Julie's Story

At the height of my pregnancy I weighed 206 pounds, having gained an extraordinary 60 pounds. My blood pressure was high and my cholesterol levels doubled so that six months post-delivery my doctor wanted to put me on Lipitor. I was flabbergasted. I was already depressed because the pounds weren't coming off.  I couldn't exercise due to the complications I had during delivery (broken tailbone, left vaginal wall hematoma, etc.), and now this. How could I be on cholesterol meds when I was only in my early thirties?

I wanted a second opinion because I felt the medication would only be masking the problem. I knew that the key was nutrition and exercise.  Given my physical condition, I couldn't exercise so I knew I had to focus on nutrition and be more extreme than ever because moderation never worked for me. So I talked to a nutritionist who recommended the book Eat To Live.  When I learned about the Nutritarian program and its long-lasting effectiveness, with the added benefit of disease prevention, I knew I had found the right technique for me.

But when I realized how close it was to being vegan, I didn't think I could do it. After all, I'm a half-Korean girl from the South that grew up in San Antonio, Texas and married a Pakistani-American man. Thinking about all the foods I was eating to on a regular basis: Korean BBQ, American BBQ, Pakistani BBQ, southern fried food and Tex-Mex, I never thought I could change my eating habits. In some regards, I didn't want to. But then I thought about how I didn't want to become a statistic, or become a product of my genes. Obesity and diabetes run in my family. Now that I have a daughter, I have that much more to live for, and I want to be a good, healthy role model for her. I also want all of us to feel good, look good and live a long, healthy, happy life.

On Oct. 1, 2013 I decided it was time to do something drastic and change my eating habits. I immersed myself in my new Nutritarian lifestyle and immediately stopped taking Lipitor. I created a simple action plan that fit into my hectic lifestyle as a working mom. I put my new lifestyle goals into practice every day until they became habits.

On the weekends, I now make soup for the week, and prep my salads and chop fruit while catching up on my favorite TV shows. Now that health and nutrition are closely aligned with my purpose in life and my values, I will sacrifice other things to make time for this. It's that important to me. And I also role played certain difficult conversations I knew I would have to have with family members who love to shower me with love through their food.

The result: I lost the 60 pounds, and my cholesterol is back down to a normal level. My doctor couldn't believe the results. I feel amazing. I have more energy, life feels more vibrant and I feel empowered. I enjoy eating more than I ever have before, primarily because I'm no longer riddled with guilt. And I no longer have extreme pain. I'm sure not having to carry around 60 pounds anymore is a big help. And I recently applied this same discipline to exercise once I started to feel better physically. I did Zumba a lot, and am now a certified Zumba instructor, which is another huge accomplishment. I do feel successful, but I know that this is a journey and will continue to be a lifelong pursuit. So the moral of the story is that if you can learn the right tools and techniques, and incorporate them into your life by practicing them daily, you can make real lifelong changes even if you never thought you could before.