I'm a Dietitian Who Lost 60 Lbs. In 6 Months
I'm a Dietitian Who Lost 60 Lbs. In 6 Months
Michelle Shapiro RD solves problems with naturopathic medicine.
By Michelle Shapiro, RD
A guest post by Michelle Shapiro, a dietitian whose crash dieting led to anxiety and other health complications—and then repair with the help of her licensed naturopathic physician.
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I was the heavy girl in high school. But I told myself I was academic, voted “Class Clown,” had lots of friends, and was happy no matter what size I was.
Truthfully, I was a teenager out of touch with herself. Then in my senior year, I decided that before I went to college and made a new life for myself, I should lose weight. So I self-imposed a diet of less than 500 calories a day. When I started the diet, I was 5’9” (still am) and weighed 240 lbs. The recommended weight range for a 5’9” woman is 144-176 lbs.
Through this starvation diet, I lost 60 lbs. in less than six months.
What does 500 calories a day look like? To give you an idea, the USDA calculates that two handfuls of peanuts or a slice of pepperoni pizza contains about 250 calories. An apple has about 80 calories. A chicken breast has about 190 calories.
After 6 months, I weighed 180 lbs. I looked great, but felt awful. And keeping my weight in check required that I eat just 1,000 calories per day. If I ate more calories than that, I would gain some weight back.
I felt like I was trapped in a vicious cycle. I was anxious. But that was just one symptom. I had 11 others. My laundry list of symptoms is below:
1. Gastrointestinal issues
2. Dizziness
3. Migraine headaches
4. Persistent nausea
5. Inability to lose weight despite calorie restriction
6. Temporomandibular Joint disorder (TMJ, a jaw disorder)
7. Muscle cramps (charley horse)
8. Low blood sugar (requiring that I eat every 1-2 hours)
9. Subclinical Hypothyroidism
10. Adrenal fatigue
11. Insomnia
So, like many other people in my situation, I went to health care professionals for help and focused on the symptoms. They focused on the symptoms, too.
For example, many of the health care professionals I consulted with assumed I was just depressed (which I wasn't). I was prescribed Percocet, Xanax, Lexapro, and other drugs. These prescriptions did little or nothing for all my other symptoms—and just made me more anxious about getting any further diagnoses.
Several health care professionals diagnosed my core issue as thyroid problems. But when I was prescribed thyroid medication, it sent me directly into adrenal fatigue. Needless to say—the state of being hyperthyroid made me even more anxious.
But I looked great. And I became a great actor.
When people from my childhood would see me—they would say, “Oh, Michelle, you look great”—commenting, of course, on my weight loss. I would nod and thank them. But, I felt like hell.
Back in college, inspired by my 60 lbs. weight loss, I had made the decision to become a dietitian. I completed my bachelor’s degree in Dietetics from the University of Delaware, where I was selected as the top Dietetics student in my program. After graduating, I completed internships at various locations in New York City. Then I took the New York state registered dietitian exam and passed.
So I was professionally trained and registered as a dietician. But I was not the best dietitian for me. I just could not find my own formula for looking good and being healthy.
While I was busy treating symptoms, I was not treating the real issue: losing 60 lbs. in six months on a starvation diet had severely impaired my metabolism.
It took the help and guidance of a licensed naturopathic physician, Dr. Rob Kachko, ND, to get a proper diagnosis and a path to health. This changed my life—and the lives of my clients.
I went to Dr. Kachko two years after I graduated from college. By that time, I had lost a total of 80 lbs.—an additional 20 lbs. on top of the original 60 lbs. But I was trapped in a frustrating, anxiety-ridden cycle, usually feeling lousy, and existing on just 1,000 calories per day.
Dr. Kachko is the one doctor I consulted who diagnosed that my body was metabolically impaired through metabolic testing. And he was specific, explaining that I had damage to my digestive system as well as major hormonal fluctuations (especially thyroid, adrenal, and blood sugar metabolism). Dr. Kachko also found that I had a tendency toward a subconscious fear-response. He noted that this, combined with long-term deficiencies in key nutrients, had led to my most troubling symptoms: intractable migraines, persistent nausea, and dizziness.
So, rather than just treating symptoms directly, addressing my metabolic issues proved to be the only sustainable way for me to feel well.
The first step on my journey was to gradually adopt a balanced diet of mostly fish, eggs, nuts, vegetables, lots of avocados, and fruit. Until then, I had been a strict vegan, but based on a metabolic impairment, Dr. Kachko opened up my mind to additional options.
Plus, Dr. Kachko guided me with supplements to assure my body had proper nutrition. We focused on replenishing my body with key vitamins and minerals that had been lacking for years. These were carefully prescribed. We also supported digestive health, hormonal health, reduced inflammation, and modulated stress-response systems and neurotransmitter levels. In addition, I was treated with acupuncture and clinical hypnosis.
This comprehensive discovery and treatment process with Dr. Kachko was my road back to a functioning metabolism. With a functioning metabolism came an end to all my symptoms.
I still occasionally get anxious now and then—but it is not a constant state of being.
My journey with Dr. Kachko was almost like a second college degree where I was the subject. Today, as a dietitian, I specialize in hormonal issues with weight loss, nutritional counseling, food intolerance, gastrointestinal issues, diabetes prevention, and treatment and heart disease.
Dr. Kachko says that I have done an incredible job of being an advocate for myself and my needs. He helped me understand the complexity of my healing journey. I realized that reducing my experience to symptoms or broad diagnoses like depression failed to address the root cause of my suffering.
Now I know that losing 60 lbs. in six months could have destroyed me—and almost did, physically and psychologically. But, instead, it started me on what will be a lifelong journey to becoming a stronger, more comprehensive, and more empathetic dietitian.
I am still smart, clown around, and have lots of friends. But, now I am truly happy and healthy. And at 157 lbs. and eating a healthy, balanced diet of 1,800 calories a day, I am no longer the heavy girl.
A guest post by Michelle Shapiro, a dietitian whose crash dieting led to anxiety and other health complications—and then repair with the help of her licensed naturopathic physician.
----------------------------
I was the heavy girl in high school. But I told myself I was academic, voted “Class Clown,” had lots of friends, and was happy no matter what size I was.
Truthfully, I was a teenager out of touch with herself. Then in my senior year, I decided that before I went to college and made a new life for myself, I should lose weight. So I self-imposed a diet of less than 500 calories a day. When I started the diet, I was 5’9” (still am) and weighed 240 lbs. The recommended weight range for a 5’9” woman is 144-176 lbs.
Through this starvation diet, I lost 60 lbs. in less than six months.
What does 500 calories a day look like? To give you an idea, the USDA calculates that two handfuls of peanuts or a slice of pepperoni pizza contains about 250 calories. An apple has about 80 calories. A chicken breast has about 190 calories.
After 6 months, I weighed 180 lbs. I looked great, but felt awful. And keeping my weight in check required that I eat just 1,000 calories per day. If I ate more calories than that, I would gain some weight back.
I felt like I was trapped in a vicious cycle. I was anxious. But that was just one symptom. I had 11 others. My laundry list of symptoms is below:
1. Gastrointestinal issues
2. Dizziness
3. Migraine headaches
4. Persistent nausea
5. Inability to lose weight despite calorie restriction
6. Temporomandibular Joint disorder (TMJ, a jaw disorder)
7. Muscle cramps (charley horse)
8. Low blood sugar (requiring that I eat every 1-2 hours)
9. Subclinical Hypothyroidism
10. Adrenal fatigue
11. Insomnia
So, like many other people in my situation, I went to health care professionals for help and focused on the symptoms. They focused on the symptoms, too.
For example, many of the health care professionals I consulted with assumed I was just depressed (which I wasn't). I was prescribed Percocet, Xanax, Lexapro, and other drugs. These prescriptions did little or nothing for all my other symptoms—and just made me more anxious about getting any further diagnoses.
Several health care professionals diagnosed my core issue as thyroid problems. But when I was prescribed thyroid medication, it sent me directly into adrenal fatigue. Needless to say—the state of being hyperthyroid made me even more anxious.
But I looked great. And I became a great actor.
When people from my childhood would see me—they would say, “Oh, Michelle, you look great”—commenting, of course, on my weight loss. I would nod and thank them. But, I felt like hell.
Back in college, inspired by my 60 lbs. weight loss, I had made the decision to become a dietitian. I completed my bachelor’s degree in Dietetics from the University of Delaware, where I was selected as the top Dietetics student in my program. After graduating, I completed internships at various locations in New York City. Then I took the New York state registered dietitian exam and passed.
So I was professionally trained and registered as a dietician. But I was not the best dietitian for me. I just could not find my own formula for looking good and being healthy.
While I was busy treating symptoms, I was not treating the real issue: losing 60 lbs. in six months on a starvation diet had severely impaired my metabolism.
It took the help and guidance of a licensed naturopathic physician, Dr. Rob Kachko, ND, to get a proper diagnosis and a path to health. This changed my life—and the lives of my clients.
I went to Dr. Kachko two years after I graduated from college. By that time, I had lost a total of 80 lbs.—an additional 20 lbs. on top of the original 60 lbs. But I was trapped in a frustrating, anxiety-ridden cycle, usually feeling lousy, and existing on just 1,000 calories per day.
Dr. Kachko is the one doctor I consulted who diagnosed that my body was metabolically impaired through metabolic testing. And he was specific, explaining that I had damage to my digestive system as well as major hormonal fluctuations (especially thyroid, adrenal, and blood sugar metabolism). Dr. Kachko also found that I had a tendency toward a subconscious fear-response. He noted that this, combined with long-term deficiencies in key nutrients, had led to my most troubling symptoms: intractable migraines, persistent nausea, and dizziness.
So, rather than just treating symptoms directly, addressing my metabolic issues proved to be the only sustainable way for me to feel well.
The first step on my journey was to gradually adopt a balanced diet of mostly fish, eggs, nuts, vegetables, lots of avocados, and fruit. Until then, I had been a strict vegan, but based on a metabolic impairment, Dr. Kachko opened up my mind to additional options.
Plus, Dr. Kachko guided me with supplements to assure my body had proper nutrition. We focused on replenishing my body with key vitamins and minerals that had been lacking for years. These were carefully prescribed. We also supported digestive health, hormonal health, reduced inflammation, and modulated stress-response systems and neurotransmitter levels. In addition, I was treated with acupuncture and clinical hypnosis.
This comprehensive discovery and treatment process with Dr. Kachko was my road back to a functioning metabolism. With a functioning metabolism came an end to all my symptoms.
I still occasionally get anxious now and then—but it is not a constant state of being.
My journey with Dr. Kachko was almost like a second college degree where I was the subject. Today, as a dietitian, I specialize in hormonal issues with weight loss, nutritional counseling, food intolerance, gastrointestinal issues, diabetes prevention, and treatment and heart disease.
Dr. Kachko says that I have done an incredible job of being an advocate for myself and my needs. He helped me understand the complexity of my healing journey. I realized that reducing my experience to symptoms or broad diagnoses like depression failed to address the root cause of my suffering.
Now I know that losing 60 lbs. in six months could have destroyed me—and almost did, physically and psychologically. But, instead, it started me on what will be a lifelong journey to becoming a stronger, more comprehensive, and more empathetic dietitian.
I am still smart, clown around, and have lots of friends. But, now I am truly happy and healthy. And at 157 lbs. and eating a healthy, balanced diet of 1,800 calories a day, I am no longer the heavy girl.
