Susan's Story

I decided to join Dr. Fuhrman’s 2021 Detox & Weight Loss Challenge because of my success in the first Detox & Emergency Weight Loss Challenge in July-August of 2020. I knew that Covid-19 would likely kill me at my age (71 years) & weight (236.5 pounds) with type 2 diabetes.

Having two degrees in Nutrition, along with three other medical-related degrees, had not yielded the health I desired for myself, not to mention the credibility issue of not following a healthy lifestyle myself.  At the point I started this journey with  Dr. Fuhrman, my bloodwork parameters were mostly out of the reference ranges. My HbA1c was 8.1, and I could not walk further than down my driveway and back to get mail.  My knees and back and shoulders hurt so bad I was having spinal injections, thinking about knee replacement surgery, and certainly taking too many NSAIDs. Although I knew better, I had tried Dr. Atkins, and ended up with a colostomy for three months, and gained all my weight back. Then there was keto, and other popular diets that weren’t healthy or sustainable. 

I own and have read all of Dr. Fuhrman’s books & DVDs several times over. I had worked at eating at least 75 percent Nutritarian since 1995, when I found his book, Eat to Live in a Whole Foods Store. Dr Fuhrman was one of the guest lecturers in my plant-based nutrition classes at Cornell University in 2017. Of all the guest lecturers, Dr. Fuhrman impressed me with the best nutrition information. I attended his lectures in Detroit, and I watched his Public Television lectures as well. I was a firm believer in the Nutritarian lifestyle, but needed the additional guidance on intermittent fasting, oils, supplements, and tools provided in the Weight Loss Challenges. I now feel that I am strong enough in the principles and have the commitment from my success to live this way for the rest of my life, and to inspire others to become lifetime Nutritarians.

By February 10, 2021, I had lost 104 pounds and dropped 12 BMI points, gotten off seven meds and completely reversed my pain and diabetes. I had not reached my goal of 18-21 BMI as suggested by Dr. Fuhrman, so I was so excited to join the 2021-22 Weight Loss Challenge to continue my journey to my goal weight, then hold it there to prove this was a Nutritarian Lifestyle and not a diet!  In my mind, if I could meet my goal, then perhaps another article in  Woman’s World magazine about my successes, along with the lifestyle continuum and ease of maintenance a whole year later, would inspire others to maintain the Nutritarian way of life.

When I started the new Challenge on May 3rd, 2021, I was 139.8 pounds and 24.0 BMI. By June 5, I was within range of my goal at BMI 20.9, but I was committed to my 100% Nutritarian lifestyle with intermittent fasting.  I shop on Saturday and prep on Sunday, organizing  my refrigerator so that meals are easy to find and serve. In order to keep learning, I  listened and re-listened to Kathleen and Jill, and others’ successes and hurdles. I shared my successes too!

I re-read all our assignments from the first Detox, and I even pulled up Dr. Fuhrman’s exercise video to follow along three times per week. The easiest part of the lifestyle transition for me was that I already believed everything I had read and heard from Dr. Fuhrman. Also, I absolutely love fruits, vegetables, healthy grains, nuts, and seeds.

My biggest challenge was in March 2021, when I lost my 90-year-old mother. As the oldest child, I stayed with her for all of February and March in assisted living, all the while eating my 100 percent Nutritarian lifestyle. I’d like to mention that this lifestyle also worked for me, albeit challenging, during the six months of moving from Michigan to Texas. Yes, I brought breakfast and salad makings, and had a cooler with me the whole time, as I traveled back and forth between states with no problems.

I now walk every day up and down stairs, and at least two miles each day without fatigue or pain. I am at my goal BMI of 18.5, and  goal weight of 108.2 pounds. I feel great, not fearing Covid, loving myself but most importantly, my health signs and bloodwork are all in the normal reference ranges and all negative symptoms of disease processes are gone! The calcification in  my left kidney is no longer visible, my kidney function BUN & creatinine are normal. 

I love my lifestyle because I have energy and feel great. People are so surprised to hear that I am 72 years old.  I have a whole new wardrobe, too!  My mind is clear and retains what I hear and read – but the best part is that I’m only on Dr. Fuhrman’s supplements and my Nutritarian foods. I feel like I am in my 20’s, which I didn’t feel like when I was in my 20’s, because I was more than 200 lbs and lethargic! 

I would tell newbies on the Nutritarian lifestyle to jump in and learn all you can. Join the Facebook forums to learn how others overcome issues, and listen to Dr. Fuhrman over and over again to keep the momentum. Hopefully I can be one of the centurions Dr. Fuhrman talks about.