I thank my daughter for introducing RAW to me.  The gentle nudge and loving encouragement has enabled me to begin enjoying life as I only dreamt it before.
I was here at Boot Camp once before where I had lost 100 pounds and here I am again to lose the second 100! I am grateful that there is a place where we can come and be open and honest  and face the weight head on as we learn to deal with food addiction learning together how to beat this dreadful lifestyle and start living life to the fullest!
Carlene’s wisdom, knowledge and her dedication to fight obesity makes Boot Camp a special place. She is a tough lady, not a place for the weak minded!!  Boot Camp is HARD WORK but the benefits and results are life changing!

 

If I listed everything I have tried in my lifetime .....hmmm...you'd all be surprised. I have done many drastic things out of desperation when the diet pills and many many other  weight loss programs didn't work!

 

I had my jaw wired....YEP...couldn't open my mouth. Could only drink liquids for 6 months. I lost 75 pounds ..but let me tell you how frustrated I was especially when I wanted to yell at my kids or hubby!!! My brother (bless his heart) threatened to buy me a dummy and put me on the road as a ventriloquist...lol. I was pretty darn good!
Bottom line, I got the wires off and gained it all back faster than I lost it.

 

Next drastic measure.... Intestinal bypass surgery. This is where they tie back all but 14 inches of bowel. Food literally goes thru you like a faucet. Tons of diarrhea and gas. The smell of yucky undigested food running thru isn't very pleasant. Yes, I lost over 150 pounds and got to my lowest weight of 140 pounds. Sadly, I was never able to enjoy it because I was always sick! I was suffering from malnutrition and spent a lot of time in the hospital. I had arthritis flare ups that were so bad there were times I would have to get help to raise myself off the toilet. I had trouble getting out of the car or up steps and couldn't even tie my shoes. I became very weak and  lost a lot of bone mass. I had several broken bones as a result of it all. I had to be reconnected or I would have died! To get me thru the surgery they had to pump me full of steroids. I made it (whew) but it was scary for my family, I thought I was going to die...and I had little kids at the time! It took me almost two year to get better...and that long to get me off the steroids...which resulted in me gaining all the weight back ugh!! YEP I gained it all back

 

Only good thing about this weight loss....I had a tummy tuck where they removed 14 pounds of apron fat!

 

Many years passed....I was again very big 374 pounds!! I was desperate again....found a Dr that would do lap band surgery! Whoohoo another quick fix!!
Long story short I paid $10,000 for the procedure, out of my own pocket ~ I lost SOME weight...but my system shut down on eating so few calories. If I ate meat, I‘d vomit...well most anything would make me do that. Lap band is a tool...it doesn't make you lose weight...you have to work with it. It didn't work. I was yelled at for not eating right and was made to feel like a big fat loser again.

Then I found raw....Its the only thing that worked for me and here I am making my dream come true...making my body the healthiest it has ever been and dealing with the issues that will allow me to stay healthy and fit.

The past issues why none of this ever worked for me:

• Limitations were never put on food
• I never knew what hunger really was
• I didn't know what full was till I was in food coma
• Food was used for pain, guilt, fun, celebrating, behaving , mis behaving, sadness, family gatherings, depression....you get the jest!
• It was too much work
• I wanted a quick fix, nothing really worked.
• I was a sneak eater....it didn't count if no one saw me eat it!!
• Abusive marriage kept me in food coma to bare the pain (now free of that since losing the first 100 pounds…raw food gives us mental clarity to make better decisions)
•  I blamed slow metabolism and abused thyroid medication thinking one day it would make me thin.

I could go on and on...SAD (Standard American Diet) puts the food thoughts deep in our heads...its the poor nutrition that causes the imbalance and keeps us addicted. Once we get the SAD out of our body, we are able to enjoy the mental clarity that makes all this easier to understand....We are what we eat!!!

I am soo very excited to be part of Carlene's  Biggest Loser Program. My goal is to be my lowest weight ever in time for Summer Boot Camp in July.  I will do things I never expected I would be capable of: kayaking, mountain biking, hiking,  wearing A REAL bathing suit, fitting into the airplane seat and having some fun competition with fellow boot campers!

HOW BAD DO I WANT IT ????

Every bit of hard work will be so worth the final outcome!