How I lost 80 pounds… 01/10/2009
 I have always been slightly overweight. In the eighth grade, I was taller and outweighed everyone in my class. The end of high school I blossomed into a woman’s body, weighing in at 150 pounds. At 5′7” I looked pretty good, but I did not look like the other teens around me. (Here I am at one of my heaviest weights wearing Woman's size 18.) In my family we all have what we call “thunder thighs”; even my brother was blessed with this genetic trait, much to his chagrin. I, however, was also blessed with an extra dollop of “boobs”. So, I have this hourglass shape – large on the top and bottom, yet small at the middle. By the time I was 29, the first of my major “blooming” experiences occurred when I injured my lower back. Then menopause hit me at the young age of 40, due to a sub-active thyroid. I was able to get my thyroid back up to snuff, but could do nothing about the menopause. So, my waist thickened, my boobs got even bigger (go figure!) and my thunder thighs thundered up some more. I began a walking regimen; joined the area walkers walking for MS, Leukemia, breast cancer, etc., and got up to five miles a day. But when I pushed myself to go ten miles my knees gave out. So, there went my walking regimen. But the worst was yet to come; in August of 2000 I had a work accident and broke three ribs in my upper back on the right side. The injury threw my spine out of alignment so I couldn’t stand or walk or even sit for any amount of time. Cooking for myself was not only painful but exhausting. I went from full-time work to part-time, to having to quit all together within a six month period. My body bloomed some more from the in-activity. By the time I found Dr. D’Adamo’s Eat Right For Your Blood Type I was up to 240 pounds! I had tried other “diet” approaches and with each one I would lose some but gain twice as much back. This approach meant a LIFESTYLE change, but it looked to be one I could easily make, so I gave it a try.  What I noticed first was the return of energy – I just wasn’t that tired anymore. Then my clothes began to bag on me and I began dropping dress sizes long before any significant weight was registered on the scale. This was wonderful! I looked better, I felt better, I held my head up higher… I knew that I had found the one approach that truly works for me. In just under 3 years I have managed to slim down from a size 22 to a size 10. And, this is permanent weight loss! Do I still have “thunder thighs”? You bet! I still have that hour glass shape but my middle isn’t as small as it once was. | AuthorI’m an artist and a teacher by training. I backed into the alternative health field contending with the health issues of aging parents and a few of my own. After my 94-year-old Dad over-medicated himself with an over-the-counter chocolate-flavored laxative, I began to research alternative and natural solutions. ArchivesDecember 2009 CategoriesAll |
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