Having struggled with weight issues her whole life, Loudonville resident Stacey Morris had trouble finding the right combination of dieting and exercise to keep the pounds off. When she did finally find a combination that worked, she wrote a book to share her success with others.
Morris’ “Clean Comfort — An Adventure in Food, Courage and Healing: How I Went From 345lbs. to A Size 8 Without Dieting, Surgery or Losing My Sanity” came out earlier this year, and is the result of a journey that began about five years ago.
Morris found herself ready for permanent change when she saw stepped on the scale at the doctor’s office in 2009 and really understood what the numbers were saying. She also found inspiration in an unlikely source —wrestler Diamond Dallas Page, who appeared on an episode of “Oprah.”
“It’s the weirdest thing because I’m not a wrestling fan or anything,” said Morris. “It’s so cliché. It all started when I was watching ‘Oprah’ one day. It was January, but it wasn’t the typical New Year’s resolution.”
On that day, Morris was watching the show because Oprah was going to admit to falling off the wagon and losing control of her appetite. Connie Wilson from the band Wilson Phillips was a guest on the show. Phillips had recently undergone lap-band surgery, and with the help of a fitness guru, Diamond Dallas Page, who created DDP Yoga, she looked happy and healthy.
Earlier that same day, Morris had been to see the doctor and got a shock when she weighed in.
“I had gone to the doctor for my annual physical, and I stepped on the scale, and that’s when he said, ‘You weigh 345 pounds,’” said Morris. “I was 300 pounds plus for about 20 years. It’s funny because once I hit the 300 mark, whenever I would get my annual exam, I would just look away. I would literally shut my eyes, but that day something said it was time to face reality.”
After that day, Morris wrote to Page to see if he would help her on her journey to lose 185 pounds. While he didn’t physically coach her, Page offered advice and encouragement as Morris started eating healthy and exercising. In her first month of the new regiment, Morris lost 20 pounds.
She continued with the workouts but was determined to not “diet” because she knew it wasn’t going to work for her. She did, however, change some of her eating habits.
“I decided to eliminate destructive binge foods that were doing me no favors. I started, for once in my life, to listen to my body,” said Morris.
Losing the weight inspired her to keep going.
After hearing about her success, Page decided to mentor Morris and suggested she stop eating foods that contained gluten. Gluten is found in wheat, and some people have trouble digesting it. By switching to gluten-free foods and exercising, Morris said the weight, “just kept falling off.”
The book is self-published, and Morris is shopping it around to a publisher while she continues to sell the books herself. She said she is thrilled by the positive feedback she gets from people who have read her book.
While the book is a memoir, it also has recipes for healthy meals that she worked on with input from her significant other, Bill Duckman, a trained chef and the editor of the book.
“It’s really cool to see the reviews on Amazon and to see that people are being helped by it, and they’re enjoying food and letting go of the guilt,” said Morris.
The book can be purchased on Amazon.com and some local bookstores.
