A quick survey of the (many!) healthy living blogs shows a few key themes, and maybe the biggest was, “I found myself at a weight I didn’t like, and started to make lifestyle changes“.
That’s true and false for me, so I’m going to focus here on some of the more unique parts of my past.
In my teens:
I was heavy in my teenage years because I didn’t cope well with puberty, I think, which was made worse by the onset of thyroid disease at age 16. I had trouble levelling out for the first years, but at age 20, I moved across the country, started running, and everything fell into line—in weight loss and health. I became comfortable in my skin for the first time.
I guess at my heaviest weight at the peak of thyroid-fattishness was about 160lbs, which is steep for a girl of 5’2″. I don’t really look at the scale a lot because it’s like the BMI calculation: it doesn’t really take into account your body composition. I’m muscular enough thanks to genetics that I find a body fat test or the “jeans test” is a better gauge of where I am.
Getting on track, part I:
By 21 years old, I thought I had it figured out, but really, the disordered relationship with food that had led to my weight discomfort in my teens was only really quieted, not dealt with. When I was 27 years old, I was tired of being fixated on food all the time, so I went to a nutritionist and for some therapy with an eating disorders specialist.
I’m not sure which one was more helpful, really, because the two together really gave me the tools I needed to sort myself out. I learned that I was a “non-purging bulimic“, but more importantly, I learned what to do about it, about how to try to re-orient my thoughts, how to manage my stress and how to recognise the triggers and do without—goodbye, plain M&Ms! That fit right in with the nutritionist’s advice.
Part of a past of alternating deprivation and excess was that I could identify “bad” and “good” foods, but I wasn’t sure about how to work with proportions, or even how to let the “bad” foods in in moderation, which is the key to balance.
Ups and downs:
I was in great shape for 2 years following these important lessons… but after a particularly stressful time at school I gained some weight, was less active and on a bit of a slippery slope. So I wasn’t at my best, obviously, when routine blood work showed that I had, at age 28, medication-high cholesterol levels. In fairness, I have a genetic pre-disposition, but at 28 years old to have a total level of 6.2… alas.
Getting on track, part II:
I refused the Lipitor. I’m not a fan of the idea that medication should be seen as a silver bullet, when lifestyle changes can go a long in way in solving the problem. I know for others this wouldn’t be an option, but for me, it was. Mostly I was scared of the potential side effects. My doctor gave me 6 months to work myself out or else we would have to have the “medication talk”. With a goal in mind (I love goals!), I went back to the nutritionist I had seen earlier, and we established a plan.
Admittedly, my “anti-bad-cholesterol-level plan” or “ABC plan” was a bit extreme… but just look at the name of the blog! As we’ve established here, I like that! That’s not to say that there weren’t some tears from time to time. Denying a Quebecker cheese just does that. 
Step 1 was to assess my diet:
DISCLAIMER! I am not a medical professional. What I’m listing here was case-specific for me and not prescriptive. It’s just my experience.
I don’t eat much meat just out of taste preferences, deep-fried everything gives me a stomachache, and I don’t particularly care for cream. So I was already ahead of the game when I started this, but that also emphasises how crazy it was that my cholesterol level was so out of whack at such a young age.
- Omega-3 fatty acids: I was recommended 6 grams per day, particularly in the form of fish oil pills.
- Limit saturated fats: cheese (except goat—no thanks!—and 1% cottage—yes, please!), egg yolks, and tropical oils were out.
- Use MUFA: the mono-unsaturated fatty acids, like olive oil /canola oil, avocado, olives, nuts and seeds, and dark chocolate (in small quantities) should be what comes in for fat instead of sat fats.
- Ground flaxseed and fresh walnuts: incorporate daily.
- Fatty fish: twice a week, dine on mackeral, salmon, sardines, or chunk-light tuna.
- Increase soluble fibre: I took this very seriously and began having 2 meals a day that incorporated legumes, and my breakfast always included 1/3 cup All-Bran Buds (with psyllium!). I also started taking plain, old psyllium and adding it to my foods to boost the fibre content.
- Curb added sugars: sugar can have an effect on metabolic syndrome, so I was recommended to read the G.I. Diet, perhaps by-passing its suggestion to take in artificial, calorie-free sweeteners instead of sugar (more on that in a future post), and to start eating lower G.I. foods.
Step 2 was that, absolutely and uncategorically, I had to engage in a lot more cardio.
- increasing aerobic activity to 30-60 minutes a day would increase my HDL (“good” cholesterol) and decrease body weight—win-win! Recommended activities included circuit training, spin class, cardio machines, swimming, and walking
The sweet taste of success!
It wasn’t easy. Like I said, there were tears at first, but the goal was worthy. And it was a lot easier to get into going to the gym every day when the purpose was health-related instead of aesthetic! Within 4 months, I had my total cholesterol down to a low-normal level, I was in the best shape of my life, I felt fantastic, I had met and exceeded any weight loss goals… and I swore I would never stop! It was a hard-earned victory, getting to that point, but I really felt like the 90 minutes a day I was spending at the gym were the best 90 minutes of my day.
Moving towards the present:
But then I started my job… and my best intentions got lost for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was that, after a year of living that lifestyle and loving it (I’ll admit that I welcomed some cheese back in when I achieved cholesterol health!), I had built up a sort of reserve. It therefore took about 5 months for the effects of my new unhealthy lifestyle to start to reflect on my body. At that point, I was so broken of my daily habit that it was really, really hard to get back to where I had been, especially when the new demands in my life didn’t really leave time for it and I was perpetually burnt out… I needed some mental toughness to get myself on track again, but I just didn’t have it at that point. Boo!
