I Lost 20 Pounds in 6 Months Without Trying

Dancing Elephants Book Project: Exercise and Healthy Eating Tips

Like many people during the various Covid lockdowns, I put on weight. I wasn’t exercising, and the food we could have delivered tended toward the high-starch, high-fat side of the spectrum.

At my heaviest, I weighed 250 lbs. Something had to change.

I figured out how to get fresh, healthy meal kits delivered. Our local grocery store created a pick-and-pay ordering system that allowed us to drive up and have groceries loaded in the car. We found exercises we could do outside, that didn’t kill my knees. And slowly, painfully slowly, the weight started coming back off.

By the end of 2021, I’d managed to get back down to 240. Still too heavy, but at least my weight was moving in the right direction.

A history of weight loss challenges

This wasn’t the first time I’d struggled with my weight. Because of a skiing accident when I was 12, I would alternate periods of intense exercise with being stuck in a full-length leg brace barely able to move. Every time I laid myself up, I’d gain weight.

I did various diet regimes in my teens and twenties, trying to recover after each of these weight gains. I fluctuated from my ideal weight of 175 up to about 200 every time I got injured. But I could always bring the weight back down. Until one time I couldn’t. And everything else went crazy, too.

My weight climbed up to 210, even though I was exercising every day. I was swelling up with fluid. My skin was breaking out. My cholesterol levels shot up by 35 points. Plus other issues that we don’t need to get into here. Suffice it to say, I was a mess.

Local doctors said the problem was my weight. If I lost weight, the other issues would go away. Except, the excess weight had arrived after the other problems. Fortunately, I found a specialist who understood the mysterious cluster of symptoms I was experiencing.

Dr. Mark Hyman was one of the first doctors to address what would eventually be known as Metabolic Syndrome. That’s where every system in your body that relies on hormones to communicate starts breaking down at the same time.

Restoring a healthy metabolism

Dr. Hyman ran a series of food sensitivity panels against my blood. His theory was that Metabolic Syndrome was the result of systemic inflammation caused by long-term food irritation.

I had serious sensitivities to yeast and milk. Since I loved bread and dairy products, I not only ate them every day, I had them at all three meals a day.

He put me on what’s called an elimination diet, where you cut out everything that you are sensitive to. I did so well on that diet, that he actually used my results as a case study in one of his presentations at a medical conference.

The problem is, you can’t eat out when you’re on an elimination diet. You have to make everything from scratch, from ultra-fresh food. Three grocery store visits per week, at least. Two hours of cooking per day, at least.

That was in addition to working 40–50 hours a week. I worked, cooked, ate, and slept. That was all I had time for.

I reached a healthy weight, with a healthy metabolism, but it was unsustainable.

Gradually, my weight edged up again. And every time I was laid up, it edged up a little more. The last time my weight was under 200 was in 2009 when I got married.

Sustainable weight loss

Which brings us back to the end of 2021. With diligent attention to exercise, healthy eating, and proper hydration, I’d managed to lose 10 pounds.

Then, we moved to the Caribbean. Suddenly, our entire lifestyle changed.

Instead of staying up to 2 am every night, we got to bed around 10 pm. Rather than having streetlights beaming directly into our bedroom, we slept in a pitch-black room.

In Colorado, we had to be on constant alert while driving on the congested roads that were always under construction. I’d stopped driving on the highway because the tension would send my back into spasm.

But once we adjusted to driving on the left-hand side of the road, we found driving in the Caribbean relaxing. There was rarely heavy traffic, and when there was a slow down for some reason, no one honked or gave each other the finger. They just waited for everything to resolve.

I ate tons of fresh fruit and vegetables. Often, dinner would be simply a bowl of soup and a salad. Since I didn’t like the taste of the local beef, I ate very little red meat. I also baked all my own bread.

We still ate out twice a week, but the portion sizes were much smaller. Since the ingredients were extremely fresh and the food was made right before we ate it, the meals were very satisfying, without being filled with empty calories.

I noticed my clothes were getting looser, and eventually we bought a scale for the bathroom. To my surprise, my weight was going down. And I wasn’t even dieting or trying to lose weight.

When I came back to Colorado in June to sell our house, I had my annual doctor’s visit. Not only had I lost 20 pounds without even trying, but my cholesterol, A1C, and other readings had all improved as well.

Putting this to work for you

It would be unrealistic to tell you to move to the Caribbean to lose weight. But you can take advantage of the Caribbean lifestyle, wherever you live.

Slow down and relax. Stop stressing. Spend time with friends and family, rather than rushing from appointment to appointment.

Get in touch with nature. Go to sleep when it gets dark, and wake up when it gets light. Sleep in a darkened room. Rest (or at least do low-energy activities) during the hottest part of the day.

Eat fresh fruits and vegetables. Limit your red meat consumption, as well as consumption of processed foods. Savor the flavors in your meals, rather than piling on the empty calories.

Finally, get in tune with your body. Learn the signs of dehydration and make sure you stay well hydrated. Drink bush tea rather than caffeinated beverages. Eat when you’re hungry, and only eat what is necessary to satisfy that hunger.

Even if you only follow some of this advice, you’re bound to notice that you’re getting healthier.

As always, thanks to Lady Dr. Gabriella Korosi, Sharing Randomly, and Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles for putting together this excellent book project and coming up with the thoughtful and intriguing monthly prompts. I especially want to thank you all for your understanding about deadline delays when life blew up in my face.