I’m sure some of you might wonder what gives me authority to host a blog and health coaching program regarding the principles of lifestyle medicine.
I have disclosures: I am a middle-aged woman who was never close to qualifying as a model or a pro athlete. I really hate salads, have battled a weight concern my entire life, and I’d rather sit and read a good book then move my body anywhere. At all ages strangers have randomly asked me when I was due when there was no baby in there. My six-pack of abs was a solid rounded keg. I had a Diet Coke for breakfast during most of my twenties, during my thirties alcohol and I got too well acquainted, and at midlife I cut calories to hangry levels and look up running clubs to try to get the baby weight off that had been there 15 years or more.
It is sounding pretty bleak, right? But trust me, I’m a doctor. This part is true, but it makes me chuckle. Because I was following all of my best doctor advice when I found myself at age 47, tired, having brain fog, 25 pounds overweight, and a cholesterol and blood pressure level that had me avoiding my own doctor lest he start me on medication. (I am a pretty good doctor, but a terrible patient. My own doctor can testify about the circles I try to run him around in when he says the word, “colonoscopy”. Every one should get one. Truth. I just needed to warm up to the idea for myself.)
My entire family has the blood pressure and cholesterol fate. We all watch our weight and do all sorts of crazy things to lose weight in the name of family bonding. It’s my genetics. I have little control over that. Or so I thought.
In a last ditch effort to avoid becoming even more of a pain-in-the-ass-non-compliant-patient than I already am to my doctor and the entire medical system, I did what we all do. I googled.
This is how I came upon the new specialty of Lifestyle Medicine. I read the research (I was a medical researcher in a past life and I can be a critical skeptic). I watched the Forks over Knives documentary and learned about the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. I realized I was well- trained in illness treatment with procedures and pharmaceuticals, but had zero training in medical school regarding nutrition.
I decided to do a pilot study on myself. For thirty days I would do a whole-food plant based diet and work on the other lifestyle factors. I was no stranger to going to any lengths for weight loss, so when I woke up the next day and announced to my husband that I was done with animal foods and factory foods, he just sighed. And then I went to my pantry and made some oatmeal and blueberries.
Those thirty days were rocky. I tried new recipes and some of them were really, really bad. But some were good. My teenagers announced they were most definitely not eating “vegan propaganda” and so I made dishes that could double as side dishes and they cooked up their own chicken. I learned about shopping the side dishes at restaurants, about nutritional yeast, how plant foods all have protein, and how broccoli and oranges have calcium.
And within weeks I noticed a change. My tiredness dissipated, my skin got pink, I slept like a rock, no mid-life night sweats, I felt more focused and at peace, AND I lost weight almost effortlessly at a rate of 1-2 lbs a week until 25lbs was gone (15% body weight loss). My blood pressure went from 140/90 to 110/75 even before the weight loss, and my cholesterol started to fall from 240. (It is 148 today.)
I did feel awkward and unusual in my diet, but the health rewards were self-motivating . I realized thinking about health, caring about health, promoting health, fed my doctor soul in a way that made it impossible for me to stay silent. I started to pester friends and family. Their yells for mercy brought me to a wider audience. And here we are.
Today I am still not a model or a pro athlete, but I am happy and healthy and my insides have started to heal in a way that is miraculous. I have staved off the need for medication for a while longer. And I’m willing to see where this road takes me in the adventure of life.
