My name is Sarah Ballantyne. I am the blogger behind the award-winning website www.ThePaleoMom.com, co-host of the top-rated and syndicated The Paleo View podcast, and New York Times Bestselling author of The Paleo Approach, The Paleo Approach Cookbook, and The Healing Kitchen. I consider myself a health educator and advocate. My “credentials” lie in three areas. First, I have a Ph.D. in Medical Biophysics and performed award-winning medical research in the area of innate immunity and inflammation. (You can read more about my academic background here) Second, I am a wife and mother and face the typical challenges that Paleo families navigate. Third, I have had a longstanding personal battle with weight and disease.
This is my story.
My 120 Pound Journey To Paleo
I did not use a Paleo diet to lose 120 pounds. Instead, I lost the first 100 pounds after a standard low-carbohydrate diet. In fact, I lost those 100 pounds two times. Despite working so hard to lose weight, depriving me of the food I craved and getting crazy amounts of exercise, I was not healthy. Even though I looked better on the outside, I was getting sicker and sicker ... until I found Paleo. I lost the last 20 pounds after a Paleo diet; But most importantly, I regained my health and successfully maintained my weight loss for over five years.
They bothered me for being chubby in elementary school, though I was just a tall, sturdy kid. It was not until early middle school that I really started to gain weight. I thought it was my fault, but the math does not add up. I was very active, walking a mile and a half to and from the school bus stop every day, riding my bicycle around the neighborhood at night and for hours on weekends, going on frequent family walks and hiking and taking swimming lessons . My diet growing could not have been gluten or Paleo free, but my mom believed in butter, our dairy was fed with grass, our eggs came from a local farm, and we ate almost entirely whole raw foods, ocean fresh, wild edible , And the vegetables that grew in our garden. I thought the reason I was gaining weight when the other kids around me were not, was because of the occasional ice cream sandwich bought at the school canteen. I thought it was because if I found a room on the floor, I would use it to buy 5-cent bucket rubber bears at the corner store on my way home. Although I was not definitely diagnosed until decades later, these were the first symptoms of Hashimoto's thyroiditis. I had other symptoms too: chronic fatigue (I slept on bus two and school and in the car no matter how short the car, I voluntarily went to bed at 8:30 pm, even in high school, and Routinely slept 15-16 hours on weekends), dry skin, brittle nails, thin hair, headaches, mild depression (though, keep in mind that he was a teenager, and not popular), and a digestive system that The best case scenario could be described as slow.
It was my attempts to lose weight by following the wisdom of the late eighties diet (low-fat, high-carbohydrate, restricted-calorie) that really made me in. I felt constantly private while my yo-yo'ed weight Up and down Overall, I gained 10-30 pounds per year throughout my teenage years until I became morbidly obese in my early twenties at 265 pounds (I'm a bit shy of 5'6 "). And, I was miserable. I remember I felt so left out when my friends would go for the group races together (and they did not even bother to ask me) I remember having gotten one bruising on my back just trying to maneuver out of the back seat of a jeep when someone was nice enough to take me for a ride.
Obesity was not my only health problem. Psoriasis and eczema began in the middle of my teenage years. When I turned twenty, I suffered frequent migraines, and for two years I stopped drinking coffee because of suspected gallbladder problems. I have frequent colds, especially during the week of the exam. I had fairly severe acne (although not bad enough for my doctor to recommend Accutane). I suffered from chronic constipation and was tired all the time.
I was introduced first to the concept of low carb diets in the summer of 1999 when I was 22 years old. It worked very well for me, and over the course of about a year, I lost 100 pounds. Celebrating my newly discovered waist, I became very active, taking marathon running, which involved 14-16 hours of running every week, and karate. Although I always wanted to lose 30 pounds more, I thought I was healthy. However, I was evaluating my health using only my weight and activity level as the metric.
I continued to develop more and more health conditions, which at that time seemed to be unrelated. At age 25, I suffered from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), acid reflux, frequent migraines, anxiety and mild depression, allergies, eczema, scalp psoriasis, chronic colds, and streptococci, and I began to suffer from a skin disease Autoimmune called lichen planus. At that time, I blamed the stress of graduate school and my weak genetics. He used to joke that the only reason he was alive was for the miracles of modern medicine. Little did I understand at that time what the damaging effects of my modern diet (combined with high stress, excessive exercise, and genetic susceptibility) were, causing a cascade of increasing inflammation, hormonal dysregulation, and autoimmunity.
I had a major health crisis in the summer of 2002. The onset of severe asthma adults robbed me of my active lifestyle. My lungs became extremely reactive and the inflammation was so severe that I was coughing up blood. Practically overnight, I became an obligatory apartment, put on extremely high doses of inhaled and oral steroids, and my whole world collapsed. Uncontrolled weight gain is a side effect of oral steroids and I have gained 50 pounds in the first 6 weeks on them. I ended up suffering from severe depression and returning to bad eating habits (lots of sugar and bingeing habits). I gained the other 50 pounds (which had worked so hard to lose) more slowly over the next year. I married in that year and weighed 235 pounds at my wedding, which was absolutely overwhelming for my spirit.
I was in so much denial about my weight that I postponed purchases for a wedding dress until 2 weeks before the wedding. My wedding dress was a size 26 (to be fair, I think it only wore oversize 18-20 at the time). I think this photo is much more interesting than the photos of my royal wedding due to my facial expression. That's the dress I ended up buying, it was very flattering. But in my face, you can see the conflict, how to break the heart that was to have been much thinner just months before and be looking in the mirror at an obese woman. Our wedding was beautiful; But, I have kept my dress in the hopes of someday having it completely redone for a smaller me to renew our vows.
He was cycling among the low-carb binges and out of control, going from time to time to the whey protein of ketogenic + fats of flax oil. Nothing worked, nothing was sustainable, and I was miserable. I was defeated and I gave up trying.
Twice during my 20s, I had low thyroid hormone levels appear in blood work. But, because my TSH level (thyroid stimulating hormone) remained normal, no additional testing or follow-up was performed. I think it is likely that many of my conditions were secondary to Hashimoto's thyroiditis (diagnosed years later) and that this health crisis was rooted in an autoimmune rash.
I continued to gain weight, striking my heaviest at age 28. At this point, I was a postdoctoral fellow at a very high profile research lab in Toronto, Ontario, doing innovative medical research and working 80-100 hours weekly. I stopped weighing myself at 265 pounds and assumed that I gained 15-25 pounds more after that based on the fact that I climbed two sizes of whole clothing. I think I was pushing 300 pounds at my eldest, but I'll never know for sure. I was wearing size 26 clothes. I was very unhappy. I dyed crazy-colored hair to compensate for low self-esteem. I started to avoid the cameras and there are very few pictures of me for a period of 5 years. I had migraines, IBS, acid reflux, chronic colds, asthma, allergies, lichen planus, eczema, anxiety, depression, carpal tunnel syndrome, early arthritis, stenosis tenosynovitis, high blood pressure limit, high triglycerides and limit and high insulin levels . I had developed the binge eating disorder.
I lost some weight when we moved to the United States in 2005 when I was 29 years old. The slower pace of my second postdoctoral fellowship was very restorative. I was 255 pounds when I got pregnant with our first daughter. I had gestational diabetes during pregnancy. Among the dietary limitations imposed on me and the pregnancy-induced changes to my appetite, I lost 2 pounds in total during my pregnancy. Even still, it was not until I was about 7.5 months pregnant that I could really say without a doubt that I was actually pregnant and not just overweight. The birth of my daughter was long (labor was 97 hours) and complicated. We avoided an emergency C-section per minute (and just because we had an amazing midwife). After our daughter was born, I was too exhausted to do much more than survive (oh colic!), But I kept my weight constant around 230 pounds. And aside from some new allergies, my list of diagnosed health problems remained stable. I took six different prescription drugs on a regular basis, plus many non-prescription drugs and supplements.
Shortly after my daughter's first birthday in early 2008 (when I was 31), I noticed a familiar feeling of dizziness after eating. I still had my glucometer and supplies of evidence left over from the management of gestational diabetes. So I tried my blood sugar. It was 200, high enough to qualify me as pre-diabetic and on the cusp of type 2 diabetes. I never went to a doctor about it because I was too embarrassed. Fear now motivated me to follow a strict diet low in carb and me once again succeeded in losing weight. For a year, I dropped back to 165 pounds, which is when I became pregnant with my second daughter. I had a much healthier pregnancy, no gestational diabetes, and no blood pressure problems despite having gained 60 pounds during this pregnancy, although I developed some quite dramatic varicose veins. I also had a much easier delivery and delivery (yes, I call 20 hours with Pitocin and no easier drugs).
None of my daughters were sleepers (for different physiological reasons you can learn more here, and not a reflection of my parenting style). I fought to lose weight after my second daughter was born, but I managed to lose most of the weight of the pregnancy by getting back to my low carb. I was lighter, my blood pressure and cardiovascular risk factors were normal and pre-diabetes had disappeared; But it was still plagued with IBS, acid reflux, migraines, stress and anxiety, asthma, allergies, eczema, psoriasis, lichen planus, chronic colds, daily joint pain and low energy. In fact, by any other metric not related to the metabolic syndrome, health was deteriorating.
There was nothing special about the day that changed my approach to health. My youngest daughter was 1.5 years old and I was sitting in her bedroom watching her play. It was summer, out of 90F, and I wore pants and long sleeves because eczema and lichen planus injuries were so bad on my arms and legs. Having skin conditions felt similar to being obese to me, as I wore a visible plaque for everyone to see who shouted: "I am not healthy". I had a headache, my joints were sore, and I had been struggling with depression. And in one thought, everything changed: "Being thin is not the same as being healthy. I want to be healthy and I need to figure out how to do it." Until that time, my only indicator of my health had been my weight and my waistline. But, I had tried myself over and over again that weight loss did not make me healthy. Learning that eczema is related to gluten sensitivities, I started researching dietary changes that might help. That's when I found Paleo.
Finding Paleo
My initial reaction to the list of foods eliminated in the Paleo diet was that this diet was completely insane! But, some science articles on the internet looked at my interest enough for me to continue reading. And the more I read, the more puzzled I became. I read everything I could put in my hands throughout the summer until I was finally convinced that this was something I needed to try.
I "was Paleo" on August 31, 2011, planning a one-up Robb Wolf "try it for 30 days" and commit to a total of three months of this nutritional template. It was no more difficult than following the low carb diets had been in the past. But, Paleo did something that low-carb had never done: I saw dramatic improvements in the symptoms of the disease.
My symptoms of IBS and acid reflux disappeared. I stopped having migraines. My state of mind and my ability to cope with life were greatly improved. I was in less pain. My energy increased. I slept better. My asthma and allergies subsided. My acne and my eczema began to clear. My immune system seemed stronger and I no longer have every cold my children brought home. Within two weeks of following the Paleo diet, I was able to stop taking all my prescription medications, some of which I had been taking for 12 years. I also lost 20 more pounds in two months.
I became a fanatic.
Not only did my experience make me a firm believer in the therapeutic potential of the right foods, but it completely changed my perspective on diet. I no longer saw foods as calories and grams of carbohydrates, but now I started paying attention to micronutrients. I started thinking about nourishing my body instead of just giving it energy. And I saw food as something that could make me healthier rather than something that could make me fat or thin, depending on my options. And I began to understand the importance of lifestyle factors as well.
And, best of all, he was discovering the scientific basis for Paleo's staff. It was not madness that dissolved under scientific scrutiny. It was not even a historical recreation based on our understanding of the diets of Paleolithic man. The principles of the Paleo diet and lifestyle are each supported by physiology, cell and molecular biology, and nutritional sciences. I was needing out!
I could not stop talking about Paleo, my friends, my family, my husband, my hairdresser, my dental hygienist ... I needed an outlet for my enthusiasm, so that just two months after the adoption of The Paleo diet, I had the idea to start a blog. It would be a place to share the recipe creations I was presenting at home, a place to talk about the science that supports this way of life, a place to share my experiences and a mechanism to help others discover solutions to their problems. Health Problems Around the same time that I launched this website, I talked with my husband to consent to having the whole family move to Paleo. As I jumped with both feet, my husband and two daughters made a slow transition for six months. It made a difference in the health of each of my daughters; You can read more about his story here.
The popularity of my site skyrocketed and within ten months, I was offered the opportunity to write my first book. Paleo became something more than a way of life, it became my mission.
During my first year of monitoring the Paleo template, I continued to refine my approach. I adopted the Autoimmune Protocol to help resolve my lichen planus that did not improve with the standard Paleo. I became a nutrient seeker and discovered local farmers. Two years after adopting the Paleo diet, I took CrossFit. At the same time, I sought the expertise of a functional medicine specialist who was finally able to provide me with a diagnosis of Hashimoto's thyroiditis and has helped me continue to refine and solve problems as I face new health challenges related to a growing high Power as an author, blogger, health expert, and public figure. I found my voice in providing accessible explanations of the science concepts behind the Paleo diet in my books and websites. I fused a long-standing passion for scientific literacy with one to improve public health. I found who I was meant to be.
My metrics for evaluating my health have changed. I no longer look at the number on the scale or on my clothing labels as my only method to evaluate my health. Now, I consider my energy levels, how well I sleep, my moods, how much I enjoy the activity and how well I perform in the gym, how productive I am at work, how easy I laugh, how I feel when I leave Bed in the morning, the quality of my skin and hair, and how to handle stressful events all as criteria. I look at food to provide the raw materials that every chemical reaction inside every cell needs. I look at the roles that sleep, activity, and stress play in the hormone, neurotransmitter, and immune regulation. I consider the health of my intestinal microbiota and choose the foods that best nourish them besides me.
I used to joke that I would be dead at least 100 times were it not for the miracles of modern medicine. But in reflecting on the health conditions I suffered, I now see the links between them. I see clearly the linear progression of a pathology. I see Hashimoto's thyroiditis at the root of all my health struggles, my gut getting leakier, my body becoming more inflamed, my hormones becoming increasingly unregulated and new autoantibodies forming leads to new autoimmune diagnoses. Everything seems connected. And the Paleo template has been my solution.
I do not regret growing up with chronic diseases. Feeling tired and lousy all the time forced me to develop an incredible work ethic and the ambition that drives my current success. My experiences of being bullied, having low self-esteem, and messy eating provide compassion and context for the resources I believe. And the juxtaposition between the minimum and maximum of my health motivates me to create the best educational resources for public health. My medical research background forms the basis of how I approach the principles of the Paleo template. My passion for science and scientific literacy is all I do. My enjoyment of cuisine and food fuel a sustainable and balanced approach to this template. My love for my daughters and my deep appreciation for my family help me look forward, focusing on health and well-being in the long run. It is the sum of my experiences that have made me who I am and led me to become the Paleo Mom.
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