Christine Morales is 59yo and lives with her husband in Florida. Before Christine turned nine years old, she was a “skinny” child (actually, normal weight for my height/age). She was raised by her grandparents from the ages of 2 to 9 and were traditional 3 meal a day folks (natural IF without even trying). They did not snack and portions were naturally sensible, never “diet” minded, but not huge either. They had dessert with every dinner, be it canned fruit, or her grandmother’s delicious flan- she was an amazing cook.

Christine's father remarried when she was turning 9,  and she went to live with him and her new stepmom (“mom” from there on out). Her mom was well meaning, but she overfed everyone. The chunky kid is a healthy kid thought was deep in her. Sweets were plentiful, they ate between meals and were served large portions.

Christine went through severe emotional trauma as a young child and later learned to assuage her hurt with food - she had an uncle who weight trained and was part of bodybuilding competitions. Her Uncle, grandfather and sometimes father were hyper focused on weight. The greeting she'd get was 1st: How are your grades? and 2nd: You’ve gained weight. Her grandfather even pointed out the difference between her and a tall svelte friend she had in high school. Her family was not well versed in confidence building. She was to be seen, not heard.

Christine entered the military, married, had children, and watched her weight fluctuate between 114, topping out at 174 pounds (in a non-pregnant state); She is just under 5’1”. Diet mentality had her jumping from incessant calorie counting to fad dieting, always not sustainable. 

In 2017/2018 intermittent fasting came into her awareness. She read many articles and experimented with having her 1st meal in the afternoon. About 2019, she read Brad Pilon’s Eat-Stop-Eat, her first book on the topic. She dropped 30lbs very quickly.

Her husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s dementia around the same time (2019… all the signs were there over a year earlier) and became his full-time sole caregiver (it’s been 3 years now). Her doctor insisted she take an anti-depressant, an SSRI, Lexapro was prescribed, and she reluctantly took it - had every side effect listed and put on 26 pounds.

By now, she had read more intermittent fasting material, Dr. Fung’s books, then Gin Stephens' Delay, Don’t Deny and Fast, Feast, Repeat. The magic started! She found her way. In March of 2021at 138 lbs, she made a lifestyle change, and will never look back. She became consistent with her workouts, and has figured out what eating windows worked for her. Entering September 2021, she had lost the 26 pounds and has been maintaining a weight of 110-115 since then. 

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