I have struggled with weight since I was a little kid! I can remember when I was 13 my folks got me into the Diet Center in our town. I tried that for a year and lost a few pounds. I tried and it was just too much. I went to my folks one night with tears streaming down my cheeks saying I just can’t do this anymore!

I tried again in my late teens with Nutrisystem. I lost a few pounds, but had to give it up due to the fact that I could not afford it anymore. (The food was not that good anyway, so no real loss).

I fell in love in my early 20s and we were going to get married! Yea, but I was a size 22-24. Bride dresses did not look good! So once again the next weight program was Weight Watchers! I joined a year before my wedding and lost 80 lbs. Yea, I’m not a fat bride! But after the wedding and the bliss the weight came back to find me!

I got pregnant a few years later and started of my pregnancy at 190 and ended at 290! I got pregnant 1 1/2 years later with son number two, and had an emergency C-section weighing just shy of the 300 lb mark. A month after the birth, I had a thrombosis of the deep vein and a pulmonary embolism with some damage to my lungs. The doctor said I was very lucky to be alive! I was in a pair of Jobst socks from my ankles to my waist for a year! They had zippers from my ankles to my waist. They were hot and just plain yucky! I did try to keep moving and doing things that moms do! But I fell on my knees a year later and damaged one ACL in each knee. I was told that I was not a candidate for a knee replacement because I was too big. They sent me to a doctor to see about gastric bypass, but I just did not feel right about it! The risk was too high and it might not even work! So I said no!

I lived in pain for the next several years with my knees and every other joint in my body. I felt like a 90 year old everyday! It hurt to even get out of bed.

I once again did Weight Watchers and lost another 50 lbs. Ok, so I was back down to 220 at this time! Yea, but it was very short lived.

I then tried TOPS group, even ran it for a bit, then life got in the way and my weight went back up to 270 and stayed there for about 12 years!

In 2011, I decided to try Atkins! I lost 25 lbs then I started to gain on Atkins! I was like what the heck is going on!!

So a friend of mine suggested in 2012 that I talk to a doctor in the Twin Cities. This is where the CAVEMAN diet came in and saved my life! I still was in shock that I could not have chocolate! I was like what??? REALLY! But I got over that in a hurry when my doctor told me that if I cheat I have to start over again! I was like no way!

So it was a day-to-day basis thing. About two month into it my knees did not hurt as much. My mood was getting better. I was happier!

I had to do a detox, drinking everyday for about a year with GREEN stuff! But now I can tell if I have not had my greens! It is like night and day on how I can tell what my body needs. I think back and go HOLY COW I have not had sugar in a year and a half!

So this is where Mark’s Daily Apple comes in! I have to keep myself involved with my eating every day or every week to keep me motivated and I found Mark’s page! I love to read his ideas and motivation! I looked up the success stories and thought wow I am one of those! Mark had made a statement about give your self credit even if it is a little thing. I had been fighting to get my weight to move for the past six months. Reading Mark’s comment, I thought, I am so far better off now than I was a year ago. So I might not be losing weight, but I am still going down in inches. I think often, little by little one will travel far!

I have been sitting at a good weight of 200 lbs. I bike ride and/or walk everyday! I can bend down and tie my shoes without having to prop my foot up!! Little things!

One other thing is I have been painkiller free for the better half of a year with not Advil, Motrin, or Tylenol. I was at about 8-12 pills a day before I started this journey!

My other success is my 14 year old son who has been dealing with headaches on a daily basis since he was 12. He decided to join me just before Thanksgiving of 2013! Within two weeks of being gluten free he was headache free! He says that he is not as depressed as he was. Then in the beginning of the new year he went sugar free too!

He was and is my biggest fear because he follows mom’s footsteps way too close! So now with the healthy way of eating he can follow his mom’s footsteps and be going down the right path!

I am very proud of myself and my son!

I love the feeling of being able to go places and have people say, WOW! you look great, younger, such pretty skin, etc…. How do you do it? Well, let me tell you. There once was a caveman…

Mindie

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