“From sedentary to marathon runner and over 200 pounds lost”

By: Liz Derry

Looking at me today, people are shocked when they hear that I have lost and maintained over 200 pounds of weight loss, eliminated multiple health problems, including diabetes, and went from sedentary to marathon runner, all through healthy eating and exercise, without pills, surgeries, shots, weighing and measuring foods, or counting calories. The affects of my change to a whole food plant based diet were not just physical, but emotional, mental, and spiritual.

At the start of 2020, at the age of 44, I weighed almost 400 pounds and was suffering from many health problems including chronic reflux, poor wound healing, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, depression, poor sleep, chronic fatigue, high blood pressure, menstrual problems, and general despondency. I had lost and gained large amounts of weight multiple times in my life, including over 100 pounds 2 other times. I had been on many different diets and none of them were working for me anymore. I was only able to lose 30-40 pounds and then would quickly gain it all back. After a recent family vacation in which I spent most of the time sitting on benches, while my family explored the sites, I had reached an all-time low. I felt so old and run down physically and wondered what type of life I had left, unable to enjoy time and activities with my children, and eventually grandchildren, and likely facing an early death.

In desperation I prayerfully decided to give dieting one more try and chose to start with the last diet I had tried, keto. That very day a friend posted on Facebook about a life changing documentary The Game Changers, and I decided to watch it with my family. It opened my eyes to the many health benefits of a plant-based diet, and it also dispelled many of the myths and misconceptions that had kept me from considering it in the past.

I immediately felt the witness from the spirit that I had found my answer. One of the things that had bothered me about most of the diets and food plans I had followed in the past was how meat dominant they were and how often they also limited fruits and even sometimes vegetables. I had thought about the verse in the Word of Wisdom that talked about eating meat sparingly and had reasoned with myself that I had to eat that way due to my own particular health problems.

When I found whole food plant-based eating, suddenly those verses in Doctrine and Covenants made sense to me, and I felt like I had finally found a way of eating that was in accordance with God’s scriptural guidance. I didn’t just choose to abstain from meat and dairy, I eliminated processed foods including all sweeteners, flours, and oils.

From the first meal, I felt a difference. My body felt lighter, less weighed down, and for the first time in a long time I had no heartburn or reflux that night. Within a week my wounds, that had been frozen in a half-healed state for weeks, healed completely. My energy increased significantly, and even when I missed sleep for a birth (a common occurrence as a midwife), I still felt able to function and did not find myself falling asleep while driving. My mental clarity and memory improved dramatically. I felt like a mental fog lifted. My emotions leveled and my depression went away.

Over time and with research, I found different whole food plant based approaches that helped me on my journey, including eating high carbohydrate and low fat, as well as intermittent fasting. As the weight was easily coming off, about 9 months into my journey, I started taking daily walks. Eventually, I added in strength training and then decided to try running in August of 2022. I was not able to run for any prolonged period of time as a child, and was amazed at my abilities now that I was eating plant based.

Last year, in 2023, I raced two half marathons and my first full marathon. My A1C has been 4.6-4.7 for over two years now (this level is considered non-diabetic). My only health problem that remains is hypothyroidism.

Along with the physical, mental, and emotional benefits, I definitely also felt spiritual benefits. I have felt more in tune with the spirit and better able to hear and follow its whisperings. I have had more hope and joy than at any other time in my life.

This journey led me to change careers, and I am currently transitioning from midwifery to health and wellness coaching and helping others find permanent weight loss and relief of health problems through whole food plant based eating and following Heavenly Father’s guidance for our health as shown in the Word of Wisdom. I feel truly blessed to have found this way of eating.

Liz Derry is a 48-year-old member of the Spring River ward in Roswell New Mexico. She and her husband Chalan have 6 adult children. She worked as a nurse in the hospital setting for 13 years, and then as a home birth midwife for the last 13 years, and started her work as a health and wellness coach in 2023. She enjoys reading, writing, painting, heavy weightlifting, walking, running, and hiking outdoors, and dancing with her husband. You can find her on Facebook at Liz Derry H20.