PictureHiking at Snow Peak, OR. I'm in the middle.
    At last some time to tell you my (Lynette's) life story in food and fitness. Throughout my life I have had the chance or privilege to live life in poverty, lower middle class to upper middle class. As a child, my parents began with meager earnings and my mom was very adept at making good food from scratch and knowing how to get the most food for the money. Things were this way until I was in about 4th grade when my mom took on a full time job and our diet as a family experienced a change. In the early years of my life, my mom did the typical cooking from scratch that was revived in the 1970s. She made homemade bread, raisin bread, pancakes and waffles, occasionally eggs, chicken dishes and soups, pinto beans served in the bowl and made into sandwiches for school lunches. Our diet was rich in carbohydrates, low in proteins and fats. We ate roasted soy beans, sunflower seeds, salads, and fruits. From infancy to adolescence, I had eczema, being allergic to chocolate, eggs, mayonnaise, all tomato products (except pear tomatoes) and tomato plants, all melons, and watermelon would give me a rash from spores in the air, strawberries, and grasses. Life would be pure misery at times with the rashes that I would have breaking out all over my body. When I was really young I broke out on my face and torso. As I grew and entered grade school, it was on my arms, legs and neck.

Moving into the days that my mom entered the workforce in the mid 1970s, our family diet changed. We had more meats, more fruits and vegetables, and my mom no longer baked fresh bread but bought it at the bread store. In addition to that, occasional soda came into our home and we began having goodies like cookies in our lunches and more juices to drink. During this time many of my allergies faded and instead to having rashes all the time it moved to cracked and bleeding fingertips, another form of eczema which resulted in having to wrap my fingers in an ointment and saran wrap every night and sleeping with cotton gloves on my hands. During these years I used to trade a friend at school my lunch apple for her Hostess Ding Dongs, Snowballs, Twinkies, Zingers, and Fruit Pies. My friend's family drank more soda than milk, water or juice and they just did not eat fruit. I thought this was genius because I did not get goodies and she did not get fruit. This was my 5th grade year. Our family diet was quite American with pastas such macaroni and cheese and spaghetti, hamburgers, fish sticks, salads, fruits, juices, 2% milk and plenty of desserts that had been clearanced at the bread store.
PictureSummer 1984
    For my activity level as kid, I was quite the tomboy as I enjoyed nature, playing outside, building tree forts and other sorts of forts, and running around in the local fields picking blackberries in the summer and catching grasshoppers in fall. When I was little my dad would take us all rollerskating every Saturday morning. I rode my bicycle all over the place, walked to all the schools I attended unless it was storming, then my dad would give me a ride. We had a big backyard and we would play until dark all summer long with all the rest of the neighborhood kids enjoying games that required running: water fights, tag, crack the whip, leap frog, and hide and seek to name our favorites. I loved athletics and my dad has 8mm footage of me at 10 years old explaining how I was going to be a world class athlete when I grew up. I loved 6th grade when I could run faster than all the boys at school! In middle school I had a blast experimenting with track. I did the long jump, the 1500m, 400m, high jump, discus and even the shot put. In 8th grade I played soccer on a coed team and I was the one who made it coed! I played left fullback because I was left footed. When I entered high school I played soccer on the girls team for all 4 years and I enjoyed my sweeper/midfield position. I took Tap, Ballet and Jazz dance lessons after school. In winter we skied as a family. During the summers we water skied as a family and I swam at the local YWCA enjoying board diving and the fun of swimming without formal strokes. I also continued my dance studies all summer long. My main form of transportation was my bike to get to friends' houses, dance lessons, school, or if biking wasn't a good choice I would walk. I enjoyed jogging as well. I just loved being active.
PictureMy Senior year in high school 1984-85
    I just summed up my activity levels for my growing up years, but there is also an emotional side to my story. I am honestly not sure where my awareness of body image began. I developed at about the same time as the rest of my female classmates, but I had more volume than my peers which made me extremely self-conscious. I was receiving boy attention that was not something I wanted or expected. As my figure began to change, my younger brother began teasing me, calling me "runny butt" saying my butt was turning into my thigh. My parents did not stop this teasing, instead they would say the ditty: "sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me." My dad began to tease me as well at the beginning of high school and throughout those years. In 8th grade I reached my full height, 5'2" and I weighed in at about 135 pounds. I now out-weighed my 5'8" mom by over 20 pounds, but I could wear her clothes and they fit me, as long as it wasn't long pants or long sleeve blouses. The tease from my dad went: "Fatty, fatty two by four, couldn't fit through the bathroom door, you'll be so big that you will sit on your husband's lap and smother him." Needless to say, I had the feeling that I was enormously fat and ugly. The middle school boys nicknamed me "Ugly" so I had some issues going on internally because of relentless teasing and name-calling. I am sure that you have noticed the photos contained within this story. I do not believe I was fat, I only had that impression and belief because I am a trusting person who easily believes what others say.



PictureBoot Camp 1986, my best friend Sherrie Stokes
    I spent many months in high school working to lose weight and get smaller. For perspective, I had a 26 inch waist and during those years wore an 80s size 5. After graduation I lost about 10 pounds doing my normal summer routine. I don't know how I did it, I must have felt like the pressure to shrink was off so I did. I had already met my husband and during that summer (1985) Tim proposed to me. I think I felt I was just what I needed to be so the pressure was off. I didn't diet to get into my wedding dress, I didn't change anything about my person that I can remember. I just maintained. During the time that passed before our wedding, I joined the Air Force. Once gone to boot camp I lost another 10 pounds! My diet went through another transformation. My carbohydrates dropped by more than half and my protein increased over double. Breakfast became deep fried shrimp and sausage instead of cereal. Lunch became steak, veal, or fish with veggies and a dessert instead of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Dinner was very much like lunch. I was less active at boot camp than my life activity prior to leaving. During that year my weight set in at about 121 pounds. I was still an 80s size 5.
PictureFebruary 1987, in Hawaii
    Tim and I married in June 1986. We were under the same roof for about 90 days of our first year because Tim was in the Coast Guard and I was active duty with the Air Force until December when I moved to my Reserve status. The Coast Guard sent Tim to a number of different schools in that first year and I had extra flight training and hours to complete my training for a Flight Medic. Tim began cycling to pass the time away. When I moved home, or moved in at last, we purchased a new bike for me, a Bridgestone 250. My Bridgestone weighed half as much as my Schwinn. I became hooked! I loved riding and the thrill of gaining strength and getting faster as I attempted to keep pace with Tim. He knew how to help me get stronger and faster and I was up for it! I worked part time and so I had time for training. I rode about 120 miles a week. My waist shrunk 2 inches to 24" and I was wearing an 80s size 3. After 9 months of serious riding and doing a couple Category 4 races, I got pregnant with our first child in August of 1987. The doctor gave me heart rate restrictions that I complied with. I won my last race 3 months pregnant. I was able to ride until the end of my 8th month and at that point, I just couldn't lean over and reach the handlebars anymore. I had to trade riding for walking. I was back on my bike 3 weeks postpartum (after delivering). After a few months we purchased a Burley Trailer and helmet for our son and I started riding all over the place again with a trailer in tow. Sometimes Tim and I would ride together and he would pull the trailer. I enjoyed the freedom of being able to get out on the road again.
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Winning the Tour de Coast Bike Race, 3 months pregnant, 1987.
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My last week of pregnancy with our first.
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     During my pregnancy I gained 40 pounds and my waist went from 24 inches to 46 inches. After delivery I had lost 20 pounds within 3 days. By riding I was able to get my weight down to 128 pounds, low enough to avoid being put on the "Fat Boy Program" with the Air Force Reserves. I had to buy a new wardrobe because my waist didn't go back very well, although all my military uniforms still fit me. Life was pretty good, but I had gone back to eating cereal for breakfast, canned soups, macaroni and cheese, hotdogs, spaghetti, top ramen, and many different canned items. We still enjoyed fruits and salads, but my carbs were quite high again as when I was growing up. It seems we default to those years growing up for comfort or convenience as life begins to get busy with kids. I got pregnant again in October of 1989. With our diet remaining the same and without riding my bicycle, I again gained 40 pounds and had a 46 inch waist. After having our daughter, it was no longer easy to exercise and my weight did not come off the same way as the first time. I struggled to get down to 128 again, but I couldn't seem to lose that last 20! After about 2 years of struggling and feeling like a fat blob and a failure at looking trim, I resorted to a diet, SlimFast. I lost 21 pounds and shrunk down to a size 7. I was happy. Well, as most of these diets go, it was a short lived shrink! I was up again in 6 month's time. In January of 1993, I found out I was pregnant with our third child. With our diets high in carbohydrates, low in fats and moderate with proteins I gained 42 pounds this pregnancy topping the scales on my delivery date at 185 pounds! That third baby does the belly in, I was 47.5 inches around at the navel!
Picture Near delivery of our 4th, 195 lbs.
    After the birth of our son in September of 1993, I convinced Tim to purchase a TV (that's right, we did not have a TV) so I could do work out videos at home because we could not afford a gym membership and Tim worked very long days, so I did not have a chance to get out and the Burley Trailer would not hold 3 kids. This was the era of "Buns of Steel" and "Abs of Steel" and the invention of the stair stepper. We purchased a TV and I worked out for an hour every day to these lovely videos. It felt like I was at least doing something to try and get my weight down. While nursing my babies, my weight stayed up until after I was done. A month after weaning our third, I found out I was pregnant again. This time I purchased a pregnancy work out video and did this workout for the duration of my pregnancy. This time I topped the scales at 195 pounds on delivery day with a waist size of 47.5 inches. I remember thinking, thank God I'm not over 200 pounds! When our fourth child was born, we knew he would be the last for us. After this delivery, my weight did not come off. I was desperate for relief and stopped nursing after 3 months so I could do something about my weight. I started running with a girlfriend at 5 am in the morning, even in the dark of winter. This paid off, I shrunk down to a size 10 with a 28 inch waist. I then started doing video workouts in addition to running.



PictureRunning results, 25 miles a week
    During this running season I began to really look at our diet. I was so desperate to be thin again so I went low fat and tried to follow all the healthy eating guidelines for the day in 1995. Drinking low fat milk, having 9-11 servings of grains, 5 servings of fruits and vegetables and keeping the fats very low. I also practiced calorie counting. When my friend had to stop running, I did too. I could not run alone in the dark. My weight ballooned! Before I knew it, I was 170 pounds! Let me tell you how this happened. My mom was big into healthy eating during this time after I stopped running. She shared with me the new way of eating whole grains and organic foods. I began eating whole grains and making home made bread, cereals, waffles, pancakes and our carbohydrates were at an all time high and so was my weight. After eating this new way for a month, I had gained 20 pounds! That's when I hit 170 lbs. So I decide to throw out this idea of whole grains and lost those 20 pounds over the course of about a year. During this time I felt like such a failure. I felt ugly and unattractive. I started to slide towards depression because I was afraid that I was no longer attractive to my husband and that he would find someone else and leave me with 4 kids. I thought this because Tim grew up as a "Navy Brat" and spent his growing up years around Navy wives that tend to be very heavy. He made me promise him that I would not get fat, and of course I did. This weighed on me constantly, here I was fat and I was trying so hard to be un-fat. I was out of resources, I had tried everything I knew, and I was feeling resigned to live in a fat body as a trapped skinny person. I had moments of longing for my kids to be bigger so maybe I could do something athletic again. This was a very dark season for me that was complicated by financial pressures and long work hours for Tim that sometimes ran all night long. Our life recipe was reinforcing my trapped and rejected feelings.

PictureThe dark season, 170 lbs.
    Then came another idea, the new diet book of the hour in my Christian circles was "Weigh Down" that focused on eating for enjoyment and not overindulgence. It helped a person get in touch with why they are eating and how they eat. I read the book looking for my flaw and my wrong feelings around food. I found out that I didn't really enjoy eating, I only ate to live and when I did overindulge, it was usually that time of the month setting in and once it was over, so was the excess. I did lose 5 pounds, but that was all my body would give up during that year. I really could not relate to the issues in the book. I heard about this book from a friend who lost 40 pounds because of how it changed her inside, I thought I must have the same issues, so it would work for me. Now I was resigned to just having to accept my fat and the possible loss of my husband because I couldn't keep my promise. I was again out of ideas and resources at this time.

PictureLearning to play ice hockey @ 165 lbs.
 It was in 1999 when my mom on her health quest began exploring detoxing the liver and the colon. Information was mounting about candida (yeast overgrowth in the intestines) and parasites. Still desperate for change, I started looking into this and thought this MUST be why I cannot lose weight, its parasites! As I began this cleansing process, a friend with diabetes gave me a book called "Eat Right For Your Blood Type." I was on a liver and parasite cleansing regimen that was really strict, but I was determined to rid myself of these things if I had them. The diet allowed no carbohydrates because that is the food of parasites. I lost 15 pounds in 2 weeks. I was not feeling really great because the eating schedule with the timing of the herbal supplements was so regimented that I felt hungry all the time. I was reading the blood type book in conjunction with the cleanse. I was determined to begin the blood type diet as I finished this cleansing program. I am blood type O, so I needed a diet without grains except for rice, and a diet high in proteins, especially red meats. In addition to foods to avoid and foods to benefit, there is an exercise program that is different for each blood type and mine happens to be the over the top super aerobic kind. I changed our family diet and started running again. I ran about 35 miles a week. I was clicking off 8 minute miles and my weight dropped down to 135 lbs. As a family, we ice skated every weekend, played soccer together, swam in our pool and I became an avid gardener. Finally, success!
PictureFitness and food restrictions during Meniere's
    Another event happened during this time. We purchased a home in February 2000. In July of 2000 I was diagnosed with Meniere's Ear Syndrome. This is a syndrome that can end in total deafness. The symptoms are vertigo, tinnitus and hearing loss. It was as if I had a vacuum cleaner in my head and for weeks, and I had to hold the railings and walls to keep from losing my balance. The ear specialist explained to me that my weight must be the same every day because this required body water management. I was supposed to exercise every day and limit my salt intake to 1000 mg per day. This was another emotionally dark season as I tried to process the depth of my circumstances. I could not grasp the idea of being unable to hear Tim say he loved me, or not hearing the voices of my kids as they talked to me. There were no restaurants I could eat at, my food was super limited because of the salt restrictions and I became very determined to make sure I ran every day possible. I became obsessed with protecting my hearing and complying with the doctor's recommendations. In December 2000, Tim told me to make an appointment to see the ear specialist, my personality was changing and he was worried about me because something was not right. When we saw the doctor, he was shocked that I was adhering to the the 1000 mg per day restriction. The doctor figured if he told me 1000 mg I would end up being under 3000 mg, which was the actual number but he made it smaller to ensure that I would make it since all his other patients could not successfully do 3000 mg. With more salt in my diet I got back on an even keel again.


PictureTaking a break from the fitness and food pressure
    In July of 2002 I attended a healing conference in Toronto, Canada. I had not had any symptoms of Meniere's Ear Syndrome for months, but that is how it goes. It is like a time bomb waiting for an episode that will take hearing away. My hearing was showing a loss as of my last visit to the ear doctor. During this conference I was touched mightily by God. When I returned home I scheduled an appointment with the ear specialist. My hearing was not only fine, it was better than normal! The doctor said I was in remission. After a year of this regimented lifestyle and all the pressure associated with forcing myself onto a restricted diet and strict exercise routine, I was ready for a break. I stopped running and enjoyed some of my favorite foods again like pizza with root beer. Within 9 months our whole family put on weight and I put on 20 pounds in no time. At this point I just gave up and settled to be 145 pounds. I had lived both sides of the fitness and diet coin and I was done trying and worn out from the pressures of forcing food with multiple eating plans in the the same house and forcing myself in fitness even when I did not feel well.

PictureClimate change = 165 lbs.
     I remained at about 145 lbs. until we moved from Western Washington State to Redding, California. The climate change from wet and cool to dry and super hot caused me to gain 20 pounds in two months! It was also during this time that money became very tight. We had our days of poverty. This means that we had to eat cheap. We were eating macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, top ramen, hotdogs, cheap chicken and hamburger and lots of bread items. We would have loved to eat our meaty diets from before, but it just was not in the budget. These were such lean times for us and I again was stressed over my size and weight. I tried to get a fitness plan together, but the temperatures made me ill. I could only swim and then the rains came and there was nothing I could do for fitness. I became a massage therapist after our move and started working with two chiropractors, a husband and wife team. We talked a lot about the climate affects on people moving into this area. They became part of the raw foods movement and we launched wellness programs from the office. I tried eating raw foods for a week and became too weak for my liking, so I returned to my normal diet.
PictureAfter 2 rounds of HCG treatments
     By this time in my life, I was beginning to feel resigned to being large and just get on with living, but I just could not do that. I wanted to be normal again, but was it possible? I had already tried so many different diets and plans and the doctors found nothing wrong my me medically, I just thought I was stuck with it, so I had better find a way to be happy. I kept attempting to gain a fitness outlet by joining a couple different gyms, but my life was too full of my family and school. I just could not get it together. In 2008, while I was working with another chiropractor, he and his wife began a wellness program for weight loss that was hormonally based. His wife had lost a good deal of weight and he was thinning out. This is the HCG diet that uses pregnancy hormone along with caloric intake restrictions and no fats to force the body to use its fat stores. I read up on this diet and decided that since it had been used for so many years with great results, and I understood the physiology behind it, that I should try it. It was designed to shed your fat quickly and then there was a weight setting regimen that sets your new weight into your body's memory and that is where you are to stay even when you return to normal eating. It worked! I lost 24 lbs. in my first 40 day round and then 3 months later I did my second round. I lost 42 lbs.with both rounds. I could fit clothing from high school and my military uniforms. I was so excited! I finally felt free again. At this time I was driving 400 miles per week to get me to college classes and my kids to their schools and events. I had to take my lunches and snacks with me so I did not have to drive so much or eat out. We decided to switch to all organic foods. So I packed my organic peanut butter or almond butter and honey sandwich, organic fruits and water, and off I went. In one semester I put all 40 lbs. back on! Foiled again!
Picture1 month prior to starting metabolic ketosis
    By this time I knew that my thyroid was fine and I was not diabetic. I knew that the blood type diet worked for me, but I still was not able to handle the heat in order to have a fitness plan. I had a gym membership and the machines like the elliptical trainers, stair steppers, and treadmills all created body problems and pain. They do not work like nature so I stopped using those machines. I decided to just cut the carbohydrates deeply and I lost back down to 145 lbs. I also discovered on my own that my water balance was not right, but did not know how to fix it. I could fluctuate 10 pounds a month by changing nothing! I would go up, and then down, up and then down. In 2011, Tim started to be concerned about his weight and his bulky looks and began investigating information that was out there by hunting down research. We settled into eating low carb, just getting the grains way down. We still had cereal occasionally, ate bread a few times per week. We ate rice and quinoa during the winter months especially. My weight settled down to 145 and Tim's weight began to drop. After 2 years I was still doing a 6 pound bounce, and it could be in one or two days, but I was sticking to 145 and Tim felt that his weight loss was stuck. After 1 year of low carb eating we purchased new bicycles to replace our ancient 1980s bikes. We began riding again in a serious fashion in July 2012. I rode quite a bit until January when my work and finishing my master's degree did not allow me the time to ride. I graduated with my Master's in Education in May 2013 and was ready to get in the saddle! Tim stayed consistent and rode a great deal and completed a couple centuries (100 mile rides) during my recess from riding. He was just not happy with his physique after all the time in the saddle. He started looking into performance improvement strategies when he came across Dr. Atia and metabolic ketosis (running on fats). To our surprise, this way of life had been out for over 30 years!
Picture"As you wish..."
    After examining research and revisiting my physiology and anatomy textbooks, we believed this was finally our answer to help us gain strength and trim off the fat that was on our bodies. We dove in! Tim lost 10 pounds really quick. However, my body was not that willing to shed pounds, but I lost inches! I dropped 4-5 pounds in 12 weeks but lost 3 pant sizes! I'm now down about 8-9 lbs. and will soon need another size smaller. Every ride on my bike I feel stronger. This time has been about regaining strength and endurance. My bounce is down to about 1-2 pounds in a day. My water balance is feeling normal. I spent the summer doing heat acclimation that was very icky. I had to keep going out in the heat for a ride in order for my body to get the signal. This resulted in massive swelling of my hands and feet. My feet swelled up so much there was very painful pressure from the restriction of my riding shoes. After 2 months of this I can handle a ride at 95* F. That's enough for me to be able to find time when its cooler to ride early in the morning during the summer. I am getting stronger and faster on the bike. I feel good when I work out and my fat is coming off even though the scales are not moving down fast enough for my liking. My physique is changing and I am pleased. Tim and I believe that this will be our way of life until we are gone. As a result of our personal progress, and all the questions our friends and family have, we created this blog and website. We truly hope that my journey will bring hope and light to your life. I am finally free, I am no longer stuck, trapped and fat. I feel strong and beautiful again. I know it sounds short-term at this moment nearly 5 months into this lifestyle, but the way we feel physically is so very different from anything in the past and our performance on our bikes is astounding to us and it just keeps improving, we are convinced that this will serve us well into our 100's.