After three years of frustration- I am FINALLY losing some weight! Turns out, my food intolerance’s were likely a huge factor in my rapid weight gain and inability to lose it! At the beginning of the summer I was weighing in at 173 and on Monday I weighed in at 163! Besides a weekly yoga class I have been doing very little physical activity the past couple of months.

When you think about it though, it’s not overly surprising. Discovering I had an intolerance to dairy and gluten cut out my top three foods- cheeseburgers, pizza and ice cream. It forced me to restrict what I ate and stick to fruits, vegetables and meats. I’ll admit, once in a while I will cave and take the stomach ache but I’ve found almost no foods worth a stomach ache, except my grandmas cheeseburger soup.

Let’s walk through this struggle shall we?

2010

In July of 2010 a photo was taken of me that made me realize I had put on a few. I figured with all the hiking I was doing at the time that the weight would melt off easily. Not so.

2011

In March of 2011 I realized I had packed on 13 pounds (going from 155 to 168) in the few months of winter. I freaked and vowed to step it up.

I set a strict 6 week program to get me in shape before a trip to Hawaii.  It didn’t work.

Summer of 2011 rolled around and I figured all the hiking and softball and outdoor activity combined with healthy eating would work- it didn’t.  I climbed a mountain, hiked an 11km trail and still nothing.

I spent winter 2011-2012 in the gym, I signed up for races and ran on the treadmill. I gave myself a hard time if I didn’t work out hard enough.  I cross country skied, went snow shoeing and snowboarded.

I also turned to some extreme eating, trying to stay under 1200 calories a day and living off protein-veggie smoothies. Not a pound budged.

2012

2012 was INSANE for me fitness wise. By now I was tipping the scales at 173 and was determined to take off the weight. I threw myself into my fitness regime. Let me sum it up:

Ran two triathlons (Splash, Pedal, Gasp & Magrath Triathlon)

Ran four road races (Moonlight run 6 km, Lethbridge 4-miler, Ladiesfest 8km, Clause Cause)

Hiked like crazy (Bears Hump in May, Hiked to Bertha Falls and biked the Kootenay Brown trail with Ryan in May, Fifth Water Hot Springs in Utah in June, Crypt Lake with my cousin Quinton, Bear’s Hump in July, Red Rock Canyon in July, Bertha Falls in August with a baby)

Played a Lot of Softball 

So imagine my sheer frustration when by the end of summer 2012, my weight had would sometimes say 175 or 177! More weight despite all that activity and regular gym workouts too.

I decided I was done. Something was wrong with me and that was all there was to it. I had several doctor visits, blood tests and consultations.

During all this time I would get  random stomach aches.  I couldn’t figure out why I would suddenly feel extremely sick, bloated and crampy. It slowly started to get worse and worse and I couldn’t figure out why. It was actually my friend Lisa who noticed how sick I got after eating a bunch of spinach dip at my bachelorette party in November 2012. I was so sick I couldn’t fathom a drink and wound up being DD. Ha!

2013

I wasn’t ready to admit that I couldn’t eat dairy- Ice cream and pizza were my favourite foods! But once the pains got so bad I had to leave work sick after lunch I knew it was time to buckle down.  I cut out dairy and started feeling better almost right away. Still, from time to time I was having the same symptoms. My doctor suggested I cut out gluten; I didn’t eat a lot of bread to begin with just spaghetti and buns on burgers and hot dogs.  Like dairy, it took me a while to get to a place where I could fully cut it out. The pizza! The buns on my cheeseburgers! Oh the humanity!

Slowly but surely my stomach aches disappeared altogether and I started feeling better, more energetic and less moody.

During 2013 I was my usual active self, though nowhere near what I did in 2012.

I surfed, snorkeled & hiked while in Hawaii for my honeymoon

Ran a Spartan

Ran a 100 metre dash in a community track meet

Hiked (Bears Hump, Red Rock, led a pre-wedding snow hike to Bertha Falls, Fifth Water Hot Springs)

Kayaked

Played softball

I did stop my regular workouts.  Not going to lie, I gave up. I figured there was nothing I could do to lose the weight so why kill myself in the gym.

All the while, I felt fat and like I couldn’t do a thing about it. I had to answer a lot of “Are you pregnant?” questions from verious people friends, coworkers, strangers at the gym.

Then in the fall I noticed my clothes were fitting better. I put on my wedding dress and it was loose, a vest I hadn’t worn in years almost buttoned all the way back up on me and several dresses finally zipped.

In October I went back to my gym and hopped on that scale. Lo and behold it said 165! 165! I hadn’t weighed in under 168 since 2011! I texted Ryan and my fitness buddy Cat so excited.

Feeling good about that sudden drop in weight I have begun stepping up my workouts again and on Monday when I stepped on that scale it read 163! I am still dropping. I feel thinner, I feel better.

I am SO happy that I was able to overcome this and figure out what my body needed (or rather- didn’t need).

NEVER EVER GIVE UP!

I could have thrown my hands in the air in 2011 and the weight would have packed on even more. But I fought it, I worked hard, and when I was finally able to discover the problem I am at last seeing results!

I can’t wait to see what the spring will bring. I still have a long ways to go, I am by no means finished this journey. I plan to step up my gym workouts all winter to try and drop the remaining weight. I’m not extreme, I would just like to get to 150-155.

I hope this long post will serve as inspiration for folks who have 10-15 pounds to drop but can’t seem to. You have no idea how frustrating it was to work so hard for so many years and still gain weight, but I finally discovered why and I am at last seeing results. Never give up. Never.