About Me
My name is Chrissy, and by the time I turned 20, I weighed 265 pounds. I had allowed myself to grow up and settle into the obese subculture that we have created in order to allow overweight and obese people to feel comfortable and accepting about themselves. I was eating fast food and hating exercise, all because I truly believe that it was okay for someone like me to be that way. Genetics had placed me in the “fat crowd.” And I’ll be damned if I was going to fight that. It was the life! I got to eat whatever I wanted, never had to work out, and it was all okay because I was a “big girl.” Sure, there were times I felt terrible about myself. Times when I hated that I couldn’t just be normal-sized. I yo-yo dieted for years, but to no success. So I decided I would embrace being fat.
In February 2009, I began working at an all-natural grocery store. With the amount of fresh food and alternative options at my fingertips, I decided to do what I had considered for years: adopt a vegan diet. Inherently, my body gained energy and I began to be more active. The combination of the two allowed me to successfully lose 80 pounds and maintain that weight with little to no effort. It took approximately 2 and a half years, and I still have more weight to lose. In the process of this lifestyle change, I discovered my true passion: cooking. To me, cooking is an art. To take high quality ingredients and formulate a meal that not only stimulates your senses but nourishes your body. To manipulate the colors, flavors, aromas, and textures of food to create a nutrition-filled masterpiece.
This blog is dedicated to telling my story, through the good and bad, as well as sharing recipes and cooking videos (to come by January 2012). I hope to offer insight, encouragement, laughter, and lifestyle and cooking tips. I will be sharing my most honest thoughts along the way, both from before and after the lifestyle change, in hopes to shed some light on how it really feels to be a fat girl stuck in a fat world, and also to allow some insight on the possibilities to break free.
I’m also starting a small sprouted grain foods company. Follow my progress over here: Sprout Out Loud Foods.
Thanks for reading!
DISCLAIMER: I am in no way professionally trained or certified in nutrition. The information presented in this blog is not intended to take the place of nutritional guidance from a professional. The knowledge I present has been collected through casual research over time, and much of it is just my own deductions and ramblings. 🙂
Citrus & Vinegar 
Very inspiring. I recently took up a vegan diet and intend to lose some poundage as well. You’ve motivated me to keep on keepin’ on to make this change. 🙂
Thank you! I’m glad you find my story inspiring. Keep up the motivation – this change will be something you’ll be grateful for for a very long time. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you on your path. 🙂
Chrissy, that is a great story and congrats on the perspective you gained throughout your process!! I am tall 6’8″ and played football in college. Since I was 15 I have weighed over 300 lbs and as much as 370. For much of my younger life I exercised a lot but since getting married and having a couple of kids exercise became less and bad habit became worse. I have lived about 350 for the past 5 years. My son is 3 and loves going to “smoothie king” so I decided to buy a blender and try making them at home. I found I could put all kinds of “good vegetables” in his smoothies and he would drink them as long as they were purple (berries). Huge success and I started drinking them too! and then I read about green smoothies and all the great benefits so I started drinking them on a regular basis. 3 months later I have lost 35lbs and feel better than I have felt in 20 years! All this by just drinking 1 -2 smoothies per day and having a smart dinner. I know this is just as start as I need to lose about 100 lbs but I have never been on a plan like this that I thought was long term “sustainable”….I tell my friends this was a lifestyle change by accident. They can’t believe I drink smoothies on a daily basis like that! lol. I do not think an 100% vegan diet is right for me but we probably have more “balance” as a family eating than ever before. I have always been the cook of my family as I love cooking and it’s fun to me! Our menus more and more have less meat on them and more and more vegetables. I do love to BBQ but have been working on vegan BBQ recipes as well…which, that is starting to become a small but great niche food. Enjoyed your blog!
Wow nice! I am so passionate about whole food smoothies especially incorporating lots of leafy greens (I’m sipping on a frozen strawberry, spinach, almond milk, and protein powder one now!) What a great story you’ve shared with me too, and it’s definitely an accomplishment to get those kids sipping on veggies, so good work. Balance is key! Can’t wait to see some of your BBQ recipe! Take care.