Hippocrates had it right. When I started eating meats, veggies, full fat dairy, and eggs, my health improved dramatically. I was around 270 lbs, wearing a size 24, and taking OTC and prescription pain meds.
My life was limited by the pain.
The physical pain of my back–limited amounts of standing, walking, and no bike riding, nothing that would risk a fall. And I was getting epidural steroid shots, which didn’t really help. We were looking at disability insurance and thinking about canes, walkers, and eventually a wheelchair. I wasn’t yet 45 years old.
The emotional pain was limiting too. There were many things I couldn’t do with my children–physical play and even climbing the stairs at night to tuck them in bed. The plus size clothes and never feeling attractive were also painful. The wife I couldn’t be pained me even though my husband never complained.
My physicians? They could help me dull the pain, but they offered no cure. Of course, they encouraged me to lose weight. “Eat less, move more”.
My “personal failure” of eating less, moving more and never succeeding became like compound interest over the entire four decades of my life. What was wrong with ME? Why couldn’t I lose the weight? Why wasn’t I trying hard enough? I’d proven over and over that I was not lazy, not dumb, not content with my health, so why would I continue to fail?
Perhaps I was failing. Perhaps conventional nutrition information failed me?
Let’s be clear. I LOVE medical professionals. God bless the work they do. You won’t convince me that any of our health care workers want us to be sick. Any negative comments like that will be removed because we won’t tolerate bashing the medical community. BUT, I do believe that many of them simply do not know. They are following what they have been told AND, if they haven’t lived obesity, if they don’t personally know that pain, then, they too seem to wonder, “What’s wrong with these overweight people? Why can’t they follow my advice? Why won’t they take care of themselves?”
Doctors, nutritionists, nurses, let me tell you, we did try. Obesity is a problem we all own. The medical and nutritional community, the food industry (if there’s some shade to be thrown, that’s where I tend to throw it), and each of us.
This is a big problem in public health, and not because obesity is THE problem, but obesity is the symptom of bigger health issues. It will take all of us to help find solutions, but I’m starting with food.
Tell me. What “problems” have you solved with low-carb or keto? Tell me about the “personal failing” you’ve felt when you couldn’t lose weight in the past.
And tell me….can you see why I abhor the ultraprocessed, packaged frankenfood pushed as “keto” or “low carb” or “sugar-free”? 99% of that stuff is part of the problem, not the solution.
“Let food be thy medicine”.
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