Hey there!
My name is Locki. I’m a 53-year-old mother of three military veterans, retired police officer and wife of a police officer.
I lost 16 pounds with the 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge and this is my story.
Throughout my life, I’ve struggled with weight issues. I was trapped in a vicious cycle of losing weight and then gaining it all back again.
Twenty plus years as an officer had me grabbing food on the run with little time for exercise between work and family. The stress of the job impacted my health, and I was on a constant roller coaster with my weight. I tried every “diet” that came along. I would lose weight and as soon as I would start to eat “normal” foods again, the pounds would spring back.
In 2010 I was diagnosed with kidney cancer and within six months I had three surgeries that left me with no muscle tone and more weight gain.
After asking my physician for help for both my husband and me, we were placed on the HCG diet. For almost a year, we ate approximately 500 calories a day and weren’t supposed to exercise per the instructions of the physician. We dramatically lost weight, but sadly, that was mostly muscle. Then, once again when we began to eat the calories of a normal diet, the weight piled back on… this time with interest.
Since that time we’ve both been very skeptical of diets and their claims. Both of our weight reached all-time highs for both of us and. While he developed diabetes and heart disease, I began to suffer the inflammation that comes along with the body trying to deal with all the toxins that build up over time.
Stiffness upon rising, taking mincing steps until the ankles loosen up, swollen fingers, painful joints, severe headaches; all of these became the norm for me. “It’s all a part of aging” is the reasoning I was repeatedly given for the symptoms of a body in desperate need of a detox.
One day I was searching online for healthy recipes and a link for CleanFoodCrush caught my attention. Of course, I was thinking it was just another gimmick, but I clicked on it and began to read.
The basics of the program sounded valid to me. Eat unprocessed foods for better health. Ok… sounds simple enough, but what’s the catch?
I was curious enough to join the CleanFoodCrush Facebook page and followed along with the questions and comments posted by others. I saw the common theme of support among the members and that was impressive. But my skepticism still wasn’t gone, so I decided to test Clean Eating with CleanfoodCrush without joining the Challenge.
For the month of June, I followed some of the recommendations I’d seen offered on the CleanFoodCrush Facebook page and I dropped from 250 down to 241!
By now I was convinced that I wanted to invest in one month to see if this was a fluke or if this was going to really work.
July 8, 2019, I began the 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge. I weighed in at 241 and grimaced as my husband took my photos in the tight clothing. I purchased and prepped my food to get off to a roaring start.
The first week on the Challenge, I lost 8 1/2 pounds. I thought to myself, that can’t be right. I stepped back on the scale to double-check. It was correct! This plan was really working!
How was it that I wasn’t hungry? With every eating plan I’d ever tried before, I felt like I was starving, but not with the 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge. The food was filling and satisfying, and I never felt hungry!
But that wasn’t all. I began to notice something else was changing. Yes, my clothes were fitting looser, but the biggest victory was the inflammation.
I wasn’t hurting every time I stood up. There wasn’t the shuffle across the floor until my ankles would limber up. And where were the headaches? Gone. All of it. This is what completely sold me on Clean Eating and CleanFoodCrush programs.
The weeks flew by and it was actually fun to know I was preparing food that was good for me. My mood and energy improved, and my activity went up. Friendships were formed and carry on from the Challenge Group as we support each other in the ongoing lifestyle.
The 30th day arrived and I stepped on the scale again, literally holding my breath. 16 POUNDS! I followed that up with my measurements and discovered 13 3/4 inches were gone. All this by feeding my body the type of fuel that it craves and keeping all the junk away.
It hasn’t just been me that has benefited from this Clean Eating lifestyle. Although my husband isn’t following the eating plan, he is unknowingly eating healthier because of the types of foods I’m keeping (and not keeping) in the house. His visit to the doctor just a few days ago revealed that his A1C (a marker he gets tested often for his diabetes) has dropped two points. Score!
The original Challenge has ended, but the last 30 days have allowed me to develop new habits and strategies that will help me to continue forward for a lifetime. Though I have a way to go to reach my weight goal, I wouldn’t trade this feeling of health and happiness for anything. No cookie is worth more than my health. No heavily processed food is worth my happiness.
If I were to offer any advice to another person struggling with their weight, I would have to say this… give yourself thirty days. You are worth it, don’t give up. If you stumble and eat something you shouldn’t, don’t count that as a loss. No child learns to walk the first time they stand. They might fall, but they always get back up again and again. One day they are walking and then running.
And that’s a little bit like the journey with Clean Eating. You might stumble, but you will get back up, and eventually, this lifestyle will feel like second nature to you. I can do this. And you can too!
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