Jess Barker, a Real Meal Revolution Hero Program member, popped us this mail. It is 100% from the heart.
Jess is a #REALHERO for taking back her power. We love you Jess!
Here is her story…
“Jonno tells us not to be evangelical about keto… but I’m struggling with this.
No one thing in my life has ever had such a huge impact on my entire being, as my RMR journey has. I am 44 years old and for the first time in my life I am in control of the food that I eat.
In the last six years I gained approximately 25kgs. I could give you a list of reasons why this happened, but actually, I’ve always had a terrible relationship with food and I just adopted a lot of really bad habits. I had my first run in with Weighless before my teens and have since tried a ridiculous amount of quick fix diets, … when will we learn!? I think that the maximum amount of time that I managed to commit to any of these diets was two months. The level of cravings, FOMO and general dissatisfaction was off the charts and I didn’t stand a chance.
Post lockdown, I didn’t feel comfortable in my own body, I kept on hurting my knee and my ankle when I tried to exercise, I had absolutely no energy for anything and after a day of work I would struggle to even take the dogs for a walk… this is so not like me! Nothing a glass or two of wine couldn’t cure, I thought. My body was tired and broken, as was my mind. I had resigned myself to the fact that this was just the way it was going to be and that I had tried all I could to fix it.
When I saw a good friend, Karen Field, earlier this year, she shared her journey with me and I was totally inspired. This felt like exactly what I needed. I had bought the original RMR book back in 2013 but after eating an entire tub of double thick greek yoghurt and not losing any weight, I decided to call it quits. Unfortunately, at that stage, I hadn’t taken the time to properly understand and research this way of eating, I didn’t have an accountability or support group, I hadn’t told anyone that I was doing it and after having totally avoided fat for a gazillion years, I had a huge mistrust in actually eating fat.
I immediately began researching the RMR Online Course. I then attended Jonno’s Wednesday Zoom Session and decided that if I was going to do this, I was going to do it properly so I signed up for the Hero Program too. Within the first week of starting the Online Course, I was lucky enough to participate in the pilot Psychology of Eating Transformation Program too. I totally lucked out because this meant that I had the most incredible Victoria Webster, Clinical Psychologist, as both my Hero Leader and Course Instructor.
It is difficult to determine exactly what the golden thread of total transformation was so I’m just putting it down to the entire experience. In three months, I spent more time chatting to my hero and psych groups than I did speaking to my closest friends. We discussed everything from “how to save your boobs from keto” to “how to survive a night out at your friend’s house when the pasta is already mixed into the sauce”.
On a more serious note, I realised, for the first time, that this was an absolutely enjoyable and sustainable way of eating that was great not only for my body but for my brain too. Since starting keto I have never been hungry, I don’t have cravings, I never have FOMO and I can walk away from food that I know is not nutritious, my aches and pains have healed themselves, I have loads more energy, I am able to think clearly and my brain fog has gone, I have moved out of life paralysis and I am feeling amazing. I’ve been able to start exercising again, I’ve put a load of good habits in place and somewhere along the line I managed to lose some weight too. OMG, I’m almost at the point where I’m one of those people who can have a “before” and “after” photo – I was always just the “before” photo kinda gal.
One of the most important things that I learned early on in the course is that your weight is just a symptom and by finding and addressing the cause, the symptom disappears. I am on a health journey and I am a work in progress. This is a journey for the rest of my life and thanks to RMR, I am totally committed to it.
If you commit yourself totally to this program and you trust the process, I have no doubt that you will discover a better version of yourself. The knowledge and support that you will receive and the self discoveries you will make are revolutionary. Do something good for yourself today and give it a try.
Special thanks to my uber amazing husband for being so supportive; my super strong and beautiful friend Karen for setting me on the right path; Victoria, Marina, Kate, Kate and Shelley – my heroes; Desiree, Alison, Loren, Rut and Liz – my confidants; Sam – for juggling all the balls; Jonno – my 500 Club cheerleader and to all the RMR staff, you really are changing people’s lives everyday and making this world a better place.
Thank you.
To join the waiting list for the Hero Program, or to find out more about our workshops or other programs, please visit our services page or mail support@realmealrevolution.com and we will give you a call to chat about how we can help.