theos
The Living Force
I'm writing this post as a way of saying thank you, thank you, thank you to Laura and the crew who created this forum. I'd like to address specifically how life-altering the information contained in the Diet and Health thread has been for me.
At one point in my life I weighed well over 300lbs. (That's over 136kg for my friends in the metric system). I'm not sure exactly how much over because most scales only go to 300 and I tried my best to avoid all scales like the plague. When I look back at my life I think my relationship with food got a little wonky when I was around age 10-11. I developed a love affair with fast, and slow, food, potato chips and cheese. (Ahh cheese...if it were legal to marry a food product I would've been down at the justice of the peace.) Through most of my teen years I was just a tad on the plump side but once I reached 11th grade and felt socially isolated, depressed and ocassionally suicidal I started to blow up like a Macy's Day float. (Thanksgiving parade with giant balloon floats of cartoon characters.) I felt like my stomach was a bottomless pit. There were ocassions where I ate so much I felt like I had food waiting in line in my esophagus. Sometimes I would even eat food I didn't like. I would eat whole boxes of Hamburger Helper all by myself. I felt like a woman posessed. I alternated between being wracked with guilt, shame, embarassment and asking why, why, why can't I control myself and plotting my next meal. A real negative energy buffet, for sure. By the time I was 24 I'd tipped the scales.
By then, I knew I had to do something. I was suffering emotionally and felt quite abnormal socially due to my weight. I pictured myself getting fatter and fatter until I could no longer fit out of the house. At that time I read Make the Connection by Oprah (I know, don't laugh), moved away from home, joined a gym and worked out like crazy most days of the week. My diet still contained processed foods and the once a week treat but after about 1.5 years I'd lost over 100lbs and kept it off except for about 20lbs or so. Last year I went to Thailand and did much hiking in the mountains. I did okay on the hikes but my body was screaming in pain for days afterward. On the plane ride home my legs swelled to almost twice their size. (And I thought I was in pretty good shape but I noticed my gym workouts had started to leave me feeling ache-y). To top it off I caught Herpes I and had a huge, honking cold sore on my lip. And I was still struggling with food and cravings.
Well, that did it. I had to get really serious about my health. I devoured the Diet and Health thread, read Detoxify or Die and listened to the Toxic World, Toxic Bodies podcast for starters and the story is still unfolding. It was hard for me to admit that I had binge eating disorder but that's what it was. The most beautiful thing is that now I know why. My most burning questions about why have been and are being answered. I know that the food I was eating was literally addictive -- and probably created for just that purpose. I know that I am highly sensitive to gluten and dairy and that people often crave the very foods that they cannot tolerate. I know about leaky gut and the body pushing toxins to the fat cells. I know what good food is now. I know so much more that I ever knew. I feel as if the answers to one of my most fervent prayers has been answered. (I'm sobbing now as I write this!!) I feel like a part of me has been freed from bondage. Although I wouldn't count myself out of the woods yet emotionally, I'm continuing to lose weight and notice improvements in my health and I've never had another herpes outbreak.
So I want to thank you most sincerely, Laura and crew for all of the work you've put into this forum and all of the guidance you've offered. A hearty thanks goes to all the forum participants as well. I thank the Divine Cosmic Mind for taking me on a journey I'll never forget.
Odyssey, **formerly Chachachick**
P.S. As a health experiment and challenge to myself, I'm on day 3 of the Master Cleanse fast. Me, the woman who never walked past a plate she didn't inhale. I hope this post was helpful to someone.
At one point in my life I weighed well over 300lbs. (That's over 136kg for my friends in the metric system). I'm not sure exactly how much over because most scales only go to 300 and I tried my best to avoid all scales like the plague. When I look back at my life I think my relationship with food got a little wonky when I was around age 10-11. I developed a love affair with fast, and slow, food, potato chips and cheese. (Ahh cheese...if it were legal to marry a food product I would've been down at the justice of the peace.) Through most of my teen years I was just a tad on the plump side but once I reached 11th grade and felt socially isolated, depressed and ocassionally suicidal I started to blow up like a Macy's Day float. (Thanksgiving parade with giant balloon floats of cartoon characters.) I felt like my stomach was a bottomless pit. There were ocassions where I ate so much I felt like I had food waiting in line in my esophagus. Sometimes I would even eat food I didn't like. I would eat whole boxes of Hamburger Helper all by myself. I felt like a woman posessed. I alternated between being wracked with guilt, shame, embarassment and asking why, why, why can't I control myself and plotting my next meal. A real negative energy buffet, for sure. By the time I was 24 I'd tipped the scales.
By then, I knew I had to do something. I was suffering emotionally and felt quite abnormal socially due to my weight. I pictured myself getting fatter and fatter until I could no longer fit out of the house. At that time I read Make the Connection by Oprah (I know, don't laugh), moved away from home, joined a gym and worked out like crazy most days of the week. My diet still contained processed foods and the once a week treat but after about 1.5 years I'd lost over 100lbs and kept it off except for about 20lbs or so. Last year I went to Thailand and did much hiking in the mountains. I did okay on the hikes but my body was screaming in pain for days afterward. On the plane ride home my legs swelled to almost twice their size. (And I thought I was in pretty good shape but I noticed my gym workouts had started to leave me feeling ache-y). To top it off I caught Herpes I and had a huge, honking cold sore on my lip. And I was still struggling with food and cravings.
Well, that did it. I had to get really serious about my health. I devoured the Diet and Health thread, read Detoxify or Die and listened to the Toxic World, Toxic Bodies podcast for starters and the story is still unfolding. It was hard for me to admit that I had binge eating disorder but that's what it was. The most beautiful thing is that now I know why. My most burning questions about why have been and are being answered. I know that the food I was eating was literally addictive -- and probably created for just that purpose. I know that I am highly sensitive to gluten and dairy and that people often crave the very foods that they cannot tolerate. I know about leaky gut and the body pushing toxins to the fat cells. I know what good food is now. I know so much more that I ever knew. I feel as if the answers to one of my most fervent prayers has been answered. (I'm sobbing now as I write this!!) I feel like a part of me has been freed from bondage. Although I wouldn't count myself out of the woods yet emotionally, I'm continuing to lose weight and notice improvements in my health and I've never had another herpes outbreak.
So I want to thank you most sincerely, Laura and crew for all of the work you've put into this forum and all of the guidance you've offered. A hearty thanks goes to all the forum participants as well. I thank the Divine Cosmic Mind for taking me on a journey I'll never forget.
Odyssey, **formerly Chachachick**
P.S. As a health experiment and challenge to myself, I'm on day 3 of the Master Cleanse fast. Me, the woman who never walked past a plate she didn't inhale. I hope this post was helpful to someone.