This is me now:
This is me then:
In 2008, after 35 years of the Standard American Diet, a sedentary lifestyle, and two pregnancies, I found myself obese, exhibiting a whole laundry list of Metabolic Disorder symptoms, and hurtling madly down a path toward chronic illness and an early, preventable death. Realizing that I was my daughters’ primary female role model, I decided to clean up my act and model a healthy lifestyle, in the hopes that they’d be spared the future of obesity and illness that was my reality. With the simple act of trying to set a good example though, something amazing and unexpected happened. I healed myself and profoundly changed my body.
After decades of diets, yo-yoing weight, and thousands of dollars spent on weight loss gimmicks, I decided to stop trying to lose weight and instead focus on nourishing my body with real, whole foods in adequate amounts, to achieve HEALTH, not weight loss. Instead of punishing myself for dietary indiscretions by spending hours running on the treadmill, interspersed with years of absolute inactivity, I started finding activities I enjoyed, and simply spending more time on my feet and less time on my ass. What happened amazed me: I discovered I actually ENJOYED moving, physical exertion felt GOOD when my body was properly fueled, and most of all, my body was capable of SO MUCH MORE than I’d ever imagined. As the months went by, I gradually lost weight (ultimately 80 pounds), gained strength, saw symptoms of disease diminish and eventually disappear. You can see my weight loss progression here, my before pics here, and my after pics here.
I’ve since added a Personal Trainer certification, and a Nutrition and Weight Management Coach cetificatio to my Massage Therapist and Health Educator credentials. I offer private personal training and bodywork sessions, and teach movement and strength building classes at Body Techniques in Alameda, CA, and offer group and one-on-one personal training at the Downtown Oakland YMCA (for more info on both, click here). I advocate a diet based on real, whole foods, built on a foundation of a rich variety of fruits and vegetables, but I don’t subscribe to a specific dietary dogma and encourage my clients to explore the vast world of food and movement without drinking the ‘kool-aid’ of any specific lifestyle philosophy. Every body is different and each of us must find what works best for our own unique ethics, goals and chemistry. More detail about my own philosophy here.
Please contact me with any questions or to schedule a private session! I look forward to working together.
Hi!
I couldn’t find your email do you think you could shoot me an email I have a question about your blog.
Mike
I am a guy, but I have really enjoyed reading some of your posts since I found this site last week.
Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing.
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wow, that’s a pretty remarkable transformation. I’ve never had any extra pounds, and I can’t imagine managing to lose that many pounds. that must be some serious dedication you’ve got!
Kaleo…if i wanted to contact you, asking on opinion on a health issue i am facing and see what your thoughts are about how i should proceed…how do i email you?
Very concerned follower of yours,
Chelsea Lukes
You are awesome!! I’m a CC member (so keep track of my calories) and am also a relatively active member of the forum posts. I see SO MANY WOMEN trying out fad diets, paleo, no carb, juice (that one makes me scream every time) and all sorts of trash. I try to comment on as many as I can but sometimes I get so frustrated because of all the misinformation about diet and exercise but also about how “skinny” is the be all and end all for young women. It is so refreshing to see a whole blog devoted to being healthy, happy, un-restricted, and super hot and buff. Whoever said you looked like a lesbian was lying but if you were a lesbian you’d be super hot! Way to go, I’m bookmarking you right now.
Well im a 26 year old mother of 2 and ive always been a overweight person since i can remember. Im 5″4 and about 250lbs.. And im looking to change my health style. Maybe lose some weight but dont know how to start.
Hi! I have just recently found your blog and I am usually not one to comment, but I have to tell you, you are now my favourite person in the whole blogworld
You’re a living image of the saying “your body is your temple.” Proud of your progress.
Thank you Zamaro! It was nice of you to take the time to post this today.
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Your amazingly grounded perspective has made such an impact on my life. I have suffered from anorexia for 9 years and been hospitalised numerous times as a result. I love to train and eat clean but have a tendancy to become obsessive and excessive with the so called ‘healthy’ messages in society and despite my best attempts at recovery I seem to always fall prey to those damaging messages we are bombarded with each day. Many times I have ended up as a ticking time bomb being warned that my organs were likely to give up at any moment but I just didnt know how to do anything else and everywhere I looked I was told to eat less, move more, be strong and use willpower (load of crap!)
Your blog is the best thing I have come across (and I have paid $400 for a half hour psych session with the best psych’s in the country before so that is saying a lot!) It taps into my logical mind and reassures me that there is an option to eat food, train hard and still be healthy (rather than living like the walking dead). You have become such a grounding force in my recovery and have shown me what healthy can really mean rather than what all the trashy magazines try to sell us.
After so many years of depriving my body and ending up with bone density issues, depression, reporductive problems etc I am finally finding it such a miracle to be following a healthy meal plan of 2000-2500 cals per day and the only thing that convinces me to keep going with it is your blogs. Your blog is so different to other ‘health’ blogs as you dont promote weight loss, restriction, or excessive ANYTHING! Its about living your best life in a healthy and balanced way. Please keep spreading the love and keeping it so real. You are changing lives in such an amazing way xx
i’d like to know your height. I have been told that height determines so much about your intake vs output and you look amazing. I am baffled as to how you eat 3000 calories a day and maintain that figure…
Hi, I just came upon your site through some article about the Olympic people and not wanting to look like them or something, haha.
Anyways I think you’re just amazing and after I’m done with this comment I’m going to read your “getting started” post and find out how to..well “get started” Lol.
I currently need to lose like 110lbs or more (or just 110 and make up the difference with muscle), I lost 50lbs last year but gained back half of that because of holidays, and then I got lazy… Not my proudest moment since I was feeling so happy to be back in my pre-pregnancy pants and then I messed it up and gave up my newly found fgood habits for my SO’s re-found bad-habits. (He’s one of those skinny people that eats crap and stays skinny) It’s funny that since I fell off the wagon I feel like I used to 10x faster than I felt better from eating healthy. Recently I’m working on cutting gluten out of my diet because it makes me moody and makes my stomach cramp up after like 5 minutes.
Anyways, the Olympics have really gotten my motivation to kick in, mainly because most of the people competing this year are around my age and you get those “what could have been” moments in your head, but at least it’s gotten me interesting in changing back to what I was working on creating last year.
I think one of the biggest inspirations I get from you is that you were the same size as me like 4 years ago, and after 1 year you were already at “goal” before toning (from what I get from you progression pic). I would love to be 170 in a year. Or even just LOOK 170 haha (my body holds weight pretty well, but yours seems to as well).
Anyways, thank you for creating this site, I bet you’re helping tons of people.
The only downside is that I can educate the hell out of myself through your blog, but when it comes to working out I’m limited by being too poor for a gym and being in Arizona, it sucks to go outside no matter what time of year it is (but especially now when it’s 110-120). I also live on a second story so I can’t workout inside unless I want to be evicted. Next year I hope to have a house in nice cool Washington state. But maybe until then I can talk hubby into a gym membership.
I’m doing the paleo thing and my aunt, who’s a vegetarian, asked me to help her figure out a way of eating that would help her get healthy without violating her ethics. I’m going to send her to your site. You look awesome, and super healthy!
I love your blog and philosophy, which is very similar to mine! There is so much misinformation on diet and lifestyle out there and yet it is simpler than people think!
adamBATTAGLIA Posted on whit, your pictures are ublnbievaele. sure, i’m really jealous but also REALLY JEALOUS. congrats on what seems to be a successful trip so far. can’t wait to see the show.
Hi Kaleo,
I’m a 21-year-old female who’s interested in exercising and fitness – oh, and healthy diet, and I’m a lacto-ovo-vegetarian. May I ask you 2 questions?
(1) The first one is regarding your personal experiences of weight loss. What methods have you used to lose weight? By “methods,” I’m referring to exercising (including equipments), diet moderation, commercial weight-loss products (drinks, pills, powders), diet or fitness supplement (protein powders), massaging machines (which do not require physical activities but claim to help weight loss), medications, surgeries, etc.
I have lost about 20 pounds by exercising and eating healthy foods, but I’m not sure if I’m the only real human being I know that has lost weight by these natural methods or not. When I first saw the changes in your physical appearances, I was amazed and impressed, so I started to look at your websites to read more about your stories.
I’ve seen pictures of real people on advertisements of weight-loss products, but I’m not amazed; I only admire people who use realistic and healthy methods to lose weight, so could you tell me more about yourself?
(2) After I have lost 20 pounds, I still have these… seemingly “congenital” abdominal fats that still remain. I had a bulgy abdomen since I was little, even when I was 5 feet and 80 pounds, so I had always thought that I was fat. Until I was “really” fat from binging and became almost 140 pounds…
Anyway…
I want to burn off those abdominal fats first before I work on toning the muscles, because I don’t want to result in a bulgy mass of abdominal muscle. I want to look flat from lateral view. Could you give me some advice on what I can work on?
The resources I have: NO membership of any fitness club, since I don’t work, and my mom’s income can only focus on “needed” expenses – well, needs to sustain life but not emotion, because my mind dies if I haven’t exercised for a few days. However, I can use the fitness center at my college for free, but during the summertime, I can use it for barely an hour, since I have a summer class, which is what qualify me (current student) to use the gym. In addition, I have to transfer buses to arrive at my college campus. By the time my second bus arrives on campus, I have only one hour left until the gym closes. (The gym at my college is not open for consecutive hours, and it’s not free for all the time period when it opens.)
I don’t have any lifting or cardio equipments at home, although I’ve wished that I had a treadmill. Sometimes I lift my heavy bookbag to work on my upper arm, since I think it’s possibly the same principles that make biceps curls work.
Thank you very, very much. I’d appreciate your response. Thank you, again.
I LOVE your blog heading….”Eat real food. Move around a lot. Lift heavy things. And skip the kool-aid” (-: Awesome! I love crossfit, but as a dietitian I can’t get on board with the paleo diets elimination of whole grains and beans. I liked your discussion on how you came to find a healthy eating that works for you. I enjoyed reading your blog and identified with many parts. Very motivational, great job.
Hi there,
You look great! I was curious how tall you are? I struggle with what weight looks like. I am 5-8 165, looking to drop, I always wanted to be 145 but maybe the number isn’t the solution.
Thanks!
My friend introduced me to your site. Love it! I have lost 110 lbs so far (still have more to go) from running and training for my first 10K. Thank you for your honest approach espeically regarding the loose skin. Looking forward to reading the rest of your site!
Just got introduced to your site by a cool chick in the Fierce Fit Fearless FB group that I belong to – I totally love your site and your philosophies and outlook on EVERYTHING. Even though I work out hard and train intensely, my body is having a hard time digesting all the animal proteins that I was trying to feed it. I am so relieved to see another female that works out hard that does not eat 5 lbs of steak and chicken every 3 hours! I love eating less meat but was worried that my training would suffer – thank you for showing me how that is totally not true! You have an amazing energy and I’m very grateful to have found your site.
i found you on pinterest and fell in love with your story. i have been a runner my entire life and i have always focused on being healthy, but now approaching 41, i know there are many ways i could fine tune my body. thank-you for the inspiration, it was just what i needed.
I’m glad you found me too, and that you’re finding helpful stuff here! Welcome!