My Inner Self Journey

Well in December of 2008 I started really feeling out who I was. Not only was I a mother of 3 wonderful, beautiful, fun, loving children, not just a wife,I realized I was a Woman. Time to take responsibility for my actions. The blame game IS OVER! Now all that is left is my own accountability....the Past, well that's just it Behind you, and at that moment it Literally was, filling up those 24s ;) haha!
Each Day Is a New Beginning, a new chance to make the right decisions, to do the right things...and you know what?! It only takes 7 days to start a habit! So I did just that I traded in my bad habits for good ones.

Ya know, the Internet really is a blessing! The information super highway is at our finger tips! I found online communities to start my weight loss journey in. I started at BuddySlim.com...awesome, just awesome place with a meal tracking, calorie counting food accountability journal, an exercise journal, weight loss teams, just an amazing place, with amazing people all on the same journey, all going through similar trials and tribulations. Always an ear to talk to and a shoulder to cry on, even friendly weight loss competition between teams. This all Really sparked me! Seeing success stories, amazing life changing success stories gave me hope, NO I DON'T HAVE TO FAT FOREVER!

So I, with the help of the site, started counting calories, accountable for everything I put past my lips. Counted calories, carbs and fat, only taking about 5 minutes of my time a day, I can spare 5 minutes of time to help make sure I reach my goals! I made sure I never went past 1600-1800 calories a day in the beginning,and it was its easier than I thought it would be.
Ok so, woohoo, I got the food part down and starting to take control of my eating, (which I had just started realizing was beyond just bad eating, I was addicted to food, and bad food)....Now on to the part everyone shrugs away from, the big E word!...Exercise!
Ok so I had to be real with myself, 7 years of reigning as queen of the couch potatoes, Arthritic knees and a health condition called Pseudo Tumor Ceribri, I wasn't going to go start running marathons or doing hard core strength training drills...Being a disabled from my health condition, I really could not afford to run out and by a Gym Membership either! So I did the only other thing I could think of, I asked my Mom if I could have her dusty old out of date exercise bike, and she happily gave it to me to get it out of her way.
I started out with 30 minutes of sweaty cardio three times a week. At first it was fun, new and super refreshing to get my blood pumping and feeling sweat like I had never really felt it before in years, since high school gym class! Easy enough, since we put the bike in the living room I could watch my favorite shows! And being apart of an online community, being apart of a weight loss team, was awesome and super motivating, Encouragement and Support was just a mouse click away and best of all FREE! No need to join an expensive diet support systems like Jenny Craig, no need to pollute and damage your body with dangerous Diet Pills and gimmicks, no need to hurt your body with ridiculous diets and fads! Its just a decision to change and sticking with it, that's the bottom line, That is All you need and YOU HAVE THAT POWER INSIDE YOU!!!

When you are doing it for the right reasons, Exercise really gets addicting, ESPECIALLY when you start to see the numbers on the scale going down! I definitely got Addicted to working out on my bike, to the point that I would feel like I was missing out on something awesome on the 'rest' days, so I bumped it up to 45 minutes five times a week, then 6 times a week and sometimes even 7 times a week....wow from the ultimate lazy couch potato queen to addicted work out Goddess :) I even read a book while keeping an average 26 miles per hour on my stationary bike. That's calorie blasting, cardio and some me time all rolled into one nice package!

So from my start date, December 11th 2008 up to this Very Day, October 25th 2009, my total weight loss is....drum roll please....125 pounds, (OMG That's a whole person!) From an overfilling size 24 to a much more happier size 10, and now starting to squeeze into a size 8! I am just a mere 25 pounds away from my, once thought to be unattainable, goal of 150! I remember when I started this and saw people just trying to loose 25 pounds, I was like try 100, try 150, I so did not think I could do it...but here I am...

Ok So now you want to know more, you want more nitty gritty details...You know it can be done, now just how? Here I am going to list for you, my absolute favorite workable tips for losing weight, inner changing so you can really start happily living!

*The Mental Stuff*

*Forget All the programming you receive from Television, Magazines and other Media, You are a REAL person! Sterio-types are not real, they are Dangerous! The bars are set ridiculously to high these days, I think people forgot that even The Beautiful, sex symbol, Marylin Monroe, wore a size 14! Times are tough, don't be tough on yourself!

*Reach in and decide the real reason you are looking for change, make sure you know what you really want, take the time to find out who the real you is, then nurture yourself, love yourself like you love your children, love yourself like you love your partner, you deserve to be loved, and to be loved by Yourself!

*Start with small changes, baby steps are still steps that will get you closer to your goal.

*Be sure to take the oh so important 'Me Time', relaxing is just as important as anything else for your body and especially your mind.

*when life gets stressful, Breath....stress kills, stress changes your calm mind set and causes us to make bad decisions, when stress starts setting in, step back, count to ten and Breath!

*Reward Yourself for your accomplishments! Whether its resisting those donuts at work, or its not speeding, throwing out that cigarette, reward yourself for your accomplishments. Acknowledge your accomplishments because each one gets you closer to your goals, to the real you!

*Food and Diet Stuff*

*Veggies are awesome, my number one rule to live by! They make a great snack, you can add extra veggies to most of your favorite recipes to not only make them lighter, but also fill you up more with out having to worry about calories!

*Water, water water! It helps keep you feeling refreshed, it helps fill you up at meal time, water is awesome! I also use things like Crystal Light and will even have some diet soda, but Water is my Fave!

*Keep a food journal, free places like BuddySlim.com or my new favorite SparkPeople.com have awesome and easy food journals that help you track everything!

*I traded in my big dinner plate for a bowl. Yes smaller servings are key to controlling your eating. A bowl gives you enough room to fill up, with out over doing it. I fill the bottom of my bowl with salad, top the salad with a little drizzle of light/fat free dressing or salsa, top that with what ever main course we are having that evening, everything from grilled chicken to turkey spaghetti or meatloaf is Yummy on top of a salad! This fills me up every time!

*Switch out that heavy ground hamburger for lean and light ground turkey. Everyone I have cooked for that didnt know I used turkey instead, were so suprised to find out that I did. My kids even love it!

*Let yourself have a treat! Just don't over do it ;) I have always had a sweet tooth and I did NOT give it up just because I wanted to loose weight. Sure I don't sit and stuff myself silly on chocolate or eat a whole tub of ice cream to myself any more. But I do give myself a treat. I lost all this weight and ate ice cream, chocolate and more all along the way! I just stick to a single serving here and there. Never making myself feel like I was missing out on any of the good stuff. I still drink beer now and then ;)

*Just because you over do it at one meal or at snack time, doesn't mean you have ruined the whole day! Giving into that will just send you on a downward spiral. We all make bad decisions, but you know what We make good ones too!

*Just say no to fast food, its just not good for you, and you are doing this to be more healthier and happier, fast food doesn't really fit into this equation...its ok every now and then, but fried chicken, burgers and fries, not only is it loaded with calories, its loaded with preservatives and cholesterol fat and more!

*Love your body and love what you put into your body! Food is power, food is energy, food is great, its not the enemy, its your tool, its your fuel to happier and healthier you! You would not ruin your nice car by filling the gas tank with sugar and soda, don't do it to your lovely beautiful body either ;)

* I learned on the 'Life TIme' show Cook Yourself Thin, to multiply your desired weight by ten to find you average amount of needed calories for that weight, like I want to be 150, so 1500 calories a day is about the average intake of calories needed to sustain that weight. Websites like Sparkpeople.com can help you find the right amount of calories to intake a day for your desired weight loss goals, really awesome tools that I still use to this day!

*The E Word, Exercise!*

*Finding something you like and can have Fun doing is a MUST! Don't force yourself into doing something you hate, I guarantee you there is a cardio work out you can find that you will LOVE! Just give new things a chance, you might surprise yourself! You could be a natural Belly Dancer, or an awesome Kickboxer, the world is at your finger tips!

*Listen to your body, work up a sweat but don't over do it! And work your way up, if you start out to hard and to fast you are going to get burnt out! Keep your flame strong!

*Tone up, it helps to shape your body, you are in control, you get to sculpt your body the way you want it! Crunches and girlie push ups work!

*Go ahead and park your car at the far end of the parking lot, find extra ways to add steps into your day, pedometers are fun, challenge yourself to take more steps each day!

*Play with your kids, they are cardio work out bundles of joy! Take advantage of that! I ride my kids scooters and jump rope, all the things I couldn't do not too long ago, I relish in today, and it makes for awesome much needed family time and makes great memories too!

*Some Side Effects of My Weight Loss*

*Yes after loosing such a big number so fast I have some sagging skin and wrinkles in the funniest of places! But the toning works, it helps pull things into the right place, like my Belly Button is finally where it should be! WooHoo!

*I finally quit smoking! After all the inner working and outer working, why force my new body to inhale the disgusting things? Quit cold turkey and haven't gone back in 5 months!

*Confidence, I was like whats that! Well I finally have some of it and it feels awesome!

*I get to set a good healthy example for my children, especially my daughter, as she gets older, I will be able to help her have a healthy diet, healthy body image....all the stuff I was mentioning earlier, well I Am a woman now and I Can set a great example for my baby!

*depression is under control and almost out of my life, well at least I don't have the huge body image factors that got me so down so low all the time and the exercise is a natural anti-depressant.

*The feeling of accomplishment, I did it with out surgery, with out gimmicks or pills, I did it, it was all Me!

*With that comes Knowledge that I get to share with Anyone who wants to listen!

*A better sense of who I am and what I want, and with that comes an Inner Peace and Peace of Mind that I have not been able to grab until now!

*And of course the awesome feeling of fitting into clothes half as small as I used to wear!