The fear of losing mobility because of my weight scared me to my core. I knew I had to do something or I could lose my legs too…
I want to share just a little so you understand where I’m coming from and you know where my heart is. Let’s grab a cup of tea (or coffee) and let’s have a heart-to-heart. You see, my weight loss journey began so many years ago, like so many others. I’d gain weight, lose weight, gain more, lose less. After my third baby, weight loss became a cruel game I played with my body. Up and down, up and down the scale.
I tried the Atkins Diet and, for a while, it worked wonders, helping me shed over 60 pounds. But the struggle to keep those carbs low enough proved too daunting, and I eventually gave up.
The scale ricocheted up and down no matter what I tried: low-fat, low-carb, low-calorie, and even juice and meat diets. I even dabbled with pills that promised to boost my metabolism or block fat and carbs. The numbers on the scale seemed to mock me and eventually, I hit 325 pounds.
I was trapped on a dieting rollercoaster ride from hell.
After hitting 325 pounds, I knew I had to get off the ride. My knees throbbed constantly from carrying all that extra weight. Arthritis was steadily zapping the strength from my knees, and diabetes loomed, threatening to take hold of my body.
What a mess!
Desperate for a solution, I turned to the internet and stumbled upon Dr. Fung’s fasting approach. I gave it a shot and lost 25 pounds fairly quickly. But not eating for days at a time was unbearably difficult. I just couldn’t do it.
Over time, the weight crept back on. I kept slashing my calorie intake, that is what my doctor and nutritionist advised me to do. At one point I was down to less than 900/day, trying to keep my weight under 300. I was cold all the time, exhausted, and hungry (oh so hungry) all the time.
Then life slapped me in the face!
I’ll never forget the distress in my mother’s voice when she called to tell me the news. My aunt was getting both her legs amputated… because she was overweight.
My aunt is a beautiful woman and she has been heavy all her life. She tried losing weight. She’d followed her doctors’ advice to the letter. She was eating less than 800 calories a day and trying to exercise diligently. Yet, she had no energy, felt tired constantly, was cold all the time, and couldn’t lose any weight.
Sound Familiar?
After years of struggling with her weight, she fell out of bed and landed on her knees. The doctors told her they shattered when she landed on them and with crushed bone fragments in both her legs. If they left them attached the infection would kill her.
They had no choice but to cut off both of her legs!
To say I was horrified does not say enough. I just sat in my office… What could I do for her? How could I make her life easier moving forward? How would she sit upright by herself? What if things had been different? My next thought shocked and unsettled me.
I was doing exactly the same things!
I was doing what my doctors told me to do. The same things they tell all of us to do.
- Reduce your calories
- Eat low-fat
- Eat less
- Exercise more
- Blah, blah, blah…
Even though we all know this method does not work!
That was the day everything changed for me.
The fear of losing my mobility shook me to my core, and I made a life-altering decision. I had to find a solution and uncover why eating a low-calorie, low-fat diet hadn’t led to weight loss for me or countless others.
And so, the journey to wellness began…
