THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS

Melissa Weise of Otterbein, Ind., is a truly dedicated mother of six who steadily watched her health decline after having children. At a time in life when she should have been vigilant about her own health and vitality, she understandably, like many moms, let it slip as her children became the focus. Many health issues began to surface, including clinical obesity and metabolic syndrome, sleeplessness, hypothyroidism, low energy, adult acne, carpel tunnel syndrome, frequent migraines, and fierce food cravings.

Melissa had tried “every diet out there,” but she could never succeed at controlling her weight over the long-term. After reading a success story about my nutrition program in Amazing Wellness, she decided to attend one of my Total Transformation retreats in the mountains near Asheville, N.C.—with some trepidation.

“I’m a very picky eater and figured I probably wouldn’t like the food,” says Melissa. “But from Kat’s first ‘low-impact’ (referring to blood sugar impact) meal, I was amazed at the taste. Surely, such rich, flavorful food would make me gain weight!”

A few days into the program, however, Melissa was convinced that this was something different. “For the first two days, my body felt a little strange, eating more fat, and no grains or other foods that were spiking my blood sugar. Certain fruits were even off limits for me. But soon, I began to notice that I was less and less hungry when it was time to eat, even though the food was mouth-watering and Kat forbade us to restrict our portions of the low-impact food she served.

“As day three rolled around, my former cravings were completely gone,” continues Melissa. “I felt clear hunger only when it was time to eat. No grazing, no obsessing over cookies and cakes. The food, plus the change in my biochemistry, as Kat puts it, seemed to slow down my rate of eating. Toward the end of the five days, I could eat only just a few bites of things—it’s so strange to love the taste of something and yet not want to keep eating.”

And that change in her eating habits lasted after Melissa left. “On my 11-hour drive home, I didn’t feel the slightest need to stop for soda or snacks,” she says. “I ate foods left over from the program, and my head was so clear and my body so content that I drove straight through. I couldn’t believe how I felt.”

Lasting Effects

When Melissa got home, she was stunned when she saw the number on the scale. “I had actually lost several pounds by eating totally decadent food until I was full,” she remembers (she has lost a total of 52 pounds as of this writing). “Also, I’d suffered with carpel tunnel syndrome for about three years before the program, and noticed after just two weeks that the pain was gone. Then the migraines all but stopped and my skin started to clear.”

Melissa recently visited her doctor, and that’s when her substantial health changes became evident. “My nurse practitioner reviewed my test results and was amazed that all of my major problems had resolved,” she says.

Melissa’s nurse practitioner, Randee Miller, MSN, APRN, BC, confirmed in an email that Melissa’s metabolic syndrome, migraines, high blood pressure, liver function, and many other problems had been largely resolved. Even her TPO—an enzyme that’s elevated when the thyroid is under autoimmune attack—had reduced dramatically.

Of course, resolving her health issues has been a great relief to Melissa, but she is even more excited about the comments she gets from family and friends. “People guess that I’m in my 20s, and I’m in my 40s,” she says. “I’ve gone down several sizes and have tons of energy now. I never get sick anymore—as a mother of six you’re exposed to a lot of germs, so that says a lot! I even get compliments on my skin, which was dappled with acne before the program. My skin has cleared and changed so much that I can’t even believe it.

“Everybody asks, ‘Is it hard to do?’ And my answer must be the hardest part for them to understand. It has actually been easy.”

Melissa’s Mantras

Make all my low-impact foods ahead of time to freeze. (See recipes in Kat’s book, The Truth About Beauty.)

Make sure to eat before going to special events where the food might not be low-impact.

“I never skip my supplements. Kat says this is one of the reasons I have had such a ‘total transformation!’”

Stay stocked up on all my best foods and supplements. “Like Kat says, it’s not about willpower anymore. It’s about easy access to all the good things.”

DR. VENESSA’S FORMULAS
Thyroid Balance is clinically formulated with vitamins, minerals, and herbs shown to help regulate metabolism and to counteract the symptoms of hyper- or hypothyroidism including weight gain.

RENEW LIFE Ultimate Flora Critical Care 50 Billion guarantees 30 billion Bifidobacteria and 20 billion Lactobacilli and Lactococcus cultures in delayed-release, enteric-coated vegetarian capsules.

PARADISE HERBS AND ESSENTIALS Holy Basil with lotus and bacopa is a synergistic blend formulated without isolating, fractionizing, or using toxic solvents to ensure active levels of key herbal constituents.

KAL Beyond Vitex is just that—vitex (chaste tree extract) plus a fantastic blend of key vitamins; minerals; and herbal extracts including licorice, dong quai, and St. John’s wort.

THE VITAMIN SHOPPE Relora helps control appetite and ease tension with a blend of herbal extracts including Magnolia officinalis and Phellodendron amurense.