I lost 50 lbs from eating Bean Salad???

I lost 50 lbs 7 years ago, after a years of unsuccessful (but healthy) dieting losing and gaining back the same 10-20 lbs.  I couldn't figure out why.  What made that time in my life, body, and diet different enough to shake off all that weight and keep it off for 2 + years?  I still don't know.  I've guessed at everything.  And now I wonder...Was it because I ate Bean Salad for lunch on my work days?

For the first time in my life, rather than not eating lunch, I began taking bean salad.  It was my favorite lunch to take because it doesn't have to be refrigerated (if you are eating it that day) or heated, and you can make it in bulk, enough to last for 8 lunches.  In the summer/fall, if you garden, half of the ingredients (or almost all, if you are that good) are free.  I still like to take it to pot lucks because it is Vegan, it doesn't have to be chilled or heated, and it actually has vegetables.  Since that year, several people, friends and co-workers, have joked about my bean salad days.  Just a few weeks ago a friend remarked "I thought I smelled bean salad" when he saw me.

The greatest thing that happened during that time 7 years ago, besides weight loss, was that for the first time in my life food wasn't constantly on my mind.  I ate when I was hungry, I stopped when I'd had enough, and I didn't really think about it in between meals.  At the time I attributed it to going grain free, and that may be partly true, but perhaps it's also my intestines weren't supporting a colony that needs to feed, and feed on simple sugar.

Why is killing all that bad bacteria good?  Aside from reducing inflammation, it will clear up skin issues (the condition on my finger, which I think was psoriasis, is gone in days), my eczema is vanishing and my complexion has improved considerably in the last week.  It improves your mood-I feel better already.  It helps you to eat less and give up the sugar.  I kept waiting for the sugar withdrawal to happen from reducing carbohydrates, but it didn't, not that I was eating a lot to begin with.  My body aches less, I'm guessing because it is alleviating inflammation.  It improves dental health.  And lastly I lost weight, 5 lbs in the first week, 2 more in the second.  For the first time in a couple of months I am not just losing and gaining back the same 2 lbs.

What's so special about bean salad?  Well what it has are detox and anti-microbial properties.  It contains raw garlic and raw onions; strong anti-biotic, anti-fungal, anti-viral, fresh Cilantro; a heavy metal detox, and unpasteurized apple cider vinegar; an alkalizing, detoxifying tonic.  Use Olive oil and you can add anti-inflammatory Omega 9's, or Flax Oil for Omega 3's and an intestinal cleanser.  Combine all of this with the high fiber from the beans and vitamin C from the peppers and you have one healthy lunch.

 Why bean salad?  Why didn't it work when I was pressing garlic into tomato juice or stirring apple cider vinegar into water?  I have a theory that while digesting the beans, the anti-microbial properties stay in the areas they need to for longer actually destroying the bad bacteria.  If that's true, then it has to be bean salad.

I plan to keep up with Bean Salad lunches 4 days a week.