The roots of Healthy Little Secret started 10 years ago. I was living in Northern California, without family nearby and only a few friends to speak of locally. I had a job that I wasn’t thrilled with, a house that was a little too big (in size and mortgage!) for just me and a lack of direction. Lonely and a little depressed, I began to gain weight through bad habits and “easy” fast casual food. Breakfast was often Starbucks. Lunch was a sandwich or burger. And dinner often included Chipotle. Followed-up by dessert of 4-6 Krispy Kreme donuts. Eating like this became the norm.
Cold Stone knew me by name and my “usual” order – no joking. Little by little, I put 60+ pounds on my 5′ 5″ frame. I stopped weighing myself at 190, so I’m confident that I was over 200 pounds. A record high. All the while I ignored the mirror, not realizing just how big I had gotten. And even though I had to put rubber bands on the button of my jeans to give me extra room, I still continued to binge eat and ignore the fact that I had become not just overweight, but unhealthy.
With my family’s encouragement, I packed it all up moved down to Southern California to live with family. Slowly, I began to get my life back together. I quit my old job and left my house behind — I wanted to leave the rest of my old habits behind as well. Here it was, a chance to start over completely. New job, new location, new body! I was ready! I started off strong by working out with a trainer a few days a week, drank kambucha and tried meal replacement beverages. I saw a little, very slow change; but some was better than none. Progress.
Six months into my new work-out routine, I got frustrated. At this point, I felt I should have gotten better results (looking back I know it was because of the pancake breakfast I had multiple times a week!) and decided to join Weight Watchers. Accountability too center stage. Portion Control. Community. This was going to be the solve, right? In the beginning, it was. I lost 40 pounds. It took some time, almost a year. For the first time I believed I was so much more in control of my weight. Was I really?
Life started happening and those 40 pounds began to fluctuate. During this time I moved in with my boyfriend (+5 lbs), got a new job (+1 lb), got engaged (+1 lb), got another new job (-1 lb), got a new house (+2 lbs) and got married (-7 lbs). I was still seeing a trainer and was tracking with various tools and the new world of apps as best I could. But the reality was this: I had plateaued.
During the next 5 years, I continued to ride the weight rollercoaster. Up and Down. Good and Bad. 15 pounds all over the map. I tried all kinds of things to get the weight off once and for all:
- Running Club
- Weight Watchers, again
- Spin
- Road Cycling
- Green Coffee Extract
- Yoga
- Weight Watchers, again… this time the online version
- No Sugar
- No Flour
- Weight Watchers, yes, again
- Dr Oz’s Weight Loss Plan
- Personal Training
- Herbalife
And finally I asked myself this question: What about what’s right for me? I get the ‘diet’ thing. Eliminating calories. But, which calories?
Suddenly it’s January 2015. I leave my career. After 23 years of being in the industry and over 10 at the position I was in…I decided I had had enough. New Year, New Me. It was drastic and it was a leap of faith…and I did it. I committed to become the person that I know I was born to be. I was still on my diet rollercoaster. Up and Down. Working out a bit more, but still struggling with all the food choices.
In April I read about a ‘Clean Eating’ challenge. A two-week challenge of eating NOTHING processed, all home-made foods. Hmmm, what a concept. So, I recruited my husband and took it on. I lost 3 pounds during that time. For 14 days just eating healthy, no processed sugar or white flour or anything from a can or a jar that was a mixture. I decided to do it another 2 weeks. I lost another 2 pounds. I felt so good that I started working out multiple times a day because I was having so much fun.

I felt so much better. I was less puffy, I had tons of energy and I loved the food. Am I onto something here? Now the next 2 weeks. Being really in tune to how I felt and which food triggered my body, I decided to take out beans. That’s a big one because I would eat a chick pea over meat any old day. No beans, lost another pound. I am onto something! Yes, I’m loosing weight and that’s the bonus here, truly it is. It’s about HEALTH. Yes, HEALTH. I am more HEALTHY now than ever. It’s about my food choices that will make me healthy. Support my metabolism. Make me have more energy. Support not just 1 but 2 or even 3-a-day workouts. FOOD = HEALTH. What a new concept. I had always equated food as weight gain or loss. FOOD = HEALTH.
So, my new journey in life has begun.
I have learned the Healthy Little Secret! And with my years of knowledge of where I’ve been and now months of practice with my family, friends and now clients, I want to share Clean Eating and the Healthy Little Secret program with all of you.
Love the blog! I’ve signed up to follow.
LikeLike