Health - Can I tell you my story?

Some of you may think I am a bit radical or don't understand how I went from having a deep fryer on my counter to harvesting acorns and rejecting high fructose corn syrup and soy from my family's diet.

Can I tell you my story?
Thank you... there are sometimes that I am so amazed and grateful that it is a bit cathartic to tell it and I also hope to help others escape from their cages of misery.

Two years ago, I had a really good paying job, was working 50 hours a week, living on meals out and grocery store boxed dinners.  I was stressed, didn't sleep well at night, and had a variety of physical ailments that left me feeling like a pretty hopeless 50 year old.  I didn't think that 50 should feel that old but I did not know where to turn to change anything... and admittedly, I LIKED drinking diet Coke and Vodka and eating!  They were solace to me every day in dealing with the stress of a life and a body that had me trapped.

I would like to take a minute here to explain to you the physical things that plagued me and made me miserable.  This is not to say I was so bad off but just to give you some background on why I believe the way I do now.  Need I say that the list of these ailments was frightening, miserable, and drastically lowered the quality of my life and my family's life.

• Chronic fatigue (not the kind that is diagnosed as such but the kind that compels you to hit the couch the minute you get home from work and let the kids and husband fend for themselves)
• Difficulty sleeping at night ( I found a cure for that.. in desperation I used to drink several shots of vodka before bed to help me sleep)
• Chronic indigestion/GERD/reflux.  It was so bad that I had to sleep sitting in a chair every night and was already diagnosed with Barrett's Esophagus, a pre-cancerous condition caused by chronic damage to the lining of the esophagus.
• Frequent bladder infections - in the last years of my 40s, I had about 5 - 6 infections a year and was treated with big doses of an antibiotic called Levaquin each time.  
• Frequent upper respiratory infections, including pneumonia and asthma.
• Frequent headaches, especially migraines.
• Low thyroid (somewhere along the line I have severely debilitated by thyroid gland's ability to function)
• Chronic pain in my feet and legs, including leg swelling (at times this was crippling pain and my family would push me in a wheelchair or leave me on a bench somewhere while they walked to enjoy the fair, the museum, the mall, etc)
• Chronic tendonitis in my hands..  
• Depression and anxiety (treated with medication)
• I was 6 foot tall and weighed 270 pounds at my largest in my early 40s but had dieted down to 230 by the time I was 50.  I knew this weight was not a healthy one but most diets only had temporary results and I always seemed to gain back whatever weight I lost.

So that is a laundry list of the things that "ailed me", when I then lost my job through a lay off in October of 2010 at the age of 50.  I really felt hopeless and helpless at that time.  It was the lowest time in my life.

Then a dear friend told me about a company that helps people improve their health and lose weight.  I was SO skeptical at first but I did some research and decided to give it a try.  I was so fortunate that my husband embraced this change with me at the time so we started together (he also was topping out at 300 pounds with the apparent inability to consistently lose weight on our "diets").  The plan was simple ...  eat what comes in the box, make just a few changes in your diet along with it, and you will feel better and lose weight.   I was STILL SKEPTICAL about the "feel better" part but I really wanted a "magic" diet that really worked so I committed to a try!  It seemed expensive at first until I realized that it replaced much of our grocery store expense, eating out expense, diet coke expense, and vodka expense.  Did I know I was going to give all of that up?  NO!  It was not required but I quickly realized I did not need it anymore.

So what happened?

Within the first month:

• No more indigestion.  (Got to quit taking all that Prilosec, Nexium, Tums, Zantac, Pepcid, etc)
• No more fatigue ( I don't think I have taken more than one nap in the last 2 years)
• The fog in my brain started to lift and my mood was SO much better (even without a job and grieving the loss of my job)
• I lost around 15 - 18 pounds the first month and my husband lost about 20+ the first month.
• The pain in my hands and feet got better enough that I was able to quit taking the Vicodin that the doctor prescribed for me.
• I discovered that could sleep at night without vodka.  I decided that I did not need a daily infusion of it and I really woke up feeling much more refreshed without it.  (you can imagine) LOL....

Within the first 4 months:

• We lost a combined 100+ pounds (about 40+ for me and 60+ for him), which drastically changed our levels of confidence, and further improved our energy levels.
• Husband's doctor visits showed normal A1C levels (he had been previously diagnosed with Diabetes).
• Normal cholesterol blood values
• My doctor was amazed.
• My skin was glowing and healthy.
• I felt great and by that time needed no more medication except for that darn thyroid pill.

NOW???  2 Years Later:

• I haven't had so much as a tylenol for well over a year (except for that darn thyroid pill)  
• I have lost a total of 65+ pounds and kept it off easily!  I went from a size 18 to a size 10.
• I have had one cold in the last year.
• I have not had any bladder infections..
• No more reflux or indigestion for me!
• I sleep like a baby!
• I have energy all day long for all the things I need to do!
• No more pain in my feet ..  I can walk again and now enjoy the Iowa State Fair, going to the gym, taking walks with my daughter, etc.
• NO headaches.
• I am happy and have little stress.. things just don't get to me like they used to.

All this benefit from JUST changing what I put in my mouth!  I am still amazed and this is why I tell you my story and will never stop telling my story.  Research, be willing to change a little, give a healthy change a few months trial and see what happens, get the processed foods, chemicals, etc, out of your life as much as you can.  I will post more blogs on Health topics, including the chemicals in prescription drugs and what to watch for, side effects, etc.

If you have a particular question you would like me to address in this blog, send me an email or leave a comment and I will do my best to give you an answer or a resource!