'I Lost 95 Pounds And Got My Health Issues Under Control By Eating A Pescatarian Diet'

My name is Christina Spencer (@bestonwednesday), and I am 33 years old. I live in New Orleans, and I am a pharmacy technician. After going through years of GI issues and intense joint pain, I adopted the pescatarian lifestyle to nix problematic foods and started working out in the gym as well as at home.



I grew up with weight issues. I was medically obese most of my childhood. But consistency was always the biggest barrier for me with any weight-loss attempts in my younger years. I would try so many diets but, as soon as I fell off, I would give up completely.

My weight also affected my overall health. I would constantly go to urgent care because I dealt with really bad stomach pains and GERD from my food not being digested properly. At 27, I hit my highest weight of 250 pounds.

My turning point came when I went to the doctor for extreme joint pain.

The experts I saw mentioned I might have lupus and later sent me to a specialist who confirmed that I, in fact, did not have lupus, but simply had too much weight on my joints. And if I did not lose the extra weight I was carrying, my symptoms would become more severe.

I started to do research on lifestyle and diet changes I could make, and that’s when I came across a pescatarian way of eating.

I chose pescatarian after reading that meat can be tougher to digest, and I thought it was worth a try because I was having a lot of stomach issues, including pain and bloating. I also read that it could help me mentally. It led me to cut out meat entirely. Everyone and every body is different, though, and this was just my experience!

I chose my way of eating, which I also refer to as a total lifestyle change, because it’s what works best for me and helped me finally start to lose weight. By eating pescatarian, I am in control of the way I eat. It gives me structure, but it’s also okay if I fall off because I make the rules.

Here’s what I eat in a day.

  • Breakfast: Coffee with cream and honey

  • Lunch: Fruit or applesauce, yogurt, and soup

  • Snacks: Veggie chips, preferably chickpea

  • Dinner: A salad

  • Dessert: Halo Top ice cream

For the longest time, I would take walks on my lunch break at work as a form of cardio.

I recently started working out in the gym, and my goal is to go three times a week. I will also do home exercises, including squats with a kettlebell and arm exercises with a resistance band.

These three changes have made my weight loss a success.

  1. I removed the word “diet” from my vocabulary. I look at my new way of eating as a lifestyle change. So if I fall off, I’m not discouraged. I just simply get back on track.

  2. I embraced “Solo Dolo.” In the past, I would wait for others to join me before I started. Now, I do everything by myself, so the only person that I have to depend on is me.

  3. I found my food triggers. For my body, I found that bread is my enemy. I gave it up completely, and the only form I will have is a tortilla maybe twice a month. I no longer experience stomach issues like before and no bloating either.

I have lost 95 pounds, and it took me almost three years.

I was in a place three years ago where I felt absolutely and completely stuck. I went through a lot mentally, physically, emotionally, and I felt like absolutely nothing. It was at that point that I knew I had to make a change. I had zero control over what other people did to me, but I had 100 percent control over what I could do to myself. I decided that Christina is what’s most important, so I would treat her as such.

This health journey not only helped me physically, but it also helped me mentally. It helped me see every day as a new beginning to live the life that I am supposed to live. I come first–not other people, not food, not my job, but me.

You Might Also Like