In Front Of Me All Along

I grew up in an overweight family. My father, when he passed away last year at the age of 69, weighed over 400 lbs. With his back injuries and the beating his joints took from years of obesity, walking became a near impossibility and a daily struggle. 

My father grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee. Heavy with fats and lard, food wasn’t about health; it was about hunger. As a child, we would visit our Great Granny Moore every summer, and she would make biscuits and cornbread and mashed potatoes and white gravies. She would also serve greens but of the sort that their flavor and crispness were boiled out, replaced with salt and fat drippings, the consistency of mush. Even garden vegetables were canned and served at a later date, with too much salt and cooked for too long. 

There were times in my childhood when I was slender. I was an active kid and I enjoyed swimming, biking, and sports. But a middle-school knee condition and injury lead to a lifetime of knee pain, and as an adult, the weight came on quickly, slowing me down, and eliminating my options for activity. 

I’ve always believed that my knee pain was simply hereditary, that it’s something that I was just going to have to learn to live with. But in late 2010, after the end of my marriage and after a good honest look in the mirror, I decided that instead of letting my weight and pain define me or depress me, I was going to make a significant change towards better health. 

And it worked. I enrolled in a crossfit style boot camp, where I pushed myself 3 days a week, 60 minutes at a time. And I LOVED it. The weight was coming off and those post-workout feelings of euphoria were addictive. 

Despite the fact that I changed my eating habits, I wasn’t changing my diet enough and the pounding on my joints eventually caught up with me. In Late 2013, the damage could only be repaired by going under the knife and I had knee surgery. Recovery was not easy and the weight poured back on. 

I felt helpless and out of control. Depressed and back to my pre-boot camp starting weight of around 270 lbs, I found no solution. 

In my mind, my genes were to blame. 

It wasn’t until seeing Eric’s journey after knowing him at his heaviest, and seeing his incredible success with Shmulik that I thought that diet was the answer. When this opportunity arose for me to adopt a whole food, plant-based diet, my resolve was strong and I said YES. 

Now, 2.5 months after adopting a whole food, plant-based diet with no added sugars or oils, I am down 24.2 pounds. 

You can follow my journey online at:

IG:WagsAndWeightLossPodcast 

FB: https://m.facebook.com/wagsandweightlosspodcast/

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wags-weight-loss/id1125860055?mt=2

And it’s truly saved me. 

The cure has been in front of me all along.