I'm 32, female, married, overall energetic, working in my full time corporate career, and live in the typical suburb. On the outside, people who meet me for the first time think I am the average healthy adult. I feel like I should be healthy and happy.
As a child I was slightly overweight but lost it all after 6th grade playing sports, marching in band and working in between. I was as healthy as I could be, despite really poor diet decisions then- including never eating breakfast, eating loads of refined, prepackaged foods, drinking about 2-3 cans of soda a day, eating fast food everyday b/c of my jobs and living off of 5-6 hours of sleep. I was extremely intelligent however knew nothing about nutrition. I was the poster child for today's youth!!!
My health turned during college when the food and sleeping habits didn't change, it became legal to drink (but I honestly didn't consume very much) and I stopped exercising. Over the 4 years, I gained about 50 lbs, I had sleep disorders, digestive disorders, and even kidney stones. 3 years after graduation, I was diagnosed with GERD, fatty liver, high blood pressure and worst of all diabetes. (That's when I found out that obesity was not the prerequisite anymore!)
I opted out of pills and decided to start the South Beach Diet. That was my lifesaver at the time. I dropped 35 lbs and kept it off for 2 yrs and my chemistry started stabilizing. I felt amazing! Then life changes happened again...moved, then moved again, new job working shifts, then new job working at a desk, and then split my time being a caretaker for an elderly relative. It was no longer about healthy living for myself anymore. Eventually, I'd gain 25 lbs of that back, ended up on medications, and live with sporadic pain that can't be pinpointed, with frequent visits to doctors. I do not suffer from PCOS or any thyroid issues that would typically accompany these disorders either.
It's been a couple of months since I've started the journey to gaining my life back. I'm back down about 15 lbs since, and my blood chemistry is starting to stabilize again as well as BP.
I want to live the rest of my life to be healthy. I want a family one day. I want to be an inspiration to others, not just a warning.
I truly believe that if you were not born with it, you can reverse most, if not all damage, and that the body chooses to be stable as long as you comply.
I want to be able to inspire other people who haven't had support growing up or within their family. If you got this far, thanks for sticking with me!
I hope it inspires you in some way and I hope to be inspired by your story one day.
If change was easy, the world would be perfect.
| current weight: 157.0 |
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