How I Accidentally Turned My Body Into a Fat Burning Machine…and Went Too Far!

Or The Story of How Tooth Surgery Boosted my Weight Loss

If you have 20 or less pounds to lose, take this as a word of caution that it’s possible to go too far.

If you have 40 or more pounds to lose, consider this as one possible strategy to consider.

Here’s what happened…

I was already practicing intermittent fasting for a few months when I had my tooth surgery last December. Thus, my body was already used to tapping into my fat reserves for energy.

I developed a root canal infection around Thanksgiving and found a wonderful holistic dentist in Boulder (Dr. Carmen Burke) to take out the tooth and put in a ceramic implant.

This was how I met

@Megan Rippey

. Megan and the rest of the staff took such good care of me!

Dr. Burke informed me that I would have a retainer after the surgery to protect the implant, and I couldn’t wash the retainer for three days.

I didn’t like the idea of eating and not being able to wash my retainer. No problem, I thought, I can fast.

She also informed me that I would have to eat very soft foods for at least the first month.

No problem, I thought, I can eat soup.

The time came for the surgery. I fasted the day of the surgery and two days afterwards. I did drink broths to get nutrients that my body needed for healing. I felt really good, fasting probably helped me heal faster.

Then, I went home and followed nutritionist Christa Orecchio’s Soup Reset. She has recipes for delicious soups like Celery Arugula Lemony Garlic, Beet Cardamom, Creamy Cauliflower, etc. Her soups don’t have very many carbohydrates. No grains. No fruits.

I wasn’t trying to avoid carbohydrates, just focusing on soft foods and eating soups I love.

The combination of a 3-day fast and a month of following the Soup Reset made me feel like fat was just flying off my body. I lost fat in places I didn’t even know I had fat. Armpits? Back of the knees? Fat was just disappearing.

It was kind of cool, actually. I got to know muscles and tendons I hadn’t seen for years, since they were covered by layers of fat.

It was holiday time and I was happy to find that I had absolutely no cravings for the sugary treats people around me were consuming. That was the good part, and a change from previous holidays!

Eating less carbohydrates naturally leads to less cravings, since blood sugar spikes and high insulin are the main drivers of cravings. Less carbohydrates, less sugar spikes, less insulin, less cravings.

But, I also noticed that I was starting to look “skinny” in the mirror. Call me old fashioned, but as a woman, I do like to have a little bit of fat here and there. It was just disappearing, from all the places. I sadly didn’t have a magic wand to tell my body where to release the fat and where to keep it.

That’s when I realized that I didn’t want to be “skinny”. I want to be fit, strong, muscular, with a healthy amount of fat on my body, but not skinny.

Luckily, I have no problem at all with gaining weight! I’m proud to say that I came back from the edge of “skinny” by fasting a bit less and indulging more in the healthy foods that I love rather than using this as an excuse to go on a junk food binge! Though, I may have eaten a few too many protein bars. I’ll share that story later!

I’m at a healthy, happy 140 pounds now, after I got down to 133. I’m continuing to work on building muscle, and I’m sure my weight will fluctuate a bit as I gain more muscle.

This is why I don’t like to use the number on the scale as a major tool. It can fluctuate a lot based on our water intake, muscle mass, etc. It’s just one data point. I do check in with it weekly, but I don’t obsess over it.

My words of wisdom from this experience-

-Be clear on what your goals are and be ready to change direction/shift your strategy when things aren’t going the way you want them to.

-The path to health and wellness is a marathon, not a sprint. But it can be the most joyful marathon you can ever imagine, when you approach it with love and self-compassion :)

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