Emily’s journey to living her best life with her son

Since joining the Mayo Clinic Diet last November, Emily Albaugh is now enjoying more quality time with her six-year-old son and loving her healthier lifestyle.

Hard work for a working mom

“As a single mom and business owner, trying to keep my weight and health in check has been challenging,” Emily said. “I’ve tried so many different ways to lose weight, but nothing seemed to work for me.” She explained that a visit to her doctor was the catalyst for finding a weight-loss plan that would prove successful. “Cancer runs in my family,” she explained. “Both my mother and grandmother had cancer, so I decided to have myself tested to see what my chances would be for developing the disease. After receiving the results, my doctor advised me that I had a 25 percent chance of developing cancer. The good news was that losing weight could reduce those chances.”

Searching ‘best ways to get healthy’

Emily began searching online for weight-loss plans and discovered the Mayo Clinic Diet. “It didn’t take long to find the right plan for me,” she said happily. “I searched for ‘the best ways to get healthy,’ and the Mayo Clinic Diet showed right up.” She said she couldn’t wait to sign up, having decided on the Original Mayo Clinic Diet meal plan. “I love the recipes! It’s amazing to learn how I was making so many bad choices all of these years. The Mayo Clinic Diet keeps me on track and shows you exactly how much you should be eating. It’s all about balance.”

Emily is excited to share that she has lost 30 pounds so far and is feeling great. “At 222 pounds, I was feeling sluggish. That’s not something you want when you’re running a business and running after a six-year-old,” she laughingly admitted to. “Now, I have the best time going to the park with my son. He loves playing ‘Tag.’ Before losing weight, I would get out of breath running around with him. Now I can keep up — and then some. It’s the greatest feeling.”

In addition to loving her renewed lifestyle and energy levels, Emily shared some off-scale victories that are motivating her even more to reach her goal weight of 174 pounds. “I’m down one pant size, which is a big deal for me,” she said proudly. “One day, I decided to try on a pair of jeans that I haven’t been able to fit into in a while. I was so excited when they zipped right up!” Additionally, she explained how — before starting the plan — she suffered with poor gut health and always felt nauseous. “The nausea made me feel miserable all the time. Now that I’m eating healthily, I’m not nauseous anymore. It’s amazing how eating the right foods can make such a difference in your everyday life.”

With about 20 pounds to go until reaching her goal weight, Emily claims that having started our program has changed her life. “I’ve changed so much since starting the plan — and I’m not talking about just losing weight. Mayo Clinic Diet teaches you how to eat and live a healthy lifestyle. Even my son is eating all the meals. Whoever thought you could get a kid to eat his vegetables — and love them?! The meals are definitely ‘kid approved.’”

Making the most of Mayo Clinic Diet’s benefits

When asked to list which of our benefits she values most, Emily was excited to share her favorites, which include:

• The Tracking feature helps her stay within nutritional guidelines but allows a degree of flexibility.
• The Facebook Group is a supportive community of members who encourage each other and help her stay motivated.
• The recipes are easy to prepare and delicious.

“I’ve realized that everyone loses weight at their own pace, but the one thing we all have in common is the end result: To feel great,” Emily said. “For me, it was all about reducing my chances of developing cancer and living a long and beautiful life with my son and family. Mayo Clinic Diet is giving me that chance, and for that, I am truly grateful.”