How I lost 44 pounds and never gained them back. (quitting smoking, body mass index, overweight)

[andmicmic]

Dear fellow members hello.

This is my weight loss story in its short version. When I was twenty years old and just finished my army service, I am 5.7 " tall and I was 180 pounds. I was overweight and sad.
After I had gone to Greece for studies and over a course of 11 years, I lost 44 pounds, and that was because I will not eat well. I would eat once a day, and that would usually be junk food. I was also a heavy smoker of cigarettes. Smoking delivers nicotine into your bloodstream, and one of the many adverse effects of nicotine is that it releases glycogen and fat from our liver to our blood, feeding us intravenously. That's why smokers don't eat much because nicotine is doing that for them now, that's why smokers do not have the appetite other people have. That's why after smoking a lot of ex-smokers gain weight.
That happened to me after I quit. Stopping smoking is a good thing, you escape from the nicotine prison, and you get your life back.
Back to my story, by quitting smoking that extra internal feeding I was getting with every cigarette you smoked now is gone, those calories need to be consumed with the traditional healthy way through our digestive system.
After 11 years of tobacco use and basically not eating well, I became 136 pounds, but I was not healthy. I had various illnesses and conditions most of them affecting my digestive track, ulcer to the stomach and duodenum, constipation, hemorrhoids, heat burns and so on.
After I returned back to Cyprus and started eating my mother's cooking, which was 80% plant based and 20% animals and I was eating three times a day I started gaining weight again.
When I was 35, I was still a smoker and also returned back to my 180 pounds weight limit. Conditions in my life made me realized what I was doing with smoking, so I managed to quit. After quitting and in a course of a year I gained another 26 pounds reaching the incredible weight of 207 pounds!
I was depressed, my digestive problems were there, and they were making my life miserable.
I was an athlete at school and one April night I just got off my couch put my running shoes on and went and ran three laps around the local high school track.
That’s when I realized two things, how much out of shape and unhealthy Iw as and that running would save my life.
I started walking at first every day for 30 minutes and then increased the time when I felt confident enough I started running, and I never stopped since then. Running for me now is not a way or a mean to lose weight it’s a lifestyle with amazing and positive health results on me.
Running did help me shed 39 pounds! But me being the perfectionist I wanted to lose more and reach my ideal BMI. (Body Mass Index)
I researched and experimented with various diets for about 2 years and what I am going o tell you is my results and what worked for me. I discovered that eating animals is so bad for your health like cigarettes are even worse.
AferI adopted a plant based diet and then like running it became for me a lifestyle I lost another 11 pounds, and now I am playing between 154 to 163 pounds, depending if I am running a marathon or not. I am like this for the last 3 years where I finally figure out that exercise in my case running and a plant based diet (Vegan in nature) allowed me to gain my health back and also keep my weight at a healthy level.

I hope my weight journey will be helpful for all you that are struggling with losing weight, yo-yo-ing and also feeling that there is no other way of just being fat for the rest of your life.
I cannot mention here any links that I think you will find helpful, but you can research keywords like, losing weight using a plant based diet, Running and plant based diet or lifestyle. Vegan lifestyle, Vegetarian lifestyle. Research physicians and doctors that follow a plant lifestyle diet.

Epilogue.

I managed to lose the extra pounds slowly and gradually allowing my body to adjust and also my metabolism to catch up. This is the healthy way to do it. Think for a moment it took months and years for the pounds to accumulate why are you assuming that it will take days or weeks to lose them, it doesn’t work like that.
You need to lose the extra pounds slowly and naturally. An exercise regime and a plant based diet did it for me, and the most amazing thing is t hat I can eat whatever I want from the plant kingdom and not worry I will gain weight. They are low in fat, and they are more filling that animal product.

Have a healthy and happy day.
My warmest Regards
Andreas Michaelides

[bluemonday]

Originally Posted by andmicmic

Dear fellow members hello.

This is my weight loss story in its short version. When I was twenty years old and just finished my army service, I am 5.7 " tall and I was 180 pounds. I was overweight and sad.
After I had gone to Greece for studies and over a course of 11 years, I lost 44 pounds, and that was because I will not eat well. I would eat once a day, and that would usually be junk food. I was also a heavy smoker of cigarettes. Smoking delivers nicotine into your bloodstream, and one of the many adverse effects of nicotine is that it releases glycogen and fat from our liver to our blood, feeding us intravenously. That's why smokers don't eat much because nicotine is doing that for them now, that's why smokers do not have the appetite other people have. That's why after smoking a lot of ex-smokers gain weight.
That happened to me after I quit. Stopping smoking is a good thing, you escape from the nicotine prison, and you get your life back.
Back to my story, by quitting smoking that extra internal feeding I was getting with every cigarette you smoked now is gone, those calories need to be consumed with the traditional healthy way through our digestive system.
After 11 years of tobacco use and basically not eating well, I became 136 pounds, but I was not healthy. I had various illnesses and conditions most of them affecting my digestive track, ulcer to the stomach and duodenum, constipation, hemorrhoids, heat burns and so on.
After I returned back to Cyprus and started eating my mother's cooking, which was 80% plant based and 20% animals and I was eating three times a day I started gaining weight again.
When I was 35, I was still a smoker and also returned back to my 180 pounds weight limit. Conditions in my life made me realized what I was doing with smoking, so I managed to quit. After quitting and in a course of a year I gained another 26 pounds reaching the incredible weight of 207 pounds!
I was depressed, my digestive problems were there, and they were making my life miserable.
I was an athlete at school and one April night I just got off my couch put my running shoes on and went and ran three laps around the local high school track.
That’s when I realized two things, how much out of shape and unhealthy Iw as and that running would save my life.
I started walking at first every day for 30 minutes and then increased the time when I felt confident enough I started running, and I never stopped since then. Running for me now is not a way or a mean to lose weight it’s a lifestyle with amazing and positive health results on me.
Running did help me shed 39 pounds! But me being the perfectionist I wanted to lose more and reach my ideal BMI. (Body Mass Index)
I researched and experimented with various diets for about 2 years and what I am going o tell you is my results and what worked for me. I discovered that eating animals is so bad for your health like cigarettes are even worse.
AferI adopted a plant based diet and then like running it became for me a lifestyle I lost another 11 pounds, and now I am playing between 154 to 163 pounds, depending if I am running a marathon or not. I am like this for the last 3 years where I finally figure out that exercise in my case running and a plant based diet (Vegan in nature) allowed me to gain my health back and also keep my weight at a healthy level.

I hope my weight journey will be helpful for all you that are struggling with losing weight, yo-yo-ing and also feeling that there is no other way of just being fat for the rest of your life.
I cannot mention here any links that I think you will find helpful, but you can research keywords like, losing weight using a plant based diet, Running and plant based diet or lifestyle. Vegan lifestyle, Vegetarian lifestyle. Research physicians and doctors that follow a plant lifestyle diet.

Epilogue.

I managed to lose the extra pounds slowly and gradually allowing my body to adjust and also my metabolism to catch up. This is the healthy way to do it. Think for a moment it took months and years for the pounds to accumulate why are you assuming that it will take days or weeks to lose them, it doesn’t work like that.
You need to lose the extra pounds slowly and naturally. An exercise regime and a plant based diet did it for me, and the most amazing thing is t hat I can eat whatever I want from the plant kingdom and not worry I will gain weight. They are low in fat, and they are more filling that animal product.

Have a healthy and happy day.
My warmest Regards
Andreas Michaelides

I appreciate your post and story!
I have adopted a mainly plant lifestyle too! What do you do for protein requirements besides lentils and nuts, if anything? I am struggling with that lately and went to protein shakes because I wasn't getting enough.