Katie Tutu

Food has always been my passion. Even as a little girl, i would watch hours of frugal gourmet, Julia Child and Jacque Pepin on PBS. Every night we had dinner together as a family--no T.V. allowed. Fajita night, Chinese night, Gyro night, Santa fe chicken, Pasta house night, Bs & Gs, pea salad, twice baked potatoes, lobster (from wal-mart)...I could go on and on. The smell and the taste of food is the quickest way to bring me back to my childhood.

In 2009, my life changed. My mother passed away, I was unemployed, I had to move back with my dad and my boyfriend left me. I was heartbroken and overweight. I began going to weightwatchers meetings with my sister. I knew something had to change. I was 181 pounds. At 5' 2" that is overweight. I wasn't comfortable in my clothes, I couldn't cross my legs or tie my shoes, I always wondered if I was the biggest girl in the room, I was depressed.

Over the next two years I learned as much about food as I could. I already loved cooking so I just had to figure out how to make all my favorite foods that were low fat, high fiber, low carb and delicious. I did it! I began working out, I found a new job, I moved to a new apartment all by myself and I lost 55 pounds! Life was good!

In 2012, my life changed again. I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. My doctor told me I was a very sick girl and I needed to be in the hospital. i couldn't even hold my head up. He said to eat bland, soft food while I was recovering. I had no idea what to eat. I ate plain pasta every day. I was taking 60mg of prednisone a day. I suffered from every side affect of prednisone. I had a moon face, I was always sweating, I couldn't sleep, my joints were always cramping up, I had acne everywhere, I lost hair on my head and grew hair on my face, I was inappropriately happy, I talked too much, I was taking 16 pills a day and I gained 30 pounds. Coming off prednisone was the worst. I was always tired and depressed, ate too much and I drank too much. There were days that I didn't want to get out of bed or see anyone. My social life suffered, my job suffered, I was suffering. My doctor then told me a simple "meat and potatoes" diet would be fine. I was totally lost. I needed to fix my colon and I needed to lose 30 pounds.

....to be contintued...