Constantly struggling!

Even after a large amount of weight lost I still struggle constantly. Every day I have to make choices to stay healthy. HARD CHOICES!  I love my new job however there are always opportunities to be tempted by food that makes me salivate and want to cheat. I don’t deprive myself by any means because what I know about myself is if I don’t allow myself to eat some treats I will crave them and then eat too many. Then I feel terrible about myself and that is just flat out counterproductive. I LOVE SWEETS. That is my biggest struggle. There are always donuts, cake, casseroles and so many other temptations available. I have to have just a little slice of cake or just a taste. I remind myself often how very hard I worked to get to where I am right now. It was a struggle but so worth it. I have changed my lifestyle and I intend to keep it that way. However, it is so difficult but I have a lot of strength and I want to continue to live a happy healthy life.

Get Motivated! Setting Small Goals!

The problem with motivation is that many of us believe it's something that will come to us if we wait long enough...that someday we'll wake up and finally want to exercise. Rather than believe in that fantasy, maybe we'd all be better off by realizing that motivation is something we create, not something we wait for. It is really easy to get motivated and excited about working out when it is a future goal. I almost feel like when I do think that way I have already accomplished something. My problem in the beginning was when it came time to follow through with it my motivation would start to disappear. That's when I have to push myself beyond my comfort zone and make small goals that are easy to accomplish. For example if I plan in the morning when I will exercise during the day. It is so much easier to follow through if I already have a plan in place.

Being prepared and setting myself up for success is really the key in following through with working out. For me I have to get my workout clothes ready the night before. I need to pack my gym bag, put my gym shoes in a place where they are easy to find. I fill up my water bottle the night before so it is all ready for me in the morning. This way I have no excuses!

One thing that really got me motivated was to buy a new outfit to workout in. I only bought a few with the mind-set that they weren’t going to fit me for very long. Having new gym clothes made it more exciting to get to the gym and workout. I made sure I felt comfortable in my new outfits so I was more inclined to wear them often.

My husband and I joined a gym and I started to go slowly. I made a goal to go 3 days a week. I really had to push myself and realize I was doing this for myself. I didn't want to go and made a million excuses but started to create a routine. After about three weeks surprisingly going to the gym became something I looked forward to doing. I really enjoyed working out. Before joining the gym I had very little experience with working out. It was very overwhelming and I had no idea where to start. I knew I wanted to lose weight but I really wasn't sure how to accomplish that. My husband has been a tremendous help in getting me started. He had already been attending the gym 6 days a week and was very motivational and held me accountable. He took me around the gym and let me know what he felt would work well for me to get the results I was looking for. Actually, I really had no idea all of the benefits of combining cardio and weight lifting. The results were amazing and I started to feel better as well. I felt better than I had in a long time. I really could not understand why I had waited so long to make these changes. I actually looked forward to working out. I thought to myself....I may succeed in this and that was a nice feeling.

“If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.” ~ Unknown Author

Keep Hydrated!

My husband's new food journey was so educational for me and very informative. He did so much research and started making so many positive dietary changes. I started to pay attention. The first change was to stop drinking any carbonated drinks. First of carbonation expands your stomach. It also can be counteractive to your weight-loss efforts as well as dehydrating. Carbonated drinks are also diuretics and remove water from your body so it may quench your thirst temporarily but water is the key element in staying hydrated. In order to burn calories you need to have an adequate amount of water to function efficiently. Water also helps maintain muscle tone by assisting your muscles in their ability to contract. Other very important benefits of drinking water:

• Get Healthy Skin
• Flush Toxins
• Reduce Your Risk Of Heart Attack
• Cushion And Lube Your Joints And Muscles
• Get Energized And Be Alert
• Stay Regular
• Reduce Your Risk Of Disease And Infection
• Regulate Your Body Temperature
• Burn More Fat And Build More Muscle

Okay so drink more water is what I kept hearing about and reading about. How was I supposed to know exactly how much water to drink? The best way to figure this out is if you take your weight and cut it in half and that is how many ounces of water you should drink a day. For example if you weigh 150 pounds you cut that in half and you should drink 75 ounces of water a day. I thought this was a nice easy trick.

I had tried many times before to drink more water and couldn't stand it. I felt like I was constantly running to the bathroom. I had to push through for a few days your while my body flushed itself of all of the water it has been storing for years of "survival mode". My body was getting rid of what it didn't need during this time. Eventually (a few days) I reached a "break-through point". I started to realize that water has amazing health benefits and this is a key element for beginning a much healthier life. It is something that has been a wonderful key to my health.

"Transformation is not five minutes from now; it's a present activity. In this moment you can make a different choice, and it's these small choices and successes that build up over time to help cultivate a healthy self-image and self esteem.".  ~Jillian Michaels

Time for change....

In 2009, my husband went to the doctor for a routine check-up and his doctor casually asked him if he had ever considered having Gastric Bypass Surgery. Brian's immediate reaction was why would I do that? I don't need surgery! I'm not that heavy! His doctor gently hinted that it might really be necessary for health reasons and he did qualify weight-wise. His doctor also mentioned having

this surgery may add 10-15 years to his life. After the shock wore off he began to consider making a huge choice. After some careful consideration of the risks he finally decided it was necessary. In preparation for the surgery he was required to lose 20 pounds on his own. He had to make some changes and start eating from the approved for list for after the surgery. He also had to cut back on his calories. Suddenly I started to slowly consider my own health and weight. I

had ignored this for quite a while and my husband’s changes to his diet made me really take a closer look at what I was eating. I had to make some CHANGES!

The first change was an easy one to begin with. The first thing I did was figure out how many calories I ate in a day. I honestly had no idea. I started

tracking my food intake on dailyplate.com. This was a huge help for me in the beginning to keep track what I was eating throughout the day. Up until now I had no clue. Another thing I quickly realized that I never felt full. I never had a full feeling and purely ate until my plate was empty. So, the first changes I made were to eat off of smaller plates. It may sound strange but that helped tremendously with my portion control. So, my first challenge was to go from eating 2000 calories in a day to 1500 calories. I also did not drink water to be healthy I drank it when I wanted to but also had no idea how much water I actually drank in a day so I started logging that as well on dailyplate.com . So, the first change I made was reducing my calories from 2000 to 1500. I also had to really realize that this was a chan

ge for the rest of my life. I had to remind myself of this often. Previously, I had tried different diets and failed because I knew they were just temporary. This was a decision to change for the rest of my life and it felt good!

Here I am at my sister's wedding around this time.

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