Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
I’ve lost 80 pounds in just under 6 months, and I get so many questions from friends and strangers along the lines of, “How did you do it? What’s your secret?” In order to answer these questions, and so I don’t have to repeat myself ad nauseam, I decided to create a blog chronicling my continuing journey to health.
Over twenty years ago, I was diagnosed with clinical depression. I tried therapy and medication but was largely unsuccessful in treating the depression, although food was definitely something that helped. I love food! I like trying new foods, exploring restaurants, and it made me feel better, so I ate. I also hate exercise and when you’re depressed, exercise is the last thing you want to do. Long story short: depression + food – exercise = massive weight gain.
Turns out my depression was more complicated than I thought and I was finally able to find an amazing therapist who helped me sort through some stuff. I got rid of the toxic people in my life, went back to school and the depression eased up some but habits are hard to change and I loved potato chips with the passion of a thousand fiery suns!
On May 13, 2019 I went to the doctor with a chronic headache. Concerned that I might have a blood clot, they ran a bunch of tests which fortunately came back negative. I weighed 250 pounds at this point. The doctor decided to test my blood sugars, cholesterol, etc. The next day, I received a rather frantic phone call from her. My blood sugar was uncontrolled (in the mid-300s), my blood pressure was high, and my cholesterol was off the charts, especially my triglycerides which were in the upper 700s; something she’d never seen before. She told me, “If you don’t change your life immediately, you’re destined to have a heart attack or stroke within the next month, and if it doesn’t kill you, you could be permanently disabled.”
Needless to say, that terrified me. I spent the day in tears, feeling incredibly sorry for myself. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this wasn’t yet a death sentence and I could do something about it.
So, the very next day, I decided. I researched like a fiend on the internet and decided that I would go on an extremely low carb, low to moderate fat, high protein diet (think Atkins). I would severely restrict my caloric intake, cut out all junk foods, and (the hardest part initially) restrict myself to eating out only once a week. I started testing my blood sugars regularly. I walked because physically I couldn’t do much more than that, starting out slow but gradually increasing the speed and length of time.
There were foods that were hard to let go of and I made lots of mistakes. I’m half Asian and rice has always played a huge role in my diet. No more rice. I was starving most of the time. I didn’t understand caloric intake and metabolism yet, so I was eating around 700-800 calories a day and until my metabolism shut down I was constantly ravenously hungry. Eventually I lost that hungry feeling but still continued to lose weight rapidly. In three months I lost over 50 pounds!
My next step was to join a gym which was a terrifying prospect. I always pictured gyms as places of judgement where people stared while snickering at your lack of physical fitness. My experience has been the complete opposite. People at the gym have been encouraging and supportive. I decided to hire a physical trainer, which isn’t cheap but so worth it. She taught me the correct way to do exercises, provided support and encouragement, developed exercise plans, and made me see that I was not eating enough. Since my trainer also has a degree in nutrition, she has helped me increase my caloric intake to 1500 while still losing weight. She helps with sore muscles, posture problems, and as my physical fitness has increased, so has my confidence! With my trainer, I lost another 30 pounds, and oh yeah, my metabolism is working again!
While the weight loss has been great, the health benefits have been phenomenal. I am no longer on high blood pressure medication, no longer on diabetes medication, and have normal cholesterol levels. My strength has increased dramatically as well as my energy and fitness levels. I completed my first 5K and I’m excited for the spring so I can do more. I actually love exercising (still hate sweating though) and look forward to going to the gym and being active each day.
I still have about 40 pounds to go but I’m no longer obese, weighing in at 169 pounds and 5’6″. I realized early on that if I focused on weight loss, I would be unsuccessful so what has kept me eating right and exercising is remembering that if I don’t do these things, I’ll die. It’s really that simple. Eating out has become special and a treat that I look forward to every week. I allow myself chocolate and cookies, just in small quantities. I still can’t eat potato chips; I think they are off the menu forever, but as long as I don’t dwell on them, I’m okay.
Stay tuned for tips for healthy eating, fitness and positive life stuff! Thanks for reading!
My Journey to Health 