I am up close, personal, candid, and no-chaser to the point about my personal health journey.
My journey was filled with a myriad of emotions: fear, frustration, disappointment, shame, anger and more importantly life-changing!
I went through a period of anger and disappointment for having to take meds to control my blood pressure, despite my efforts in changing my own eating habits and losing
One of my “God-given” purposes is to prevent others from having to go through the mistakes I made. The truth of the matter is “We don’t know what we don’t know” about nutrition, weight loss, and disease prevention/management. I wasted many years, trying to “figure it out” on my own.
My mission (THE BIG WHY I DO THIS WORK) is to show people a whole new way of living and share the joy about not having to suffer or feel stuck any longer with their present weight and/or ill health.
My greatest joy is giving people solutions about “what’s possible” for their weight, health, and wellness.
The priceless results are people gaining back their health and well-being one day at a time until their goal(s) are reached!
My Struggle and Denial…
Every person has pain points. Most people (especially women) have a weight loss story or stories.
My wake-up call was in my early 30s and during this time, I was living my best life – so I thought.
I went to the doctor regularly and my blood pressure was beginning to elevate more and more with each visit.
Having a family history (which included my mother and maternal grandmother) of high blood pressure, I was advised to purchase a blood pressure monitor and to begin tracking my blood pressure at home daily.
My blood pressure readings were consistently in the Pre-hypertension range both at home and at doctor’s visits.
Another year passes, my blood pressure readings were in and out of normal, pre-hypertension range, and hypertension range.
The doctor tagged me with Pre-Hypertension. I was advised to lose at least 20-25 pounds and to reduce my salt intake.
I was handed this sheet of paper with this list of foods that I was to avoid that were high in salt/sodium and asked to follow up in 3 months.
At that time to doctor would re-assess if starting me on medications was the next step. This also meant getting officially diagnosed with Hypertension.
Going At It Alone…
I did what most people did and still do today when getting unfavorable news from the doctor.
Back then, we called it the world wide web! I self-educated myself.
I was still a computer programmer and analyst as the time, so I was all about finding credible nutrition information that focused specifically on hypertension.
My research led me to the DASH eating pattern, which emphasizes whole foods such as whole grains, beans, fresh fruit, and dried fruits (without the added sugar), low-fat dairy, vegetables, nuts, as well as lean protein heart and healthy fats in moderation.
The blessing that I did not realize at the time was that I made some good changes without extreme restrictions or cutting out food groups, which would have caused me more health problems down the line.
First the good news was, it was an eye-opener to learn how nutrient poor and sodium/salt rich I was eating – “I didn’t know what I didn’t know”
Mind you I was not cooking with salt or shaking salt on my food.
For three months, I faithfully followed the recommendations of DASH, cleaned up my eating patterns significantly and did not eat out at restaurants (restaurants and elevated/high blood pressure don’t mix well– outside of the scope of today’s LIVE).
I saw visible benefits. I felt better, I had more energy than ever before.
Now the not so good news, my blood pressure remained inconsistent.
Sometimes normal, sometimes elevated (or pre hypertensive), or just sky high – both at home and at doctor visits.
Very similar to yo-yo dieting (constantly losing/gaining large amounts of weight), I was yo-yo dieting with my heart – figuratively speaking of course. Both are dangerous long-term and lead to health complications.
My problem: I was only addressing ½ of the equation.
I reduced salt intake and increased nutrients potassium, magnesium and calcium (nutrients consistently and scientifically proven to improve blood pressure), but my weight was still high. Some loss occurred, but nothing significant.
Weight loss was the piece I was missing at the time that I did not know how to “fix”. I continued trying to eat healthier and another year went by.
Doctors are still warning me of how I am over working my heart and now placing myself at risk for both Diabetes AND Kidney Disease.
At the same time, the doctor saw I was trying to address the problem through lifestyle change and said, let me know when you’re ready to start medications.
At this point, I am feeling nervous. I started seeing a Nephrologist to keep a close eye on my kidney function. Fortunately, no decline was detected. But my heart and mind were still unsettled because I knew I was vulnerable to Diabetes and Kidney disease.
The Trigger to Finally Get Help…
Visiting a dialysis center in my mid 30s, terrified me.
That really shook me up and I thought – by being prideful and trying to “fix” the problem with my BP on my own and being so adamant about not taking pills – I was asking for Dialysis (along with DM) in my future.
That was the moment I thought “Sandra you KNOW better”. At that moment, I made the decision to get serious about lost the extra weight.
I finally accepted to my own failed attempts at weight loss specifically and I sought out the professional help of a Registered Dietitian.
At that moment, I realized I was playing with my own life being prideful. I sought help from a Registered Dietitian. My life was forever changed!
Over the course of three months, I lost the 20 pounds. Mind you I tried losing these same 20lb for 3 years, without success!
My Setback…
I remember feeling confident because my eating was on point and my weight was down. I did feel lighter not carrying around as much weight.
Even after losing the weight, my blood pressure was still NOT in check. I had periods when it was normal and periods when it was sky high!
At my next doctors visit, I threw in the towel. I said I will take the pill. At this point, I’m stressed out trying to manage my blood pressure by myself.
I’m mad because I’ve seen people lose far less weight and their blood pressure gets normal I felt defeated and was angry. So angry, that I said “What was the point of changing how I ate and losing weight! I might as well eat what I what!”
I was officially diagnosed with Essential Hypertension (No known cause) and started on a low dose medication. After months of feeling like I failed, the LORD spoke to me:
“Had I not made those changes to my eating habits. Had I not lost the weight; I would have more health problems than just my blood pressure. I was heading down a slippery slope of health problems and did not know it.”
I truly believe the denial, challenges and changes were God’s way of showing me a different direction for my life.
At that moment, I stopped looking at my diagnosis as a setback
My Comeback…
I began to view my 2 year battle as a blessing that ultimately saved my life. The course of my life changed and my private battle happened to serve as a testimony for other to take action a lot sooner than I did!
The process of researching, trying to get my BP under control, and finally losing weight with the help of a Registered Dietitian were all the catalysts that lead me to go back to school, on Faith, after LONG15 years to earn a 2nd Bachelors in Dietetics.
Why??? So, I could get properly trained and credentialed to help others like you ditch the fear around eating certain foods or following misguided information to lose weight quickly or control a health condition.
What I Learned On My Journey…
- I will never forget how I felt walking out of the doctor’s office after being tagged with “Pre-Hypertension” and not wanting others to experience getting a cookie cutter ‘plan of care’ to lose weight and change eating habits by cutting down or out certain foods without no real direction on HOW to do it
(That is one of the biggest frustrations I have is when people are newly diagnosed with a chronic disease like DM of High Chol or told they are pre-diabetic, pre-hypertensive, or cholesterol levels are rising – with no guidance, support, or even a referral to a dietitian to get help)
This leads to my second “Ah Ha” moment…
- Witnessing the number of people following misguided information to lose weight quickly or to get control of a health condition – unknowingly putting their own life at risk for other problems because the focus is solely on weight or the specific health scare rather than the total body
My Life Now…
I’ve maintained the 20-25 lb loss since 2004! During that time, I got married in 2011 and our son was born in 2014 (significant events in life that cause many to gain weight)
HOW DID I DO IT???
-
- By giving myself permission to eat
- Not beating myself up when I overindulged
- Sticking to a 5 lb gain window before reeling myself back in!
I have the pleasure of doing what I LOVE which is:
- Helping people who are struggling with either losing weight plus keeping it off
- Helping people manage one or more health conditions
- Helping people to prevent medical condition(s), but just don’t know best way to do that will work for them
If I can do it, so can you!
I just had to get out of my head and accept guided support to help bring real and long-lasting change.
Since 2004, I’ve made gradual changes and adjustments based on the ebbs and flows of life. For this reason, I have lifestyle habits for life.
Am I perfect, of course not.
Do I ever get off course, definitely! That’s life.
Sandra Recommends
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Another Sandra Recommends
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