Me at 226 Pounds

I have struggled with my weight for so long. As my husband drank his life away, I ate mine away. For over 16 years I have pretty much eaten whatever I wanted too. Throwing caution to the wind not thinking about what it was doing to my own body. All the while I was preaching to husband about how he could be doing all this damage to his own body. It wasn't until over a year of sobriety for my husband did I begin to think about my own health. I began to realize that I couldn't help anyone, accept myself and to be honest I didn't even want to do that.

I had been attending CR (Celebrate Recovery) for over a year with Mike and I had picked up a chip.... for something I can't even remember now. I guess I did it just to do it? But many months later I found something to commit too. I wanted to give up fast food. It seemed we were always going through a drivethru. When I first started I was without all fast food for abut 2 weeks. Then I began to realize that is was almost impossible to give it up completely. I really sat down and thought about it and I began to realize my real problem was with McDonalds. It is so cheap and easy and it became my addiction. I have shared before I would eat a full meal from there and then not even a few hours eat a full dinner. IT is crazy to think about especially now. I am 6 months free from eating McDonalds and Burger King. Some people ask why those to places. Well, part of the reason is I was eating stuff that I didn't even know what it was. I had seen how it was made on line but what was in that pink goopy stuff! It makes me shudder even thinking about it. Not to mention the sodium levels and the calories I was inhaling! YUCK! I started feeling great, my body actually feels clean. You may not understand, but I feel almost as if I have been through a detox of sorts. It was awesome!

And then a roller coaster of emotions hit me like a freight train. I was at a weak point in my life going through one of life's valleys and I heard that voice telling me to walk. I was continuing with my commitment to not eat from the two above named places. But I felt like I needed to do more. I have said before I felt like God was telling me something much more than to physically walk but at the same time it helped me to get physical. The first day it was a nice afternoon stroll with my husband. Then it became a regular daily thing. I walked everyday for about 15 days straight. I started seeing a change in my body. My big round belly started looking less round and more concave. When I first started walking I could put my iphone on my hip just tucked into my workout pants without it slipping around. Soon I found that it was slipping down through my pants. So I moved my iphone up to my bra. Then I realized it was about to slip out of their too. Inch by inch I see my body changing. It is a slow process, but I feel rewarded for the first time as I can actually see my progress! Which is something that I have never done before, WHY? Because I have never stuck with anything this long. Not to mention the times I had tried to do any sort of exercise in the past, I would undo it all by eating garbage. But not now! 

I am eating fruit, vegetables, protein, and placing importance in keeping active has got me feeling great! I am doing things that are all around good for my body. I have said it before and I will say it again. I want to be able to take pride in saying we (Me and God) did this. No magic pills, so silly shakes, no drastic surgeries. Just me and my God! I want to be an inspiration to people but not by getting them into debt by paying for something they need to swallow/eat/drink everyday or even by going under the knife. Because you will never get well with a magic fix! It is a lifestyle change. Do I still eat cookies? YES! Do I still eat fried foods? Yes! God wants us to enjoy food but the problem too often is over indulgence.

 I love the support of family and friends. It is amazing. Especially after today. I have never been a runner. I want to run but my legs start cramping and I end up slowing down because I don't want to injure myself. (Please don't tell me to drink water, because its all I drink!) Today was one of those days. But I did complete half of the Couch to 5K app without stopping which was over 1 mile, and I tried to run when I could after that when the bell chimed. So I am totally proud of myself, because I did not give up! So the last day of Sept went with a bang as I am starting a 30 minutes of cardio for 30 days challenge. Pushing myself to stay focused on what God can do in and through me! Starting out at 226 pounds, my goal is to lose 26 pounds before the new year. This is a big challenge with the holidays approaching but I think me and JC got this!