Before & After #2

I thought it was time for another Before & After post. Here's more of my story. This is a much clearer picture of how I looked before I started, what I believe to be, the RIGHT path for me and my family. I'm not going to write this is how I looked before I started my "diet", because 1) I'm not on a diet, this is truly a lifestyle for me, and 2) I'd done plenty of dieting by this point. In fact, this is how I looked at 203 pounds after months ON a low-fat/high grain diet, with lots of vegetables. I was always hungry and very tired! I struggled and pushed very hard, every day, to get 20 minutes of walking on the treadmill. Some days, I couldn't even make it 10 minutes. I had ZERO energy! I was SO frustrated! I thought I was doing everything right, eating very little fat (I ate very small portions of lean meats, mostly white meats like chicken and turkey, and the few fats I did eat were olive oil and Smart Balance products), LOTS of whole grains, and fruits and veggies. And, a month after this picture (and doing everything "right" by exercising and eating low fat), my cholesterol numbers got worse! My HDL got lower, dropping almost by half, and my trigs doubled. NOT GOOD! The same thing happened to my husband, he gained weight, and his triglycerides got dangerously high! That's where this journey began, scratching our heads, and trying to figure out what in the world we were doing wrong.

We started changing a few things in our diet, and I lost about 9 pounds, but I still didn't think anything was working the way it should. By chance, I stumbled across Dr. Lustig's lecture, which has forever changed the way I think about sugar, and then I came across the movie Fat Head. Both of these just made sense to me. Around May 2011, after some online reading, I began my reduced-carb stage, as I call it, where I kept total carbohydrates under 100 grams per day. We also bought our first CSA share from a local farmer, with lots of fresh produce and a dozen fresh eggs each week. The weight finally started coming off! I started having more energy, so I did a workout here and there, but I never did stick to any routine. I started having enough energy to just get through the day and do what needed to be done: cooking, cleaning, and looking after my little ones. That was huge for me, to be able to get through the day without feeling so run down. At this point, I was still splurging/treating myself to whatever I wanted to eat on the weekends. After four months, however, I realized my weight loss had stalled at 178, after losing 16 additional pounds on my reduced-carb diet.

My next step was going on Atkins on September 5, 2011. And I did this 100%, no more weekend cheating! First month of Atkins, I lost 13.5 lbs. Second month, 8.3 lbs. Third month, 6 lbs. Fourth month, 4.2 lbs. On December 20th, and I was down to 146 lbs! I was so close to my goal. During all of this, the more weight Keith & I loss, and, the better we felt, the more we were empowered to find out WHY all this was happening, when we were eating the "wrong" foods (lots of fat, meats, and of course, produce, but produce had always been a big part of our diets). We read and read as much as we possibly could. We'd compare notes at the end of the day, and we were fascinated with our findings! We found Sean Croxton at Underground Wellness, who pulled everything together for us. We read/listened to a lot of his findings, which went right along with a lot of things we'd already found, plus a whole lot more that we didn't know! The Dark Side of Fat Loss was the first (e-) book that I've bought in my adult life. I believe it was the most important purchase I've made, ever. We learned so much through his book, and again, it just made sense! (If anyone is interested in purchasing his e-book, make sure you become a facebook fan of his and you'll get a discount!) Sean has a gift for explaining things in a way that's easy for all of us to understand. His advice it "Just Eat Real Food!" He explained why we should eat cleanly, and how to do so.

We started making changes to eat and live cleaner, removing toxins from food and personal care products, as well as household items. Through this process, we gradually gave up things like High Fructose Corn Syrup, then sugar, then Splenda; we gave up unhealthy, industrial oils like vegetable, corn, canola, soybean, and butter substitutes; we gave up all grains. In December, I decided to stop counting my carbs and just keep eating whole/real/clean foods. We had just signed up for our new organic CSA share and were so impressed with how good everything tasted. Organic (and especially local, organic) foods are more nutrient-rich and taste so much better! We eat our organic green beans straight from the basket because they taste so good, raw and plain.

Then, Christmas came. I decided to eat whatever I wanted, to "treat myself" for the first time in months. Red velvet cake only comes once a year (and I'd made it!). I was going to have a piece, and so I continued to eat that and anything else I wanted that night, and oh my, did I suffer major consequences! First, I had a terrible headache that I couldn't shake for 3 days! My appetite and body were all out of whack. I had really over done it with the sugar and wheat. It took me 2 weeks to get back to normal.

I've had a few indulgences since then, but I have learned how to have some treats, without overdoing it to the point of suffering later. What seems to work for us,  is to fill up on the good stuff (plenty of protein and some veggies) and then have a small scoop of whatever I want after. Since my body is busy digesting that big piece of meat I just ate, that little bit of sugar doesn't seem to bother me as much. Plus, I just can't eat as much sugar as I once could as my tastes have changed and sugary things are just way too sweet!

So where was I on the timeline? Ah, yes. 2012. I continued on my whole/real/clean, whatever you want to call it, foods. We had new cholesterol tests taken in January, and everything had improved! The biggest indicators from a basic lipid panel are the trigs and ratio, both were great! All numbers had moved into the right direction and then some. I started the year at 144.8 lbs and over the next 6 months, lost 9.8 lbs. Not bad! I'm eating well, not even trying to lose weight, but just be healthy and feel well, and the weight is still coming off? NICE! In July, we gave up pasteurized dairy. Our health has improved even more, and I've lost another 6 lbs in 2 short months! I am now 128.8 lbs, GAH-LEE!

I really am amazed at all the transformations! This all seems so magical to me. I still eat the things I love, making some adjustments, but I eat very well! I am not starving, and I feel great! I met my weight loss goal 3 months ago, and so I am glad that I am no longer stressing to reach that number. I am just giving my body the most nutrient-rich foods I can and striving for better health. I believe my body will decide what my weight should be. As long as I am getting proper nutrition, reducing toxins in my life, working on stress management, and get my butt to a little exercise, I think I'll be okay. I have NEVER seen my body like this. I am finding some of those feminine features on my body for the first time in my life, some I've always wanted to see, but never have. The collar bone, slim fingers, that crease down the side of my upper leg, reduced cellulite, no more back flab, jawbone, and even veins on my feet. I hope this doesn't sound too weird, I guess I'm just trying to say that I haven't seen my body like this, ever, and I love seeing what's been hiding underneath all this weight all these years! I weigh less than I did in high school. I never thought this would be possible. After struggling with weight my whole life, I feel like I finally got it right! I know there is lots more to learn, so I will not stop learning. I think it's good to question what we think we know about health. Be open-minded. Try something new!