My story is not an exciting one, as I was not motivated by some great tragedy. My epiphany happened much slower, and is still a work in progress. When I started this journey, it was not to lose weight, although losing weight has been a great bonus, but to improve my overall health. I was working as a psychiatric nurse at a psychiatric emergency room. As you can imagine, it was a very stressful job. I had to deal with drunks, drug addicts and people who were in dire straits. My patients suffered from mental illness or addiction or both, and made no secret of wanting to hurt themselves or someone else. Being a stress eater, I found myself munching on all of the food that was brought in to our work area. There were usually pastries of some sort, pizza, and I would stock up on candy and other snacks for the long 12.5 hour shifts. When I began this journey, I weighed 230lbs.I was having to take Aleve almost every day for joint stiffness and aches. I had unexplainable rashes, that I would have to take steroids to help control. One day, I sat down to do my homework (I am also in school to finish my master's degree), and turned on a show. I like to watch television or a documentary while I do my homework. Since I don't have cable, I stream shows from Netflix. This time the show Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead popped up on my recommended show list. When I saw the show, I was amazed that the star of the show also suffered from uticaria. I thought his story was inspiring, and I thought that if that guy could change his health, then so could I. A few days later, I downloaded the information from the reboot website. I was still a little scarred about giving up all of my snacks, however, I was fortunate to get a job offer to work on an L&D unit at my hospital.
Everything was falling into place. I had 30 days before starting on my new unit, so I made the first 30 days my detox period. I knew that I could do anything for 30 days, and that the stress of my current job would not last past that time. So I went to the store and bought a lot of veggies, and other items to stock in my pantry. I also did some research on the uticaria, and found that people who suffer from autoimmune problems such as rashes or arthritis do better on a vegetarian diet. I decided to cut out refined sugar, meat, gluten, soy, dairy, and limit oils and any artificial chemicals such as artificial sweeteners (no diet soda!) as these are the main culprits of inflammation in the body. Inflammation is what causes a lot of problems throughout our bodies. The first week was definitely the hardest. I had to get up early to prepare my juice and food for the day. My day is as follows: For breakfast, I eat a bowl of oatmeal with blueberries and an apple, cinnamon and vanilla, and walnuts if I have time, or some egg whites, or juice. About 2 hours later I drink my juice. I could not bring myself to spend the $200 on a juicer, so I just use my blender. It takes a little more time, but I keep the fiber, and it works just fine. For lunch I eat a salad, roasted veggies, or some homemade soup that I make ahead. About 3pm I have more juice, then for dinner, I eat a salad, veggies or a rice/bean recipe. There are tons of healthy recipes on the internet, and I have not become bored so far. I try to be done eating by 6pm, but this is not always possible, especially now that I am working on the Labor and Delivery unit. After 3 weeks, I had lost 18lbs, and felt so much better. I no longer have to take any medications, and my skin so soft and smooth and my hair is healthier. I started on July 09th and today is August 19, 2012,which is just 6 weeks. To date I have lost 21lbs and have gone down 2 pant sizes. Also, I am using the elliptical 3-4 days a week, and trying to fit in as much exercise as I can. When I make my juice, I use coconut water, kale, chard, spinach, flax seeds, a whole beet, a carrot, banana, blueberries, strawberries, ginger root and whatever else I have on hand. I plan to continue this new lifestyle, and when I reach my goal weight, I will be able to have a small amount of one of the items I cut out once in a while. I do not have an ethical objection to meat, and I really like it, so I may let myself have a small amount a few times a year. I plan to get my labs done in December so I can compare the differences in my cholesterol levels, and blood sugar, and blood pressure. I feel so much better, that I am sure my labs will be improved. Diabetes is very strong in my family, and I was pre-diabetic, had high blood pressure, and was feeling tired all of the time. Now I feel great, and have so much energy! I hope my story inspires some of you to improve your health. Another great movie to watch is Forks over Knives. It outlines the benefits of a plant based diet, and how it can actually reverse disease such as cancer, hypertension, and diabetes .
Good luck on your quest for health!!
Laura Mancuso RN
Everything was falling into place. I had 30 days before starting on my new unit, so I made the first 30 days my detox period. I knew that I could do anything for 30 days, and that the stress of my current job would not last past that time. So I went to the store and bought a lot of veggies, and other items to stock in my pantry. I also did some research on the uticaria, and found that people who suffer from autoimmune problems such as rashes or arthritis do better on a vegetarian diet. I decided to cut out refined sugar, meat, gluten, soy, dairy, and limit oils and any artificial chemicals such as artificial sweeteners (no diet soda!) as these are the main culprits of inflammation in the body. Inflammation is what causes a lot of problems throughout our bodies. The first week was definitely the hardest. I had to get up early to prepare my juice and food for the day. My day is as follows: For breakfast, I eat a bowl of oatmeal with blueberries and an apple, cinnamon and vanilla, and walnuts if I have time, or some egg whites, or juice. About 2 hours later I drink my juice. I could not bring myself to spend the $200 on a juicer, so I just use my blender. It takes a little more time, but I keep the fiber, and it works just fine. For lunch I eat a salad, roasted veggies, or some homemade soup that I make ahead. About 3pm I have more juice, then for dinner, I eat a salad, veggies or a rice/bean recipe. There are tons of healthy recipes on the internet, and I have not become bored so far. I try to be done eating by 6pm, but this is not always possible, especially now that I am working on the Labor and Delivery unit. After 3 weeks, I had lost 18lbs, and felt so much better. I no longer have to take any medications, and my skin so soft and smooth and my hair is healthier. I started on July 09th and today is August 19, 2012,which is just 6 weeks. To date I have lost 21lbs and have gone down 2 pant sizes. Also, I am using the elliptical 3-4 days a week, and trying to fit in as much exercise as I can. When I make my juice, I use coconut water, kale, chard, spinach, flax seeds, a whole beet, a carrot, banana, blueberries, strawberries, ginger root and whatever else I have on hand. I plan to continue this new lifestyle, and when I reach my goal weight, I will be able to have a small amount of one of the items I cut out once in a while. I do not have an ethical objection to meat, and I really like it, so I may let myself have a small amount a few times a year. I plan to get my labs done in December so I can compare the differences in my cholesterol levels, and blood sugar, and blood pressure. I feel so much better, that I am sure my labs will be improved. Diabetes is very strong in my family, and I was pre-diabetic, had high blood pressure, and was feeling tired all of the time. Now I feel great, and have so much energy! I hope my story inspires some of you to improve your health. Another great movie to watch is Forks over Knives. It outlines the benefits of a plant based diet, and how it can actually reverse disease such as cancer, hypertension, and diabetes .
Good luck on your quest for health!!
Laura Mancuso RN
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