Diet Menu to lose weight

Audrey Johns - Clean Eating Blogger My name is Audrey Johns and I would like to share my remarkable weight loss story with you.

I have been heavy my entire life, at my largest I was 275 lbs and a size 20. I hated how I looked and how I felt. I have tried every diet out there, South Beach, Weight Watchers, Atkins, sugar free, fat free, calorie counting, you name it I’ve tried it. I read every weight loss blog. Sometimes I would lose a little weight, but inevitably something happened, I gave up and gained it back plus more.

In 2011 I had enough of being fat, I hated that I was always the fattest person in the room. I started reading every blog, book and website about losing weight and found some information and a cookbook that highlighted clean eating. I started cooking 3 meals a day and enjoyed the ritual of cooking and taking better care of myself, but most of all I enjoyed the food. I started with a simple toast with almond butter and bananas for breakfast to now a bowl of chic slow cooked steel cut oatmeal with nuts and fruits soaked in almond butter. I taught myself to cook and with that how to lose weight.

I found that when I stopped eating all processed foods, anything with chemicals, preservatives and artificial sweeteners, and increased my water intake the weight just started to fall off! I had been struggling to lose weight eating frozen “diet” meals and diet sodas all day every day, eating under 1000 calories all along starving and gaining weight. Now I was eating real food every day and drinking lots of water. My calorie count went up to 1200-1400 and the weight flew off and has stayed off.

One year later I was 150 lbs lighter! I am now 120 lbs and a size 4, I look and feel amazing.

Many people ask me about my workout regimen. Audrey Johns Chef As I am a firm believer that we all need to move our bodies as much as we can, I was not an avid gym visitor during my weight loss journey. I have a rare nerve disease that has limited my ability to exercise. Many people are particularly interested about this one factor. Most people I have met knows someone who is heavy, but disabled in some way that makes it difficult or impossible to work out, or someone trying to lose weight after an injury. I encourage them to move their bodies as much as they can, if it means lifting weights while on the couch, or just working a little harder in physical therapy you can do something to move more.

So many of my friends asked about my weight loss that I finally started this blog on New Years Day 2012 to answer their questions. I hope to give back to people out there like me who have been searching for the right weight loss information. I want to tell people that a diet that leaves you feeling deprived is not a diet you want to be a part of because feeling deprived for the rest of your life is not a reasonable way to eat. I started by sharing my recipes, and in 9 months it has evolved into a Virtual Cookbook/ Weight Loss Book/ Cooking Channel.