‘What is one of your greatest personal achievements?’

Losing 40% of myself.

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Let’s start this out simply.

Even though I am mentally disabled, I am not talking about that time…

🤣Jokes that sounded better in my head🤦‍♀️

… oh look, a squirrel… 🐿️

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The body achieves what the mind believes.

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I did a super amazing job at totally neglecting my body through my pre-middle aged years.

Now that I have turned 40… I can confirm that every time I try to get off the couch… or out of bed… the car…

It’s a double! Lower back and Right knee. Awesome.

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Most people would probably be concerned that at certain points throughout the day parts or a whole leg goes numb. Seeing as it’s been happening to me since 16, I’m used it.

BUT

It wasn’t until I changed my body that the pain started to dull. The numbness became less common. The nerves stopped pinching.

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Most people who meet me today wouldn’t recognize a photograph of me from 3+ years ago.

We all have rolls at one point in our life. More than likely it was during your baby years. Some of us are fortunate enough to save some of them until later in life. Regardless, no one was issued a standard weight card in the womb and told to strip down. Everyone is born fat.

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We, the people, are constantly struggling with out body image and weight.

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Unlike most others who have tried all the ‘diet trend fads’, nothing would work. I’d eat the two boiled eggs for breakfast and after a month, my results were a burning asshole and a inappropriately severe case of bad breath.

I also am the owner of a super horrible attitude… I like food.

Have you ever been such a lard ass, they had to bring in 4 Paramedics to get you out of your house and to the hospital because you had a stroke at 37? Clearly, I have.

Damn. I had almost forgot how incredibly hard it is to look at these pictures. There aren’t many of them that exist that include more than just my face.

But this one, this one especially hits home.

My Son is the ultimate phone ninja. I was looking for my phone when he said, “Mom, Turn Around!”.

He couldn’t wait to show me how pretty I was.

..I love my little lion 🦁

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…anyways.

Looking at this photo all I could see was the shell of a person. I couldn’t even find the will to put on proper clothes. I had given up.

Those stairs next to me, those took about 5 minutes to get up and I’d be struggling for oxygen by the time I got there.

Never in my life had I let myself get this big.

I couldn’t move, but I was real good at making excuses and drinking beer. Looking at this photo, I promised myself to stop.

Of course, I’m not a character in a movie so I procrastinated my timeline. This was January, I’d make an active effort, but I wasn’t going to stop drinking.

Then I woke up July 5, 2019 in an ex friends parents camper parked in the yard. I was in the middle of Liberty, WV with no way to get 45 minutes home- and I had the worst hangover in all my life. I stood to go out to pee, and it was everything I could do to find the door before my guts gave up.

I had never been so angry with myself in my whole existence.

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How has I allowed myself to do this.

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In 9 years, I had gained two children and over 350 pounds.

It wasn’t even a decision- selling children is illegal.. so it was time to divorce the weigh.

I promised myself I wouldn’t touch ‘the shit’ that did this to me again.

That is where it all began.

I changed my mind. It wasn’t always easy the next 18 month was going to proof to be my greatest challenge…

…and I did it.

Learning to be patient and mindful with myself took the most effort. Once the pounds started falling off, I could feel the changes. I started to feel better.

Fast forward, July 5, 2021, it’s the very last black & white- I was bouncing and smiling because I had made my goal. I hadn’t been 160 pounds since Basic Training.

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225lbs.

My doctor was impressed. Eighteen months, one stroke, one heart attack not related and I had shed the equivalent of a grown adult.

‘So what did America answer as number one on the board, Chef V?’

‘How did you manage it without killing your health?’

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Endomorphic Metabolic Confusion

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WORDS!!!

Lots of big fancy words. Let me try to break it down to you…

Through science, we have learned there are three general human body types. Each type dictates that individual metabolic rate for food we consume.

Classification of differed body types was introduced in the 1940’s by the Americal researcher and psychologist Willian Sheldon. Through his research he concluded that, based on our skeletal frame and body composition, we all have inherited body types that determine whether we’re leaner, heavier, or somewhere in between. Because of this inherited body type, reaching weight loss and fitness goals ofter requires individualized programming.

This being said, I am an Endomorphic Body Type.

Endomorphs are said to have a higher percentage of body fat with less muscle mass. Endomorphs are often heavier and rounder BUT not necessarily obese. Because of their physical makeup, people with endomorphic bodies are more sensitive to calorie consumption that people with other body types. Endomorphs must carefully watch their food intake to to ensure they don’t consume more calories than they burn. Other characteristics include a larger grand and an inability to drop significant amounts of weight without extreme effort.

Good And Bad?!

The bottom line is, us endomorphs have slower metabolisms. Since we don’t burn calories as our more fortunate counterparts ( ectomorphs and mesomorphs) the excess calories consumed are more likely to covert to fat and be stored. Right about now, you’re probably asking.. well how do we avoid this without starving out — the answer is you eat smart.

Good sources of fats and proteins include:

Beef

Olive Oils

Egg Yolks

Fatty Fish

Cheeses

Walnuts

Carbs are also a great source of energy for the endomorphic body. Carbohydrates are an excellent source of energy. Removing carbs or consuming the wrong form of carbs with an endomorphic body will cause the individual to be sluggish and fatigued. The trick is choosing the right kind of carbs. Focus on complex carbs such as vegetables, including starchy vegetables like POTATOES, legumes, Whole Grains and Fruit.

LIMIT YOUR INTAKE OF SIMPLE CARBOHYDRATES. THESE FOODS ARE HIGH IN SUGARS AND CALORIES, WHICH CAN CAUSE FAT STORAGE. SIMPLE CARBS INCLUDE WHITE BREAD, WHITE RICE, PASTA, CAKES AND COOKIES.

The Numbers and Stuff

Nutritional/ Dietary Aid Guideline

30% Carb

35% Protein

35% Fat

200/500 FC Down.

Fasting?! Bitch, say what?!

Yes, you read that correctly. Fasting is also a big part of this program. So heres the deal.

Unlike calorie restriction, intermittent fasting doesn’t require you to count calories all the time, and it benefits you in preventing hunger. Furthermore it is especially good at helping you to lose fat while maintaining muscle, rather than losing both fat and muscle as you would with tradition calories restriction. The key to fasting is, it doesn’t matter which of the three types of intermittent fasting you perform, they all have the same benefits. The three types are whole day fasting, alternate day fasting, and time restricted fasting. If the names of the three types of fasting don’t pretty much explain what they are, please google it.

Incorporating a variety of intermitted fasting techniques into an endomorphic confusion weight loss plan is extremely effective in causing a ketosis like effect forcing the endomorphic body to burn excess stored fat and produce energy. The limitations on fasting are no less than 24 hours and no more than 38 hours total in a week until your body is used to the diet and your sugars are under control. You must drink at least 4L of water in a 24 hour period. IF YOU ARE PREDIABETIC, TYPE1, TYPE2 OR GESTATIONAL – CONSULT A DOCTOR AND HAVE AN A1C READING WITHING ACCEPTABLE RANGE (no higher than 6.4 for pre diabetics or 7.5 for diabetics) within the last 6 months before starting this diet.

Exercise can be incorporated with this diet after 10 days or once the individual has adjusted to the fasting and energy levels have balanced. This is to avoid any light headed, respiratory, or cardiac distress associated with physical stress and metabolic changes in the body.

But there was no way you were catching me do anything that involved pain in my back. So, low impact twice a week worked once I got around 240.

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We clearly have established that I play with food for a living. Therefore, all this information sparked a new passion. How can I adapt the foods and flavors that I ‘can’t live without’ into what I am capable of eating.

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Simple Ground Beef and Taters

1lb lean ground beef

2 cups diced potatoes (about 1 large potato)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon salt (add to taste)

Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet. Add diced potatoes (about 1/4 inch cubes) and cook for about 10 mins or until slightly browned and mostly cooked through stirring occasionally.

Add lean ground beef to potatoes and brown, chopping it up into very small pieces and stirring and flipping often (about 10 minutes). (If you use lean ground beef, there is no need to drain – be sure to cook meat with potatoes as it does make a difference in the overall flavor).

Once meat is fully cooked, turn off burner and add about a 1/2 tsp of salt and stir in with spatula. Add more salt to taste if desired. Serve with salted white rice and veggies.

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The catch, I had to manage the calories I was intaking from beverages.

1 Large McDonalds Iced Mocha frappe add chocolate chip is not only a sweet sip of nectar from Zeus mighty cup, but it’s also 390 calories. So is 2 cups of fruit and Oikos Zero.

Put that in your pipe and smoke on it a second… burns so good, don’t it.

Water is free, and some really intelligent person invented calorie free flavors to add to it. Another legend, somewhere in France…

… a long time ago, added carbonation.

…and then there is Wild Cherry Pepsi Zero… ❤️

So you’re telling me I can still have all the flavors, I just can’t have ALL the sugars.

We got this.

Welcome to my kitchen. At present, I am a healthy 172. I feel comfortable considering I am now ‘middle aged’.

See the change?

Change your mindset, and anything is possible y’all. I believe in you-🍋💋