Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Alberta, Canada
Posts: 30
S/C/G: 264.8 / 220.8 / 140
Height: 5' 5.5"
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My introduction
Hi everyone;
I am so glad I found this forum, I am new to forums.
I am 48 yrs old, 5' 5.5 " tall, medium bone structure, and I have been at least somewhat overweight all my life. I have osteo arthritis, and have had 2 related surgeries in the last 12 months. I have always enjoyed my sweets and carbs. I have never really been a big veggie eater. To be honest, maybe I ate veggies 1 or 2 times a week, unless you include peas, corn and potatoes.
Since 2010, I had been turning down invitations to go places, even to the movies with my husband. I was embarrassed with my size; I did not want to be seen. I went where I had to and that was it. With a photographer in the family, I did not look forward to birthdays or holidays. I do not like how I look. I have an illness related to how I used to eat; Systemic yeast overgrowth – candida albicans.
I have a neighbor who lost a lot of weight and I asked his wife what he was doing, because if it was working for him, maybe it would work for me. I had never heard of the program he was using, but decided to do it too. It is a low carb, no sugar, proper amount of protein diet. My order of protein packet meals, some vitamins, and other supplements arrived on Feb 25.
I was really excited about this program.....until I received my order, read the specific ingredients on the back of the boxes and saw that some had artificial sweeteners, which I don’t like to use. Then I tasted the stuff. I did not like it, but I thought if this is what I have to endure to get to where I want to go I will do it for as long as I can. Along with these protein packs (3/day), I was to eat 2 cups at lunch and again at supper of veggies from a specific list (alkaline), and at least 2 cups of lettuce type veggies at those meals. At supper I was to have 5 ounces of lean protein, or if seafood 7 ounces. No dressings with fat, sugar, or carbs. We live ½ hour from town, we go to town once a week, many times my husband goes and I stay home. So I eat my salads with nothing on them. I doubt if there are any dressings without the above that do not have artificial sweeteners in them. If you know of any available in Canada, or have a recipe yourself that you don’t mind sharing please let me know.
I was allowed 1 tsp a day of grapeseed oil, extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil. I used that to stir fry my supper meat and also sometimes to cook the veggies. When I figure out which olive oil does not have a strong flavor I will buy some of that.
On my start day - Feb 26, 2014 I was at my highest weight in my life of 264.8 lbs.
I weigh myself every day out of curiosity. I write down everything I eat. I record my weight and measurements once a week.
I did not feel comfortable to stay on this diet, and I had a lot of questions and started looking for answers on the internet. I learned many things, such as there are protein meal replacement drinks, unflavored protein to add to meals I make myself, how important getting enough protein was, how much salt, potassium, fats, zinc, fiber and water I need on a daily basis; that a multi vitamin and essential fatty acids and a strong probiotic would also be very beneficial to me.
I did not know how severely candida can affect someone until I started reading about it. I learned that sugar and grains will feed the yeast; that if I wanted to be healthy I had to take steps to heal myself. I think I am on the right track but since money is not in abundance I am trying to do this as inexpensively as I can.
With my limited knowledge I have decided that I will use some powdered protein, follow the type and amounts of veggies from this diet, but as much as possible try to eat real foods. I know I can not eat sweet veggies, any fruits or any grains until I have my candida under control. I am still researching a good liquid calcium magnesium supplement plus a few other supplements.
I have lost about 23 lbs so far, which I am very happy about, I do have a tentative goal of 140 lbs, as I get closer to it I will see if it is realistic for me.
I will continue to learn as much as I can and if anyone has any ideas or suggestions I am open to listening to them.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and learn a bit about me.
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