Celeste’s Weight Loss Success Story

Celeste is new to the Eat Like a Bear community, but she is not new to me. Celeste is my teenage diet buddy. We went on many crazy diets over 30 years ago and never managed to get beyond “chunky.” We had been out of touch for years when I saw a pending request in the Facebook group for one “Celeste McIntyre” and wondered if it could possibly be her.

I expect she got quite a surprise when she joined Facebook in late 2019 and found my personal profile. She scrambled to the Bear group, began her diet on January 2, 2020, is down 100 pounds over her high weight, and is looking to join the class of “half my size” cases in the community. When she does, we have one heck of a teenage photo to recreate. This is Celeste’s weight loss success story.

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Celeste’s Motivations and Past Diets

‪My core motivation to lose weight was I had a desperate desire to live, and ‬I felt like I was committing suicide by food. I had also suffered from chronic swelling in my ankles from many surgeries, and I was in an out of a wheelchair for several years while having the surgeries. I was fairly healthy otherwise. ‬

‪In the past when I tried dieting, I was frustrated by the inability to stick to it after losing some weight.‬ But after seeing ‪Amanda’s success, and that there was no cost involved, ‬I decided to try the Eat Like a Bear approach.

The Eat Like a Bear Approach was Different

‪I ate a gigantic salad consisting of greens (kale, cabbage, lettuce), veggies (cucumber and tomatoes), protein (chicken, shrimp, beef, eggs), fats (green olives, cheese, avocado, nuts), apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, and spices, and I drank bone broth and Spindrift Sparkling water.

I ate my huge salad in the evenings. I almost always ate one meal a day, but I did do some 47:1 fasting.‬ ‪It was just so easy to not have to weigh and measure the food. I felt like it was a decadent treat to eat two avocados! Eating one meal a day was so freeing. ‬

A New Life‪

‪I don’t think I really thought the Eat Like a Bear approach was working until I reached the 65-pound loss and decided I was going to continue. I knew then it was working and that I could do this forever. ‬

‪Now that I’ve lost weight, I can get up off the floor by myself. Car seatbelts fit! I fit in an airplane seat comfortably and do not need a seatbelt extension! I can walk down an aisle and not have my body bump into people. People no longer jump to get out of my way in fear of being toppled by my body. I can stand on my tiptoes! Not only can I walk, but I can hike uphill! I bought a wet suit right off the rack and can carry my own scuba tanks. I can shop in clothing stores for regular-size people. And our grocery bill had plummeted.

Tips for Newcomers

Don’t try to make food behave. Don’t try to make dangerous foods fit the framework. Give up dangerous foods. Decide that you are worth eating a really big salad every day. If you need to focus on something, focus on eating the most nutrient-dense foods in your salad.‬