Transformation: August 2012 to March 2014
In 2012, I was despairing of ever gaining control of my increasing number of health issues and my weight. But in Autumn 2012 I saw a life-changing documentary which resulted in a complete transformation of my health, body and career!
I remember battling with my weight from my mid-20s onwards. Over the years I had tried a variety of diets including calorie counting, low fat, the 'F' plan diet, Rosemary Conley's hip and thigh diet, Atkins. What happened with all of these was that I just gradually slipped out of the habit of sticking to them. The upshot was that my weight just kept creeping up year after year, though it may have accelerated somewhat during my pregnancy when I definitely over-ate, and then continued to do so afterwards. I made some half-hearted attempts to get it under control but could not stick to anything and had resigned myself to ever-increasing girth and an early grave as I had developed high blood pressure and joint and muscle problems, and what I think was signs of trigeminal neuralgia. By October 2012 I was around 105kg (over 16 stone; 230lbs).
Discovering Intermittent Fasting
I found out about the “5:2 diet” from one of the other Mums at my son's football team who, while standing on the sidelines watching a match one day, mentioned that she had lost a fair bit of weight from fasting and but that she hadn't yet noticed any improvement in memory which fasting was supposed to help. As I was worried at the time not only about my weight and nerve health but also about my partner’s memory, my attention was caught immediately and I asked her about it. She told me about Michael Mosley's Horizon documentary, which I had missed as I had been on holiday at the time, and as soon as I got home I found the video online and watched it. I found the documentary very compelling. The science spoke to me as being plausible. I started out doing the 5:2 diet the day after I watched the documentary.
At first, all I wanted to achieve was to lose some weight. I hoped that by losing some weight I could bring my blood pressure under control and also relieve some of the joint pain. I had no idea at the start what I would be able to achieve. I thought I would give it 6 weeks and see what happened before deciding whether to continue. Little did I know that it would completely change my life. When the first 6 weeks of my 'trial period' were up, there was no doubt in my mind that I would continue.
After about 6 months my blood pressure had decreased enough that I could come off the medications. I also found that the signs of trigeminal neuralgia had disappeared (although this might be a coincidence as it is known to come and go).
Changing career
When I started out with the 5:2 diet, there was almost no support for people trying to follow it. I joined a fledgling internet forum to try to connect with others following the way of eating. A couple of years after joining the forum, I had the opportunity to work with a company specialising in online weight loss programs. I was asked to write a program coaching people in using intermittent fasting for weight loss and to become the main coach on the program as well. As I gained experience coaching a wide variety of people, many of whom had, like me, tried multiple diets before, I noticed that everyone who really struggled with weight loss had one or more health conditions and were also usually highly stressed. I felt I needed further training in how to support health conditions nutritionally. Luckily, there was a really high quality Master’s level course in Nutritional Therapy at Worcester University: right on my doorstep! I was impressed by the high level of scientific underpinnings to the course and enrolled with excitement.
Back to university
Despite having previously obtained a PhD in medical research and having been a medical writer working with a high degree of scientific rigour, I found the course challenging, particularly in terms of understanding the biochemistry that informs the nutritional therapy approach. At the same time, I loved the fact that we were being trained to look beyond food and nutrition but to consider how other aspects of lifestyle affect health and also how to help clients instigate behaviour change. I absolutely loved going back to university at the ripe old age of 56!
What I do now
I am now on a mission to help people like me who have struggled with weight issues for years and who also have other health problems that may have caused or be a result of their weight gain. I have seen how, once the underlying health issues are addressed, weight loss happens easily without the need to be “on a diet”. Before I discovered the power of nutrition, I felt I would need to be on a permanent diet if I wanted to lose any weight and that I would never be able to eat cake, or drink alcohol again. I have maintained my weight loss for 6 years now and I do still (occasionally) eat cake and have a drink!
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