I Broke Up with My BFF—Food—and Lost Over 80 Pounds  

Before: 221

After: 135

The Lifestyle
I always turned to food as a BFF or a therapist. I felt like it would fix everything. I ate rows and rows of Oreos instead of facing the real issues. I was totally disconnected from taking care of myself.

In my 20s, I was trying to be an actress and a casting director told me I had to lose a bunch of weight. Because I wanted to impress her, I decided to join Weight Watchers with her. Of course I was doing it for her, not me. I wound up losing 25 pounds and weighed 150 pounds at 5'4".

I was actually hired by Weight Watchers as a receptionist after I lost those 25 pounds. As part of the job, I had to continue with the program, but the the plan just seemed to stop working for me. I ended up joining Jenny Craig in order to keep losing weight and keep my job at the reception desk. It was so unsustainable and I reached my peak weight of 221 pounds.

"A casting director told me I had to lose a bunch of weight."

Then, I went vegan and became an animal rights activist. But I gained even more weight because I took it upon myself to try ALL of the animal-free treats available. I was out to prove vegan food could be delish, but I just replaced my old junk food-bingeing habits with the vegan version.

The Change
When I was 30, my doctor told me that I was on my way to heart disease and that the levels of fat in my blood were really high. I couldn't climb stairs without stopping halfway through (and pretending to read a text). I didn't think it was possible to be 30, a vegan, and be dealing with obesity.

Some of my colleagues told me to watch this documentary about a guy who lived a super-unhealthy lifestyle and wanted to make a drastic change. It's called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. I was offended at first, but after I watched it, I started to realize that a lot of my bad eating habits stemmed from using food as a crutch.

I started reading about the importance of eating whole, unprocessed foods, and began improving my diet almost immediately after watching that documentary. 

 

A photo posted by Jasmin Singer (@jasminsingerauthor) on Sep 26, 2015 at 9:06am PDT

Since I live in New York City, it would be so easy to get my lunch from a food truck, but I realized grabbing fruit from a fruit stand is just as easy.

I'm actually not a great cook, but 99 percent of what I make now is on the stove. I learned you can sauté in water instead of oil. I stocked my freezer with frozen fruits and veggies, and my pantry with dried beans and nuts. Stir-fries and smoothies became my go-tos. (Ready to kick off your weight-loss journey? Check out Women's Health's Ignite workouts to help you get fit and feeling awesome.)

As I started changing my diet, I found that I felt fuller for longer.

I started to look at the reasons why I was so addicted to food. I realized that being bullied at school as a kid truly impacted me. I would come home from school, eat a box of cheesy crackers, and everything was right with the world. That habit carried over into adulthood. It was clear that I was obsessed with food.

 

A photo posted by Jasmin Singer (@jasminsingerauthor) on Sep 25, 2015 at 11:15am PDT

About a year into my weight loss, I realized I had so much energy. I went running for the first time and it was kind of terrifying because I kept thinking of myself in gym class. But I found that going on a run gave me the opportunity to de-stress instead of turning to food. I also started tap dancing. It's a great physical outlet and a fun community of people who do it. In two years I lost 86 pounds and weighed 135 pounds.

The Reward
My whole life I wanted to be a perfect size 6 and that was always in my head. I was so obsessed with that idea that I tried all these unhealthy ways of getting there. When I started losing weight, I focused on what I was feeling and how I was feeding myself instead of the scale. When I realized how much I lost, my mind was blown.

I feel like I became a better version of myself once I found peace in my body, and that led to weight loss. I focused on taking care of myself rather than trying to get skinny, and my drive didn't come from the number on the scale. Eating healthy isn't hard; you just have to look at things in a new way.  I'm so satisfied knowing that I can live in a way that fits with my vegan values and my body is thriving.

You can read more about Jasmin's journey in her new book, Always Too Much, and Never Enough.

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