Getting Started!

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Sometimes the hardest part to starting something is just simply starting.  Just wanted to share with you today how my lifestyle change began.  As I mentioned in earlier post I removed as many toxic chemicals from my body as possible and allowed my body some time to recover before jumping into anything drastic.  The chemicals that are in so many of our processed foods and drinks are destroying our bodies.  Research! Research! Research!  Please educate yourself on these chemicals.

As the old saying goes, how do you eat an elephant? Well, one bite at a time of course. (LOL)  It was exactly one year and two weeks after I stopped consuming aspartame to the time I began my weight loss journey.  Not sure why I waited so long, but slow and steady has brought me closer to the finish line.  Having been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Mixed Connective Tissue Disease, I lived in constant pain and wasn’t able to exercise very much at all.  I walked when my body allowed and made a point to do everything for myself and not ask others for help.  In doing so it caused me to get up and move more which in turn resulted with more calories burned.  So if you’re starting slow like I did, just make these small changes and stick with them and your body will become stronger and you will begin to lose weight and feel better.  Another plus to giving up aspartame as I mentioned in a previous post is you won’t crave carbs as badly and the dieting process with be much easier.

When I started a lot of people were jumping on the Meal Replacement Shake bandwagon but I wasn’t sold.  The going product at the time (which shall remain nameless) contained chemicals that weren’t healthy so I opted for another route.  I had been taking Juice Plus Garden Blend and Orchard Blend capsules which provide your body with the fruits and veggies that most of don’t take the time to consume each day.  The company had a product called Juice Plus Complete, Whole Food Based Shake Mix and since I trusted this product I made up my own plan to kick start my weight loss.  For the first three weeks I drank two shakes per day, ate one meal and had two snacks.  It did work, and I lost approximately fifteen pounds, but I quickly realized I like to chew my food and not drink it so I modified it to one shake for breakfast, 2 meals a day and one low fat snack per day.  I continued this for approximately a year before changing to something different.  When you have such a long journey you have to mix it up a bit here and there.  I’ll share more in an upcoming post of what I switched too after this.

So come on!  Get started today!  My lifestyle change is just that, it’s going to last a lifetime.  Looking back at where I’ve come from till now, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.  I have learned so much.  I will be posting before and after pictures of my weight loss in the near future.  Hope it will inspire you to get started even if you know it’s going to take a bit longer than you would hoped.

*Please note:  I am not a medical professional.  I am sharing my story and what worked for me.

“Why” Am I Doing This?

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When it comes to making a drastic lifestyle change to get healthier and lose those unwanted pounds it’s a good idea to establish your “Why”.  Knowing why you are making this change will be what keeps you motivated when the going gets rough and you feel like giving up.  Your “Why” needs to be more than just looking better, it needs to have some depth to it.

My “Why” goes something like this: (1) I felt convicted that I had let myself get to the point of being so overweight.  I felt like the Lord was saying, “Your body is a temple of God and look what you’ve done with it”.  (2) My health had been declining for the past 10 years and I needed to make an effort to help myself.  (3) As strange as this may sound to others, I began to think of all the terrorism in the United States and what would I do if I had to move quickly to protect myself or someone I love.  I wouldn’t have been able too since I was so huge. (4) Last but not least, I wanted to look good for my husband.  A lot of times when we get married we feel like we don’t have to maintain our looks like when we were dating.  In fact, it should be the opposite.  We should try even harder to be the best we can be for each other as partners in life.  Be healthy and live a long happy life together.

So my challenge to each of you today is to find your “Why” and let it motivate you.  When you have a long journey ahead of you like I did, I found myself looking back on my “Why” and didn’t want to let myself down.  Ultimately your lifestyle change has to be for you, but it can also be so you can live longer and spend more time with family and friends.  Reaching middle age has opened my eyes.  Looking back I can see where I could have lived a healthier life and prevented a lot of the health issues I’ve faced.  So if you haven’t begun your journey to a better you, I want to challenge you to let today be the first day for a better life.

If you so desire, I would like to invite you to post “Your Why” in the comment section and help me motivate others to start the journey today.

*Please note:  I am not a medical professional.  I am sharing what worked for me.  It’s always best to check with your physician before beginning any change concerning your health.

I can’t believe I can eat Real Butter!!!

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In continuation from yesterday’s post on toxic chemicals lets go a little farther.  Whole Foods!  What is the definition of Whole Foods? According to Wikipedia, Whole foods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined, or processed and refined as little as possible, before being consumed.

So why is it okay to eat real butter and real cheese and still lose weight?  First off, everything in moderation.  American’s are use to an abundance of food choices everyday and will buffets and numerous family gatherings that include endless choices of food so we tend to overeat on a daily basis.  Keeping food simple is one key way of losing or maintaining weight and preventing unwanted toxins from entering your body.  Let’s take for instance some of the delicious casseroles that are full of creamy sauces, tons of butter and cheese that will almost use up your daily allowance of fat in one serving.  I know I just said you can have butter and cheese but you have to remember everything in moderation.  If you can’t pass up the casserole then just have a very small serving to satisfy the craving and move on.  In most instances if you had passed on the casserole you could have had a large portion of something that is healthier for you such as a large salad chocked full of healthy goodies or maybe a grilled chicken breast with a side vegetable and would have felt full and still not have consumed the amount of fat and calories you did by eating the casserole.

I find when I eat out with people they tend to comment on the large salad I’m eating,  but in comparison to the fried food they have chosen that is actually a smaller portion than mine I am still consuming less fat and calories and walk away much more satisfied and not feeling guilty for eating an unhealthy meal.  I eat three meals a day and have at least have one healthy snack.  I have replaced sodas with un-sweet tea and coffee and instead of using sugar for tea I use stevia, but still use french vanilla creamer in my coffee.  Yes I said it!  Real creamer in my coffee!  The secret is out! LOL  My one vise I guess you might say.  How do I use it and still lose weight?  Moderation is the key.

Our bodies were not designed to intake all these processed foods.  In most cases the body doesn’t even know what to do with it so it stores it as fat.  I read an example once of choosing a banana that’s 140 calories over a 100 Calorie Snack Pack.  Some would choose the snack pack because they’re saving 40 calories but in actuality the banana is the better choice because it’s a whole food and the body knows how to process it and it’s beneficial to your body.  However, the snack pack is sweetened with an unnatural sweetener and when the body rises up to process the sugar but there’s none there it gets confused and just stores it as fat.

Enough of my rambling!  Whole Foods are the better choice and will make the perfect next step in your lifestyle change.  If you can’t buy everything fresh at least read the labels and buy the foods that you can pronounce all the ingredients and with the fewer ingredients.  Keep it simple and fresh!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Removing Toxic Chemicals

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Diet Drinks!  My feeble attempt to cut calories and lose weight!  Probably one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made.  I consumed on average a 2 liter bottle of diet drink each day.  I was ignorantly poisoning my body with toxic levels of aspartame which began to effect my health.  Not only did it make me crave carbs which made me gain more weight, but over time I developed two auto-immune diseases which I credit with in-taking such a mega-dose of  toxins.

My Mother called me one day and read an article to me about the dangers of aspartame and my reply was “Well you’re gonna’ die from something”!  Not knowing then how true that statement was and I was well on my way if I didn’t stop.  After years of living in constant pain, I decided to give it a try and within three days of stopping aspartame I could sleep better and was beginning to actually feel better.  It wasn’t easy coming off aspartame!  I had withdrawals and could tell I was actually addicted to this substance.  I had relapse dreams like someone who was coming off of drugs.  I would wake up in a panic thinking I had drank a glass of soda.  It was crazy!  Please do yourself a favor and do the research and make up your own mind about aspartame!  I know how it affected me and many others from all the research I’ve done.

One last note: Dieting was much easier after this toxin was out of my system.  I didn’t crave carbs as I did when I previously dieted and it made my lifestyle change almost effortless.  Please do the research!  Just type in the word “Aspartame” in your search engine and you will have hours of life changing information at your finger tips.

*Please note: I am not a medical professional!  This is my story and what worked for me.