It wasn’t until after my wedding in 2010 that I began getting serious about my health and fitness. I know. I did it backwards! During our engagement year, I was the heaviest I had ever been in my life. I had just moved from the east coast to the west to live with my fiancé.
Everything was changing. Our “Bewitched”-era kitchen had been stripped down to the studs in preparation for its entrance into the 21st-century. Our daughter, who was only 16 at the time, was due to begin college on the East Coast. And I had just started a new job. I was also finishing a book and planning our long-distance wedding.
My then-fiancé (I’ll call him B) and I were thrilled that we were finally living in the same house after almost 10 years in different states. But we were also stressed. Very very stressed. So although I fantasized about losing weight, I knew that putting myself on a strict diet under those conditions would be courting failure.
But I also knew that regular exercise is an effective stress management tool. So, I resolved to go to the gym for at least 30 minutes, three times a week. Some weeks even this moderate goal was impossible to reach. And yet, there were weeks when I managed to exceed it. I didn’t enjoy going to the gym. Not at all. I managed to make myself go because I knew it was good for me. Now B is and was a workout junkie. He used to ask me after each workout: “How do you feel?” At first, I would always give the same answer: “Virtuous.” But after a few months my answers became more varied. Sometimes I would say “tired,” other times “calm” or even “good.”
The wedding came and went. Working out semi-regularly had kept me from losing my mind, but it hadn’t helped me lose much weight. Even so, I kept going to the gym. I still didn’t like going to the gym. I did, however, like feeling less anxious and stressed.
It was now 2012. I had lost a few pounds, but was still overweight and fairly uncomfortable with my body. Our kitchen remodel was complete, so we were no longer subsisting on microwave dinners and take-out. It was time, I thought, to make significant changes to my diet.
Where to begin? A friend of mine from graduate school suggested a local nutritionist named Manuel Villacorta who had helped him lose his “dissertation weight.” I decided to give Manuel a try. Manuel helped me manage my insulin resistance and PCOS symptoms without drugs. He also helped me build a new, functional friendship with food. I lost almost 30 pounds –– most of it fat –– by following his expert advice. I was “eating free” –– that’s Manuel’s name for his approach to nutrition –– and feeling great. I became more ambitious.
Read Part II of this article here.