I was raised on a dairy farm in the Midwest and was the classic meat and potatoes eater. Plus, every meal ended with a dessert. By the time I reached 20 years of age, I had also reached a low point in my health. I was battling chronic infections, boils, and sties, and recurring colds. I took the advice of a friend and went to see an alternative healer. He took me off all medications and put me on an intense cleanse, followed by a vegetarian diet. My health changed dramatically and my ideas about health and healing were changed forever.

I remained generally healthy for years; I wasn't bothered by colds any longer. I did notice that as I got older some health problems started to creep in; yeast infections, skin rashes, weight gain, and general fatigue. I started exercising more to battle the weight gain, which was generally successful, bit I could never maintain my idea weight. The majority of the time over the past fifteen years I have been ten to fifteen pounds heavier than I wanted to be and quite at a loss as to what to do about it.

At the age of 36, I started a running program. Two years later I attempted my first marathon but had to stop at 23 miles because of an injury. I had started taking the Aphanizominon flos-aquae (AFA) at this time; however, I can't say I felt any difference in my health. After the marathon, I came down with the worst case of the flu I have every experienced. I was out of commission for two whole weeks. Eventually I got back on my feet and started training for another marathon. I ran this one in December of 1996. Again I came down with a nasty case of the flu. The interesting thing about this "marathon" period in my life is that I still could not get my weight down where I wanted it to be. My diet was largely high carbs/low fat; what I thought was the perfect diet. To boot, I was also still battling those chronic rashes and yeast infections.

I read the book "Bodyfueling" by Robyn Landis at this time based on the theory that more protein in proportion to carbohydrates was more effective in burning body fat. I tried it. I didn't lose any weight, but my yeast symptoms subsided noticeably and I felt better.

In October of 1997 Bill Cooper gave me a copy of "The Body Ecology Diet by Donna Gates. I read it from cover to cover and decided to give it a try for three months. At this point I'd stopped running, I weighed 140 lbs - the heaviest I've ever been - and I felt crappy.

Six weeks later I had dropped 20 lbs.. It seemed to just melt away. The amazing thing is that I retained muscle tone. I had previously believed that you could not lose fat by diet alone - that it required rigorous exercise. I figured I was doomed to be chubby forever.

I am now down to 117 pounds and healing. My stomach is flatter than it has ever been and I feel better than I can ever remember feeling in my entire adult life. The rashes have gone away. The yeast infections have cleared up. And people tell me I look younger.

I've started adding some foods back into my diet. This has been quite an education as I'm learning what my body will tolerate. I'm still taking a lot of acidophilus and AFA which I feel was very beneficial in my success. I've started running again and I feel light as a feather. I will adhere to this way of eating the rest of my life.

Sherry Giglia, Colorado Springs, CO.