Meet Elev8 - Lean Eating MENTOR

Meet Desdamona - Lean Eating MENTOR

My name is Jennifer Bryan, and I am honored to have been chosen as one of your mentors. I first started Lean Eating in August of 2010 and then went through it again with the January, 2011 group. I wasn't a finalist in either group. I didn't win any of the prizes that would have brought my picture to your attention. You have no reason to know my name or who I am, yet you are my prize and truly the one that means the most to me. Again, I am truly honored to be given the opportunity to share this journey with you and hopefully help ease the way just a little bit.

Since you likely know little if anything about me, let me tell you a bit about who I am. I'm 38 years old, married with a 12-year-old golden retriever named Abbie and a 2-year-old German shepherd named Luna.

I work 12 hour night shifts in the emergency department between 10 and 12 shifts per month. On those days when I'm not working, I play hard--scuba diving, kayaking, hiking, taking pictures, going places in our motor home, or just spending every possible minute with my family. Every couple of months or so, I make the 600+ mile trip to the place where I grew up to visit my family there and take care of a few things with my aging mother. My history with food is sordid. I have been anorexic. I have weighed somewhere north of 220 pounds, afraid to weigh because I didn't want to see the real number. I have been afraid of food. Food has been my best friend. I love to move and love to be outside. Exercise and sunshine literally keep me sane, a lesson I learned in my late 20's. Unfortunately exercise and sunshine to do not keep the fat away. I make my home at the end of a one lane dirt road, my gym a trail through the property and some well-chosen equipment under the carport on our shop. I share these things with you in hopes that you will find some common ground in there somewhere and see that things aren't always easy for me, and my life is not perfect. What I have found with Precision Nutrition and Lean Eating is a way to manage the imperfections and come out healthier on the other side.

BEFORE LEAN EATING

During my first round of Lean Eating, which was at that point a six month program, I lost about 17 pounds. I spent that round learning again how to incorporate the eating habits that I already knew were best for me but had somehow had difficulty implementing. Losing the first pounds took a full three months of consistency, but the losing eventually came--when the believing came, when I began to overcome the obstacles in my mind. That round was about following the habits and believing in them. The second round was about following my heart and believing in myself. Having incorporated the habits and already believing in them, I was able to begin to believe in myself and begin to find the things in my life that were holding me back which in turn made the habits easier, the cravings less, living the habits something that just was instead of something at which I had to work. Right now this might seem like insanity to you, a bunch of touchy-feely hoodoo, but as the next year goes along, I encourage you to open your mind to the possibility that your nutrition might not be where you want it to be because there might just be parts of your life that are not where you want them to be. Then again, your nutrition might not be where you want it to be because you buy too much pie.

Regardless, I look forward to helping clear this path for you as you take this journey. Feel free to reach out via the messaging system or the forums with any questions you might have for me or if there is anything with which I can help you. Should you find yourself more curious about me, click on my screen name, then on "view public profile." You'll find lots of photos there of me, my girls, my gym, and my antics. And in my signature is a link to my log, my place for all the grisly details.

Best wishes, ladies!