When I moved to the Columbia Gorge in 2014, I was 183 pounds. I couldn’t believe it: I hadn’t been that heavy since I was a kid. The summer before Randy and I moved here, we lived with my girlfriend in Whitefish, Montana and every day was a party.
Well, the party was now over.
One we moved into our new home, we picked up Kindle, our beautiful mini labradoodle. I fell in love. I was compelled to walk her twice a day. I watched what I ate, and the first year, I took off 10 pounds. Little by little, the weight slowly came off. I’m sure the daily walks helped. Then, when I started private pilates lessons in May of 2015, I dropped even more weight and got down to 155. Yay!
As my friend circle and social life expanded, so did the belly. “Really?” I thought, “not again.” This past August I was back up to 167 pounds. It was all in my waist, my back, and my bum. I couldn’t believe it. I was so aggravated that I quit drinking alcohol altogether. I really love to have the occasional glass of wine but I knew I’d lose the weight if I quit entirely. In addition to cutting out alcohol, I eliminated grains, dairy, fries, and any sugar and started eating lots of protein and vegetables.
Three weeks later? Nothing. I still hiked and did Pilates twice per week but I wasn’t losing weight at all. It clearly wasn’t as easy this time as two years prior. Ten years ago (by the way, I’m 61 now), if I stopped drinking, the weight melted off.
Time for something more dramatic, I thought.
I heard a lot about intermittent fasting and the bone broth diet so I began to research. I already drank bone broth once a day to cushion my joints and improve my skin health and the lining of my gut. But that’s about it. The bone broth diet involved fasting every third day — and that concerned me. I’m a person who loves to eat, and in the last ten years, I found I need even more protein. I eat even more protein than my husband, surprisingly.
Although it made sense to me that intermittent fasting would accelerate the weight loss process, I didn’t think I could do it because I’d be hungry. But I decided to try it anyway because I realized there’s quite a bit of protein in the bone broth. On the days you fast, you drink 5-6 cups of bone broth. The other days, you strictly eat Paleo and drink bone broth between meals. You don’t eat dairy, grains, or sugar. And definitely no alcohol. After three weeks, my jeans weren’t tight anymore, my belly and hips slimmed down, and I felt amazing.
Here’s what happened on fasting days of the bone broth diet: I had an amazing amount of energy, absolutely no hunger, glowing skin, and an overall feeling of well-being. Eating Paleo was also easy. I love eggs, avocado, nuts, salads, fish, chicken, grass-fed beef, and cooked veggies so it was a breeze.
The coolest thing about the diet is the accelerated weight loss because of the fasting aspect. It’s crazy how quick it happens — and most importantly, I wasn’t hungry. During my bone broth diet, I added two extra days of mat pilates to my existing classes every week to move things along faster. I had to give it my all — we’re going to Costa Rica in two weeks.
The bone broth diet is so easy for me to stay on. The beautiful side effect is that by drinking so much bone broth on both the fasting and eating days, it reduced my hunger significantly. Not only am I not hungry but I feel my body healing itself and boosting my immune system at the same time. It’s such a win-win… and I’m losing weight, too.
If you want more information on the bone broth diet, email me or read this article on the 21-day bone broth diet by naturopathic physician and weight-loss specialist, Dr. Kellyann Petrucci.
Beth Kandell is the gourmet cook behind Simply Fine Gourmet grass-fed bone broth and chicken bone broth. Find her quality bone broth at The Farm Stand in Hood River, Oregon and Wintzer Acupuncture in Camas, Washington — or order online today.