Back to a Healthy Me

So here is my secret…

It’s no secret. It was all about timing (and Living Social).  So I visited Medi-Weight Loss clinic in Naperville,  IL and it changed my life and view on eating. On August 23, 2011 I weighed 150 lbs. Early in 2011 I was tipping the scale at 160 lbs, but slowly lost the 10 lbs and probably most of it on our 3 week family European vacation. 

I won’t preach about Medi-Weight Loss clinic, but they actually do it the right way. I went through a full physical. I was very happy to find out a week later that my lab results were great and that, other than being overweight, I was in great health. No problems with my cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. 

I went in for weekly weigh-ins, support/counseling, and my energy B shots. Fast forward to today, I now weigh 130 lbs. 20 lbs!!!!  I never felt hungry, irritable or lethargic during this diet. Here’s the secret…I have lessen my intake on bad carbs (simple carbs), that includes rice, bread, potatoes, etc. But I am eating more veggies and fruit than I have ever had before. By not eating these simple carbs, my allergies are almost gone and my asthma is almost non-existent. So in the middle of this, I’ve discovered I was probably adversed to gluten, wheat products, etc. 

The first week on the diet was not as hard as I thought it would be. Yes, I had to eat less calories.  No carbs, only lean protein.  I didn’t have to give up on my diet Coke (yes, I know that’s bad, but I think that’s why I wasn’t irritable). After that first week, then I introduced fruits and veggies. And I have been following that ever since. Oh, don’t forget that I’m taking my supplements: daily multi-vitamin, D3, omega 3, calcium, flax/fiber, hoodia, B6, B12, etc. and 100 oz of water/day.

I’ve taken a little sabbatical from doing this religiously but I’ve actually maintained with no issues. I’ve had two cheat days (french fries) but I’ve been exercising on a daily basis now. I will be supplying information on the diet in the following posts so that anyone can do this on their own. I do recommend that you get a full physical and talk to your doctor before embarking on any type of diet. If you live near a Medi-weight loss clinic, I highly recommend you go. I can refer you and you can get 50% off your first consultation. 

Or, you can read the Duken Diet too. There are a lot of things in this book that mirror what I’ve been doing. Again, I believe that you have to do the right plan for your body and what’s right for you. This has worked for me and I look at food so differently now. I still enjoy it very much, but I understand portion control and what goes into your body and how it’ll affect you.

On the path…

Well, I wrote in a Cliff note version in yesterday’s post how my past led me to my decision to become healthier. Everyday I would say to myself, today is the day I’m going to start. And then something would happen and I would push it off to the next day, and then the next day and so on.

I finally had it after our wonderful family vacation over the past summer. We had a whirlwind European trip and I felt so good when we got back home. Not only did we have an amazing time together but we ate delicious food and walked everywhere. We ate the freshest food, the freshest fruit and vegetables. We didn’t eat anything processed. When we got back home I lost a little over 5 lbs.  I don’t think I ate any less, but I ate better food and walked everywhere.

I didn’t want to revert back to my past habits. But I slowly started too and then I got an email from Living Social. It was a deal to join a weight loss clinic. This weight loss clinic was different from others that I researched in the past. It wasn’t pre-packaged food. I didn’t have to count points. 

I started on August 23, 2011 and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Fast Forward…

I started this journey over 10 years ago after my first son was born. I gained a lot of weight and stopped exercising. To make matters worse, I didn’t pay attention to my needs and concentrated on everyone else. I was lucky that I married an amazing man that didn’t care whether I was 110 lbs or I was 160 lbs. I was also lucky that my view of me changed for the better after I turned 30 years old. So, I didn’t give myself too much of a hard time when I did become frumpy. Looking back, I think it was easier to concentrate on other people because I was going through an emotional part of my life.

Before we take a glimpse of present day me, let me give you a little piece of my background. For my friends that have known me for decades, bear with me. I grew up in a typical strict Asian home where food was fried and rice was abundant. We were definitely not brought up as vegetarians.  You name it, we ate it. But, I was never an overweight child. I was born with a congenital heart defect and couldn’t participate in gym until I was in 3rd grade. I was a latch key kid. I was involved in many school extracurricular activities and sports. All of the activities I signed up myself and didn’t involve my parents being soccer parents. They were always working to provide for us. It’s nothing like it is today. I was lucky that I went to an elementary school that had these outlets. 

Fast forward to my teen years. Looking back, I was skinny. But I didn’t think I was. I think I weighed between 95 lbs to 110 lbs in my teen years.  Did I think I was skinny? Of course not? Did I have great self-esteem? Hmm…do most teenage girls have great self-esteem? Again, I was lucky. I had high metabolism. I was a cheerleader (okay for one year), played sports and joined a health club at 18. So, I stayed active throughout my teen years.

Fast forward to my 20s. Once again, looking back, I was skinny.  Sometimes too skinny. At one point I think I was a size 0 (not healthy). I worked out A LOT, had my share of a part-time eating disorder and partied A LOT. There was a picture I was once saw of me in my 20s and I looked like one of those bobble heads. Ironically, I thought I was FAT at that time. Crazy what the lack of one’s self-esteem does to oneself. 

Fast forward to my 30s. I met an amazing man, got married and then 6 months later got pregnant with my first child. But before that, I had a job that required me to travel 75% to 100% of my time. It was excited. Traveled the world. Got to see a lot of great places. But in the meantime, I gained weight. I was not at my ideal weight when I got married, but I didn’t care. The view of myself was positive and healthy. And I married someone that didn’t care whether I was a size 0 or a size 10. When I got pregnant, I ballooned to 175 lbs. Yes, 175 lbs.  I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone that I got that heavy. After my son was born, thank goodness for breastfeeding. I lost 28 lbs in two weeks and then lost 40 lbs altogether within 6 months.  Did I exercise? No.  It was breastfeeding that was my savior.

Then my mother passed away in May of 2003. I felt lost, heartbroken and grieved for a long time. I turned to food and gained back 20 lbs.  My weight yo-yo’d for the next 3 years until I found out I was pregnant with my 2nd son.  Not that I did this on purpose, but I only gained 20 lbs during my second pregnancy. Then I lost a ton of weight after my son was born (I’m telling you ladies, breastfeeding is the bomb). Anyway, I didn’t capitalize on this again. I started gaining weight.  Then lost a bunch in 2009.  Then in 2010, I gained 25 lbs because I started traveling again for work. The stress of traveling and the guilt of being away from my family took its toll.  At the end of 2010, I was tipping the scale at 160 lbs again.

By the summer of 2011, I was down to 155 lbs. But I had to do something. I was feeling sluggish, tired and not very good about me. I decided that I was too young to feel this way.

Why have I given you my story up to the summer of 2011?  My journey didn’t just start a couple of months ago when I decided to be serious on becoming healthier. It started when I was a kid and the view I had of myself.  All has led me to where I am today and where I will be tomorrow. 

When I loss my weight, started looking at eating healthier and taking the right supplements to grow stronger physically and mentally, many of my friends asked me what my secret was. I’ve been reading a lot of books and doing a lot of research these past few months.  I’m continuing on educating myself better and hope that I can share these experiences with you.