I'm Five Days In--and I'm going to WIN!

Well, I've joined the ranks of the starving dieters....yep, I'm trying to lose weight! I had no idea how tough the first few days would be. So from here on out you are going to need to cheer me on. I'm five days in and I'm going to win!

A few months ago I was told that if I didn't lose the weight and cut back my fat intake drastically, I would end up with cirrhosis of the liver! I had been ill for over a year and had finally gone to a kidney specialist to rule out kidney disease. He was the one that finally diagnosed the problem. He was horrified to find in my chart that my family practitioner had known about this condition six month previous and had not given me any instruction. Insert more horror here!

I quickly changed family docs and found an internal medicine doctor/sleep doc. She had a long waiting list in years past, and I had not been able to get in with her. Now she had openings! She was amazing! We got started on a low fat diet right away. I found out that I had been striving for this for quite some time, but had kept going back to the cream soups and hot dishes I loved. Bad girl!

I had done one thing very right, I'd been organic gardening for years. Probably saved my life too! I had to eliminate all chemicals and additives and preservatives from my daily diet.

I got rid of the nasty habit of drinking diet mountain dew! Yes, my name is Valora and I'm a Dew Head! Ha! Years ago a doctor had told me to drink something with caffeine in it to combat migraine headaches. Great doc eh? That had to be the hardest hurdle for me to get past. I did it! Check that off my list!

In the midst of all of this enlightening news and information, I thought I was having a heart attack...well the doctor did. She had talked me into taking blood pressure medicine. An Ace inhibitor and chased that with a flu shot! I reacted badly to both! I was hospitalized and stuck and probed for the next 24 hours! All because I was scared and went against all the spirit told me to do and took that shot and med! Never again! Now 500 dollars poorer from co-pays, I was back on track!

A few days later my new doc told me that I'd be a good candidate for natural medicine. Oh really? They won't be giving me either meds ever again. Whew!

On the advice of a herbal medicine doctor, that I now admire greatly, he suggested I move from Dew to Sobe energy drinks and then off of them all completely. It worked! The ingredients in Sobe are less harsh and more natural. No one with a heart condition or other health conditions should go off of caffeine cold turkey. Or off of artificial sweeteners either. Wean yourself off slowly--but do it asap! If you are healthy, go for it and take Tylenol for that awful headache you'll get. But do get off of the horrid stuff!

The human body doesn't need caffeine. It's really bad for your health. Your liver can't take it over time! Boy did I find out the hard way.

Hey! I don't drink alcohol and they said that If I didn't eliminate the trans fats from my diet and get rid of the caffeine, I was going to develop cirrhosis of the liver--like a bad alcoholic! Why don't nutritionists tell you these things? I'd seen a few over the years. Not one that I'd ever paid good money to see, had brought up the possibility!

I realized quickly that weight was the main issue causing all my health problems. My sleep apnea had brought it on slowly over time. Now that I was sleeping, my mind was alerted to the fact that I was not going to live long with the fatty liver or enlarged heart and I felt like I was sinking into fat quicksand!

"Oh help!" I cried out loud as I thought of all the things in life I would miss! I lost a lot of sleep over this whole thing and prayed day and night for answers. How was I going to do this?

The answer was simple. Find a way to lose the weight quickly and safely. The faster I lost weight, the quicker I could regain my health and do all those things in life I was meant to do.

After much prayer, I found Laurence, the master herbalist. He's a deeply spiritual man and a member of our church in Idaho. I found him through a missionary mom friend that I trusted and I wasn't disappointed. He told me like it is. Straight talk with a punch. He hit me up on the whole caffeine thing. Oh boy! Satan didn't want me to give it up. Satan kept telling me I couldn't live without it. Now, that made me hopping mad! I hadn't thought of it that way. Now that I did, I couldn't go back.

Moving forward and fighting this fight to lose weight and live became all consuming. I'm a believer in Jesus Christ after all. He is supposed to be the center of my life. The one thing I've never been in all my life is a hypocrite! So I had to re-evaluate where I was at in my life. I turned it around quickly!

So, now I"m on this journey with the HCG diet and later the zone diet to maintain that which I've lost. I pray hourly sometimes. I am struggling, but writing all of this down has given me renewed strength. Today is a new day and I'm praying for strength. I have a healthy sense of humor as I try to enjoy my new found sense of self. I have a very strong testimony in the fact that God does know us and He wants me to live.

Cheer me on as I get healthy and re-claim my life. I am filled with gratitude in the knowledge that it is not too late and that our beloved Heavenly Father will be here for me in my hour of need! How I love Him! I can win this battle.