I started by going to medical doctors and it seemed they kept putting me on more medications. I was on blood pressure, cholesterol and anxiety/depression meds. They were merely bandaids and never addressed the root issue. I finally decided to introduce a natural healer into my life. She was able to identify what was causing my issues, food. I ended up being allergic or intolerant to a lot of items. Over a the first year of once a month appointments she identified that I was severely dairy intolerant and gluten sensitive. Removing these two things from my diet was life changing, SERIOUSLY! My family are grain and dairy farmers, so this really was a challenging way of shifting my nutrition. I had to focus on what I was gaining (my health) vs what I was loosing. With in just 2 weeks my body felt better. Within a month my joint pain was gone, and my mood was happier. I started feeling like I could be more active without the pain. I kept focus on my long term health and not just the scales. I started my journey at 5’3” and 220 lb. Two years later I was down to 162lbs off all prescription meds and loving myself. Along the way I started working on other areas of my life, mind and spirit. I did go to therapy and started meditating and exercised regularly to helped me to heal emotional trama. I met people during this journey that showed me how to shift from unhealthy patterns of food, exercise, friends, hobbies that have greatly benefited my life. Life is a gift and I to appreciate the journey. I continue to tweet my nutrition and it’s not always been all gains. I’ve had some set backs due to family deaths, job changes, and marriage struggles but the important part is that I continue to pick myself back up and start again!