It’s a long one (55 years!) but I will try to condense it to the highlights--actually the majority of it has taken place in the last five years. You will find this post is not going to be your typical “I followed this plan, lost this amount of weight, and I’m so proud of my new body.” Instead, this is simply my journey that is far from over. Maybe you can relate?
So to begin at the beginning … as my mom says, “We grew up eating organic before we even knew it was a thing.” My mom maintained a large garden and was regularly canning and freezing fruits and vegetables. But I wasn’t too into fruits and veggies back in those years…my focus was more on those good Midwestern comfort foods. They are still some of my favorites! But we ate very little fast food and soda in our house was a rare treat. However, there was always dessert!
Then I got married and understanding very little about cooking healthy, a “good meal” for us after we both worked all day would consist of Hamburger Helper or boxed mac ‘n cheese. Add in kids, we kept that going along with the frozen chicken nuggets, fish sticks, and hot dogs. And chips—potato chips, Doritos, anything crunchy and salty. Did I mention I loved to bake? So homemade cookies, brownies, cakes topped with ice cream were a daily treat.
So fast forward now to around 40 years old. No longer could I just cut back a little and drop the extra 5 lbs I had gained. They had been accumulating gradually since the birth of my 3rd child. So I started paying attention—doing some fad dieting with shakes and pills and such, and exercising at a gym for the first time in my life. It helped for a short time, but finances, boredom and busyness soon won out … and up went the scales. I even tried HcG a couple times but it never worked for me like it was supposed to, and I gained back anything I had lost.
Now I’m planning for my 50th birthday party. I have to go shopping to try to find clothes I feel good in but hope I don’t look fat. While I had a wonderful and fun birthday celebration (that included a bunch of feel good food!) I was brought up short by my birthday photos. I was at the heaviest weight of my life – right around where I was when I had delivered my children. Finally, I was ready to make a drastic, lifestyle change.
I had already been working with a naturopath for my migraines and we had done food allergy testing. So I had eliminated some things I didn’t realize I was allergic to. Unfortunately, it didn’t help my migraines but it did wake me up to the fact that changes needed to be made in order to improve my health and the only way I’d find out what might be a problem was doing an elimination diet. I came across a book by JJ Virgin called “The Virgin Diet” and decided to follow it to a T. I totally pulled all the food out of my pantry and it filled up our pool table. I began to sort it, getting rid of everything that was processed. My pantry was very clean and organized for the first time in many years! The idea of her plan is to eliminate seven food groups or items from your diet for three weeks, and then each week add back in one food group to see if you can tolerate them. And 3 food groups are to stay out of your diet for good—refined sugar/artificial sweeteners, corn and peanuts. During those 7 weeks, I lost 17 lbs and my husband lost 20 (of course!) And I learned that my stomach issues I dealt with the majority of my life were related to dairy. Who knew??
I was inspired and I dove in to learning about eating whole foods and basically landed on eating a mostly Paleo-type plan.
As I began to clean the processed foods, fast food, Diet Coke and now dairy and most wheat out of my system, my energy improved and my skin complexion cleared up. I regularly had friends and strangers comment on my complexion – that was a first! I felt good and was sure I was on the path to losing the next 20 to put me where I wanted to be. Well not so fast, that’s been four years ago, and I’m still have not lost that next 20. I did maintain those 17 lbs—until this past Fall when we had a major move and a series of life events where I simply got lazy. So now my goal is up to ridding myself of 25 lbs. Ugh!
Over the past four years I have read books, blogs, and emails from just about all the mainstream “diet gurus.” I took a course and became certified in Holistic Nutrition and read several more books. But the more I read, the more confused and frustrated I have become. Each author has their own experiences, success stories, and especially science to back their system – and yet most of them contradict each other. So who is right? My conclusion, no one and everyone.
I believe God created each of us individually, so what we each need to maintain our bodies and health is individualized as well. I am currently studying my own DNA and genetics to learn what my body needs and is predisposed to. But I’m also learning the power of epigenetics and that you can change how your genes express themselves through your lifestyle and dietary choices. If you’d like to know more about this program, check it out at https://glownaturalwellness.com/. It has been a fascinating discovery.
So there are a few bottom line things that everyone agrees on, as do I. Stay away from all processed foods, fast foods, refined sugars and flours, and caloric beverages. Significantly increase your vegetables to at least half of each meal and include a wide variety of them, both cooked and raw. And we need to move our bodies more. From there, its trial and error to discover what is best for your body individually. I've done Paleo, Keto, Mediterranean, whole food/plant based, carb cycling – no changes. But will I give up? No! I know there is an answer for me personally.
I am currently learning about intermittent fasting. I began with 12 hours a day of fasting and added an hour each week of fasting time until I reach the 18/6 window, and sometimes longer. I absolutely love the science behind this age-old lifestyle of fasting—plus it’s free and actually saves you money as you’re not eating as often. A few things I like about it is how it changes your body composition even more than just losing weight alone, and I know it is allowing my body time to heal from all the misuse over the years. Plus I can follow whichever clean eating style I choose as determined as best for me from my DNA course. To learn more about it, I recommend Gin Stephens book, Delay, Don't Deny and her Facebook group as well. Super motivating!! And big score—I’m finally losing weight and inches again!
In order to keep pressing on, I’ve had to change to mindset. It’s not just about losing the weight. Yes, that is a desire. But a better goal is to be healthy. My labs all says my body is super healthy, and besides my migraines (which are much better when I’m avoiding sugar), I do not have any major health issues. If I focus on health, I can keep going without getting discouraged (most days, anyway). I follow those do’s and don’ts listed earlier that are agreed upon by health experts and try to move my body with walking or some form of exercise most days of the week. Beyond that, I have to be patient with myself. I set boundaries that I can live with for my lifestyle and work on renewing my mind to think about food in a healthy way, watch my portions, and eat only when I’m hungry. So even when I’m frustrated with not reaching my weight loss goals, I also am at peace with living my life in a healthy way. As I said before, God created each of us as individuals and that includes our body type and size. If I honor Him with my choices, He will bless my decisions even if I don’t see it on the scale. When I become too focused on the scale, I find I lose my joy and my priorities of focusing on those around me.
How about you? I know each of you has your own health and diet journey – how have you learned to reconcile the input of information with who you believe God has created you to be?
I will keep you apprised of my continuing journey, and share insights as I learn them. Until then, to our health!
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