Ok, my friend Daniella may not be a rockstar, but in my eyes, she's solid gold, over the moon, cue the fireworks and explosions, bring out the grand podium, SHAZAM status. Daniella lost over 150 lbs, without a lap band procedure, without a magic pill, and without being split open and sucked out (and by that, I mean lipo.) To those people who do take those measures, more power to ya. I think it's great that you took the initiative to get healthier, no matter what measures you took. But, I really want to take the time out today to talk about Daniella because of her amazing courage and willpower to change her entire lifestyle, slowly and painstakingly, and become healthier and happier.
I asked Daniella if she would answer some questions I had, sort of like an interview, so that my readers (if y'all are not a figment of my imagination) would see a different side of losing weight and getting healthier. Everyone is different, and different methods work for different people. My boyfriend didn't touch a stick of celery (or any other ruffage) when he lost 70 lbs. I, on the other hand, was scarfing down fiber like I'd never see it again. So I wanted to get Daniella's input, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were some similarities and some differences. Enjoy!
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CUE INTERVIEW: First of all, what prompted you to lose the weight?
I was so tired of everything spiraling out of control. My job, personal life, and health – I felt trapped with no way out. Many of the job and personal circumstances were beyond my control, but my health was something that I couldn’t afford to leave in the “capable” hands of the medical professionals in this country. I was prescribed so many medications for a wide variety of chronic conditions and health problems, yet no one knew what was wrong with me. When it got to the point where FOUR different specialists wanted a sample of my bone marrow, I couldn’t take it anymore and began researching cell detoxification and natural remedies. Eventually I found a naturopath whose practice was close to my residence, and after one telephone conversation with this woman who had never even seen my face, I knew I wasn’t crazy and that there’s something fundamentally wrong with the “healthcare” system – not with me. Once the notion of being able to shed the weight and change my body from the inside out began to register with me, I started seeing possibilities rather than the limitations I allowed everyone to place on me my whole life – “oh you’re just big, it runs in your family” and “that’s your genetic makeup, but you’ll be healthy because your mother/grandmother is too” etc.
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| Daniella's "before" picture |
There was no initial weight goal, because for me, the weight loss happened as a result of overhauling my body from the inside out, and consequently, my lifestyle and life in general forevermore. The initial, current, and future goal will be health first and foremost. As someone who’s been overweight her whole life and told to simply “eat less like a pig and you’ll less resemble one”, I have always had a poor relationship with food and the scale. When your nickname in high school is “Shamu”, no one thinks to suspect eating disorders. In reality, I was still a functioning adult going to school full time while holding down a full time job and constantly throwing up what I ate (from guilt) or just not remembering to eat. It was easier not to eat than to deal with the fact that a single apple could make me “gain”. I still struggle with the scale, and have gone from weighing myself 4+ times a day to just once every couple of days. I worked with a trainer who wanted me to quantify my goals, but at the end of the day, I honestly don’t care what the scale says or what the clothing labels say. As long as I’m healthy and happy with the reflection of my hard work as opposed to a reflection of poor lifestyle and neglect (sitting all day at work, eating convenient as opposed to freshly prepared foods, etc.) I will be happier than if I were to see a certain number on the scale.
What helped motivate you?
I don’t really know, actually. Some people put up posters or pictures of what they’d like to look like. My main focus was always on how I felt. I think the feeling better every day helped motivate me in the beginning, especially when on a day-to-day basis, results aren’t necessarily as easy to spot. But I knew my body was very sick and that since it took 2 and half decades to get that way, it wasn’t just going to change overnight. It got worse before it got better – I got to the naturopath just in time, when my lungs were collapsing and I was gasping to take a full breath even though I don’t smoke. Now, it’s just knowing I could never go back to the way it was because of how much I have learned, read, seen, and experienced.
Were you on a diet or was this a committed lifestyle change?
This is a committed lifestyle change. I have not taken a prescription or OTC medication of any kind for almost a year, actually. I take homeopathic pellets once in a while – things like Arnica for inflammation or Sabina for menstrual cramps. I cannot bear poisoning my body with pills of any kind. I had two IUDs inserted without anesthesia or pain medication of any kind – impressive, but not as impressive as the fact that I expelled both through excruciating 18-hrs sets of cramps that had me crying in the fetal position until it was over – STILL NO PAIN MEDICATION. It’s so easy to slap on a Fentanyl or take a Percocet. Heartburn? No problem – I had prescriptions for Prevacid, Prilosec, Nexium, and prescription-strength OTC medications as well, all at the same time from the same doctor. Depression, anxiety, blood sugar, statins for cholesterol – these things were all in my body at the same time, just like they are for millions of people. It’s scary, and after all of the work and money spent cleaning my body of this crap, I’m not about to pollute it again, even once in a while. It’s too selfish, given the long term health effects. Our cells regenerate constantly based on what we put into our bodies – everything is either feeding or fighting disease. I cannot and will not accept that my cells are regenerating from the same chemicals and processed foods that are currently creating epidemics of developmental, cognitive, and physical diseases and defects.
Did you dive in, or do things slowly? For example, did you stop eating all carbs, or did you cut back on carbs?
I am a cautious person by nature and approach things like I do outdoor swimming pools – if I know the water is cold, I will wade in slowly and accustom myself to it or just dip my feet in for a while, but if I know the water is warm, I dive in. Same thing happened here. What I’d been doing my whole life and the people I was listening to had led me there, so the way out was to do things differently. I guess I saw no point in detoxing 3-4 times a week, drinking three dozen different pills for various organ cleansing – not a single one of which caused any kind of digestive discomfort whatsoever, surprisingly - and spending so much money if I was only going to make myself sick again. After the rigorous cleansing, it was time to begin putting back foods that belong – that my body could repair and regenerate from to function properly. People don’t realize that foods we eat or even just smell can affect our emotions and how our brains function – not just our digestive tracts. I’m currently following a 90% plant based raw whole foods diet. Cheese was the first and easiest thing to give up – I don’t even miss it. Same goes for meat – as much as I loved my steaks, preferably with a pulse, I don’t crave it at all. I make all of my decisions about anything that enters my mouth by asking two simple questions: 1. Does my body NEED this and 2. Why do I want this and how will I feel after I eat it? Usually I don’t have to ask question 2 if I’ve answered affirmatively to question 1…
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| Please attempt to keep your pants on! |
How did you start your weight loss journey?
Once I got healthy on the inside and my body began working properly, the weight started coming off like crazy. I was slowly putting in the right foods, but I definitely cut out all of the wrong ones. I didn’t have a problem with fast foods, pasta, bread, candy, etc., so eating the “right” foods was easy – it was just a matter of finding the right ones for my body. The biggest struggle was learning to remember to eat when I actually felt hungry, as opposed to just not eating – that didn’t solve any of my weight problems in the long (or even short) run. After losing enough of the weight to be able to fit a size 14 in department stores, I became brave enough to once again enter the dating scene. And by dating scene I mean create another online profile. I thought I had it all figured out, since I had finally gotten my weight and health under control that things would fall into place with my newfound confidence and faith in myself. After being confronted with the same destructive pattern from my past, I realized that my approach wasn’t working, and that if I wanted to stop feeling like I was settling, that I’d have to work hard enough to not settle. I went to an NYSC by my job, where a Master Trainer saw my before and after picture so far at the time, and wanted to work with me. He believed that if I could lose 90 pounds on my own without surgery, that I had the discipline to work hard enough to transform my body the rest of the way, also without surgery.
What do you miss about your old lifestyle?
To be honest, I don’t miss a single damned thing about always feeling sick and miserable. I don’t look at my food options as limited at all – on the contrary, I would be hard pressed to find a single eating establishment that can’t or won’t serve something off-menu that’s fresh and raw. I think it can be very easy or very difficult depending on your mindset. As I discover my own inner peace and happiness, I care less about fitting into the mold of the outside world. Naturally, that meant removing from my life certain people who did not understand my journey and new choices, or simply those who suddenly found themselves without a “miserable fat friend” to make themselves feel better about their own lives. I think letting go is healthy, and the mental and emotional changes I’ve gone through make losing 150 lbs pale in comparison.
What foods do you miss?
I don’t miss any foods. I know that sounds strange, given the fact that my diet is largely to credit with my weight loss and that the gym is for strengthening and toning my body. I believe this is because I’ve changed the way I think about everything in life, not just food. I never find myself fantasizing about steak or cakes, but if I get really busy at work and forget to snack on an apple or sunflower seeds, and then I won’t feel as good physically or mentally. The hardest thing isn’t the foods I miss so much as the activities. Food is such an ingrained part of our culture now, even though the vast majority of families don’t have time for getting together every night. I never particularly enjoyed going out, but it’s even stranger now that I don’t drink alcohol and can prepare most of the restaurant options for vegans at home. The hardest thing is having so many friends who enjoy sushi/sashimi, which is technically considered both a healthy and humane alternative to meat consumption. Unfortunately, I’m appalled by the shoddy quality of seafood here and therefore refuse to eat it any more often than once in a blue moon. Again, I approach everything with a “do I need this” and “what will doing/consuming this accomplish”. That makes it so much easier – just draw the line and stick by your convictions.
Have your tastes changed?
YES! I am so much more sensitive to all tastes and smells, it’s ridiculous. It’s truly astonishing how many additives and chemicals are in everything we eat that keep us coming back for more. To anyone who says food isn’t addictive, I call BS. I was eating “clean” for a while (long before going vegan) and my friends ordered pizza during a football game. This was back when my train of thought to justify consuming anything that wasn’t 100% necessary and good for me was “everything in moderation” and “as long as it’s very rarely”. Anyway, the pizza was very thin crust and the ingredients looked appetizing. Too bad I forgot the pizza came from Domino's. Even though I had literally 2x2 inches worth of dough, sauce, cheese and herbs, about an hour after I had that tiny taste, I found myself raiding my fridge. Thankfully, I only stocked my fridge with healthy food items, but still – this scared the crap out of me because I realized it wasn’t all in my head. I was never a soda drinker to begin with, but even cranberry juice was too sweet and had to be diluted. Now, I’m sensitive to added sugars and even sodium, and I love that without all the garbage poisoning my body, I can listen to it and how it’s telling me it really feels when I put things in it to fuel it with.
What were some of the most important tools or tips that helped you with your weight loss?
KEEP GOING. NEVER GIVE UP. That’s about the only tip and tool. It’s not something that I just woke up and had happen to me – it’s the result of small daily improvements and consistently making better choices every day, because it’s so much easier to make excuses, like “oh I had a rough day” and “oh but it’s just this once” and “oh but it won’t be that bad”. Not to say that I don’t have little indulgences – I struggle with choosing between the lesser of two evils all the time. For instance, I know I need to eat regularly, so if I’m not sure if my meetings will run over time allotted, I grab nuts, seeds, an apple, or a banana to make sure I have something delicious and healthy to hold me over. Since most people are snackers and/or grazers, then having healthy options on hand is probably the most important tool that can help keep you on track.
Did your weight plateau?
My weight has plateaued several times. I cycled calories and did strict food source diets to break through those. For instance, I would eat 1,200 calories one day, 1,800 another, etc., or I would do one day of only lemon water and apples, another day only steak and celery, etc. I've been at my current weight for 3 months now, fluctuating within 5 pounds (day-to-day differences, water retention from muscle soreness, hormonal/menstrual changes, etc.). I don't care about the scale so much as I care about how I feel and what I look like in terms of muscle tone and definition, so I'm fine with seeing the same number (or a higher one) on the scale as long as my body continues to improve.
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| Svelte and stunning, and HEALTHY!!! |
My exercise regimen is intense, because when I first started this journey, my activity was limited to a lot of brisk walking, or as brisk as it could be when I topped out at 278 pounds. I exercise every day now at home on my own - I have elliptical, weights, resistance bands, balance balls, medicine balls, mats, wii fit board, etc. I also work with a personal trainer twice a week to strengthen my muscles and help work through and progress past injuries. Being active feels great after spending all day at a chair hunched over, but it's seriously 80% what I put into my body, not what I do with it that results in weight loss. However, to be fair, every extra pound of muscle burns more calories, so it's a win-win for me either way.
How much weight have you lost in total? Are you done? At what point will you be where you want to be?
In terms of weight loss, I went from my highest of 278 down to 128 when I was doing over 2 hours on the elliptical and walking at least 4 hours a day. I have been fluctuating between 132-135 for the past three months. I think that in terms of overall weight loss I’m definitely done, but the hard part of toning and putting on muscles remains. My goal is 18% body fat, then we’ll see. It depends on how my skin responds and what I see in the mirror as a result.
I was talking to my boyfriend about you, and how you walked four hours a day and did two hours of ellipticalling and he said "makes sense. Most people watch TV four hours a day." I think people might read about your exercise regimen and think "ain't nobody got time fo dat," but they don't seem to realize they're watching TV for that long or doing other sedentary activities.
Exactly. The time is there. 24 hours in a day, an hour is only 4% of the day. there's really no such thing as no time. Just wrong priorities.
What advice can you give someone on the fence about a lifestyle change?
Be prepared to commit 150%. It’s like my Nike workout shirts – “Every damn day, just do it”. It has to be an overhaul in perspective to respect your body and what you put in it. Unfortunately, it’s too easy to make excuses or allow little indulgences. And that’s not to say that people cannot be disciplined, it’s just the nature of our society, culture, and actual physical and chemical dependency on what we ingest make it a constant battle for too many people. The choice to go to a raw whole foods plant based diet was the easiest one I made – listening to my body is simple ever since I detoxed it. The hard part is dealing and interacting with the outside world as such a strict eater, given how ingrained food is in our culture. There aren’t many people who can sit and watch food porn all day (Chopped, Top Chef, Iron Chef, etc.) and not want to eat it. Fast food commercials make me nauseous, but the smell of freshly baked pastries makes me salivate. We all have our weaknesses and challenges, and must therefore be conscious of where we draw the line. Because of how sick even the most common daily things made me, I can’t afford the “everything in moderation” mentality and refuse to give disease and poison – however mild – the opportunity to pollute my body for momentary sensory gratification. It’s not worth it in my book. With that being said, I’m not perfect. Since I know I might crave baked goods, I make my own. “Cookies made from oats, quinoa, buckwheat, flax, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, lightly flavored and sweetened with organic evaporated cane juice or pineapple juice, lemon, honey, vanilla or almonds. Strawberries going bad? No problem – I soak them in pineapple juice and then dehydrate them for a sweet dried fruit snack that’s all natural. Sometimes I melt organic dark bitter chocolate and coat the strawberries. It’s guilt-free in my book since it’s still raw and vegan, but at the end of the day, I know my body doesn’t actually NEED the chocolate LOL.
What advice can you give someone about hitting a roadblock (plateauing, not seeing expected results, cravings?
With respect to mental and physical roadblocks and/or plateaus – keep going. You will mess up. You will have good days and bad days. The key is to keep going and making the necessary changes and hard choices every day. It takes a lot of discipline to be able to seriously commit to something where the progress and results won’t necessarily manifest themselves either immediately or noticeably. People give up because results don’t come fast enough, but I look at it this way: I’m already tired and achy from sitting all day, I’ve got tons of injuries, and I’m weak. The time will pass by anyways, so why not spend some of it dedicating myself to counteracting the effects of sitting all day and strengthening my body so I can get rid of a lot of the pain and inflammation that had plagued my days and nights for so many years. With respect to cravings, that’s a harder one. From my own experience with years of fad diets, the key is to be very honest with yourself and your eating habits. Keep a food log with times and servings – not to punish yourself, but to be able to spot when you’re eating what and then be able to see the triggers. For instance, I know that food aversion/starvation has always been my solution to avoid gaining, and I have a nasty habit of forgetting to eat if I’m busy doing other things. That can cause metabolic and blood sugar issues, w
hich in turn can cause serious damage with respect to cravings. Since I know that I’m a grazer, I always keep healthy delicious options like kale chips, apples, bananas, nuts and seeds on hand. I get my super nutritious fuel without the guilt of "bad" choices or snacks.
The weight wasn’t really a focus for me, because I never saw myself as big as I do now when I look back at pictures. I just always saw myself as “me”, the same way I still see my beautiful slender model friends as super skinny, meanwhile I fit into smaller clothes than they do now. The mental and emotional differences are definitely more to cope with than the physical ones because I’m a different person, not just a different-looking person. I used to be miserable, depressed, and always sick. It was always something, always some health complaint and I couldn’t seem to dig out of it no matter where I looked or what I tried. I still deal with stresses at work and during commutes, I still feel like sometimes there aren’t enough hours in the day, and sometimes I can get really down on myself and everything in general. Thankfully, these moods pass quickly because my way of thinking about and feeling things is different nowadays. I feel fine most days, more energized on days I juice. I feel good, happy and healthy. I am thankful for so much in my life. I taste, see, smell and hear things differently, and I’m 100% positive it’s because of what I’m putting in my body as much as what I stopped putting into my body.
Thanks for answering all those questions!
Absolutely!!
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She is a total inspiration!!! Thank you Daniella for taking the time out to talk to me. Thank you for all the awesome recipes you've provided me (some of which I will be posting!) Thank you for the encouragement to me and so many other people. Thank you for not giving up, and for being proof that change is possible and obtainable. I hope you all enjoyed her insight, and were able to take something away from it.
Til next time!
-Kale Queen
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