A Simpler Life.

I have dieted forever.
Since my early teenage years I have struggled with being comfortable with my body; I always carried extra weight, always thought I was fat, and was always on a new diet to get my weight down.
In my early 20s I lost alot of weight through excessive exercise and disordered eating, getting down to 58kgs at one stage, but I soon as I loosened my resolve, I put on a few kilos.
In my mid 20s, when I was hovering around 66-68kgs I had an injection of depo provera, a contraceptive, and put on 10kgs in 12 months. It was also at the time I moved to a small country town for my first teaching job and ate alot of pub meals and drank alot of pub beverages, but I quickly ballooned to the high 70kgs, my highest pre-pregnancy weight. I attended weight watchers again, and lost some weight, back down to around 70kgs.
I fell pregnant at 25 with the first of my 3 bubbas.
During my first pregnancy in 2007 I put on 20kgs, from 70kg to 90kg.
During my second pregnancy in 2009 I put on 25kgs, from 75kg to 100kgs
In late 2009 and early 2010, I dieted with Tony Ferguson shakes and lost 15kgs, from 85kgs to 70kgs. I felt fantastic and looked good. My marriage broke up around this time and I spent a few months not being very kind to myself. My weight was steady though, give or take a few kilos.
In Decemebr of 2010 I fell pregnant with my third baby, to my now husband. In a completely different place emotionally, I didn't put on nearly as much weight. I think it was around 15kilos, which was great for me. What was better was that I lost that weight fairly easily and quickly afterwards.
Over the last 12months my weight has fluctuated by around 3 kilos, from 72kg to 75kg. As it went up, I dieted with shakes, no carbs, high protein etc. As it went down I loosened my resolve. And the cycle continued.
I read alot and nutrition and diets. In my search I fell upon some life changing documentaries that transformed the way I think about what I put into my body, the 'cost' of this to the animals and our environment.
I pledged to eliminate animal products from my diet and it is the best decision I have made. Emotionally and psychologically, it makes me feel strong and empowered. Physically, in a very short period of time, it has already made a difference to my skin, energy, hair, weight loss, moods. It is the best decision I have ever made.
I created this blog to document my journey as a vegan, to promote this way of life and to show the positive changes that will hopefully result internally and externally by eating a clean, simple diet.