Be an inspiration: If you’ve made positive changes in your diet and/or fitness routine and are happy with the results, please share your success with us. Include your email address, a daytime phone number and before and after photos (by mail or JPEG). Write: Success Stories, c/o Patty Murphy, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 223 Perimeter Center Parkway, Atlanta, GA, 30346-1301; or e-mail Michelle C. Brooks, ajcsuccessstories@gmail.com.
Former weight: 165 pounds
Current weight: 133 pounds
Pounds lost: 32 pounds
Height: 5 feet 6 inches
Age: 34 years
How long she's kept it off: "I started in July 2010; ramping up results in November 2011 with (a four-week candida diet), and reached my goal in June 2012." She's maintained her weight for nine months.
Personal life: "My husband John and I live in Dunwoody, where I am an at-home mother of four children, ages eight, six, four and three. I grow a deck-top vegetable garden; work on wellness, farm-to-school and ecology programs at our local elementary school." Renals writes about sustainable living and sugar on her blog: http://retracingmysteps.blogspot.com/2012/02/sugar-blog-la-vita-e-dolce-abridged.html
Turning point: "In November 2011, I was frustrated to still be twenty pounds overweight, with my baby soon to be two years old," she says. "My current lifestyle wasn't changing my body." When a friend suggested a candida diet, Renals tried it. "For four weeks, I eliminated dairy (and) added sugar, refined grains and alcohol … in the first week of it, I behaved like I was in withdrawal. Because I have always eaten plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, I hadn't noticed how I had been over-feeding myself and catering to a sugar addiction, until I tried the diet and observed my emotional and physical reactions."
Diet plan: "I cook dinner most nights, usually serving one protein and two fresh vegetables; or one veggie and one intact grain like brown rice, quinoa, wheat berries or barley." Breakfast is oatmeal or eggs, bacon and fresh fruit or smoothies. Lunch is a turkey rollup or salad. "To keep the weight off I view dairy, sugar, refined grains and alcohol as one food group, which I eat only once a day, or less often."
Exercise routine: "I play racquetball once or twice a week," she says.
Biggest challenge: "My biggest challenge was getting through the first ten days," she says. "I was feeling so deprived, and moaning about how little I got to do for myself, that I finally realized I had been feeding something emotional."
How life has changed: "I am wearing clothes that haven't fit me for 15 years," she says. "My self-image has dramatically shifted. I had started to see myself as dowdy and worn, and now feel attractive and alive. My children too are better educated, reading labels to identify high-sugar foods … Within a week of changing my diet, I started to drop weight that I only then realized I hadn't thought I would ever lose. That was my greatest motivator. I could see it working. I realized I had been stuffing my body like a turkey, all the while thinking I was treating myself."
