I’ve failed at sharing some of my personal life with my readers lately. It’s important that you know who is behind the articles you read. I’m heading down a new journey and I thought what a great opportunity this would be to start sharing a little about who Easter Babe is. If you haven’t read already, my name is Brandi and my nickname is Easter Babe because I was born on Easter. So I decided to call my blog Easter Babe’s Theory. I hope you’ve enjoyed exploring all the marvelous topics I’ve been sharing lately. Not too long ago I decided to incorporate travel and now I want to expand on health and fitness.
Getting a little more personal, I want to share my upcoming weight-loss journey. The reason for this is not to try and sell you something but rather finding a connection with those that may have a similar story as mine. About two years ago I was diagnosed with several health issues. Once the doctors found one thing, they then found another. Unfortunately, most of it seemed to hit me at once. It all started with internal bleeding. I ended up in the hospital and they did several tests, gave me IV’s and temporarily medicated me. They suggested that I see a Gastrologist to get a colonoscopy and endoscopy. Later, the GI diagnosed me with Crohn’s Disease which is a chronic inflammatory disease (IBD) of the digestive tract. On top of that, I also have Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) which is a chronic digestive disease.
After all of this testing, another issue arose unexpectantly with my liver. When the hospital looked at my MRI, they found lesions on my liver. It’s covered with small lesions which are also known as adenomas or tumors. I was diagnosed with a rare liver disease called Hepatic Adenomatosis of the Liver, also known as Hepatocellular Adenomas. These are uncommon benign liver tumors that are hormone-induced. I had been on an oral contraceptive for 20 years. I had to immediately stop taking them and I can no longer be on any type of hormones. Shortly after I ended up getting a hysterectomy. Supposedly, there tends not to be any pain associated with HCAs. That is as long as the adenomas don’t burst. The internist is not wanting to do a biopsy at the moment because of this risk. Since I have so many small adenomas covering my liver, it may be difficult to get around not bursting one. So for the meantime, I continue to get MRI’s to monitor them along with blood work. Recently I was also diagnosed with Hepatic Steatosis which is a Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). This could be related to the adenomas or maybe just from the weight that I’ve gained.
Right before all of these problems, I was diagnosed with Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) along with arthritis and torn ligaments in my back. All of these issues left me in severe pain. Not to mention all the medical procedures and testing that I had to go through. Unfortunately, I was in the bed for about an entire year with minimum activity. This lead to someone bringing me fast food all the time or simply ordering one of my favorite foods to be delivered, pizza. Normally, all of the GI issues would cause you to not want to eat. Well… I’m a foodie! I absolutely love food. Eating my favorite foods just puts me in a happy place. I don’t care how much pain it will put me in afterward. That’s until I actually feel the pain and then I regret it. It’s a pattern with me as I just keep repeating the same ole eating pattern over and over.
Well, it stops now! In the past 2 years, I’ve gained a whopping 70 pounds. I’m extremely miserable and unhappy with my appearance. I’m on a mission to lose this weight. I can’t do this on my own so I researched online to find the right program to help me. Since I have a liver disease, I can’t be on any programs that offer different types of herbs, vitamins, or some “miracle” pill. So I was on the lookout for a program that can simply help me learn how to eat properly. For the next 3 months, I will be participating in the Medifast Go! weight-loss program. Medifast offers meal replacements and snacks to cover an entire day’s worth of food. They have over 65 portion controlled, low calorie, fortified, delicious meals to choose from.
I’ve never tried a meal replacement weight-loss plan because I’m such a picky eater. For real, I eat like a kid! My favorite foods are mac-n-cheese, pizza, and cheeseburgers. That’s what I’ve pretty much lived on for my entire life. If it doesn’t have cheese, then I don’t want it. This is another reason I decided to go with a meal replacement plan. Medifast Go! has an easy to follow program that teaches you what to eat and when to eat. This program will help me to set a healthy meal routine by eating six times a day to kee my metabolism running. I love the idea of dieting but not starving myself!
I’m already addicted to the Cheddar & Sour Cream Popcorn along with the Strawberry Crunch Bars. They even have mac-n-cheese! It’s not like my fattening homemade recipe but it’s pretty good for a healthy meal replacement. I’ve only been on the meals for 5 days now so I’m going to keep you updated on how the meals taste and update you on my progress for the next three months.
Would you like to give Medifast a try and join me in my journey?!
I have a Special Offer just for my readers! You can receive an entire week of FREE Medifast Meals. That’s 35 meals for 7 days
PLUS a Food Journal + Plan Guide + Dining Out Guide + Blender Bottle + Free Shipping with the first order as part of a renewal plan!
Click here for this Exclusive Offer with Medifast Go!
Be sure to check back in a couple of weeks for my next update!
“*Average weight loss for Medifast Direct® customers using Medifast Go™ is 11 pounds. Medifast Direct customers are in weight loss, on average, for 8 weeks.”
36 thoughts on “On the Road to a New Healthy Lifestyle”
Good luck on your journey! That cheddar and sour cream popcorn sounds just delicious.
Holy $h*t I can not believe your medical complications. I am so sorry! I am excited to hear about your enthusiasm to eat healthier and meet your goals.
We could all do with eating fewer fried foods and taking better care of ourselves in general. Good luck on meeting your healthy lifestyle goals!
Good luck on your journey I am actually going in for 2 procedures to check for chrohns, colitis and a few others! I have faith in you that you will do great.
I hope you succeed! Eating right and exercise are the only way to safely lose weight. I also do not like those programs where they offer this or that pill, it doesn’t feel right, also, healthy food can be really tasty!
Being healthy is all what we need nowadays as health is the major issue in today’s lifestyle.
Good luck on your journey! Fried foods! Yuck!
Wow I’m so sorry to hear about your medical problems, that sounds like a difficult and painful journey. I hope this new healthy eating plan will help you reach your goals!
I have started a diet this year and it has been amazing. I feel you, it’s also about me adjusting my lifestyle from the health issues that I have garnered along the way. It’s been great but it doesn’t come without the challenges.
ANYTIME I eat fried food or fast food I feel so sick. I think its because I eat really healthy and it throws my body out of whack. So excited for your journey!
Sorry to hear you’ve had such a hard time with your health. I can’t even imagine. I gained 80 lbs. in the last 5 years just out of pure laziness and stress!
I wish you the best on your journey and I hope you reach your goals!
This is so informative. It’s awesome that you’ve put so much thought and research into understanding your condition and helping bring awareness to others.
Medifast sounds awesome. It’s great that you’ve already found some favorites. This should be a great journey!
Thank you so much for sharing your story! I am excited to follow it. I applaud you for recognizing the need to change your health and life. I am behind you every step of the way!
Oh my goodness you poor thing! To get all those issues thrown at you at once, I would have gained weight too (from one foodie to another). Good luck on your journey, stay strong and be consistent!
Great to see you on the healthy journey, be consistent, I’m sure it would help you tons. I myself try to be healthy, by having no fried and oily foods..
Keep up the good work and don’t let anything get in your way! Great job on choosing to eat healthy!
Oh my goodness you have been through so much! Im so sorry you have had to experience all of that! Good luck with the meal replacement plan!
Im a surgeon and know a thing or two about such issues. the dietary adjustment is really a long process to many patients. But luckily most deal with it pretty well. Like yourself:)
I’m wishing you all the luck on the weight loss journey. Weight gain is no fun, especially when it’s tied to other illnesses. I don’t wish any of it on anyone!
Its been a long time since I ate fried foods. When I eat fried it makes me sick sometimes so I have to watch it.
Wow so sorry to hear about your health issues. I agree eating healthier and exercising does improve your health.
Eating healthier will improve a lot of things. Great post for sure!
I have a family member who suffers with Crohn’s Disease and it hasn’t been easy for her. Hopefully, they will find a cure instead of people trying to manage it.
This is a great post. I know for me, I eat a lot but I am nursing but I still need to eat a lot healthier than I do. I know an old friend who has Crohn’s Disease and it was horrible to see her deal with especially when she was pregnant.
Keep it up the good work and Congrats for your healthy journey, I wish I will be consistent to eat healthy foods too.
I am so sorry about all your health issues. This has to be very hard and very stressful. God does say though that He will not give us any more than we can handle. Several times in my life I had so much I didn’t think I could go on. This sounds like a great diet. I give you so much credit for trying this. I am sure it will make you feel so much better. I will be watching for further articles and praying for you. God Bless
Health issues are a bitch! And yes I have several that you listed along with being almost 100 lbs overweight. I will be interested in following your food trip here and seeing if I might be able to do it.. Keep us posted
People these days are suffering from health issues all because of bad habit on eating and stagnant life style. Good luck to your new venture 🙂 I liked your travel blogs.
healthy food is the hardest thing you find on a trip
Mindful eating is important. It’s a trend today, I always have a cheat meal now and then.. gotta live a little tbh.
I definitely think you have to think about everything that goes into your body and drink plenty of water.
@tisonlyme143
Thanks for the great info!
Wow!! You go girl!! I cannot imagine all of this! What a heavy event of illness to take on!! I wish you the best of luck in your weight loss journey back to health <3
I am really trying to get healthier this year,so thanks for the article!
I hope it goes well! Good health is a lifelong journey, and not always within our power and control. Spiritual health is important too! Don’t stop looking to the Bible when you can