I've been a vegetarian for about 15 years now. This does not mean I've been healthy for that long. Quite the contrary. At my highest point, I weighed 337 pounds...as a vegetarian! I lost about 120 pounds about 4 years ago and have since gained back 30. I've maintained this weight for a while now, but would like to lose at least 50 pounds more.
A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I traveled from central New York to southern West Virginia. We hiked the blue ridge mountains, ate very healthy, low-fat vegetarian foods, slept well each night and left feeling invigorated! With plans to return to the area in April. Our hope is to be 25 pounds lighter by then, to make hiking easier for us.
We were the heaviest people in our group of friends down there! They climb those mountains every day...they eat healthy foods every day...they live a much simpler, healthier, happier life than we do...and we want that! We both felt really inspired to get fit and healthy, watching these people!
My husband had been a vegetarian for about five years but in the last couple of years went back to eating meat. He used to run, but an injury to his knee stopped him from running. With the addition of eating meat and the lack of running, he put on quite a bit of weight and is currently at his heaviest weight ever, around 240. He's decided to move back toward a vegetarian diet, with eating meat only occasionally, like if we go out to dinner or if we're at meat-eater's home.
I'm looking forward to simplifying our lives, getting our health back on track and making this a lifestyle, not a diet!