Let me start off by introducing myself. My name is Paula, I am 26 years old and I have made the decision (finally) to lose weight on Yurek’s Ideal Protein. This is not a decision I took lightly. My whole adult life I have struggled with my weight. As soon as I moved away from home (Winnipeg) for school and to Ontario, unhealthy food has been at the centre of every meal. It then got worse after I graduated and got a steady job and was financially able to spend more on Timmies, Subway, McDonalds, and more! I was not brought up in a household that consciously taught me about healthy choices. So, here I am now at the heaviest I’ve ever been, and I had to do something about it before the number on the scale went higher.
Rewind to one week ago. My supporting boyfriend and I went to Yurek Pharmacy and spoke with Linda, who is now our Coach. I had an idea of what Ideal Protein was but Linda explained it very well and made sure we knew what to expect in the first week of our new lifestyle. I call it a lifestyle because it truly has become our life. Shopping for food has become easier! We spend most of our time in the produce section and the rest of it in the meat section.
Speaking of food, the food that you eat on Ideal Protein is really good. You just need to find out what works for you. I’m not going to lie, the first week on the program was difficult. It makes sense though; my body was addicted to sugar and carbs; it was detoxing (and I don’t use that word lightly). Linda was great and really helped both my boyfriend and me through those first few days.
We probably didn’t pick the best week to start, considering the following weekend was Thanksgiving and we were flying home to Winnipeg for a friend’s wedding. I was sure it would be fine…and it was for the most part. No cheating occurred but watching my family enjoy some of the most scrumptious looking pieces of pumpkin pie topped with fresh whipped cream was…difficult. I admit, I asked my grandmother if I could smell her pie. She laughed and said, “of course.” My mom, being a great hostess ate hers last after serving everyone else and was the only one still eating, so of course I had to smell hers too. It helped.
The day after our Thanksgiving dinner was my friend’s wedding. This was a bit harder of a place to make healthy choices as the meals were already preselected. Of course, my table was the last and by that time I was HANGRY! I’m not proud of it, but as each table was selected to go up, I did yell. Surprisingly, the dessert they served didn’t bother me as much. I was strong!
Now that a week has passed, I am starting to feel more and more energy. I’ve already lost 5 lbs which, when you think about it, is a lot for only being on the program for one week. I am looking forward to seeing what the next week brings!