I have dreaded opening this page. Well, I have to be honest, I bawled my eyes out after re-reading all of my past posts. I have put on more lbs than I care for. BUT...I want to do this because even though I don't get to blog as much as I'd like, I realized that I love writing. I love writing real life stories. And these blogs (Just Me & Abstraction Designs) allows me to do that:)
So here we go again.
On Mother's Day of this year, I was given a book that changed my life. (Nice cliche hey?) I weighed in at two hundred ninety five pounds...{295lbs looks awful written this way} My heart sank. How did I let this happen? When did I stop caring about a healthy me? Frustrated, sick to my stomach, and a little anxious to start this journey...again...I dove right in to Serene & Pearl's FABULOUS book...Trim Healthy Mama!
In 3 months, (14 weeks exactly!) I have lost 20 lbs. I eat cake for breakfast. I can eat butter. Cream. Chocolate. And you know what? I don't miss potatoes, pasta, I don't even miss BREAD! {I was a BIG bread devour-er!!}
I don't like the word diet. This book is a lifestyle change! Some of the ingredients are a bit tricky to find, as I do live in Canada. But I've found Low Carb Canada to be super helpful in some areas!--> Joseph's Lavash bread in particular!<--
I've just recently added at least 15 minutes, 4 days a week on my standard exercise bike. I hope to incorporate more soon! {that old x-box and Wii are still sitting there collecting dust! ;)}
So....my new overall goal is to lose 100-130lbs by October of 2014. HOWEVER....I've learned along the way that making one HUGE goal does nothing for motivation or self-esteem. That being said, I've laid out a schedule of monthly goals to lose 8-10lbs per month. My next goal comes up on September 17th, 2013! I am paying closer attention to my E's & S's {read the book!} I'm also trying to stay away from the darn cheats that I've enjoyed at a cost over these summer months. (hot dogs, chips, pop, the occasional "cold one" and cupcakes...lots of birthdays!)
*I should add a side note here about my health concerns at this point in my life. *
Although not life threatening, I've been in quite some pain over these last few months due to my own stupidity in life (stress, "bad" food, not sure what else!} My pain started when I was 4 months pregnant with my 4th child. (February 2010) I pretty much felt like I was going to die. I went to the ER, and the doc there chocked it up to being heartburn. Fast forward to pretty much a year later...I took my then 6 month old baby girl on a Youth Group day ski trip. One of the snacks I packed for myself was strawberries. I gobbled those down and in less than 10 minutes I had the same crazy pain in my upper right rib area. Again, thought I was going to die, but brushed it off as EXTREME heartburn:( Ok, so fast forward again to May 2013. Four times in one week I had "attacks". WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME??? On the 4th attack I decided to call my family doc to set up an appointment. 1.5 weeks later....I'm being told it's my gall bladder. Went for an Ultrasound, saw the specialist, had a scope (Gastroscopy)....blah blah blah....It's an Ulcer. Well how did that happen? So, changing my diet has helped with some of the pain, but now I am on some super crazy expensive pills 2x /day for 2 months; and I am to have a follow up with the specialist in October...Yeesh! {By then I am hoping to be down another 12 - 15ish pounds!}
I will leave you with this for now! My goal is to write once/week, but I will be happy with once / month too! ;) Ooh, and another goal for the rest of this month is to get my meal planning off the ground again! Thank you God, Serene, Pearl, & all the lovely ladies that have headed down this journey and inspired me! Until next time....
In 3 months, (14 weeks exactly!) I have lost 20 lbs. I eat cake for breakfast. I can eat butter. Cream. Chocolate. And you know what? I don't miss potatoes, pasta, I don't even miss BREAD! {I was a BIG bread devour-er!!}
I don't like the word diet. This book is a lifestyle change! Some of the ingredients are a bit tricky to find, as I do live in Canada. But I've found Low Carb Canada to be super helpful in some areas!--> Joseph's Lavash bread in particular!<--
I've just recently added at least 15 minutes, 4 days a week on my standard exercise bike. I hope to incorporate more soon! {that old x-box and Wii are still sitting there collecting dust! ;)}
So....my new overall goal is to lose 100-130lbs by October of 2014. HOWEVER....I've learned along the way that making one HUGE goal does nothing for motivation or self-esteem. That being said, I've laid out a schedule of monthly goals to lose 8-10lbs per month. My next goal comes up on September 17th, 2013! I am paying closer attention to my E's & S's {read the book!} I'm also trying to stay away from the darn cheats that I've enjoyed at a cost over these summer months. (hot dogs, chips, pop, the occasional "cold one" and cupcakes...lots of birthdays!)
*I should add a side note here about my health concerns at this point in my life. *
Although not life threatening, I've been in quite some pain over these last few months due to my own stupidity in life (stress, "bad" food, not sure what else!} My pain started when I was 4 months pregnant with my 4th child. (February 2010) I pretty much felt like I was going to die. I went to the ER, and the doc there chocked it up to being heartburn. Fast forward to pretty much a year later...I took my then 6 month old baby girl on a Youth Group day ski trip. One of the snacks I packed for myself was strawberries. I gobbled those down and in less than 10 minutes I had the same crazy pain in my upper right rib area. Again, thought I was going to die, but brushed it off as EXTREME heartburn:( Ok, so fast forward again to May 2013. Four times in one week I had "attacks". WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME??? On the 4th attack I decided to call my family doc to set up an appointment. 1.5 weeks later....I'm being told it's my gall bladder. Went for an Ultrasound, saw the specialist, had a scope (Gastroscopy)....blah blah blah....It's an Ulcer. Well how did that happen? So, changing my diet has helped with some of the pain, but now I am on some super crazy expensive pills 2x /day for 2 months; and I am to have a follow up with the specialist in October...Yeesh! {By then I am hoping to be down another 12 - 15ish pounds!}
I will leave you with this for now! My goal is to write once/week, but I will be happy with once / month too! ;) Ooh, and another goal for the rest of this month is to get my meal planning off the ground again! Thank you God, Serene, Pearl, & all the lovely ladies that have headed down this journey and inspired me! Until next time....
