The LifeCo Blog

Hmmm where should I start?! I think I’ll start with my childhood. I remember myself feeling very uncomfortable in my body even when I was 6 years old. I was neither fat nor thin but there was a certain discomfort. When I was 14, I was 10 kilos overweight so my mom took me to see a nutritionist. Since then I tried lots of different solutions including Slimming Centers, Montignac diet, Ayurvedic diet, acupuncture, blood type diet, Tibet diet, food intolerance diet etc. I lost weight a couple of times but I always gained it back. I always felt I was depriving myself and knew that when the program was finished I would be able to eat whatever I wanted again!

I was brought up in a jewish family in İstanbul where the food is the most important element in daily life.. So my mom was really good at that and it was hard to stop myself Traditional Jewish kitchen consists of meat 3 times a week, desserts on Fridays, lots of dairy and carbohydrates. Besides I used to drink coke instead of water, have fast food and junk food and I always ate dessert with every meal but I always managed to keep my weight around max 70’s. And my height is 1.70 m. I think that was when I was in my 20’s. And also I always had dance in my life. Tango, salsa, aerobics, İsraeli dance etc.

After I turn my 30 I started to think more about the future. I had a bad break up. I moved out from my family’s house. I started taking quantum physic classes which made me judge more about the principles I have been taught about life. That was scary ! I started working at this telecommunications company. I was pretty comfortable at my job but there was no satisfaction somehow. So each time I feel happy or sad I was eating. I wanted to make lots of changes in my life but I didn’t have enough energy and courage so I get depressed and eat again. It was pleasurable. Easy to reach instant happiness. I was gaining the weight slowly by slowly. I was always postponing the weightloss plans to the day after ! And because I was gonna start diet the day after I was eating more and more that day. I had become like a garbage can. I didn’t think any more when I was eating. It was like a vicious circle that I cannot come out. There was no logic there anymore, only emotions. I was eating my emotions.

In that pshycology I never wanted to go out. My home was my sanctuary. I often felt emotional and weak. I suffered back pain, constipation, allergies and experienced breathing difficulties whilst walking. And the worst part was to act like there was no problem at all. Of course I was just fooling myself.

I continued putting on weight until 2006 when I reached 108 kilos and it was just too much to cope with. I wasn’t able to breathe properly anymore.. Each time I stepped on the scales, I worried about how to lose the weight. It consumed my thoughts every moment and I honestly thought I would never be able to get rid of it. I needed to lose 50 kilos to regain my health so it felt like a whole person needed to leave my body. I was scared I would feel like this the whole of my life and didn’t know how I could feel normal again. I really couldn’t picture myself as ever being slim.

How I managed to change my situation and get rid of it all ? I fell down from the stairs because my legs couldn’t carry me anymore and that hit my pride and I woke up !

I decided to quit my current job and started looking for something more appropriate that would satisfy some of my personal interests which are spirituality, quantum physics, dance, music, kids, food, coaching. I took breathing seminars, coaching courses and quantum physic classes. I knew I wanted to do something which somehow involved helping people but wanted to find something tangible that people could connect with. I then came across an interview in a magazine about Ersin Pamuksuzer who worked in the same company with me detailing his story about changing his lifestyle and establishing a healthy living company. We’d never met before but he actually worked in the same building so I thought we at least had something in common and I told myself to go and have a chat with him. I was so fat and I’m not sure how I found the courage to approach him and suggest I actually join his new healthy living company. I had already lost 10 kilos by myself and my idea was to suggest working with Marketing Communications which was my previous field of experience.

The result of the interview was life-changing. I found Mr Pamuksuzer extremely supportive and encouraging. He advised me to initially complete a 7 day detox program at the Bodrum centre which resulted in me losing an additional 5 kilos and feeling an increase in energy for the first time in a long time. I was then sent to the Hippocrates Health Institute in Florida and attended their “Life Change Program” for 3 weeks eating 100% organic raw food. The program teaches visitors how to prepare raw food and how to change your view of food. I ended up losing a further 10 kilos and was also being educated.

When I returned to Turkey, I started to work with Mr Pamuksuzer in the LifeCo head office looking after marketing projects. After 4 months, I wanted to work closer to the people we are trying to support so I moved away from Istanbul one year ago and headed to our detox centre in Bodrum. I completed another 7 day detox and adopted the principals I learnt about raw food and juicing and continued to lose weight until last October when I finally felt I had reached my optimum weight of 58-60 kilos. I had managed to lose a total of 50 kilos totally. I feel like I gave birth to new me and a complete person has left my body.

I really have become a new person. I moved to the coast, I changed my whole wardrobe and I was given the opportunity to run the detox program in Bodrum. I am now able to share my experiences with our guests and hopefully inspire them to make changes to their own lives.

I am so happy that I feel so vibrant and full of energy. My allergies and back pain have all gone and I am now able to appreciate great health. I eat more live raw foods and I feel more alive.

If I could do it, everybody can do it !

Filed under: Mirey on August 15th, 2008