August 07, 2022

Episode 135 Karen Giacalone overcoming health issues and living a successful intermittent fasting lifestyle .A story of resilience and determination.

59 minutes

I’m a happily retired wife, mom of 3 adult children, pet mom, and volunteer. Over the years I’ve been a mental health case worker, special Ed teacher, stay at home mom, preschool teacher, and child protection case worker. I’m 60 years old, and have been clean fasting since 9/12/19. I reached my goal of losing 22 lbs in 11 months, and have been in maintenance mode for over a year and a half.

My weight was fairly stable for most of my life, with a few predictable exceptions, like the freshman-15 and the child bearing years. I’ve always been active, and never really dieted until after my third child was born in 1994. I resolved to lose the baby weight once and for all, and achieved that goal within 6 months thorough an extreme low fat diet and over-exercising. Living that way was not sustainable for me however, and certainly not healthy. I eventually abandoned that way of life, and managed to remain at a healthy weight through consistent exercise and always watching what I ate.

In 2003, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease. Along with many debilitating symptoms, my weight slowly began to creep up. The thyroid medication I was prescribed helped only minimally, and I continued to struggle with symptoms for over 10 years. In 2013, following a cross country move, my health crashed completely. I was in constant pain, had zero energy, and could barely function. I worked my way through several doctors before discovering functional medicine, and that was when my true healing journey began.

Fortunately, I was able to make great strides in my health through a functional approach, because in 2017 we made another cross country move, and shortly thereafter my husband was diagnosed with lymphoma. Had I not regained my strength as much as I had before the move, I’m not sure how I would have made it through that very difficult time. More in the episode.

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