Today I talk with Lisa Wiley of Salem, Ore., about her weight-loss journey. Lisa and I have known each other for almost 20 years, and keep in touch via Facebook, which is how I learned of her recent weight-loss. Please join me in welcoming her as she shares her story with us.
Hi, Lisa. Thanks for agreeing to be one of our first featured weight-loss success stories on A News Cafe.com. I’m so happy you agreed to talk with me.
How about if we start by you telling a bit about yourself.
I am originally from San Francisco. I met my awesome husband, Robert, at Fisherman’s Wharf while he was in the United States Navy. We moved to Salem, Oregon, to chase the American dream outside of the concrete jungle, so I am a transplant since 1991. I’ve been married 19 years, am 48 years old and am an older parent of two children, a son (11) and a daughter (7). I am an office worker for Oregon Workers Compensation where I perform mostly data-entry tasks all day in a fairly sedentary job.
You’ve been married 19 years. I remember your wedding, and it doesn’t seem that long ago. We have a lot of catching up to do, but today we’re talking about your weight-loss.
It sounds like you’re super busy, which is another challenge to eating healthy and keeping weight off. But you made time to get healthy again.
Yes, I am VERY busy working full time, parenting two young kids (mostly refereeing them and sometimes my husband), their schooling and sports, extracurricular activities, and just plain living life. It can be very difficult to make sensible, healthy/food eating choices because of all the “convenience” foods out there that are just screaming to us to buy and eat them!
Oh, I hear you, Lisa. But one of the reasons I wanted to talk with you is that you’ve had an impressive weight-loss success. Before we get to that, can you briefly describe your weight-loss history, before your most recent program?
Like you, I’ve always been unhappy with my weight since my teens, as you well described in your article. Up, down, up, down. Fasting, fad diets, appetite suppressants, you name it. I didn’t realize back then that I was as thin as I was. But I realize now that even if we were that teen weight again, our bodies are different now, in a mature, womanly way.
Pre-kids, when I was in my mid-30’s, seeing a 2002 picture of me and my husband on vacation in Cabo made me realize how much I had let myself go.
Lisa Wiley with her husband on vacation, while at her top weight.
I had ballooned up to 245 pounds. We wanted to have a baby eventually, but not with us both being so unhealthy, especially since I have multiple sclerosis. So I tried the healthy way of a healthy diet, portion control and exercise. I was VERY determined, and it worked! For over a year (which felt like a lifetime at times), I completely devoted myself. I lost 57 pounds and felt great, cleansed in a way — so we rewarded ourselves with a cruise before trying for kids.
Lisa after she lost 57 pounds.
The before and after photos are dramatic, Lisa. Thanks for sharing. I know it can feel pretty uncomfortable to show the before photos.
So you’re no stranger to the whole weight-loss struggle, something to which many of us can relate. You’ve recently embarked on another successful weight-loss journey, which means you must have gained back some of the weight you lost in 2003, right?
I managed to keep most of the 57 pounds of weight off after two pregnancies. But I ballooned back up to 232 pounds in 2013, mainly because I didn’t have time to exercise anymore. Being a mom is exhausting in itself and finding any time for myself to exercise was difficult. I had become complacent and lazy, always making excuses or justifying why I couldn’t drag my butt out of bed to start exercising again. I had already done it before, why the heck couldn’t I get motivated to do it again?
I know what you mean. But you tried again, right?
Right. Enough was enough, so with some encouragement from a co-worker/friend in 2013 who said this particular program really worked for her, I tried an HCG/vitamin B12 diet using sub-lingual drops before meals and eating only weighed amounts of meats/proteins, vegetables and fruits. Nothing processed, no sugar, no soda, no starches, very limited salt and dairy, but other spices were OK.
It was as simple as you could get. If I were to have dairy, I could have nothing but whole-fat because anything low fat is processed to get it that way. I dropped 60 pounds in almost five months, with no exercising, because I was on a VLCD (very low calorie diet) and could not overexert myself. I figured I could try anything for six weeks, since that’s about the time frame most people go on a diet and give up, if they’re going to quit.
Gosh, I’d never heard that. You do know a lot about dieting.
Can you describe what you ate on your program?
A typical day of food usually consists of a protein (hard boiled egg) and fruit for breakfast, a protein (3-4 oz of cooked meat) and vegetable for lunch, a protein (3-4 oz. cooked meat) and vegetable for dinner and maybe a piece of fruit for dessert, also consuming from half to a full gallon of water and/or tea per day.
Did I think it would work? HECK NO! But the scale did not lie, nor did the clothes that were becoming increasingly loose. I weighed myself every single morning and documented my weight, weighed at night to stay on track, but I still had issues believing the loss. Everyone else who knew me who came in contact with me made comments. My husband did the same eating plan as me, but without the drops, and he lost 18 pounds in one month alone. He continued eating healthy along with me and lost almost 40 pounds over a few months, mostly because he stopped drinking soda!
Wow, how cool that Robert could have so much success by cutting out one thing. But for me, it’s not as simple as one thing, but many.
Lisa, how long has it been since you started the program, and what are you doing now, in the maintenance phase, to ensure you don’t backslide?
I started the program March 1, 2013, and was done right before July of 2013, so nearly 5 months. I had my times of backsliding during the 2015 spring break this year. I let peer pressure affect me and I gave in to eating things I KNEW I shouldn’t, but I went overboard on them, just because I was on vacation with my family.
That started the backslide, but I still managed to eat fairly healthy the rest of the trip. Slowly into 2015, I started eating a bit more unhealthy foods off/on and eventually gained back about 20 pounds. Because my pants went up a size, that was my trigger to get back on my eating plan after this Thanksgiving.
Man, that must have felt so frustrating! And isn’t is amazing how much work is is to take the weight off, but it’s so easy to re-gain weight. This time around on this diet, what were some of the biggest hurdles, and how did you deal with them?
The biggest hurdle for me was being hungry for the first week or two, which was my body going into detox and using up the stores of fat I had. I’d eat an apple or orange, or other dried fruits when I got hungry at night & LOTS OF WATER. I’ve found that taking a few swallows of water after each bite of slowly eaten food helps to fill you up while you eat your nutrition, but also helps flush the toxins out of your system. Water is your friend, but the restroom becomes your best friend because you spend a lot of time there. Yet, there are less solids to eliminate because your body has less bulk to eliminate. Your body is using up all the good nutrition versus the junk food that wreaks havoc. After a couple of weeks, your body becomes naturally used to the lower calories and portions. I do not use any drops now & have lost 12 pounds since Thanksgiving, just by eating like I did above and drinking lots of water and tea.
Wait. You’ve lost 12 pounds since Thanksgiving? That’s incredible!
So, Lisa what are some of the biggest changes in the way you and your family eat now, in contrast to before your weight loss?
We eat a LOT of steamed veggies. My kids love them and don’t like any spices, butter or sauces on them, which is great for cutting the extra calories and fat. I continue to eat mostly meats and veggies at dinner and only have a starch occasionally or on the weekend. I really miss rice and pasta, so having it one day a week is OK, just not every day. I find that eating starches makes me feel yucky now, so I need to really want it, or be willing to feel the after-effects it causes, then decide if it’s worth it, or not.
What advice would you have for someone who wanted to try the method you did?
Because of the expense of this HCG diet (up to $100 for 6-8 weeks of HCG/B12 drops), do not go into this lightly and be seriously interested in doing it. It may not be for everyone. Otherwise, you’re wasting your money and time. But it is a very good way to jump start yourself quickly. If you continue on with it, it has some similarities to the Paleo diet. I personally know a few other people who have done it with success through their doctor, because they had weight loss problems due to thyroid issues or diabetes.
Anything else you’d like us to know?
After doing this HCG/B12 weight loss plan, I was very successful and was very dedicated to it to get the bulk of my weight off. It has made the initial loss easier for me to get motivated to be more active and exercise to help tone up what I knew was under all my fat. But, in the process, I’ve learned that gaining or losing weight is a logical choice by using common sense, based on how I was required to eat. I feel that no one should have to pay money or buy in to any system, plan, regimen – whatever – when they can make logical choices to lose or gain weight simply by what food they put into their own mouths. No one forces us. It’s a conscious choice!
Also, the health and wellness industry is in it to make money from people who want instant gratification and/or a magic skinny pill … which we all know does not exist (unless you want to take on a drug habit).
I honestly believe a person really needs to want the success so badly they can taste it to give them the will power to be successful.
I personally realized that, other than using the drops which I don’t need anymore, this simple way to eat is how we are really intended to eat. The pattern I saw was/is in healthy food combinations and what it does to our bodies: It allows me to eat better, feel satisfied and not feel like I’m going to explode at the dinner table. I replace starches with extra veggies in restaurants and feel good about my choices, as well as physically at the table. This is a principle I learned in my college days from a nutrition class back around 1986. Don’t live to eat, eat to live instead. Many people eat oversized portions, fried fatty foods, overabundant food chains calling us to eat their foods. It is far less expensive — yes, cheaper — to eat healthy than to eat all the junk food out there, which should only be an occasional treat.
Thank you, Lisa! You are truly an inspiration. I’m so proud of you.
Thanks! I’m proud of myself, and my family is, too! When my son hugged me early last year, he made me cry because he said he could now grab his wrist in a circle around me. It made me realize how much I had let myself go. Now I really look good in my cool car!
You look great, Lisa. Thank you so much for sharing your story. As you said, your program may not be for everyone, but one of the things we’ll explore here on A News Cafe.com is the myriad ways to lose weight and get healthy.
