A friend of mine, Mary Duncan, sent me this note on Facebook.
With her permission I am putting it on my blog. Faced with some serious health
challenges, my friend changed the way she eats literally overnight and in one
week the payoff has been amazing. Hopefully others will be inspired by her
bravery and efforts.
Thank you, Mary, for sharing your story!
Sooo...a week ago yesterday I spoke to an old friend,
Laura, who gave me some great advice on why I am having such a hard time losing
weight and having no energy. It’s a really different way of looking at things,
because I thought I was trying to eat healthy. I would eat oatmeal for
breakfast, yogurts for snacks, cereals sometimes for dinner. All these things
were really making me tired and causing TONS of cravings.
SO I took some of her advice and started doing a few things differently last
Saturday (a week ago). Made some bone broth from roasted organic chickens (mmm
that smelled good roasting!!) and made all sorts of chicken, mushroom, lentil
and egg soups. I started using honey and nixed sugary stuff as much as I could
( although I wasn't real strict), stopped eating grains, breads, rice and pasta
(not totally strict either), cut waaay back on dairy except cheddar cheese. I
even made her sauerkraut and lentil soup.
The broth, full of nutrients, was very tasty. I began craving it. I'd have it
for breakfast. I'd put tupelo honey in my coffee...sounds weird but tasted
good! I'm slowly learning how to think out of the box. Didn't really realize
just how much *in the box* of thinking I was. Eating lots of organic fruits and
veggies as snacks...pears, apples...bananas..tomatoes...cucumbers...starting to
check out local organic growers and buying as much as possible locally.
Then about half way through the week I ran out of good snacks. I had a yogurt
in the fridge at work and a nutrigrain bar. I hate throwing food away, so I ate
it. Within the hour I felt bad, sluggish, and grumpy, and it lasted for hours.
It was awful! I went home and ate some brothy chicken soup and slowly started
feeling better.
So, in less than one week, my first week, I've lost 3.5 lbs. What's even
better...I feel soooooo much better than I used to! I feel great...more and
more energy every day....I'm able to resist foods I couldn't before. Something
used to just make me eat and eat and eat.
The first thing Laura said to me on the phone was to not feel bad that I
couldn't stop eating, that it's not my fault. I was like "yeah
right". She said it was my body craving nutrients I wasn't giving it. And
that really hit home. It was enough of a hit to make me create that first batch
of broth, which I don't think I would have had the energy to do if Laura had
not been so convincing and enthusiastic. Now when I eat something that is less
than healthy, my body is fussing at me. It’s just that I used to feel that way
all the time so I wasn't hearing it fuss at me. Thanks for opening up my mind
for me, Laura. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say you've probably saved
my life. At the very least, lengthened it and made it more enjoyable,
physically. I am easing into the diet, but even that is really making a
difference, and I promise I'll stick with it. THANK YOU, LAURA.
Update April 8, 2010: In response to criticism directed towards me regarding this post, wherein some believe that Mary is a “client,” please note that Mary and I have been friends and colleagues for 20 years. Our discussion about her health was a discussion between friends only, we were both excited by her new efforts, and we both wanted to share.
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