I joke that I came out of the womb a Weight Watcher.
I was raised in the dieting culture. My mom was always watching her weight. I was active, but always trying to lose a few pounds. I was pretty muscular and fit as a dancer and a gymnast but I certainly wasn't "skinny" like some of the other girls. Dance was my life in high school and soon after I was named captain of the dance team my senior year, my coach informed me that I would need to start eating salads because she was not taking a fat captain to state competition. At that point, my weight became a constant concern.
My weight concerns amplified while in college, when I met my husband who was studying to be a chef. He wanted to impress his new bride and introduced me to things like cream sauce and real butter. 9 months in, I suspected my professional wardrobe (needed for my upcoming student teaching) may be snug. Well, I couldn't even get my clothes ON! I panicked and signed up for my first “medical” diet plan. (I now realize that anyone can purchase and wear a lab coat.) On this plan, I only drank chocolate shakes—literally didn’t chew—for six months! Of course, the weight came off, but so did my hair by the handful. I was finally “skinny,” but I was anything but healthy. (Ironically, I was still at least 10 pounds OVER the highest range of my WW goal weight.)
Over the next several decades, I continued to gain and lose another 35, 50, 70, 85, 100 pounds, each time gaining more than I’d lost. I finally swore off diet plans. Despite eating healthy, my weight continued to creep up. I bought elastic jersey knit pants and lived my life. When I couldn’t climb the stairs from the basement to our second-floor bedroom without a 10-minute recovery session or even put on my socks without creative body contortions, I knew something had to change.
Then one day, I learned about blood sugar stabilization from an expert on nutrition and mindset on Facebook. This was not long after my doctor noted concern about my ongoing weight gain along with new signs of a fatty liver and high triglycerides. Blood sugar stabilization made sense so I decided to try again, one last time. I jumped into the portal each morning for my daily lessons, immersed myself in the support of my coach and the group, took it day by day, threw out the scale, and haven’t looked back. I immediately started feeling better and I focused on those victories. As my body learned to trust me, I started noticing my body changing and the things I learned about mindset benefitted other areas of my life. Most importantly, I now experience something completely new—peace with food.
I’ve been living the PFC3 lifestyle since 2022. My life now looks so very different: a healthy relationship with food has replaced obsession, my systems have replaced chaos, and I have a sense of calm and peace knowing this isn’t something I do, it’s who I am. With my mind no longer obsessed with food and cluttered with chaos, I’m able to discover God’s purpose for me. So thankful.
It’s because of struggling my whole life with diet after diet, trying all the things, being frustrated and finally finding the ROOT CAUSE of my weight gain that I knew I had to help others.
- Others who are obsessing over what they eat to lose weight only to see it come back–-often with bonus pounds
- Others who eat healthy foods, but their body doesn’t cooperate.
- Others who are chasing the same thing I did for decades–a number on a scale instead of the ROOT CAUSE of our weight gain.
Imagine what life would be like if we could lose weight the same way we KEEP IT OFF, without deprivation? This is what I teach as a certified health and lifestyle coach--the last nutritional advice you’ll ever need.
