Dana Von Schilling

New Jersey, USA

Weight Lost - 56.4 lbs

In June 2023 I was at my lowest point. I had debilitating plantar fasciitis and IBS. I also suffered from acid reflux, allergies, frequent colds, infections and chronic joint and muscle pain. I frequently injured myself when I did try to exercise. These issues were painful, embarrassing and ~expensive~. They took an emotional toll and I felt out of control of the situation. I tried various doctors, therapies, medications and equipment to help with these issues but nothing worked. I felt anxious and depressed and had my own “shitty stories” for why I couldn’t lose weight: Motherhood, Genetics, Trauma and Society were all to blame. I could look around and compare myself to other moms and I wasn’t the heaviest.
But honestly, in the back of my mind there was a little voice persistently saying the right answer was to improve my overall health naturally. It felt bad to admit I had a problem with food (specifically sugar) and that I was ultimately responsible for all my health issues. I was worried about failure, but decided my quality of life was so poor I had nothing to lose by trying.
Once I made the decision to lose weight, I was able to lose 5lbs in 3 months. That was an ok start but it was a struggle as I found I did the “good girl/bad girl” pattern and lacked focus and consistency. One day at the end of September I was feeling frustrated and did a Youtube search for “How to lose weight”. The first result was Carla. I was immediately attracted to how wise and “real” she seemed and how moving her story was. Her results were obviously impressive and she was much bigger than I was when she started. I thought “if she can, so could I!” So I signed up for January and for the rest of the year I walked everyday and counted calories following her example. Doing so I was able to lose another 10lbs in 3 months.
When January rolled around, I was terrified and considered bailing. There really was a voice in my head saying I was making a huge mistake signing up for some random Irish weight loss program. How could a fully remote program address something as difficult as weight loss? Are the calories too low? Is it a scam or a cult? Will it be too hard/not hard enough? But I stuck with it. Walking was difficult the first day. The calories were lower than I did on my own. I thought I knew what I was in for by watching Carla’s videos but I wasn’t prepared for all the challenges that were thrown at me. I did struggle with my feet and had to bike sometimes.
But as you know, I stuck with it. For 3 programs. I never missed a day of cardio and rarely went over my calories. I did the food challenge. I got to the Good range of walking times and did the 10k challenges. I did the exercises and watched all the videos.
BodySlims claims to be a “strategic intervention” and I think that’s true. How I think about food, health and personal power are vastly different from when I started. I was never a fit person. I hated exercise. I had accepted being fat. My goal was to suffer though dieting only long enough to lose enough weight to see if that would solve my health issues and then stop. The week 4 seminar was paradigm shifting. I “dared to dream” and here I am! I am fit. I don’t hate exercise. I get to be my natural weight. I get to have a body that doesn’t hurt all the time. I have energy and confidence.
So here’s the results:
I still have occasional IBS and foot/ankle pain. I had mild fall allergies (but no spring). I will keep working at those, and they are dramatically better than before. Everything else has gone away! For the past year I’ve had no colds or infections. My joints and muscles feel great. No more reflux! No additional injuries!
Total weight loss: 71.1lbs from June 1 2023 to Dec 4 2024. (50lbs during 30 weeks of BodySlims, 21lbs before and during breaks).
Clothes: US XL to S
BMI: Obese to Normal
Body fat: 38% to 26.5%
Muscle mass: 58% to 69%
Mile walk speed: 18:00 (Poor) to 14:00 (Good)
This morning my 7yo daughter told me she is proud of me. My husband said it eases his mind to know I am out of the path of health decline I was in and he feels much more hopeful for the future.
Thank you for reading and I truly hope this post inspires you to lose weight, eat better or translate this to whatever area of life you wish to improve. The moral: I could, so you can too.
Dana Von Schilling
Age 38
Bordentown, NJ USA
 
 
 
 
 

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