For years I thought I was an overall healthy eater. I would eat oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, veggies, lean proteins, etc. in an attempt to lose weight. Working out and seemingly eating right, I still wasn't losing weight. Sounds familiar, right? Well, I've found the problem. I was only really pretending to eat healthy. I wasn't reading labels and truly eating natural, whole foods.
Upon being diagnosed with a condition called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, I learned that my fluctuating hormone levels had caused me to be pre-diabetic. How could this be? I was 23, relatively healthy (despite the 20lbs I had recently put on) and realizing that I was in total denial. My hormone fluctuations were directly related to my insulin levels and were even wreaking havoc on my potential to have children. As a young, married woman, this terrifies me! I began doing my research and discovered that many PCOS patients have issues with sugars and refined starches such as bread and pasta. Well, this made sense to me. Every time I had tried a lower carbohydrate diet in the past, I always lost weight, only to return to my carb loving ways and gain it all back. This was different now though. This was not only affecting my size, it was affecting my moods and my potential to have a family with my husband.
After all of my research, I found that the majority of those who had conquered PCOS had adopted some form of a clean eating plan. For those who don't know what clean eating is, it is eating whole, natural foods and avoiding anything processed as much as possible. Yes, it does mean giving up cereals and pre-packaged "diet" meals. Upon evaluating my diet that I thought was healthy I discovered that I had been going about it all wrong. While greek yogurt is a great food on its own, I was eating a variety that was full of unnecessary sugars. That low calorie frozen entree was pumped full of salts and preservatives. I was even passing trail mix with chocolate bits in it off as health food. I was doing it all wrong.
I'm not saying, eat salads for the rest of your life. Personally, I'd go crazy. I've just never been a huge salad person. I'm asking you to challenge yourself to eat a cleaner diet. Basically, read the ingredients on the things you're buying and truly educate yourself on what you're putting into your body. You may be surprised to find out that you're not eating as healthy as you thought. You may be cheating yourself from achieving your weight loss goals simply because you didn't take the time to investigate.
So I urge you to feel better and lose weight while doing it. I have not only lost 20lbs, I have never had more energy in my life. Even just a few short months of eating this way has made a drastic difference. Previously, anything more than sitting on the couch for the day was seemingly exhausting. Since changing my diet, I feel like I can take on the world. I sleep more soundly, I wake up refreshed. I have more energy to take on a workout, and I have learned so much about my capabilities as a result. I have also built a new confidence in myself. The best result of all however is the fact that I am no longer pre-diabetic and may have in fact restored my ability to have children. I truly credit clean eating with all of these improvement and want to share my results so that hopefully it can help someone else to change their life for the better too.
Instead of a diet entree of macaroni and cheese, make yourself a real plate with whole wheat noodles and low fat milk and cheese. The key for indulgences is portion control. Why would you want to eat a lot of something average tasting when you could have a little of something amazing?
