Don't get discouraged; it is often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock.~ Anonymous
Changing your life, your health and your weight is not easy. I know because I did it myself.
As often happens, my patterns of unhealthy eating were established early on. In my pre-teens, I started overeating because I didn’t know what else to do with my emotions. I was obsessed with my weight, and went into high school experimenting with diet pills and diuretics to stay slim. On the inside I was a wreck, but on the outside I was president of my class, achieved good grades, and was voted Homecoming and Prom Queen. In my 20's I continued starving and binging, gaining 100s of pounds and taking them off again.
After attending Carnegie Mellon, I decided to follow my father’s career path and become a Chemical Engineer and graduated from Northeastern University. This path led me to great professional and financial success. My lifestyle was completely out of whack, though. Ten to fourteen hour days and constant trips to Europe took a serious toll on my health.
Over the next decade, I worked at three Fortune 100 firms and got married. By industry standards I was a successful chemical engineer, though I was constantly fatigued and lethargic. I was an insomniac, and my diet consisted of coffee and bagels I picked up at breakfast meetings, onto business luncheons and then restaurant dinners.
Finally, I went to a counselor who wouldn’t treat me unless I saw a doctor. The doctor prescribed anti-anxiety pills and anti-depressants. My weight started to climb, and I didn’t know how to bring it down again. The medications allowed me to function in a sort of zombie-like state, though I was still physically and emotionally exhausted. I felt my body was about to crash under the pressures and unbearable fatigue and I chose to leave my job, my identity and the lifestyle I had come accustomed to and figure out what was wrong.
Over the next year I barely got out of bed and gained 75 more pounds. I bottomed out at 246 pounds, and I was so upset I couldn’t look at the numbers on the scale.
My turning point came after an outing to New York City, when I could barely make it up the stairs from the subway. People behind me couldn’t get by, my knees were hurting and I felt like I was suffocating. I loved the city, and I was so upset that the state of my body was preventing me from enjoying it.
When it came to healthy weight loss, I had no idea where to begin. I had done everything that everyone else recommended--Weight Watchers, Nutri-Systems, Jenny Craig-- and it didn’t work! So I stopped listening to other people and I started listening to myself.
I had been on medications for over two years, and I hated being dependent on them.
As I worked with different doctors and health practitioners I realized that many systems in my body were out of balance. It took years to identify them and heal them. I was also diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The emotional, physical and mental stresses I had endured since childhood had finally come to a head and it was time to fix them. It had taken me a long time to get there, so I was determined to be patient and heal naturally from a foundational level. No drugs, no magic pills.
Little did I know that three years into my natural healing process the marriage to whom I thought was the “love of my life” would also end. This stressful event only strengthened my resolve to get through it in the healthiest way possible pulling on the resources and tools I had yet to learn.
My lessons started small. I would park my car farther away from my destination to force myself to walk more. I made sure I drank 8 glasses of water a day. Little by little, the weight started to come off. My healing process and weight loss took years because my adrenal glands were damaged. I was unlearning a lifetime of unhealthy eating and lifestyle habits and it was going well.
As I continued to developed this new knowledge about health and nutrition, I realized that I wanted a completely different career path. I went back to school and studied health counseling, giving me a second chance at a rewarding and fulfilling life.
I have lost 100 pounds and have stayed at a very healthy weight for the last 10 years. I now live an active exciting life. Everyday stresses do not dictate how I feed my body. My relationships are stronger and I’m more realistic in all parts of my life. Learning to trust myself and the process of trial and error was a huge part of my journey. I went to the buffet table of life and nutrition and tried every modality available. I was devoted to unlocking my own puzzle.
I now have the privilege of helping others on their healing journeys. As devoted I was to transforming my life, I am now committed to helping others unlock their own personal puzzle. I believe that everyone deserves to be free to live the life they desire.