I’ve been a huge fan of ‘good diets’ all my life, not really knowing what it actually meant. Like many, I fell mostly for marketed ‘superfoods’ and followed those. In parallel, as a child I worried I’d be bald by 21 with no one to marry; I suffered from hair fall issues, suffered from sinus most of my life, had mouth ulcers all year round all my life and suffered from bloating and fatigue. My body was screaming and showing signs that something was wrong. I blatantly chose to ignore it and continued with what I wanted – eating more sugar and snacking mindlessly all day. It was an addiction which I thought wasn’t so bad and wasn’t really hurting me. I thought of it as just little pricks but nothing major.
I come from India, from a community and a family that absolutely loves desserts – mostly the ones that are deep fried and soaked in sugar syrup – yes, the most delicious kinds. We celebrate with sweets, we support each other through their tough times with food and more sweets, we swallow our sadness or frustrations with desserts and we finish every meal with desserts. I had built in an addiction where I could not leave a box of sweets unfinished. It had hit its peak during the pandemic where I could finish a couple of boxes of Indian desserts in a day. It was a wake up call; a new low.
I was disgusted with myself. I couldn’t control myself anymore. I knew I needed help. I thought I needed some kind of rehab. I’m sure there aren’t any rehabs for mindless snacking and sugar addiction. Or are there?!! They say when the student is ready, the teacher arrives. I was ready and I came across Eric Edmeades’s the 90 Days Wildfit Program. Did a little bit of research and then decided to take a leap of faith and signed up. I signed up only to take control of my sugar addiction. Nothing else. I hadn’t thought of other pricks as issues at all.
Wildfit turned out to be a magical experience for me. Wildfit challenged many of my beliefs, did it in a gentle sustainable manner and provided me with a community to really get to the last mile of the program. There was that stubborn me holding on to 1-2 things that I needed to go past. I am proud of myself and grateful for the support I was provided through this program which has brought in long lasting changes through more awareness and actual tangible positive breakthroughs. I did it while I had a demanding job and a 5 yr old to single handedly manage. All I needed was the desire to make the change and access to a kitchen to get me started. I was also surprised to see and hear about the breakthroughs my fellow friends in the community were sharing, whose goals were different from mine. It was miraculous to see that change in others where they reversed chronic illnesses like obesity (losing 15-50 pounds!), type 2 diabetes, thyroid, arthritis and more by just being well nourished.
While my primary goal was sugar addiction, some of the visible and non-visible breakthroughs I experienced were: it’s soon going to be a year now and I haven’t had a single mouth ulcer!!!! It wasn’t even my goal. Food did what medicine couldn’t! I’m ecstatic about that. My daily bloating has disappeared unless I eat the food that actually isn’t working for me, of course. I’m listening to my body. I’m more aware. I lost 12 pounds in 3 months although it was a non-goal, I learnt to drink a lot more water (Don’t we all know it? But do we all do it?). I also love my kitchen more today because of the power I have over my own and family’s health to nourish them better.
The key to good health begins with nourishment; the key to improved health is when you layer exercise on an existing well nourished body. WildFit brought this clarity in my life and in my relationship with food – I am not counting calories anymore, not exercising until exhausting my body, I am not “afraid” of “if I eat this, I won’t be able to stop eating till I finish the whole box”. I can walk past an aisle of desserts and not feel compelled to buy or eat. At the same time, I am able to enjoy a moist chocolate cake with buttercream icing when I want. I have gained the food freedom I desired at the start of the program. I gained trust in my body and my choices. Now I know what nurturing the body really means from so many perspectives and the food confusion finally faded away. And truth being said: it’s not always just about the food. There were so many emotional/other triggers that affected my food choices. I’m a better me, a better spouse and a better mom around food choices, now that I know better.
love,
Smitha