From feeling fatigued to full of energy - here’s how ZOE gave Tammy the boost she needed!

Hi, I'm Tammy. I have tried several diets in the past with little success and even when I have followed a plan to a tee, I would never lose weight. 

There have been several occasions where people have suggested that I was lying about my diet and how I was exercising, despite running 3 miles every other day and walking 23 stories twice a shift at work.

I even asked a doctor for help, but she told me she doubted I could even walk around the block and offered me no advice. 

“I also used to feel tired all of the time. I blamed it on my work schedule and too many energy drinks, but even after stopping the energy drinks and trying to maintain a regular sleep schedule, I still felt exhausted.”

I was at the point of giving up when I came across the ZOE program. The hope of finding out what was going on with my body and why I was not losing weight was my main reason for joining the program.

Personalized advice makes all the difference

The great thing about the ZOE program is it is personalized to you. I found it very easy to follow as it does not require calorie counting, point counting, and other labor-intensive steps - you simply need to eat the foods that are right for you!

“The ZOE app helps me determine the best food to eat by giving every food a personalized score based on how my biology works.”

For example, one type of cookie scores 10 (bad) and another 60 (better) for me. When I choose to eat a cookie with a score of 60, I feel so much more satisfied.

The app also gives me information about how any food impacts my gut health, blood sugar, and blood fats. It is a great reminder when I have had too much fat for the day or have not eaten enough plants.

“Over time, this has helped me to build better meals for myself using the food scores in the app as a guide. This has helped me to eat in a manner that is best for my biology.”

3 things I learned about my biology:

• It is possible to eat in a manner where you eat foods you like, feel satisfied, are not constantly hungry, and actually lose weight.
• I no longer have sugar cravings and I no longer like the way some cookies that I previously craved actually taste.
• Learning about my gut bacteria was very interesting. Knowing what gut microbes I had and receiving advice on how I could improve my gut health was helpful. For example, to increase the abundance of certain bacteria, I learned that I need to eat more eggs, lentils, bean sprouts, peppers, full-fat yogurt, and apples.

Eating well has boosted my energy levels

While I was happy with losing 7 lbs in four weeks, the more important and somewhat surprising thing for me is how much better I feel! I used to be tired all of the time. It took at least 6 weeks, but the fatigue gradually went away as I started to eat foods that scored well for my body.

Even on the nights when I do not sleep well, I still have more energy the next morning than what I did in the past. This is a motivator to keep me eating as healthy as I can.

My ‘Aha!’ moment

I have a very busy life and finding time to cook can be problematic. I learned, with a little meal prep at the beginning of the week, I can eat healthy on the go.

Kicking cravings to the curb by eating the right foods for me

The hardest part of staying on the plan is living with someone who does not understand why eating healthy is important and does not support healthy lifestyle changes. This has been my biggest struggle. Learning how to say no without feeling guilty has been hard.

Although there were a few times where I had a craving or felt unsatisfied, I could look to the ZOE app to find something that could help. I would use the explore function and scroll through the list of foods that scored well for me until I found something that sounded appealing. Experimenting with different foods gave me a way to overcome these cravings.

For example, I often found that having a tablespoon of almond butter (which scores 77 for me) with celery or an apple (with a ZOE score of 87 for my body) often sufficed.

In the past, I would have tried several things to try to feel better - a couple of cookies (Oreos score 14 for me), or a couple of slices of cheese (which scores 45), or some bread (with a ZOE score of 30).