When I was 17, I began experiencing tremendous chronic pain in my back and hips. For the following 10 years, I would struggle immensely with pain management as well as weight management. For years, I saw doctors, chiropractors, acupuncturists, and everyone in between to diagnose me and try and fix me. 3 years ago I was finally diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis - an autoimmune disorder that causes fusion of the spine and sometimes the ribs, as well as arthritis in many parts of your body.
2 years ago I was at my wit's end. I didn't want to die, but I couldn't imagine living another day in the body I was in. Overweight, bloated, and in pain. I have a passion for life, I love to hike, go on walks, swim in rivers, go rock climbing, surf, and so much more. However, my body - which has been like a cage to me - has kept me from doing these things.
After obtaining my degree in English, I decided I wanted to go teach English as a Second Language in another country. It took me a few years to get there, but in March of 2015, I finally made it to South Korea to do just that. I weighed 220.lb, my body ached, and I could barely keep up with my students. 3 months into teaching my boss told me he was considering sending me home because of my poor health. I was literally falling asleep at my desk due to my lack of energy. My lessons were suffering due to my brain fog. I had to sit in every class because of my back and rib pain. I couldn't explore Korea like I had planned because my hips kept dislocated and locking up.
I was miserable, but I was also determiend. There was no way that I was going to go home - after spending $1,000 and 100 hours on obtaining a TEFL Certificate and working tirelessly to get to this country to accomplish my dream - and now, it was all being threatened. I knew I had to make a change and fast.
So, I researched. Should I go Vegan? Paleo? High fat? Low fat? I had no idea. I had been on diet's before and they had worked short term but I always gained it back and they never really helped me to FEEL better. I did lose 60.lb when I was 20-21 by hiring a personal trainer and tracking/cutting my calories. I gained it all back.
This time was going to be different. This time, I knew I had to tackle my relationship with food - how I felt emotionally when I ate and why I ate (other than just, being hungry and for nourishment). I decided to wait on tackling exercise and to just focus on food first, as to not overwhelm myself.
After copious amounts of research I decided on the ketogenic, or low carb/high fat, way of eating. This is similar to paleo - but for me, I cut out ALL sugars (including honey) and focused on eating low carb/low starch. I realized starch and sugar create inflammation and were major culprits in not only my inflammatory pain, but also my emotional eating habits.
I had to tackle WHY I turned to sugary and starchy foods in the first place. The first few weeks were difficult for me - quitting sugar, cutting out most carbs, going low starch, and eating more fat. But after about 3 weeks - I was soaring!
40.lb and almost 1 year later I have not looked back.
As I'm getting ready to celebrate the one year anniversary of my new found self/heatlh - I have realized that I've gotten a little bit complacement.
I moved back from Korea to the States 2 months ago - where diet and sugar free products are abundant! I didn't have ANY of that stuff in Korea, so it was easy to keep it simple. Here, I have sugar free ice cream, Atkins bars, Zevia soda's and so much more. At first they were just occasional treats - which I think is fine, but I started getting back into that "sweet craving mode" ---
So here I am today. On Dietbet. I want to push myself. I want to see what more I am capable of. I'm honestly really content with my weight/self right now - it's not even about losing MORE weigh really . . . but of seeing what I can do! I started strength training 2 months ago and am trying to cut some body fat and tone up (not for looks, but to FEEL better and BE stronger) - so I CAN go hiking longer, surf more, climb higher, walk faster and much more.
I'm 26 years old and, despite having a pretty awful chronic pain condition, I'm determined to KEEP GOING, to KEEP Fighting, and to be the MY BEST SELF!