of all of them you know a little by little I was going shopping and I saw the skirt and knows most of my skirts were always you know past my knee or mid-calf well this was actually just a little bit above my knee and it was the first you know I gather because in my head you know as I'm so I'm so glad no one can hear what's going on in my head because you know there's this conversation going on and I said no time too fat to wear a skirt like that so but I put it on a millon who that looks pretty good and you're just shocked it doesn't matter what the cost is thank God and it was a very expensive skirt but it's like I don't care what it is I have to have that skirt I have to have it's the little things it's a one thing when I would walk with my kids my kids are adults now you know 24 and 22 but when I would walk with them they would always they didn't do it on purpose but I walked so slow I walked like a speed of a turtle like walking through peanut butter or something that day I would always get left behind and I am it would it would bother me I would be like you know I'm getting left behind in life because they're going out they are starting their lives they're having such adventures and there's so much I can't do or it's just uncomfortable or I feel like I have to stay close to home right um and I was always getting left behind and now just even blocking the the joy of like walking with my daughter and we walk I say and I keep right up with her and she you know I know you know small things like like my husband you know it was a major birthday so as a gift for him I gave him a helicopter ride around Manhattan so I know it was you know except I was petrified at one point the helicopter went like this and I went opening by the door and the only thing that's holding you in is in it you just like this little pieces of plastic door and you're like seriously that's the door you know the seatbelt is just holding you in and you're just like looking down going yeah that's a good for 500-foot drop down there yeah you know but for the moment I mean that ha ha ha ha but it would be so being that I got into the unit they didn't even ask you know how much do you weigh or I know they did because it's they have to balance it out but I was okay with you know is like yeah I mostly would Jerry member already enclosed or we my husband I just room we did a Segway tour I don't know if you've ever been on those little Segway things you know yeah I've never been on my but he look really fun they're awesome they're so awesome until we're you know punching around but there's a weight with it you know you 270 pounds and I'm like yeah no I'm not even not even in that range you know and anyway it was I saw you know some people taking the Segway tour who were coming close to get up that upper end and I'm just looking at them going yeah that's a tough one you know cuz it yeah it while you're just standing there and leaning and balancing you have to be able to you know absorb from your knees you have good working knees you just be able to dance out on what you do you have to be able to see it and your feet start to get numb you know god there's not a lot of circulation going on so I'm just looking at some of these people cuz we were in you know it when we went traveling a little bit there was you know it's a lot of tourist town stuff and you see these Tory go by on the segways and it was like wow that was yeah could you know what it's like and you just feel bad for these people that are just writing these segways and you know that it's tough on them you just know but I find myself like getting up for heavy people on the train because I just remembered how much it sucks to have to stand for the whole train ride so I'm like you sit down you know and it feels great don't yeah it does it really does it feels good that you can do these things and you know that you're your I don't know it puts I mean helping other people you know along the way I mean your your videos that you've done have been remarkable in that they inspire so many people thank you i that maybe that's what makes the whole thing worth it for me well I feel like I've got my get-out-of-jail-free card I wish you know I spent so much time like working on on diet and even on trying to work out and everything and I think if I had it to do over again I would have just started with working on what's up here well like well I suppose I have to do is I had to get that mindset it's a psychology I mean totally yep it's the pleasure trap I mean I can't say enough about Doug Lyall and now I know old hammer how they just a focus on the pleasure trap and once you open that door boy it's really tough to it to close it's like Pandora's box and it's tough to close that box and it really is a trap it is an absolute trap and you know also the support I've gotten from Chef a AJ's group we call ourselves of the tribe and you know the ultimate weight loss I mean that's a fantastic memory loss yep maybe is her journey had been phenomenal yeah uh nominal just for naught I see such a kindred spirit in her and a lot of people you know chef AJ is kind of a tough cookie right she doesn't sugarcoat anything right no no no never no sugar but she yeah has a complete heart of gold she is such a kind person and she has been so kind to me I got to meet her on the I went on the holistic holiday at sea cruise we bumped into each other both with the ginormous trays of salad we had these Dino my letters of salad and I was like I know I'm too scared to talk to her but I want to sell booze I have a mullet I had a book with me that I had my before pictures in it and Stefano like you don't know me but I'm in your tribe and this is what I used to look like and thank you so much for this program because it's worked for me where nothing else has worked and my became friends on them I like I think we're friends on the cruise and she stayed in touch with me and she's just been phenomenal - she's such amazing she really is and she's her journey he's been talked to I mean it's changing that mindset and not only realizing first of all the addiction that you are I feel like I should be hi I'm gene Schumacher and I'm a food addict you know and standing up and it's true right yeah that you know that was also freeing because I had gone to leg Overeaters Anonymous and they I respect programs if they work for people but it really didn't work for me at all because they told me I had a spiritual problem and a character flaw and just made me feel I ended up feeling me and getting more likes and feeling more you know they say I realized I couldn't help myself well I had to help myself yeah while I was going to do it don't get me wrong God just kidding me through this but I expected me to do my bit you know I can feel a lot of effort I'm the one that gets me up and takes me walking every day I'm the one that chooses Kayla when I want cookies so what I'm saying is it didn't feel very empowering and I love what AJ says and she's like you know it's we have evidence we have medical evidence it's your it's our brains are not equipped to deal with this die obesogenic you know world that we live in it's a dirty world and we have brains that aren't made for this problem right we're designed for famine not for all this artificially created frankenfoods that is designed to get your hooks and keep you stuck and keep you've got an addictive Michela kill me then they have to hook kids so that when they fill a third all the kids will be hooked so she it was so freeing because it was like you're fat is not your fault but it is your responsibility and this is how you do it just leave it out all together just minutes from if you don't have it at all if you don't have it in your house it's pretty easy to leave it alone right yeah I don't know well here are you reading the book yes so I'm just writing a book about my experience and again I mostly focused on what I did to get my head in order and and after I thought at first I thought does there really need to be another book but every book that I read when I was trying to take off weight was really focused on this is what to eat and this is how to exercise on everything and I really wanted that I knew what to do like a lot of people I felt like I was a very intelligent person in every other area of my life so why couldn't I get this you know it's like like Doug Lyall talks about like fits fit you gotta get this you gotta get the head in the game and so that is what this is focused on the house you know I know what to do I just don't know how to get myself to do it that's where I was and that's what I escaped from myself and so it's just my journey of how I did that and me and my prayer and my hope is that it can help somebody else especially people like me that you know I always feel like there's some people that are like oh I ate a fad diet and then I learned about veganism and it instantly changed my my life and I changed overnight and I dropped 100 pounds and I've never gone back you know and I'm like oh my goodness bless you but that is not my story I'm like I found out about veganism and I did really good for a while and fell I didn't and then I lost it and I gained it back unlocked it and gained it back and so I hope and I prayed that this is the time that I lost and then I took it off and I want to share that with other people how they can yeah I know because if I hear one more person say oh yeah I drop in like 400 pounds overnight sounds like really that's yeah not my journey either so and I actually have a little plan during you know I see people going you know people that I know had really a strong heart for veganism like they wanted it for other reasons besides just the size of their hiney you know and then now I see them going back to like paleo or keto or and I just worry about their heart and I worry about the plant in it and I worry about the animal you know I worry but I feel like people are so desperate that they'll do almost anybody well and a lot of people have a lot of weight to lose I mean that's why the things my partner in crime Nancy Norby Matthews out in plant based Chico share a Facebook group we constantly are challenging each other so I have plant based Westchester on you know so each of the Mississippi is plant based Westchester West to the Mississippi as plant base Chico so we have East Coast versus West Coast and yeah so we're doing challenges you know to help people and try and support one another because having that support it's so mission-critical you've got to be able to help one another because it is a tough journey a lot of times you don't get support at home and your family friends people try and derail you at many points yes and here I live in Portland Oregon which is you know many many vegan restaurants none of which can I go to you know I mean they just they go on support they still use a lot of oil they still use a lot of processed food and baked meats and things I don't choose to eat and not keep anybody that is at that point because no no it's not and you should feel better than it's still better than what we were eating right well right so that is why what advice can you give to people that are just starting out to become plant-based absolutely so I have three pieces of advice that I think are pretty to have been pretty key for me the first would be you know education find out read all the books create yalda plant-based doctors I'm a big fan of dr. Greger but how not to die I really like yes and I really like I like dr. mcdougal and all of the plant-based Doc's dr. Esselstyn they just have blazed a lot of trails and kinky a doctor plant Oh physicians committee dr. Barnard right all right he helps my son go vegan so I'm very grateful to him and so get education is the first thing I would say and then become really solid as to why do you want to do this you need a deep and lasting motivation you know my motivation is I made that promise to my mom I cannot operate my promise to my mom and I love my kids and I don't want my kids to have to take care of me and so that when I'm about to you know reach for the thing that I should not you know that I choose not to eat that's one of the things I say is I could do that but I won't because I believe in my mission I believe in what I'm doing is none worth it I deserve to have a life I wasn't any my life campaign I wanted I might want this thing that I want temporarily right now but I want this so much more I want a life so much more yeah and it's not worth there's nothing that's worth the training years of your life for no matter the yummiest you can think of I wouldn't trade a minute be really clear about your why and why you're doing this and then the last thing is exactly what you said get support find it with me you know it is out there I have my youtube channel I could not have done it without the people who you have an interesting that Idol for the for the YouTube channel so it's called the butterfly effect can you tell me what where'd you come up with that name so there's the butterfly effect is actually a meteorological phenomena a weather phenomena that there was a theory that something as small as the flapping of a butterfly wings could over time change the you know the wind direction and cause a hurricane or whatever okay so when you're 436 pounds not realize this but even if you eat perfectly you won't be your ideal weight the next day no or the next day or the next day I knew I was looking at a very long journey I did maybe no I was looking at a seven-year journey but I knew I was looking for a long path right right and I just felt so helpless I felt like a prisoner in my own body I could barely walk I could only hand like five minutes I was so limited by health conditions that I just I just felt like what can I even do like I I thought you're done for you you're monk if you can't you got yourself in this and you can't get back out and so then it came to me that what small what can I do today that I'll thank myself for tomorrow what small small effort you know I can eat perfectly today I get me I'm not going to drop 10 pounds overnight then I might drop him down this month right and so and I also didn't focus on the outcome as so much as the process goal so today I'm going to walk this far today I'm going to eat these foods today I'm not going to eat that and so what can I do today that I will thank myself for tomorrow because I really think that girl that I was when I was 436 pounds I thank her so much for trying one more time I think her so much for taking those walks and when it hurt like the dickens you know I would I would literally like cut under my breath because I was in so much pain but I just had to do it and if you know me I don't really cook I don't like to guys so it was it was bad it hurt a lot and then so thankful that I did it and I just want people to know that that it we always think of like the big dramatic drastic change but if that's not what that's not what moves you forward if you think about a if a ship is going this way right right and it change of course even one degree right it's going to end up in a whole different place eventually that your and why that be because all changes made really consistently and I think consistency is a big key right add up to big results and so here I am you know on this side of the journey saying thank you so much to my former self and and then I know people put their before pictures up and they're like oh I hate this picture and everything and I don't I look at that girl and I say you were brave you were strong you did it and I'm so grateful and we're never going back and we're going to help some people we're going to help some people get here too and you are you're your YouTube channel videos are amazing and they resonate with so many people and I just heard so many good things and I've seen quite a few of your videos and you're just awesome so thank you for sharing your journey because wow you put yourself out there you really do and it's a tough journey so congratulations yes thank you so much for sharing your time tonight and I hey I don't have to join some I gotta join your challenge but darn it I think I'll be on Team she comes ha ha ha and that's ok that's ok they just won that we have a trophy it's called the golden tater Award I love though yes and my girl from my girlfriend Nancy and I would call ourselves the starch Queens so yeah starch Queens net that's our website and and long may you reign yes right she's the queen of hearts because Nancy is like putting a warm blankie around you she's just so caring and compassionate and she's just got a heart of gold and I'm the queen of diamonds because I like the facts give me the facts and I'm researching and I'll tell you here's the fact and weren't you know so we kind of complement each other so well so that's wonderful yep we have a good time we laugh oh my gosh we do anytime we get together we're just constantly laughing so it's fun thank you again and all the best on the rest of your journey well thank you so much we'll have a wonderful evening

Channel: Jeanne Schumacher - Simply Plant Based

Views: 61,933

Keywords: obesity, whole food plant based, WFPB, no oil, Vegan, unprocessed, Chef AJ, Dr. McDougall, Dr. Barnard, Weight loss, losing weight, overweight, health, how to lose weight, lose weight, diet, plant based diet, obese, weight, how to, lose, eating, weight loss before and after, weight loss story, motivation, healthy, doctor, how i did it, motivational video, before and after, losing, weight loss, weight loss transformation, weight loss motivation, healthy lifestyle, lose weight fast

Id: qrurkyUPkMc

Length: 50min 27sec (3027 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 03 2017