I’ve always been overweight my whole life. I was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovarian disorder) and was told I would not be able to have children. This devastated my husband and I. I turned to food and quickly gained 100 pounds. It took 7 years but we had our daughter in 2009. I packed on the pounds with every pregnancy and after my son was born in 2012 I was at my all time highest weight of 358 pounds.
I was able to lose a little by myself but quickly gained most of it back like I always did. I was miserable and unhappy. I love trying new things and so I tried gyms, diets, support groups and even signed up for weight loss surgery 3 times. I never went through with the surgeries because I knew it wasn’t right for me. I needed a different kind of change.
I heard about Young and Raw from my cousin April. She used the 21 day raw food reset to lose 71 pounds last year! I wanted that same success for myself. So in January I bought the 21 day raw food reset and got started. Right away I could tell a huge difference in how eating whole food made me feel. It felt amazing!
In just 21 days this is what happened to me:
- I lost a total of 15.4 pounds
- My skin improved dramatically
- My teeth got whiter
- I lost inches off my waist
- I had tons of energy
- We saved money from eating at home
- I gained a confidence in myself that I could change for real this time
When I started the 21 day raw food reset I was surprised to learn just how many processed carbohydrates I had been eating. With that simple change my waist started shrinking right away. I was losing Inches! I committed myself to following the recipes and decided to stay on track the best I could. It was so exciting.
I enjoyed all the recipes and found a way to make the program work for me. It was hard at first but I kept telling myself “I can do this, I can do this!” I tripled my juice recipes in week 3 and stored them in mason jars so I was only using the juicer once a day. That made it much easier and I had no excuse because all I had to do was go to the fridge and grab a juice.
I started using organic beauty products and I even make my own laundry soap now. This reset taught me about more than just how to eat whole foods. It really opened my eyes to all the harmful toxins in the everyday products that I was using. I’m able to make better choices based on that information. We’re even starting a vegetable garden on our balcony!
In the last year I have lost a total of 55 pounds and I’m currently training for my first half marathon. My next goal is to lose as much weight as I can before my race and to cross the finish line strong. I’m going to use Young and Raw to make that goal a reality.
My whole family benefited from the 21 day reset. Before this I would feed them highly processed food on a daily basis. Now we make healthy meals together and our kitchen has become a place I nurture and teach our children. I teach them about all the fun and yummy recipes our fruits and vegetables can make.
A year ago my daughter would wake up asking for chips and soda, and today she woke up asking for a banana smoothie. It brings me to tears thinking about how our lives have changed. Thank-you Young and Raw for helping me change. Ultimately that changed our kids future from an obese one to a future of health and wellness.
Julie Hunter
Transformation Ambassador at Young and Raw
My name is Julie and I'm 29 years old. I'm from a small town in Missouri called Versailles so I'm country girl at heart but we moved to Chicago to work for United Airlines. That job didn't satisfy me so I became a nanny for 8 years and after having children I became a full time stay at home mom. I have been married to Michael for 8 years, we have a 4 year old daughter and a 1 year old son. I love trying new things and have a new found passion for eating healthy and running.
