As my daughter was born almost nine years ago, I am way past the point of being able to use childbirth or nursing as an excuse for carrying some extra weight. Since she was born, I have tried many approaches to lose weight, some more successful than others, but I never found one that either I felt good on, or that took me below what seems to have become a critical threshold for me - 75 kg (165 lbs).
Some of the things I have tried (note that all seemed to stick at the threshold, even with weeks or months of continued effort):
Sticking to a strict 1200 kcal diet (resulted in extreme tiredness), varying with focus on proteins or carbs (carbs also led to weight gain)
Exercising with Heart Rate intervals for one hour per day (resulted in great conditioning but was hard to hold to for the time commitment)
Type II Diabetic diet (good in general)
Weight training at 2000 kcal diet (resulted in good muscle tone, and I’m still on some element of it)
I refused to try many other diets that I considered either risky to health (I tend to faint if I fast...) or were based solely on manufactured products (shakes, bars, etc). In general, eating good foods in healthy ways was appealing to me, as philosophically I support the idea of raising animals ethically and not bathing my vegetables in a boatload of chemicals (or even worse, genetically modifying them to enhance profits of large food conglomerates. I also like to support small agriculture, the small farms and artisan food that struggle to compete, but offer both a better and healthier product.
Furthermore, I began to note some sensitivities to food, most of all to wheat flour which caused me to itch a lot on my arms in particularly, and occasionally my whole body. Playing with substitutions, such as oat, corn, or almond flour, helped me to eat baked food items without the itching.
Through a friend, my husband and I became aware of a German program called Metabolic Balance through a friend of ours. She had chosen to do the program through her doctor in Germany, as she had several food sensitivities, and found that it helped her in many ways. It offered a specific food plan catered to her body, with foods that were un- or minimally processed (cheese, natural yogurts, etc). She experienced many health benefits, and also told about the program’s ability to work with weight loss (I think she knew that both my husband and I had a few kilos to lose). She also had recommended the plan to other friends, either who struggled with food insensitivity issues or weight issues, and they all had equal success and satisfaction.
This was three years ago we first heard about it. Unfortunately the program was not offered in Sweden. We considered traveling to Germany or the US, but found that both somewhat impractical and also expensive. I continued to consider the program, especially as both a back strain injury sailing last year and a knee injury (with a subsequent operation) skiing brought the urgency to do something.
Then, as part of my work, I talked to and met more and more people who were encountering food or diet issues that impacted their lives, whether it is a long ongoing struggle for weight loss or being uncertain of good healthy foods to eat. I begin to consider as part of my coaching to look at a whole life coaching value proposition that would bring both the Metabolic Balance program to be available to Sweden, as well as the positive psychology and psychology type difference (MBTI) that I already offered.
In October, I joined the Metabolic Balance training in the US and will soon have my complete certification to be able to offer the service in Sweden. As part of the training, I have found it fascinating to explore the science of the body, and why this program works for so many people. It also resonated with me that there is a unique plan for each person, as each of us are unique in our body’s composition and response to food. Finally, I really appreciated that it used simple natural foods that are readily available, with enough options so that one is not bored.
Now, as encouraged by standard practice in ethical coaching, before I offer my service to others, I am starting on my own program, together with my husband. We already see the uniqueness of the program, and I am feeling quite challenged with meal planning for the upcoming weeks, as we only have (almost) the same meal two days where we share the same protein. Luckily each of us had some favorite foods on our plans (together we have mango, crab, and filet mignon. My husband has prosciutto and I have salmon), so hopefully we will not feel deprived.
We started this weekend with the preparation phase, which is only two days and has been quite ok. Then we will enter two weeks of a strict phase to reset our bodies’ metabolisms, where we eat very strict meals and amounts. After that, we will increasingly add more foods to what we can eat, as we reach our goal and stabilize our metabolisms.
I’ll update you on how this goes... And if you are interested to learn more, check out https://int.metabolic-balance.com. I hope to start offering a limited number of coaching programs after the holidays, so if you are interested for a scientifically proven (research study available) and healthy way to achieve your New Year's Resolution or general weight loss goals, contact me!
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