The first six weeks

The first six weeks of my journey, I had changed my diet drastically. I was eating about 1500 calories per day and consuming lots of lean meats, whole grains, fruits and veggies. I had discovered a little farmer's market right by the hiking trail where I hike every Saturday and the fruit there was so amazing. Living in the desert, it is hard to get your hands on such tasty fruit! I was doing the Insanity workouts Monday through Friday and then hiking on Saturdays with a rest day on Sunday. I was still drinking, but cut down to once a week and wasn't drinking in the same massive quantities that I had been drinking in the past.

After about six weeks, I just wasn't seeing any positive results. I had gained two pounds, was feeling bloated and all of my jeans were fitting tighter than they were before I had made the changes. It sucked. I had no idea what was going on with me. I got depressed, started to lose motivation. I took a week of eating everything bad that I could find and basically sulking. But during this time, I didn't give up completely. My mind was still partially in the game, I just had to figure out how to get past this hurdle. My sister had told me about something that she thought she had at one point, and I started to realize that I may have it too...it's called Candida Overgrowth. Basically, it is an overgrowth of fungus that lives in your bloodstream. It is normal for people to have some candida in their bodies, and usually the good bacteria in your gut helps to keep it in check. But, when someone has to take a lot of antibiotics the bacteria in your gut dies off which allows the candida to grow out of control and cause problems. What I found out is when you eat sugar, it feeds the candida and only makes it stronger and more prominent in your bloodstream. It was causing me many symptoms that I had been experiencing for years and never knew what to contribute them to. And, when candida is in your bloodstream and you are giving it a continuous food source (sugar) it will make it impossible for you to lose weight. After this discovery, I knew what had to come next, another change!

The Evolution of Me!

Losing weight. Two of the most dreaded words in the English language for many. For me, my weight has been a struggle for the last 15 years. Growing up, I was always thin. I never had to diet or be active, it just came naturally. But when I turned 18 and moved out on my own, it all started catching up to me. It was time for me to be an adult and make my own choices, right down to every meal I was going to prepare for myself and consume. I had no idea what nutrition really was or the importance of it. Within a year of living on my own, I had gained a significant amount of weight. Now, here I am, 33 years old and still overweight. On-and-off yo-yo dieting has been a way of life for me since I was 19  years old. I have had stints of weight loss a few times along the way, but I have always ended up gaining it back. 

A few months ago I found out that one of my aunts lost two of her toes to diabetes. I come from a long family history of diabetes, among other things. We lost my Grandma to diabetes about ten years ago, my Mom is a diabetic and most of her siblings are too, if not all of them. Even after being around diabetics most of my life and losing my grandmother to the disease, the severity of it never quite sunk in with me for some reason. But when I found out about my aunt and her toes, it hit me like a ton of bricks. "What am I doing? Why am I living this unhealthy lifestyle? What have I been doing to my body all this time? Is this really the life I want to live?" are all things I started to ask myself. My clothes were always tight and so restrictive, I felt uncomfortable in my own skin, my confidence was almost non existent and I felt sickly all the time. My relationship with my wonderful boyfriend suffered, I never felt sexy and was ashamed for him to see me naked even though he never said a judgmental word to me about it. Moving off of the couch to get another Jack and Coke was my idea of exercise. I drank every weekend, usually both nights...and when I say "I drank" I mean, I got drunk. We ate out all the time, pizza every single weekend (and lots of it), fast food...you name it! I never had energy. We have a house with stairs and I remember it feeling like such a struggle and a hassle whenever I had to go upstairs to get something. By the time I got back to what I was doing, I was winded and exhausted. The sluggishness...oh, the sluggishness! It was so not good. So, I started thinking to myself "How am I going to change this? Something's gotta give here!"

A few days later, it just so happened that a friend posted her "before and current" pictures on Facebook. I had only seen her one time in person over a course of many years, and I was so excited about her accomplishment. Like most, I had seen peoples' before and after pictures on TV and the internet all the time, but there was something about seeing that someone that I actually know, in the flesh, can make such an amazing achievement that really brought a spark to my eye. It was that moment that I decided it was time. Once and for all, I will lose the weight...and not only that, I will get fit. I will live a healthy lifestyle...for the rest of my life. I will do my best to encourage and inspire others along the way, and that is what brings me here today. I wanted to document my story so I can share it with others. I hope others find inspiration from what I am doing and choose to make positive changes in their own lives. This is also a way for me to hold myself accountable, because accountability has become a very important part of my life over the last few months. 

I hope you enjoy my story and will follow my progress as I make my way through this journey. And most of all, I wish you the best on your own journey of health.