{"id":40633,"date":"2017-11-04T08:00:49","date_gmt":"2017-11-04T15:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cleanfooddirtygirl.com\/?p=40633"},"modified":"2021-02-12T11:11:40","modified_gmt":"2021-02-12T19:11:40","slug":"my-before-and-after-pictures-lemon-lentil-turnip-soup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cleanfooddirtygirl.com\/my-before-and-after-pictures-lemon-lentil-turnip-soup\/","title":{"rendered":"My Before & After Pictures + Whole Food Plant Based Lemon Lentil Turnip Soup"},"content":{"rendered":"

I used to be rounder than I am now.<\/p>\n

There was a short time in high school when I wanted to be skinny, like Kate Moss and Amber Valetta, so I stopped eating like I normally ate. But I hated being hungry and I was only doing it for attention, so it was short lived.<\/p>\n

Apart from that little hiccup, I\u2019ve always accepted my weight and I\u2019ve never changed my eating, drinking or exercise habits based on reaching a certain number<\/em>. When I was at my roundest I weighed 150 pounds. Being 5\u20197\u201d, that gave me a BMI (body mass index) of 23, which is considered \u201cnormal\u201d. Here\u2019s how the whole BMI thing breaks down.<\/p>\n

A BMI over 30 is considered \u201cobese\u201d.<\/p>\n

A BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered \u201coverweight\u201d.<\/p>\n

And a BMI of 18.5 and 24.9 is considered \u201cnormal\u201d or \u201cideal weight\u201d.<\/p>\n

If you want to calculate your BMI, just google \u201cBMI calculator\u201d and then put in your weight and height. If you do this, be aware that BMI does not<\/em><\/strong> give you the whole picture and you shouldn\u2019t base your health or weight goals based on BMI alone.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just a general indicator, and generally, people with a BMI of between 18.5 and 23 are the healthiest.<\/p>\n

Even though I wasn\u2019t technically overweight at my biggest, I didn\u2019t feel good.<\/p>\n

And how you feel should always be your number one indicator of health.<\/p>\n

I felt physically and emotionally tired, sluggish, heavy, hollow and zapped. I was going through the motions of life without fully living it. I was on autopilot. I was dull. As the pictures reveal, I wasn\u2019t all that jazzed about life.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until I truly put my health first, did I start to transform, physically and emotionally. My goal or intention was never to lose weight. It was to feel good.<\/p>\n

So I quit drinking.<\/a> I got serious about eating a Whole Food Plant Based diet.<\/a> I stopped eating vegan junk food. I started meditating. I started exploring the dark corners of my mind that I had pushed down for a long time. I turned OFF autopilot and I started LIVING my life.<\/p>\n

Two and a half years later, I am 128 pounds and have a BMI of 20. But that\u2019s not the important part. Looking at my before and after pictures, the most obvious difference is how much happier I look in my after pictures.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like my hollow shell was injected with life, love, energy, happiness, freedom and joy. And that\u2019s exactly how it felt to go through my transformation.<\/p>\n

I knew all about pleasure in my before pictures, but I had no idea about joy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And the pictures below tell exactly that.<\/p>\n

Two last things I want to mention. In all my before pictures, I was going to the gym and working out pretty hard on a regular basis (at least 3 times a week). In my after pictures, the only exercise I do is yoga and an evening walk with 5lb weights a few times a week. Exercise is important, but it has little to do with overall weight.<\/p>\n

In my before pictures I ate a vegan diet. In my after pictures, I’m fueled with whole plant foods, better known as a Whole Food Plant Based diet.<\/p>\n

As a side note, I did not<\/span> limit fat or carbs\u00a0when I was going through my transformation. I ate (and still eat) a wide range of whole plants foods, including plenty of plant based fats and complex carbohydrates. I created our weekly Plant Fueled Meal Plans<\/a> so that I could show people exactly<\/em> how I eat each and every week.<\/p>\n

Full disclosure: None of the photos below have been altered or edited. The “after” image in row #4 has an Instagram filter.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

Do you have a similar before and after story when you quit a bad habit or changed the way you eat?<\/p>\n

Today’s recipe is a mouthwatering plant based soup that will fill your soul in the best possible way.<\/p>\n

<\/div>
\n\t
\"\"<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t

Plant Based Lemon Lentil Turnip Soup<\/h2>\n\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t\t<\/g><\/svg><\/span> Print Recipe<\/a>\n\t\t<\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/span> Pin Recipe<\/a>\n\t\t<\/g><\/svg><\/span> Rate Recipe<\/a>\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Author: <\/span>Molly Patrick<\/span><\/div>\n