Bev’s Story: Reversing Diabetes And Weight Loss Journey
Bev’s Story: Reversing Diabetes And Weight Loss JourneyThis week I would like to introduce you to one of my patients: a very special lady who gave me the honor to be part of her journey to better health!
I hope her story will warm your heart and give you hope and motivation.
She is also sharing a fantastic recipe of her own making: Avocado, Roasted Garlic & Bacon Dressing
My Whole Food And Weight Loss Journey
Some things from my past are easier to remember than others. Having issues with food began for me early around the age of 10. I remember sneaking snacks and hiding it in my room for later, when no one would see me eat it! 20 years later I was a 400 lb, diabetic with high blood pressure, had difficulty walking and getting around. I decided to have Gastric Bypass surgery. I was successful in losing 125 lbs and kept it off for 14 years. But then depression set in and a cold hard winter and I gained back too much weight. I was really at a loss. Then in January 2015, my friend Johanne told me she was doing a ketogenic diet and she had lost 50 lbs in 3 months.
Light Bulb Moment!
I went on the net in search of this style of eating. It sounded like something I could manage and still eat enough food and not starve myself. The word diet still made me kind of uncomfortable as I knew dieting wasn’t the way to long term weight loss. I think I have over time tried every diet, unsuccessfully! However, searching for more info I fell upon a website (The Nourished Caveman) that spoke of a Ketogenic Diet as a change of lifestyle. Whole Foods? Low carb / high fat / med protein? Could this be the answer that I had been praying so long for? Did I have the will power to start another diet and maintain it as a lifestyle without any one doing this with me? Hell yeah! Bring it on!
Finally, this was something I believed that I could attain real health without chemical medicines ! My family and I own an organic farm where we raise clean, delicious meats for ourselves and for other health minded people. We are very privileged to be able to offer this service to folks. So this diet definitely seemed like the right fit for me!
My 1st goal was to ultimately get off as many meds as possible by healing my body through whole foods and if possible lose enough weight to get my life back on track. I decided that I would take Vivica’s intolerance test from her website and when she contacted me we chatted for an hour or so. I really felt she understood my health situation and I began her Healing Foods Method Classes.
My transformation with Vivica began on Feb 14th 2015 with a starting weight of 320 lbs and my clothing size was a 5 X. I was on a huge amount of insulin per day and about 6 other meds as well. Crazy! Within 2 weeks, I was feeling better and had lost a good amount of water weight, my sleep was improved and I actually started using less insulin as my numbers were getting better. Can you imagine all of this only after 2 weeks?
After 12 weeks of classes, I was down to 266 lbs. That’s an amazing 54lb weight loss in just 3 months! And, I was able to cut my insulin down by half! I was on my way to becoming healthy!
I won’t lie, it hasn’t been easy, there have been some ups and downs with my food choices, but it’s amazing how quickly illness symptoms creep back when you make the wrong food choices. Christmas holidays were hard and I wasn’t able to totally abstain from all sugars and grains.
But I am happy to report that I am back on track and looking forward to getting healthier and lighter for 2016. In the past 11 months of my wellness journey, I have lost a whopping 100 lbs! But you know what else is awesome? I am chemical free ! I am no longer diabetic, my blood pressure has improved, I no longer suffer from depression amongst other ailments and I feel great!
Imagine just by eating the right foods!
Bev Badger – Jan 2016
You can follow Bev’s own blog here!!
- Serves: 20 servings
- Serving size: 1 Tbs
- Calories: 46
- Fat: 4 gr
- Carbohydrates: 1 gr
- Fiber: 1 gr
- 1 head of garlic
- 2 slices of bacon
- 2 medium avocados
- 1 and ¼ cup fresh parsley, washed and trimmed
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons lime Juice
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon melted bacon fat
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 2 slices of bacon
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut top ¼ inch off heads of garlic to expose cloves. Place garlic in small baking dish. Add oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Turn garlic cut side up. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake until garlic skins are golden brown and cloves are tender, about 55 minutes. Cool. Squeeze garlic cloves from skins.
- At the same time place bacon strips on a cookie sheet and cook your bacon till slightly crispy (reserve the fat from the bacon)
- Once the garlic & bacon are done, put together all ingredients in a food processor or blender.
- Blend or process until creamy and smooth. It's ok to leave some chunky bits as well.
- Refrigerate in a covered mason jar in the refrigerator. This will keep for 3-4 days.
Might help to clarify that diabetes doesn’t go AWAY, but that you can get to a point if you have Type 2 where you don’t need to take meds for it. She’s still diabetic, but she’s got it under extremely good control.
Also might help to clarify that she’s talking about Type 2 diabetes — no matter how well you eat and how much weight you lose, if you’re a Type 1 diabetic, you’ll be on insulin for life, period.
Articles like this one are why there are so many misconceptions about diabetes of all types.
Regardless of the terminology used in connection with diabetes I want to congratulate Bev on taking control of her health and the progress she’s made so far.
Thank you <3