by singingbird » Fri Nov 28, 2008 8:56 am 
I've been a vegetarian for the past seven years, and gone through on/off phases of following a vegan diet. So I try to keep eggs and dairy to a minimum already. But I went vegetarian/quasi-vegan for ethical reasons, not health reasons, so my diet isn't always fabulous. There's plenty of vegan junk food to be found if you want it.
I'm 5'9" and I've never been what you'd call skinny - in high school I hovered around 175 pounds - but I have definitely seen better days. My freshman year in college I was put on an antidepressant that made me gain about 60 pounds. After getting off the medication, I lost about ten. The remainder of it will. not. budge. I would lose 15-20 pounds on various attempts at dieting, but after going off any of the diets, I gained it back immediately. I'm a big eater and I can't stand calorie counting or severely portion-restricted diets. I also dislike the hassle of trying to veg*nize an omnivorous diet plan. So I kind of gave up a year or two ago.
A friend who was cleaning out her bookshelves and knows I'm interested in veg*n cooking gave me the MWL book a few weeks ago for the recipes in the back. But I read the rest of the book and decided to give it a shot. I'm deeply skeptical of diets at this point, but I love carbs, and a diet that allows me all the carbs I want with no portions or calorie counting sounds like a plan I can at least stick with. And it will certainly be healthier than the way I've been eating.
So...here goes nothing. My weight as of this morning is 225, and I'm hoping to get down to 160 for starters - the lowest I was able to diet down to in high school, and pretty close to trim body weight for me. (I think I probably could have gone another ten pounds back then.)
Allright, enough rambling from me...good to be here.
