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A well-known personality on the Osa Peninsula, Sierra Goodman, makes the news for her non-profit work toward creating a marine sanctuary off the south Pacific coast of Costa Rica. While she continues to support the whales with her Fundación Vida Marina, Ms. Goodman may be about to become even more widely known for something else: her impressive weight loss.
Ms. Goodman has lost over 170 pounds, jump-started by a green tea diet. She is hard at work to finish penning a biography that documents her total transformation, tentatively titled "From Paralegal to Paradise: 170 Pounds Lost and Happiness Found."
It's not your average how-to diet book, however. “I started it not as a weight-loss book,” she emphasized, “but as a book about creating the life of your dreams, including weight loss.” Ms. Goodman moved to Costa Rica 10 years ago, bought oceanfront property, began dolphin tours, opened and closed an eco-lodge, got thin and continues to investigate local marine life.
Ms. Goodman is conscious and cautious about making recommendations to others. “I don't want to create 'Sierra's Diet,'” she said. “I want everyone to listen to their own intuition and create the diet that works for them.”
Green tea was a deciding factor for Ms. Goodman. Many medical studies have highlighted the beneficial effects of the hot drink in recent years, and Ms. Goodman thinks it worked for her.
“I think green tea is pretty universal,” she said. “I believe that it raises your metabolism and it regulated my whole system. I can't believe that all the pills and the Lipton green tea has all the power as the tea I get from Japan. But they could work for other people.” Ms. Goodman special orders specific Japanese varieties of green teas and offers them for purchase on a Web site.
Now
Green tea aside, the 5-foot, 3-inch Ms. Goodman followed the tried-and-true weight-loss technique: healthier meals and exercise.
A longtime vegetarian, she was a fairly healthy eater and swam a good bit on her dolphin tours.
“I was probably the healthiest 300-pound person,” she said. “But I wasn't aware of my body size. It was changing my mentality, it's all about balance. My diet did change, I was eating too much food before. I cut out the processed food, and the fried stuff is really bad.”
She laughs, “What I cut out was the gallo pinto! The Ticos are going to kill me, but its not the beans but the white fried rice that's so bad. My diet now is vegetables, fruit and fresh fish.”
Ms. Goodman did add one unique component of her own to the standard weight-loss diet: Visualization. She pictured herself how she wanted to be instead of how she actually was. “A really important thing when losing weight is seeing yourself thin and not saying 'Oh, when I'm thin, I'll do this.' In my mind, I already saw myself as that person. It's about making your life better right now.”
The activist swears by this method and has used it for years. Ms. Goodman attributes virtually every positive change in her life to her dedicated visualization practices. She employed visualization for her move to Central America, her property purchase and her marine work, she said.
Ms. Goodman says, “I've used this in every aspect of my life except for MYSELF and I said, 'Wait a minute, why am I not using this for me?' I had to accept myself the way I was and be happy in the moment. You have to start by being happy right now. Put positive feelings behind it.”
So Sierra Goodman has the land, the work and the body, but what does she visualize now? “Oprah,” she says. “I have high ambitions! Oprah's on my vision board.” Ms. Goodman plans to take her finished book on the megastar's talk show.
So down on the Osa Peninsula. Sierra's thin. And possibly on the verge of stardom.
You Are Beautiful !! And congrads you had the faith and determination and you saw your end result, feeling better having energy girl you did it you are Fabulous But You are a real inspiration to a lot of people in all sizes....
wow, that is awesome, Sierra. it's great that you're able to get the word out to people about positive thoughts and visualisation. Are you gonna mention Abe on Oprah?
I can definitely see you on the show! You'll get there.
for sharing, you are truly an inspiration 
Kalena
!!!
