In this episode of the Intermittent Fasting Stories podcast, host Gin Stephens speaks to Lori LaMantia, a native Californian currently living in New Mexico. Lori is a health and wellness coach who also does “soul coaching”, teaching clients to access intuition and inner guidance. Lori recounts a weight battle that began 25 years ago. At a postpartum visit after her third baby, she was diagnosed with thyroid nodules and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, leading to a prescription for Synthroid. Lori dealt with fatigue, depression, and weight gain for years, stating she “lived on a diet” and that they all worked for a time. She has a determined personality that lends itself to following diets to a “T” and recalls that her favorite was the HcG diet because it finally boosted her energy levels.
Admitting that she was motivated by wanting to be thin, not her health, she continued a quest for the perfect diet and found a medically-supervised weight loss program involving soups, bars and shakes. She was so successful in losing weight and maintaining that she ended up teaching in the program, but over time, it began to feel unsustainable and she questioned what she was teaching her clients. Her favorite meal had always been burgers, and she found herself going through fast food drive thrus frequently then disposing of evidence.
Major stress entered the equation after Lori’s son was in a near-fatal motorcycle accident. She put her own life on hold to nurse him back to health, and in the meantime, her self-care went on the back burner. She began to deal with significant digestive issues and rashes. When she was introduced to intermittent fasting, she started with a 16:8 and immediately saw improvement in symptoms. Then her Dad was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma, and she made a commitment to herself to hold the 16 hour fast then eat whatever she wanted, including comfort food in the hospital cafeteria. She was pleased to continue feeling well and recognized the power of clean fasting.
Over time, Lori has evolved to one meal a day, and leans toward Paleo/Keto eating due to food sensitivties. She avoids dairy and notes a return of fatigue and other symptoms when she eats certain foods. She has exceeded her weight loss goals and recently fit into size 4 jeans. Her advice is to trust your body, and to recognize that figuring out how it works is a puzzle. Make it a fun puzzle, not a frustrating puzzle!
Links:
For more information on Plated, go to plated.com/IFStories
Share your intermittent fasting stories with Gin:
gin@intermittentfastingstories.com
Follow Gin on Twitter
Connect with Gin on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Gin-Stephens-370557866639779
Read Gin’s book Delay, Don’t Deny
Listen to Gin on the Intermittent Fasting Stories podcast:
Intermittent Fasting Stories on iTunes
Comments are off this post!