Sturdy Woman

In March 2020, moments before the COVID quarantine in the United States, I was diagnosed with lipedema, lymphedema, and venous insufficiency. My doctor told me there was nothing I could do. “The most we can hope for is to maintain where you are right now,” she said before hugging me and telling me she had lipedema herself.

Weighing more than 300 pounds, 100 pounds of which I had mysteriously gained over about a year, I was devastated. What did this mean for my life, career, and health? I was 35.

Today’s post is about my lipedema journey. Yes, I have lost weight with lipedema. I have lost a lot of weight. I have also achieved dozens of non-scale victories and those are what have truly changed my life and my health. This website and the Sturdy Woman YouTube channel explain how I’ve done it with conservative treatments.

For those of you already asking… No, I have not had surgery. No, I do not take GLP-1 weight loss drugs.

Short on time? Skip to the bottom for a summary and helpful links.

Remember, I am not a doctor. I am just a woman with lipedema and you should talk to your care team about your treatment plan. However, I hope that by sharing my success story and my keto before and after photos I can inspire you to chase after the sturdy life you deserve.

Sturdy things can take a lot of weight without breaking. Dig deep, find your inner strength, and see just how much you can achieve when you invest in yourself.

You are worth the work.

Can you lose weight with lipedema?

I am not alone. Others within the lipedema community have lost even more than me, many of us relying on conservative treatments and some version of keto. I wish people talked about this as much as they talk about liposuction.

Before and After Lipedema Photos

It isn’t easy and it takes time to untangle what works best for your body, but it is possible. Check out the video below. The before photos are from the month I started keto in 2020 and I tried on the same clothes for this post. Taking pictures is hard, but it will help you track progress better than the scale can.

What has been special about my weight loss on keto is that I lost weight in my legs too. Like many of you, I am a lifelong dieter and had previously lost more than 100 pounds doing calorie-restriction diets and extreme exercise. But even when I lost weight, low calorie diets made little difference in my lipedema legs. This is what keto has done.

Non-Scale Victories

A non-scale victory (NSV) is any improvement you see in your health or life that has nothing to do with weight loss. And isn’t a better quality of life the ultimate reason most people set out to lose weight? If you feel better, who cares what number is on the scale?

My photos are one way I tracked NSVs. Many months I saw no change in my weight on the scale, but I could see I was losing inches, my skin was looking better, and my swelling was resolving. If you don’t have someone you trust to help take pictures, a tripod with a Bluetooth remote is an affordable solution.

Here are some of my favorite NSVs on my journey:

Goodbye Prescriptions and Brain Fog. Hello, Energy!

Off all prescriptions Before my diagnosis and before keto I took prescription medicine for high blood pressure and low thyroid. Within a year of starting keto I was off both and have never looked back.

Improved energy, focus, and mood have made a dramatic impact on my daily life. Previously, I dragged myself through the day, drank 4-5 cups of coffee, and assumed everyone else did too. I switched to decaf coffee a year ago and still get more done. I also have more fun while doing it!

Before keto I would have laughed if you said I had brain fog. But once it was gone I couldn’t imagine how I functioned before. I have a degree from Harvard and a successful career but literally got smarter on keto. I no longer needed a notebook to jot down notes throughout the day. Huge NSV.

Better, Faster, Stronger

My lipedema journey started with a funny pain in my knee and trouble climbing the stairs. Now I go to the park on the weekends to run up and down the stairs in the amphitheater. Doing something that just a few years ago was laborious and required the handrail fills me with gratitude and awe for what our bodies can rebound from when we figure out how to take care of them.

Running… makes me feel strong and alive and like I’m kicking lipedema in the face.

I’m walking faster and even running. I can now walk a mile 5-6 minutes faster without breaking a sweat and I run 8-10 miles a week. Running is high impact so it isn’t normally recommended for lipedema, but it makes me feel strong and alive and like I’m kicking lipedema in the face.

No one talks about this with keto, but it is amazing for your teeth! I’ve always had terrible teeth, but since cutting out sugar and carbs I haven’t had so much as a cavity. Not all your NSVs have to be about lipedema! Track anything that encourages you to keep going.

Getting Back Into the World

I am traveling again! In 2018 I sat down on an airplane and the seat belt didn’t fit. Too embarrassed to ask for an extender, I draped my coat over my lap and pretended to be asleep. The flight attendants didn’t care enough to check.

I didn’t take another flight for three years and when I did I bought two seats just to be safe. (Did you know Southwest’s passenger of size policy will reimburse you for the second?) I cried when I sat down and everything fit. I didn’t need it. Since then I have traveled frequently, even taking international trips to Asia and Africa. Major NSVs.

I get emotional thinking about how, just four years ago, I thought my life was over. This life? For more about travel check out my post Conservative Treatments for Lipedema: Do they work? and my videos here and here.

Summary and Conclusion

Too long; didn’t read? I have lipedema and I successfully lost weight. A lot of it. It took a few years, but I lost nearly half my body weight and 14 dress sizes in my legs. My lymphedema and lipedema symptoms like swelling, exhaustion, and pain dramatically improved.

I’ve also had major non-scale victories like getting off all my prescription medications, clearing up my brain fog, increasing my physical fitness, and traveling internationally. Switching to a ketogenic diet and understanding my food sensitivities were game changers for me. Even with lipedema I’ve lost weight without surgery and without GLP-1 drugs. Maybe you can to? The links below will give you some inspo to start your own journey.

How Exactly Did I Do It?

This website and the Sturdy Woman YouTube channel are dovoted to answering that question! The resources below are great places to start your journey:

• Conservative Treatments for Lipedema Playlist
• Keto and Lipedema Playlist

Use the comment space below to share some of the victories you’ve had since learning about lipedema or lymphedema. What makes you sturdy? Let’s all take a victory lap together.

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