MY HEALTH CODE
In Spring 2018, I stumbled upon The Obesity Code by Jason Fung, a book that was mentioned in a podcast I randomly listened to- it was actually the first podcast I ever listened to! Which sparked such a light in me that before one year passed, I had listened to over 300 podcasts about health, at least one every day on my drive to and from work.
How I understood my body and food completely changed after reading this book! As a carbo-holic at the time, I grazed on food all day long, packing at least 3 snacks every day to eat at my desk at work, plus snacks in the evening while I prepared dinner and then again before bedtime. If I didn’t eat every two hours, I became hangry—my husband would be the first to warn the kids when he saw the early signs. So I carried snacks with me everywhere I went.
After indulging in my audible bing of Jason Fung’s enlightening adventure of insulin and how it rules our body. I began to understand that every time I ate, my body had to release insulin and I was not giving my system any time to use its other hormones- such as the fat burning ones! And with the constant sugar fuel coming in, there was no need for my body to tap into the fat storage, instead my blood sugar would just drop once insulin dropped and signal my hangry behavior until I fed the insulin monster again. It was a vicious cycle of mood swings, I was completely dependent on food to balance my mood.
Not only did I suffer from bad mood swings, but I spent so much time preparing food for myself and my kids. I had no idea, until I stopped eating so regularly, how much time I wasted preparing and eating food!
After applying what I learned from The Obesity Code, I was able to stop eating all the time and I did this by increasing the healthy fats in my food and decreasing the sugar (carbs) dramatically. Once I had control over my appetite, it became easier and easier to eat this way, and now, 3 years later, I enjoy the way I eat so much, that even after a vacation when I don’t follow it as closely, I cannot wait to get back to my regular eating habits!
Today I usually eat twice per day, and that’s it. And the urge to snack rarely comes up. And I mean that urge that made me so hangry before...it’s completely gone! I can go from a big breakfast on the weekends all day to a fabulous dinner that evening and never even think of food in between. Most weekdays I eat for the first time around 12noon or even 2pm if I’m busy, then dinner around 6pm. A piece of dark chocolate after dinner, and then tea before bed.
Freedom from constantly eating and preparing food has been one of the biggest blessings that has come from my new understanding of nutrition and lifestyle. But another big blessing has been the healing of my body. I have successfully reduced my thyroid replacement medication by half and kept it there with healthy blood markers for over 1 year. I have also lost 20 pounds since I listened to this book in 2018, and that weight came off within 6 months of listening! But I think the more impressive thing is that I never gained it back.
And probably the BIGGEST blessing is the energy that came with getting healthy. I give credit to this energy for empowering me to do the personal development needed to start my business and change my life! I couldn’t be more grateful to Dr. Fung for opening my eyes and mind to the power of health.
