I love Karen. She has always been a great friend and we have known each other since high school and we even went to the same college. After all these years, we have kept in touch.

Karen is a real beauty; close to 6 ft tall with dark hair and perfect features she could have been a model. But not only is Karen beautiful on the outside she  also has a beautiful and caring personality. She cares so much about people and animals that she volunteers at a nursing home and at animal rescues.

Karen’s weight has always gone up and down on the scale. In college we all put on the freshman 10 or 20  but we would also lose them.  As we grew older it was harder to lose and easier to put on weight. Karen and I both got heavier and heavier.

A couple of years ago, Karen and I met halfway between our homes at a coffee shop. Boy was I shocked when I saw her. She must have lost 40 pounds and looked wonderful and full of vitality.  Karen told me her weight loss was a result of a healthier diet. She wasn’t feeling well and suspected it was the food that she was eating that was making her feel that way. She said she felt bloated and edgy. After reading a couple of health books she realized that she may have food allergies and started eliminating certain foods from her diet. Top of the list to eliminate: wheat and sugar. After 7 days of not eating these foods, she felt the benefits and started to lose weight…a nice side effect. “It was all about feeling better and never about  losing weight,” said Karen. She never gets on a scale so she has no idea how much weight she has lost.

“It’s not about the weight, it’s all about the healing.

What I weigh does not matter.”

She did point out that when you start the better-health journey you should not look outside of yourself for validation. Most people will not understand your new diet or may even mock you, and your family will be eating differently than you do. She said she got her support through websites that concentrated on health, reading health/diet books, meditation, and meeting other people who felt the same way about food as she did.

  “I feel good in my own body, and I have become aware of how different foods affect me.”

A typical day for Karen:

Breakfast~

2 Cups of black coffee and lots of water with Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar (When I asked her how much Braggs she puts in her water she said she doesn’t measure anything. She just pours some in the water and loves the taste.)

2 Hard boiled eggs with a drizzle of olive oil

Lunch~

Baked chicken with veggies

Dinner~

Same as lunch

Snack is a couple of spoonfuls of unsweetened apple sauce mixed with cashew butter throughout the day.

Karen’s tip is:  Start the day eating just pure protein. It makes you feel more satisfied than starting the day with carbs.

I asked her if she ever binges. She said, “No.”

If she goes to a party and there is a cake she will have a slice and eat the entire piece (this is a rare occurrence), and she says she can feel that old sugar addiction kick in. But that is it. She then won’t have any sugar for months. She said it takes her about 7 days to get over the cravings for sugar.

Karen says what she misses most of all is crusty bread and dipping it into olive oil. She eats no dairy and drinks no alcohol nor does she miss it.

As far as exercise, Karen does yoga and takes walks but hitting the gym and sweating on a treadmill is not something she would do.

A good point that she brought up is the jealousy that you will sometimes feel when you see other people eat and drink what they want and seem to look fine or suffer no consequences. She said that you have to depend on self-loving yourself when this happens and also find your tribe; people who you relate to and that relate to you.

Karen has done a couple of fasts but does not recommend them unless you have thoroughly studied up on them and proceed under a professional’s care. She said they can be very dangerous if you are taking medications because a fast can be toxic.  Proceed with extreme caution when considering a fast.  She said her longest fast was for 4 days and that after 2 days she felt amazingly calm and had no cravings. But for other people who fast, they may feel horrible as toxins are released from their body. Again, the best advice if you want to do a fast is find a physician who is familiar with fasting and can offer advice.

Karen’s reading suggestions:

Alkalize or Die: Superior Health Through Proper Alkaline-Acid Balance 
Theodore A. Baroody

Clean Gut: The Breakthrough Plan for Eliminating the Root Cause of Disease and Revolutionizing Your Health 
Alejandro Junger

Apple Cider Vinegar Miracle Health System 
Paul C. Bragg

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health 
William Davis

The Hormone Cure: Reclaim Balance, Sleep, Sex Drive and Vitality Naturally with the Gottfried Protocol

Sara Gottfried

Thank you for reading! Terry Ryan