An emotional journey part 2...

 Go HERE for part 1 of my emotional journey...

I have a friend who was probably the sickest person I know.  She could hardly eat anything and she was always sick too.  She had been going and doing some alternative medicine things and I felt like this might be my answer since Western Medicine wasn't helping me anymore.  They were telling me I was normal and that I would just have to function the way I was...or take anti-depressant pills.  No thanks!

So, I started to do some alternative medicine things.  My adrenal glands were not functioning, so I took pills to try to help them.  My iron was obviously still low so I took pills for them.  I took pills for my kidneys because they were not flushing all the toxins out of my body.  Yada, Yada, I took whatever my body tested that I needed.  I wasn't completely satisfied with this either, although I was starting to feel better.  But, I wanted more.  I didn't want to be tied to pills for the rest of my life so my same friend had started trying something new as well for allergy treatments.  Basically the idea is, that our body has reactions to all things that we put it in contact with, some good, some bad.  If you have 'allergies' to these things, your body will react negatively to them each time you come in contact with them.  This treatment is called NAET and it literally changed my life.  It is crazy and amazing all at the same time.  They 'treat' you for your allergy so that the next time you come in contact with that thing, your bodies energy says oh this stuff is okay, I'm not going to act crazy this time.  And it works.  I went through countless treatments and the brain fog I had disappeared, the tiredness diminished, my energy levels started to come up and most of all my iron levels finally stayed normal and I wasn't even supplementing it!  I was so happy!  But, I still had a ways to go for my to be completely satisfied.  I still had some headaches, jaw pain and I still could not drop weight which was frustrating.

My husband had started going to a new chiropractor who also used a muscle technique that he loved.  It helps get your muscles to fire correctly as sometimes they fatigue and will go into a secondary muscle to help the primary muscle.  Anyway, I decided I should go check him out and see if he could help me.  He helped me so much!  He helped my jaw, neck and head pain diminish!  What a miracle to not be in constant pain in my head.  Loved that!  Another answer to prayers, but I was still so frustrated with my weight.

I was working out, eating what I thought was right and I still could not drop weight, which is ultimately what I wanted.  I wanted my energy levels up. I wanted to feel great, but really, I wanted that scale to go down.  At one point, I figured if I worked out more I would lose more weight so I worked out twice a day for a whole month and still nothing.  I cried.  I cried a lot!

Day #9 ...

I am slightly frustrated again ... big surprise.  I want results much faster than results want to happen.  I want to have seen my body changing already but the only change I 'see' is that I am getting stronger.  I am able to do more reps or use more weight or hold a static exercise longer, which is good don't get me wrong, but I am doing this to look better, not just be stronger so I was hoping to see results quicker.

I will keep pressing on because once I have a plan and know exactly what I need to do each day I do MUCH better.  For some reason trying to chose what to do makes me not want to do it :), so this Fitness Blender 8 week challenge has been great for me.

Today's workout wasn't too bad, except for the burpees.  I actually enjoyed the first 60 or so of them, but the last 20 were not my friends.  Being able to do more with the core exercises than I ever have been able to before was nice too.  I could actually do a reverse crunch (lifting my legs up to elevate my hips off the ground) which I have never been able to do!  That was encouraging.

Onward and forward to get the body my soul desires!

--How are you doing on your fitness journey?

--How do you measure progress?

Meal plan ...

Day 1:

Breakfast: melon, grapes and whole grain muffin

Snack: carrots, slice of PB toast

Lunch:

Snack: Protein shake

Dinner: Big salad with chicken, 2 slices pizza

Day 2:

Breakfast: grapes, veggie omelet

Snack: cucumbers, boiled egg

Lunch: Protein shake

Snack: granola bar, banana

Dinner: salad w/apples, chicken/veggie stir fry

Day 3:

Breakfast: muffin, cantaloupe, plum

Snack: salad w/chicken

Lunch: protein shake

Snack: carrots, apple and nuts

Dinner: chicken, rice, pita bread

Day 4:

Breakfast: Grapes, eggs/beef sausage burrito

Snack: pretzels, cucumbers

Lunch: pizza

Snack: carrots, ice cream

Dinner: scrambled eggs, pancake
(today was an awful day and I had to resist shoving everything into my face.  We went to a local festival and I chose to try some very yummy mango ice-cream!)

Day 5:

Breakfast: Whole wheat toast, banana

Snack: carrots, boiled eggs

Lunch: protein shake

Snack: PB toast, plum

Dinner: Chicken, pita bread, lettuce

Day 6:

Breakfast: grapes, cantaloupe, wheat toast

Snack: Boiled egg, apple

Lunch: protein shake

Snack:

Dinner: Fish, shrimp, cooked carrots

Day #6 ...

Wow, I got my booty handed to me today on my workout.  I was feeling crappy yesterday and super tired from not sleeping so I took my optional cardio day to just take it easy.  I still walked around and stretched when I could and apparently that helped a lot because last night I finally slept better and today my hamstrings are not killing me.

I was reluctant to get into my workout today but I knew if I started I'd finish it out and be happy once I finished.  So, I got after it.

But boy, was it a tough workout.  I am still in the 'beginner' area of the whole 8 weeks and they say it gets harder, I hope I am getting stronger :)!  The twisted mountain climbers kicked my trash, not to mention the windmill steps, oh and the reverse lunge skips.  HAHA, my heart was beating, I was sweating!  If you want to check it out it is the Total Body Boot Camp video at Fitness Blender!  It rocked.  Happy to see the WORKOUT COMPLETE

 screen though!

Go me!  Haven't missed a workout yet...

---what is your favorite workout?

---Have you tried any of the fitness blender workouts?

An emotional journey part 1...

My journey into healthiness has been a long one.  I started feeling completely miserable shortly after I had my fourth child.  Looking back now, my body was starting to give me these same signals after my third, but I didn't listen then.  I just settled thinking I was tired from having 3 children so fast.  I had tried between each child to lose weight, successfully getting down to around the same number each time, only loosing 5 or 10 pounds each time and then getting stuck.  I'd get frustrated, start to not care and then it was time to get pregnant again...the circle always turning.  After my fourth was born, I was exhausted, I was completely sick of feeling awful.  There were days I wouldn't even want to get off the couch to help my children.  Everything was exhausting, every day a struggle.  I ended up having surgery on my foot 6 months after having my 4th child as well.  I think that completely put me over the top of feeling crappy.  

 

After I felt like I had had enough and after a good crying session with my husband, we started to work out together.  He did it to help me try to stay motivated, plus he likes to be fit too and it is hard to take the time unless you have a reason.  He helped me put together a weight lifting routine and I would do cardiovascular stuff too.  Well, around that same time I had an IUD placed thinking it would be an amazing thing for my body because I wanted to wait awhile to have more children, if ever, so why not?  Well, that DID not go well for me.  I bleed, I cried, I had it removed and then I had the most painful pain in my abdomen after lifting one day. I thought I had just pulled a muscle so I laid low for awhile.  It didn't go away, so I headed to my doctor.  I had an ovarian cyst, a big one.  They said to just watch it and see if I could tolerate the pain and it should shrink and go away.  Well, after one week I was in a ton more pain so they decided to remove it via surgery.  Another surgery, another loss of blood, another set back in my goals of becoming fit.

After that surgery, I seriously hit my lowest point.  I had a crazy huge massive headache every day.  I got dizzy when I stood up. I couldn't think straight.  My brain was always foggy.  I was grouchy with myself and with almost everyone around me, including my children.  I went to the doctor and they wanted to put me on anti-depressants.  I knew I wasn't depressed, or maybe I was?  No, that answer didn't work for me.  I went to a different doctor...I forced him to check my blood levels for SO many things.  They thought I might have MS, so we did a CT scan.  Nothing turned up. I was deemed normal.  HA!  This is not a normal way to feel.  I went back to an internal medicine doctor thinking maybe I had diabetes.  Nope.  So, I finally asked them to check my ferriten levels (iron) and I was so extremely low that they almost admitted me to the hospital.  Wow, really?  I'm not just normal?  So, iron infusions came, double dose, twice a month.  Rechecked my ferritin, still not normal.  Another month of twice a month double dose, back to a closer range of normal.  I feel great after I get the infusions for about a week and then I start to feel crappy again. I went through this for about 6 months and then when my levels wouldn't stay normalized I needed something more.

At this point I was exhausted.  I was tired of being told I was normal.  I was tired of feeling like crap and thinking this was going to be my normal.  I was tired of being grumpy all the time.  I was JUST TIRED!  Then, an answer to a prayer...

Day #3 ...

I have felt so proud of myself these last few days.  I have made no excuses, got my exercises in and eaten very well.  My time right now is kind of unique as I am not in my own home.  I have breakfast available to me each day, I have to fine healthy lunches and have to choose the healthiest option I can for dinner as we are going out a lot because of limited kitchen space.  BUT, I can proudly say that I am making the best choices that I can and when I cannot, I make sure I eat a big salad and only a little bit of whatever else, like pizza. It has been a unique challenge, but it will be worth it when I go home and I am ahead of the game on training for my triathlons this year!  

Exercise has not been super easy to START this week, but once I get going I enjoy it and I love it after when I am done.  I haven't slept real well this week adjusting to our new surroundings and time zone, but I haven't used that as an excuse to get my exercising in.  Yea!

All in all, I am very happy with how the last 3 days has gone. I hope that I see results this week on the scale too!

--What do you do when you are in unique situations to eat the best you can?

--What is your favorite exercise routine?

This is my TIME ...

This is my time.  I finally feel confident enough to get the body my soul desires.  I need to remember that this journey is for me.  This is a way for me to feel like I can shine the light that I am trying to shine to the world.  I want to feel completely confident with my body which helps me be confident in all the situations I am put in.  I want to be an example of joy, happiness and dedication to other people who may be struggling.

THIS IS MY TIME!!!

I will be following a program that I found done by the makers of fitnessblender.com.  It is 2 months, I can do anything for 2 months.  I will try to check in here several times a week, but for sure with a weigh in every week and progress pictures throughout the process.

I started yesterday, with my rest day today.  Yesterday was a physical fitness test.

1 mile run: 11 minutes

The rest is how many I could do in a 2 minute time frame

Push-ups: 3 full, 12 'girl'

Crunches: 60

Pull-ups: 20 second hold

I will succeed!  I will accomplish my goals.  I will do all that I can to get the body my soul desires!!!

starting weight: 76.8 kg

--What do you do to be an example?

--What do you desire most in your heart?