My weightloss / low carb journey

I am 52, live in Wolverhampton, married with 2 grown up children, one at university and one living at home, I work part time as a Dental Hygienist.

At age 45 I had a stroke caused by a small clot in my brain which obviously came as a total shock to me and my family.

I had always considered I had a healthy lifestyle and was generally a fit and well person. I had been a vegetarian for over 30 years and always used wholemeal bread, flour, pasta, rice etc. I love cooking and made most of my family’s meals from scratch. As I work in dentistry I was always conscious of the sugar in food – in the obvious cakes, sweets, biscuits and things but also how it is used as a preservative in processed foods like baked beans and sauces etc. I avoided these things generally but did allow myself the occasional treat. I have never smoked and drank alcohol in moderation – a glass or two of red wine with friends at the weekend if we went out or had visitors over. Although I was not a “gym bunny” I considered myself active, loved being in the fresh air walking, sailing and cycling with the family as the children grew up.

I had slowly gained a pound or two a year since having the children without really noticing it. I did do “weight watchers” for a while when the children were small. I lost about a stone but it crept back on.

 

After my stroke I did make a full physical recovery after working hard at physiotherapy. Mentally though I found it hard to recover from because I could not understand why someone who generally followed a “healthy lifestyle” should have a stroke at such a young age. I discovered that inflammation caused by the foods I was eating could have contributed to my stroke.

In 2015, I decided I wanted to lose a bit of weight and also find out if I could be taken off some of the medication I had automatically been put on in hospital after my stroke: statins, blood pressure medication and tablet help prevent my blood clotting/smooth my blood platelets.

Early in my research I came across The Public Health Collaboration and read their Healthy Eating Guidelines and Weight Loss Advice. That was my introduction to low carb eating. I also did some research into diabetes too as in my work life I treat many patients who have diabetes and I am aware of the link between gum disease and diabetes. I wanted to be able to help my own patients improve their diabetes so that their gum disease improved. I have members of my family who are diabetic and also knew that being on statins increased the risk of developing it so it seemed important to me to do all I could to avoid it.

I read lots of books following that initial download from the Public Health Collaboration including The Pioppi Diet and Lifestyle Plan (Aseem Malhotra), The 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet (Michael Mosely), Eat Fat (Trudi Deakin) and others. Slowly I began to cut down the carbs in the food I was eating and my weight began to reduce. I went from 10 ½ stone to 8 ½ over a couple of years- I know that is not dramatic but the fact that I was able to keep up with the way of eating and the weight loss was sustained encouraged me and others. I now hover between 8 ½ and 8 ¾ stone and have maintained this since 2017.

My husband has also lost about a stone and weighs the same now as when we got married over 30 years ago – as do I. I think that is and achievement. Recently the men who work in my husband’s office have noticed his weight loss and out of 11 of them 5 have started a low carb journey themselves, it’s catching!

I also went back to my GP and discussed coming off some of my medication. I was taken off statins after the doctor looked at my blood test results and saw an increase in my HDL and a decrease in my trigycerides. I am very hopeful that I will soon come off my blood pressure tablets too as my blood pressure has significantly reduced since losing the weight. It’s not just about weight loss though it’s about how you feel in yourself; how much energy have and how you feel mentally, all of which I feel have improved with me.

I came across the Caldesi cookbook last year and have been cooking from it regularly since. The meals in it are simple to prepare, the ingredients are easily sourced and they are very family friendly: they also allow for the occasional treat, the Orange and Almond Cake is delicious. The first few chapters explain simply about the relationship carbohydrates have on our bodies and how reducing them is beneficial for a lot of people.

I am no-body special, my story is not dramatic but I feel that discovering low carb has given me an answer to why I became ill in 2013 where to doctors could not give any advice other than to carry on doing as I was already doing ie. eating a low fat diet, basing my meals on whole grain carbohydrates. I believe that the processed foods in the shape of the whole grain carbohydrates I was eating contributed to inflammation in my body and that the inflammation caused my stroke.

Low carb, real food eating has allowed me to take control and do something positive to prevent a reoccurrence for me and prevent future ill health for my family. I also have more energy and am regularly taking part in my local Parkrun (incidentally my mum at age 80 also does the Parkrun regularly, since I have started it, although she does walk it). If I am wrong – which I am sure I am not – I have lost absolutely nothing and have gained eating delicious, non-processed foods which my family enjoy and contribute to.