Size 12 to Size 4 via a Low Inflammatory Diet

I have been on an accidental health journey for the past 4 years. Every year (for the past 4 years), I’ve modified one thing in my diet. Just one! Each change was motivated by some health aspect, not weight loss. At 5’8” and late 30’s with a post-baby “mom body,” I was on the heavier end of my weight range at 170. But I felt pretty good, I had been at this weight for years, and my husband still found me attractive, so why change?! No need to lose weight – I was happy with myself. But as I slowly changed my diet, my body slowly changed too.

DAIRY

I swapped my regular dairy with plant dairy. I felt out of balance hormonally. I researched dairy overall and determined eliminating it may help. In addition, I found out regular dairy is inflammatory. Much to my surprise, my seasonal allergies disappeared permanently. I went along that path for a year, not making any other changes. My body became less inflamed and I lost a little bit of weight. I felt better.

GLUTEN

I swapped my wheat products with gluten-free products. Adam started to have severe digestion issues that we pinpointed to gluten. So, I switched our wheat products to rice products (or another gluten-free grain). To our surprise, his digestion issues cleared up within weeks! Although I didn’t eliminate gluten for myself, I do most of our cooking, and I’m only making one meal. So, we all became gluten-free by association! Year 2, we both continued to slowly lost weight as our bodies became less inflamed. Now if I eat something with gluten in it, I have allergic reactions (hives, itchy throat, slow digestion). Looking back at my past health issues, I think I’ve always been gluten-intolerant but had no idea. When your entire body has been inflamed for years, you get used to it. You think it’s normal to feel like that, so you don’t make any changes. Now my body knows it doesn’t like gluten, and it lets me know within a few minutes I made a big mistake.

ALCOHOL

I stopped drinking alcohol. I love alcohol. LOVE alcohol. I originally gave it up for “health reasons,” not realizing I was addicted. Eliminating alcohol has done wonders for my body. My skin looks better (alcohol dehydrates your skin), I lost weight (not only fewer drink calories but no more 3 A.M. runs to Taco Bell!), and I sleep better. Again, I continued to reduce the inflammation in my body.

SUGAR

I’m working on my sugar addiction. This is as difficult as giving up alcohol! It is a struggle. Sugar is very addictive and very inflammatory to our bodies. But it is at nearly every celebration, every school, every church, and most workplaces! We can get it anywhere, any time of day, and it’s cheap. If you read nutrition labels, you’ll see it in nearly everything boxed or processed! I believe it’s in the same category as a drug as far as its addictiveness. Ugh. We have eliminated it from our house and use maple syrup or honey instead.

These are the small changes I made over time that slowly brought my body back to its happy. Progress, not perfection. Although I am active and on my feet throughout the day, I do not formally exercise. I do push-ups, yoga, and planks at home to keep up my strength, but that’s it. I think it’s very doable if you give yourself patience.