In 2015, I set out to lose some weight. Sounds cliche, but I started this endeavor on New Year’s Day, as part of my Resolution for the year. Let me confess right off the bat that my resolutions in previous years had also had ‘lose weight’ high on the list, but like many other people, I did not stay on the resolution-train much past the first month of the year.
A force stronger than I can explain came over me in 2015 and I set about actually finishing something that I desperately wanted. In 2015, I decided to lose the ‘baby fat’ that I had been carrying around since my son was born, eleven years ago. Every year prior to 2015 I had the same goal and the same type of motivation, but after the first few discouraging weeks, I would always let bad habits creep back into my life and overtake my resolve to change.
2015 was different. I did not enter into any new-fangled workout regimens and I didn’t sign up for the latest fad diet. Instead, the approach I took to improve my overall health and lose weight, as a result, was really the simplest and most basic lifestyle change I could have ever done. I know it sounds trite, but I looked to God.
Don’t take this to mean that I had some sort of religious experience to lose weight. No, not at all. I only started to think about all I had read and learned about food over the years, learned through trial and error that diets don’t work, and the realization that all of the healthy and fit people I knew in my life shared one common secret: they ate simple, clean food.
Keep it Simple
My approach to losing weight was the realization that I had to get my body healthy and that if my body was truly healthy, it would be the optimal weight and size. I was right. Weight loss (or gain for that matter) is a bi-product of good health. I set about improving my health by improving what I put in my mouth. This is where the God part came in.
I realized that early men and women did not eat processed foods. They didn’t have the means to manipulate their foods much beyond occasionally heating them over a fire. They survived on a diet of animal proteins when available, foraged for nuts and seeds, root vegetables and regional fruits in season. They ate from the earth that provided for them, not from the shelves of chemicals and sugars that we shop from today.
And they washed it down with water.
God the Dietician
You see, this is where the God part made sense to me. God provides all we need. Through our efforts to be industrious, we have hybridized wheats, we have mass-produced processed foods and sweeteners, we have made food into a business instead of making our food our bodies’ priority. We need to get back to basics, get back to the earth, eat the way our ancestors ate, and the result will be a healthy, and lean body.
Halfway through 2015, I had lost 40 lbs eating this way and walking every day. I purchased a Fitbit and I walked and I walked and I walked. That first year, I did not do much more than walk. As I dropped weight and my health improved because of how I was eating, I gained energy. I realized I was more focused throughout the work day instead of fighting that late afternoon haze I thought was normal. I slept sounder. My migraine headaches ended. I was less irritable and more fun to be around.
All of this because I had eliminated sugar, processed foods, and anything man-made from my diet. Deciding to eat like a cavewoman instantly changed me, and the results came fast. It wasn’t easy and I did not have much support at home, which made my plight even harder. But I persisted because some force stronger than me would no longer allow me to fail at something I wanted so badly.
Want a New Normal?
Today in 2017 I am 45 lbs lighter than that girl on New Year’s Day 2015 and my life has changed completely. I still only drink water, morning coffee and the occasional glass of chardonnay. I lift heavy weights twice a week and I maintain my cardiovascular health with a couple of walks a week and maybe a run when I can. I am a curvy size 6 and although I am getting closer and closer to age 50, I am asked for my ID everywhere I go. Putting the right food IN my body has produced the most amazing results on the OUTSIDE of my body. The reflection in the mirror is a happy, healthy, fit woman.
I always thought this lifestyle would elude me. I am here to tell you that all women are capable of living a healthier life and you are in control of it by starting with examining your diet! Your diet is the single biggest tool in your arsenal. You have the power to change your own reflection by making this lifestyle change. It isn’t easy, but nothing that is worthwhile ever is. You can do it though because I did!
What would your life look like if you actually made your health and wellness a priority? Join us at www.phitgirls.com to learn more about how to become your best YOU!
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