Tomorrow will be two years since I began what I’ve called “A Dietitian’s Journey” — which is my personal journey to restore my health and then to achieve optimal health.
My journey began March 5, 2017 when I felt unwell just sitting at my office desk. I didn’t know what was wrong, although in retrospect I should have given that I was a Registered Dietitian.
I took my blood pressure and it was astronomically high — so high, that had I gone to my doctor at that point he probably would have sent me directly to the hospital in an ambulance. He certainly would not have let me drive! After checking my blood sugar for the first time in ages (even though I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes 8 years earlier) it was also ridiculous.
The very first step of my ‘journey’ was to come out of denial.
When we ‘deny’ something, we say it is untrue — but it was not as though I was deliberately deceiving myself or anyone else about my health, I was simply neglecting to find out the magnitude of reality, so in psychological terms, I was in denial. Taking my blood pressure and blood sugar two years ago was a huge dose of reality. I had no choice but to face the fact that I was metabolically very unwell!
As I’ve said many times on podcasts and written in my blogs, what I should have done at that point was go straight to my doctor’s office and let him either treat me with multiple medications himself or send me to the hospital to be treated and released with medications, but I didn’t. I was scared…no, I was terrified. In the preceding months, I had two girlfriends who spent their lives working in healthcare die of natural causes within 3 months of each other; one from a massive heart attack and the other from a stroke. I knew if I didn’t do something I was at very high risk of being next. When I say I changed my lifestyle “as if my life depended on it” it’s because quite literally it did.
The short video directly below was taken during my first walk at the local track 2 weeks after I had adopted a low carbohydrate lifestyle on March 5, 2017. It’s clear how obese I was and how difficult it was for me to walk and talk at the same time.
Last night I decided that the most appropriate way for me to ‘celebrate’ my two year anniversary of reclaiming my health was to go back to the very same place and make an updated short video, which is what I did this morning — even though it was really cold out this morning (for March in Vancouver, that is)!
Before you watch the updated short video, here is a summary of what I was able to accomplish this time last year — after following a low carbohydrate lifestyle for only a year;
By March 5, 2018, I had lost;
- 32 pounds
- 8 inches off my waist
- 2 inches off my chest
- 3 inches off my neck
- 1 inch off my arms
- 1/2 inch off my thighs
- I no longer meet the criteria for Type 2 Diabetes (achieved without the use of medication)
- I had blood pressure that ranges between normal and pre-hypertension without medication
- I had ideal triglycerides and excellent cholesterol levels achieved without any medication.
As of today, March 4, 2019, I have lost;
- 55 pounds
- 12- 1/2 inches off my waist
- 3 -1/2 inches off my chest
- 6 -1/2 inches off my neck
- 4 inches off each arm
- 2- 1/2 inches off each thigh
- I met the criteria for partial remission of Type 2 Diabetes 3 months ago*
- My blood pressure still ranges between normal and pre-hypertension**
- I still have ideal triglycerides and excellent cholesterol levels
* My dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in August (sometimes referred to as Type 3 Diabetes), so even though my HbA1C was 6% at the time, my endocrinologist agreed to start me on Metformin. ** I started on a ‘baby dose’ of Ramipril in October 2018 to protect my kidneys from the residual high blood pressure.
Here is the video taken this morning, after two years of following a low carbohydrate diet (of which the last 14 months was ketogenic).
If you would like to know how I can help you or a family member with weight loss or reversing the symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol, please click on the Services tab to learn more. If you have questions please send me a note using the Contact Me form located on the tab above and I will reply as soon as I am able.
To your good health!
Joy
NOTE: This post is classified under “A Dietitian’s Journey” and is my personal account of my own health and weight loss journey that began on March 5, 2017. Science Made Simple articles are referenced nutrition articles, and can be found here.
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