In July of 2008, I began a life changing journey. I was extremely overweight to be honest I do not know my exact weight, but I do know that at my worst weight it was over 450 pounds because when I stepped on the scale to be weighed it didn’t balance out, but they had no more weights to put on the scale to help balance it so my true weight was not known. I had recently met someone who believed in me and encouraged me to lose weight for myself and no one else.This person’s kindness and unwavering support gave me the strength to make some significant changes in my life. I first cut candy, soda, and all the other junk food I had been eating on a daily basis from my diet. I also began exercising. At first, the weight started to come off, but then suddenly my weight loss stopped and I actually started to gain all the weight I had lost and more. I was frustrated and unsure what to do. So, I joined a gym and got myself a personal trainer: Alex Foote. Finding a healthy baked goods recipe that was still delicious proved to be next to impossible. Then, at four o’clock one morning, I simply woke with a recipe in my head for homemade protein cookies. Cookies that would have no butter, no oil, and no refined white sugar and are made from the finest natural and organic ingredients. Immediately, I got up and wrote down the recipe. Then, I made the cookies and brought them in to my trainer for a taste test. He loved them! He gave them to a couple of friends at the gym and they loved them too!
Ever since that morning I have woken up with a new flavor combination in my head and made a new cookie to bring to the gym for Alex to try.
It didnt take long for word to spread about the cookies. It went from my trainer and a few of his friends, and co-workers to all of the staff at the gym looking forward to the new cookie flavor for the day. Today nearly all the gym staff and members have tried and enjoyed my cookies. Because of my trainer, Alex Foote, encouraging me to bake healthier, Alex’s Whey was born, proving that Alex always gets his way!!!
Alex examined my food log and put me on a 1400 calorie diet, which required eating specific foods at specific times of the day and eating about every two hours--to increase my metabolism. I also started training with Alex four times a week. The weight started melting off. It took us (and I use the pronoun “us” intentionally, because Alex is a part of every pound I lost--it might be me doing the actual exercise, but his hard work and dedication too!) it took about seven months to lose a total of 212 pounds through diet and exercise. (Click here to see before & after pictures.) If it wasn’t for my trainer's knowledge and support and encouragement I would never have done it.
My story didn’t end there. Strangely, baking helps me to stay on my diet and maintain my weight. I use to bring in all the goodies I made to Alex, until one day he said to me: “Donna, we have to talk about your menu choices.” I thought he had somehow guessed that I had cheated on my diet the day before, but instead he explained to me that while my baked goods tasted great, his diet couldn’t support them. I needed to find a healthier way to bake.
