My name is Nancy, and I’m a happy Optimiser from Minnesota. I’m 67 years young, wife and grandmother to seven grandchildren and have two furbabies.
My Why
At 67, I realised that my weight gain had become a problem I needed to deal with before it was out of control.
Since retiring, I have gained 17 pounds in the past couple of years—a significant amount for my small-boned, 5’2” frame!
What Approaches Have You Tried Before?
I had tried several fad diets to address my metabolic health in the past, but none had given me a lasting—or sustainable—solution. I have tried Weight Watchers and their point-counting system, but I didn’t see the results I was searching for.
Additionally, I tried tracking my calories (not nutrients!), on MyFitnessPal, with the same lack of success. Healthi and Noom didn’t do anything for me either, and I tried intermittent fasting as a last resort.
While I am not too happy with my success from any of these programs, they led me to ‘The One’ that got me to the point where I’m now: Optimising Nutrition!
Learning to listen to my body and allowing my glucose to be my guide has made an enormous difference in how and when I eat.
How Did You Find Out About Optimising Nutrition?
Despite my journey through a long list of ‘cure-all’ weight loss programs, I wasn’t losing any weight. But by complete accident, I came across a link for Data-Driven Fasting while searching for ways to tweak intermittent fasting to make it work for me.
What Did You Learn That Surprised You?
I learned that Data-Driven Fasting works! I was sceptical after all I had tried, especially at my age. If all of these ‘cure-all’ approaches had failed me, why would this be different? I was pleasantly surprised and am confident this program is AMAZING!
I’d put a LOT of effort into a few programs and got little in return. So, when the pounds started to melt away, I couldn’t believe it!
What Was Most Memorable?
I learned that if I listened to my body and paid attention to my symptoms of hunger to guide what, when, or how much I was eating, there was a connection I could easily manipulate.
Listening to my true hunger signals has become intuitive, and I can maintain much of what I do in the challenges with minimal effort.
In short, this program gave me lasting habits forever engraved in my memory and results that motivate me to keep doing them!
What Was Your Favourite Part?
While my successes were incredible, the best part was getting there with the help of the awesome Optimising Nutrition community and the program’s creator, Marty Kendall. It has a personal touch and a small-group feel where you don’t get lost as a number; you can ask any question and receive a personalised, thought-out answer.
Share Some of Your Favourite Results!
During my first DDF challenge, I lost 4.6 lb at a rate of nearly 1% per week.
The following graph shows how most of that weight has been body fat (and not precious lean muscle mass, which fuels my metabolism).
What Were Your Greatest Non-Scale/Data Victories?
For the first time in my life, I am eating mindfully. I’m not worried about counting calories, points, or some other weird value, nor letting them dictate how much I eat. Instead, I eat when I’m experiencing true hunger and have learned to be comfortable waiting when I’m not hungry.
Aside from my personal victories on and off the scale, I find sharing what I have learned with my family and friends another win. Not only did I come out ‘on top’ of my health, but the ones I love have also started to make positive changes for the better!
Which Tools Helped You Understand the Course Materials and How?
Out of all the resources, I think reading the Data-Driven Fasting manual was the most helpful resource to conceptualise the program.
While the daily posts in the Data-Driven Fasting Challenge helped guide the process, the manual answered many of my questions and gave me a more detailed understanding of what to do and how to do it. I also love that I can go back and review it at any time!
What Was the Time Commitment for You to Get the Most Out of the Class?
I think the time commitment for this program is very individual. In other words, you can put in what you want. Of course, the more time you invest, the more you learn while taking the necessary baby steps to succeed one day at a time.
Despite putting in less effort, you can still get great results. You can also start more slowly and repeat the program a few times. Go at your own pace! Subtle changes and small time commitments are still changes in the right direction!
Why Did You Join the Lifetime Membership?
I love to be challenged. I have seen amazing results by guiding the times I eat my meals with my blood sugar. While I have somewhat changed the quality of my food, I think I could improve my health and make more ‘gains’ by moving on to the Macros Masterclass, which I have signed up for next.
I think that continuing to participate in challenges will only allow me to continue to improve my metabolic health and make these actions long-term habits. Thus, the lifetime membership is so worth it because you can take as many classes as many times as you like!
What Will You Do Differently After the Class?
Now that I know how blood sugar stabilisation affects my overall health, I plan to continue monitoring my sugars throughout a more extended maintenance period. In other words, I will continue to test my sugars periodically when I get to the point where I feel like I know and trust my hunger signals. I can’t unlearn what this program has taught me!
What Advice Would You Give Someone Just Starting an ON Program?
Do not stress about perfection or following everything to a T too much. This will make it feel less of a chore and more like a privilege, allowing you to develop habits slowly and sustainably.
Read the chats in the group; there is a bank of information in the feeds! While asking questions is great, your question might already have a chain of responses that teach you a lot.
Trust and believe in the program, and especially yourself! You are capable of so much, and the hardest part is starting—something you already did by seeking out improvement and looking up Optimising Nutrition.
Let the adventure begin!
If you’re ready to take back your health and make progress on your goals, sign up today! Our Welcome checklist will help you navigate all the free resources and courses.
Join Nancy and many other incredible Optimisers who are optimising their health one day at a time. See you on the other side!