Margie Burton's story is a testament to the power of perseverance, self-discovery, and a commitment to a healthier lifestyle. Throughout her life, Margie battled weight and health issues, facing numerous challenges and setbacks. However, her determination and willingness to embrace change led her to a remarkable transformation. This article explores Margie's journey, highlighting the obstacles she overcame, the dietary changes she made, and the profound impact these changes had on her health and well-being.
Early Struggles and Health Challenges
From a young age, Margie struggled with her weight. She recalls being called "thunderthighs" by her peers, a painful experience that left a lasting mark. Her health issues were further compounded by an emergency appendectomy during her childhood, the first in a long line of surgeries. During her senior year of high school, Margie was bedridden due to a back injury, leading to a significant weight gain of approximately 40 pounds. As she never got up to dress or go to the bathroom, she never realized it.
Margie's health problems continued into adulthood. During her pregnancies, she experienced further complications, including being bedridden again during her second pregnancy due to a herniated disc in her lower back. She gained 45 pounds with each pregnancy. She also suffered from cluster migraine headaches, some of which lasted for weeks.
A History of Dieting
Over the years, Margie experimented with numerous diets, including the grapefruit diet, Atkins, Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, and SlimFast. While she experienced some success with these diets, the weight always seemed to return.
Margie's health issues persisted, and she was eventually diagnosed with fibromyalgia, trigeminal neuralgia, rheumatoid arthritis, myofascial pain syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, and degenerative disc disease. She relied on a cocktail of medications to manage her symptoms, including those aimed at preventing the debilitating migraine clusters.
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The Impact on Family
Margie's struggles with dieting also had an impact on her family. Her two daughters developed eating disorders during their teenage years. Margie couldn't help but wonder if her own dieting habits had contributed to their struggles. They attended Weight Watchers meetings together, celebrating small victories on the scale. While her daughters threw themselves into exercising, Margie convinced herself that her poor health prevented her from doing the same, leading to a sedentary lifestyle.
Despite being tall, Margie carried extra pounds without appearing overtly fat. However, health charts classified her as morbidly obese. While she tried to avoid dwelling on her weight, she was taking around 15 medications daily just to function. She had undergone a staggering number of surgeries, including multiple back surgeries, sinus surgeries, thyroid surgeries, knee replacements, carpal tunnel surgeries, and other procedures.
A Turning Point: Joining the Gym
About a year before turning 65, Margie experienced a turning point. She retired from teaching, relocated to be closer to her grandchildren, and decided to join a local gym. At her heaviest, with a BMI of 34, she sought to improve her health.
Having never been to a workout fitness gym, she received instruction on using various cardio and weight machines. She also joined the "Young at Heart" class, led by a fit 71-year-old instructor who was a personal trainer, yoga and fitness teacher, and nutrition expert. The instructor encouraged the class to focus on strengthening their muscles and cautioned them against relying on exercise for weight loss. She emphasized that weight loss was primarily achieved through proper nutrition.
Discovering a Plant-Based Diet
The instructor's emphasis on nutrition sparked Margie's curiosity. She learned that the instructor followed a plant-based diet, excluding all animal products. Initially, Margie was skeptical, questioning how she could live without cheese, ice cream, or In-N-Out burgers.
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However, the instructor, who had overcome obesity and cancer, shared her experiences and inspired Margie to explore this new approach. A friend introduced Margie to the documentary "Forks over Knives" and the book "Discovering the Word of Wisdom" by Jane Birch. These resources opened Margie's eyes to a new world of eating and challenged her long-held beliefs about nutrition. She felt betrayed by what she had learned all her life from the media, the trusted Dairy Council, the Food and Drug Administration, and on and on, from the Food Pyramid she taught for years in her classroom to the health news on the great benefits of olive and coconut oils.
Embracing the Plant-Based Lifestyle
Margie fully embraced the plant-based lifestyle, focusing on a diet rich in starches, vegetables, and fruits. She started her day with a large bowl of oatmeal with flax seeds, hemp hearts, and blueberries. For lunch, she enjoyed a variety of potatoes, sometimes with quinoa, spinach, or broccoli. Dinner typically consisted of rice and beans with a large serving of vegetables. She satisfied her sweet cravings with grapes.
Despite feeling like she was eating large quantities of food, Margie began to lose weight. Her exercise class teacher continued to mentor her, advising her to avoid oil and added supplements and to chew her food thoroughly. Margie also took her nutrition class and got lots of new recipes and bought vegan cookbooks at the thrift store and online. She searched the Internet for new recipes nearly every day. She learned to make sauces using carrots, chickpeas, and red peppers. She learned that it was possible to brown onions and garlic in water instead of oil. She found that it was possible to make yummy sweet treats using Medjool dates and real maple syrup. She never have felt deprived.
The Results: Weight Loss and Improved Health
Margie's commitment to a plant-based diet yielded remarkable results. She lost weight, reaching a normal BMI range instead of being morbidly obese. More importantly, she felt healthier and more energetic than ever before.
She is finally happy with her weight-especially since she no longer has to worry about dieting, or counting calories, or limiting portion sizes. She may still lose a few more pounds, but she’s no longer worried about it. She is in the normal range instead of being morbidly obese. This way of eating is not dieting. She saw parts of the Word of Wisdom she had never really noticed before. She kept reading it over and over again, wondering when that had been added. She is a convert, but she had never even noticed that section before. She has a desire to please the Lord, so she has made a commitment as strong as the four items we are to stay away from. She will never smoke, drink coffee, tea, or alcohol, and she will never eat meat unless it is the last thing available on earth, and only then if the Lord tells her she has to. We’re certainly not suffering from famine or from a lack of grains, or fruits or vegetables. Why do we not talk about pleasing the Lord? The scriptures never force us to keep commandments. That’s why we are encouraged to read and pray for answers for ourselves.
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Margie experienced a significant reduction in her fibromyalgia symptoms and recovered more quickly after busy days. She gained the strength to dance with her granddaughter and play basketball with her grandson.
A Family Affair
Margie's husband joined her on this health journey a month later, losing 30 pounds himself. Her developmentally disabled sister, Helen, who lives with them, also adopted the plant-based diet. After 20 years as a diabetic, her doctor has taken her off all her diabetic medications, and high cholesterol medications. For the first time in 35 years, her blood pressure is normal!
Helen's Story: A Remarkable Transformation
Helen's story is particularly inspiring. Born with brain damage due to a difficult premature delivery, she faced numerous challenges throughout her life. She struggled with learning disabilities and emotional instability, and she developed type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. It was later discovered that she was actually autistic, not severely depressed, and she should never have spent a lifetime taking heavy psychotic medications that caused instability.
After Margie introduced her to the plant-based diet, Helen experienced a dramatic transformation. She lost more than 90 pounds, went off her diabetes and high cholesterol medications, and no longer needed a CPAP machine. Her A1c level normalized, and her doctor eventually removed the type 2 diabetes diagnosis from her medical record. She still carries excess weight around her middle, but her 115 pounds on her 5 foot 2 inch frame puts her BMI at 21, well within the normal range. She can get down on her hands and knees and get up herself without holding onto anything. She is down to a low dose of one psychotic medication, one high blood pressure medication (her BP runs about 150/70), and no cholesterol medications as her total cholesterol at last check was 147. She is happy most all the time and not depressed anymore. Could she make wise choices to eat the right things out on her own? No, probably not. But as long as I am there to help her along the way, she is happy. She is very appreciative and thanks me for every meal.
Helen now enjoys the plant-based meals that Margie prepares and appreciates the positive changes in her health and well-being. She is very appreciative and thanks Margie for every meal.
A Mission to Help Others
Margie feels like a convert on a mission to help transform people’s lives. She is passionate about sharing her story and encouraging others to adopt a plant-based lifestyle. She believes that changing their diets would give them a new lease on life. If they only realized what they are doing to the sacred bodies they have been entrusted with during mortality. They have their agency, and can choose to kill themselves earlier than ever or thrive more happily longer in service to God and their fellow human beings. The world still says carbs are bad and coconut oil and Paleo diets are good, but I now know better.