When I turned 21 I suddenly gained 40 lbs out of nowhere. I have always been pretty thin naturally and when my metabolism slowed I didn't know what to do. I just hid out in my apartment eating and being depressed about it. I was in this rut for a whole 4 years. When I turned 25 I decided I desperately needed a life change and to gain my self confidence back.

My biggest change was becoming Vegan. I decided to adopt a more compassionate and healthy lifestyle in Oct '05 and never looked back. This, along with watching my calories and exercising more often has allowed me to lose 25 lbs since December '05. I am now at the point where I need to try hard to maintain so I don't gain it all back. I am really scared of that happening! I also need to work on toning my muscles more since my weight is at the low end of the healthy category for my height but I still have a lot of flab (especially on the stomach).

Some of my favorite healthy foods are air popped popcorn, peanut butter, frozen mixed fruit and soy milk blended to the consistency of ice cream, and whole wheat no-cheese pizza piled high with veggies.