Family Health Transformation
How a mother, father, and son conquered diabetes, obesity, and more.
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Jessica and Timothy Bayer of Buena Park, Calif., and their four-year-old son Caleb flew to London last October for a journey of nutritional healing with me and seven others. The experience turned each of their major health issues completely around. As a result, Caleb, 4, is now a far healthier and happier kid, Timothy, 40, is sharp and energetic again, and Jessica, 40, is no longer diabetic, depressed, or food-obsessed. Here’s my interview with the Bayers about their incredible transformation.
KJ: Jessica, you look fantastic. Is it really true that at seven months pregnant (congratulations!), you still have a net weight loss of 87 pounds?
Jessica: Yes, I’m actually smaller at seven months than before I got pregnant! When I started your regimen last spring, I was a size 22, weighing around 249 pounds. By England, I was down to a size 14. Just before I got pregnant in November, I bought my first size 10 jeans, which was surreal. I stopped weighing myself, but when my doc started weighing me after I got pregnant, I was down 87 pounds.
Even more amazing, I’ve stayed at the same weight, even as the baby has grown healthily. But more important, my blood pressure is perfect and I’m no longer diabetic, depressed, or miserable in my exhaustion and food cravings. It’s a totally different experience from my last pregnancy.
KJ: Could you share a little about how things have changed for you over the past year?
Jessica: Until April of last year, I had battled obesity since my teens. Food was love to me. It also gave me a shield from stress and even people. No diet had ever kept me from bingeing for long. Last year, as my father became very ill, my food issues worsened and my fasting glucose reached a scary 180—well beyond the diabetic threshold. I read some of your success stories in Better Nutrition and decided to read your book and adopt some of your initial dietary “upgrades,” including cutting out sweet beverages, grains, flours, starchy vegetables, and most fruits, and adding more clean fats. My fasting glucose quickly dropped to around 100, and I started to lose weight.
Encouraged, I joined your coaching program. After the first week of cutting out a slew of surprising ‘insulin triggers’ that I was still consuming in foods, beverages, and supplements, I had an abrupt drop in my appetite and what proved to be a permanent end to my compulsive eating. Willpower was no longer necessary. I just kept seeing weight melt off without much effort.
Timothy and Caleb both began to follow the same food principles with amazing results, and we all attended your retreat in England. While there, my glucose shot down to the 80s, and has stayed there ever since. After buying my third new wardrobe, Timothy and I joked that I should be renting my clothes. Having been a size 22 for decades, it was surreal to
put on a size 10 pair of jeans.
Most important, I’m no longer diabetic. I’m free from any desire to binge, and I can sleep. And even through the recent loss of my father, I’ve experienced a new kind of hope and optimism. I’m enjoying people more. I even went swimming with my son at a family barbecue, which is not something I’d have done before.
“Food was love to me. It also gave me a shield from stress and even people,” says Jessica.
KJ: Timothy, this must have been amazing for you to see.
Timothy: Last year, this person I’ve never seen before showed up. We both realized Jess had been in a fog that I finally watched her come out of. Before, it was always losing 25 lbs. then self-sabotaging. But this time, I’d never seen her so confident that her weight loss would continue. At first, I was just proud that she was being so “good.” Then I realized she didn’t even want the stuff she used to eat. But the biggest surprise was how she was connecting with me and Caleb and everyone. It has affected our quality of life in a beautiful way.
KJ: Timothy, you also had serious issues that have turned around.
Timothy: Yes. I had been struggling for about 15 years with a lack of energy and severe brain fog. I’d also become increasingly bloated. Seeing Jessica’s success convinced me to start following your food principles. My whole life has changed from there. My mental focus and energy are like nothing I’ve ever had before. My belly fat and love handles melted off in the first couple weeks. I’m lanky and muscular again like I used to be—without any change in my activity.
KJ: Could you share a little about Caleb’s health challenges and changes?
Jessica: Due to an infection risk, Caleb’s doctors gave him anti-biotics at birth. From that time through his fourth birthday, he had swelling and stinging rashes on most of his body from Candida overgrowth. He also had behavior issues. He was hitting us a lot and acting out constantly. We started him on your dietary approach and the fermented food extract (Dr. Ohhira’s Probiotics) and probiotic skincare (Kampuku soap and Magoroku lotion). We soon saw his bloated tummy and rashes start to recede.
Timothy: But he hadn’t been eating high enough fat ratios until we got to England. Having it all explained to him and learning your tasty tricks for eating more fat—he just finally got it. He was able to eat much more fat by the end of the trip and wasn’t complaining or asking for anything else. After we got home, his rash completely disappeared, and his behavior continued to improve. And what he learned has really stuck with him. He even corrects us when we don’t have enough fat on our plates!
Listen to the Bayers’ live interviews on The Kat James Show here:
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Essential Formulas Dr. Ohhira’s Probiotics helped improve skin rashes and behavioral issues in the Bayer’s son Caleb.
