Definition for Ladies Spring 2014 Issue 001 April 2014 | Page 66

Breaking
Free from

an Unhealthy Mindset

Laura Kaplan choose the vegan lifestyle
instead of a lifetime of medication

I have almost always been overweight,
sometimes even obese. By the end of middle
school at age 14, I was a size 16 in US
women’s dress size. I did not enjoy being
my size. I felt like it was so difficult to shop
for clothes, and I did not enjoy the negative
attention in school.
In the middle of my high school years, I
got down to a size 10 and 155 lbs due to
a medical problem. I lost weight very fast
and in a very unhealthy manner, but I did
enjoy the new feeling and ability to wear
any clothes from any store I wanted. What I
went through to get to that new size wasn’t
a pleasant feeling, though, so I vowed to try
to maintain it in a healthy way.
Unfortunately, I gained it all back and
more, and about ten years later I weighed
234 pounds. I had thrown out most of my
old clothing, thinking I would never be
able to get back to a healthier weight. I had
tried to lose weight before, but I could never
convince myself the work was worth it.
The turnaround was when I went to a
doctor’s appointment. I found out that at
only 28 years old, I needed medication for
high blood pressure, was extremely close to
being pre-diabetic, and had high cholesterol.
I was scared. I did not want to go on the
medication. My doctor said, “Lose 50
pounds and we will talk.” I was depressed
for the first day, but the next day I started
changing everything in my life.
I dabbled with veganism for about five
years before that. Social pressures and other
problems always lead me to give up on my
decision, and I had extreme feelings of guilt
because my decision was ethically

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