You may have heard this story before... ME last year... 209 lbs... and the day after Christmas... I said.. I can't do this.. stuck in an iffy career, a struggling marriage and a body I just didn't recognize anymore.
My body ached all the time... I had been tired all the time even after 8 hours of sleep. So as many of you know I did a detox... a 7 day detox.. and what happened was truly life changing.. I had sold a piece of my grandmother's jewelry that had been left to me, but it was worth it. ( the cost of the detox program I chose was $199.99. I took a few supplements and vitamins and followed a diet of veggies only and fruit NO butter, eggs, sugar, meat and more.. for 7 days.. After the 7 days you could add back in things gradually. When I started adding things.. I started getting sick again.. This began a journey to find out what food sensitivities I had. It turned out I was allergic to egg now, but I was sensitive to gluten and dairy. I cut out dairy, gluten, eggs and sugar starting January 3rd. I followed this routine, and borrowed, read, and purchased every plant-strong cookbook or book I could find. I immersed myself in the knowledge.. and I gave up meat.
I combined my new knowledge and my past, which when I was living with my grandmother she ate many grains, fruit and vegetables and very little processed food. I started to run with my neighbor and did my first 5K. I was so scared the night before the race, and I was afraid i would be last... In a race with over 400 I don't remember what I placed, but I do remember saying.. I just want to do it in 45 minutes.. and guess what... I did it in 35 minutes.
I went from 209 to 165 by the spring and my summer I was running 4 miles a day.. I put weight back on ... in the fall, which leads me to know... I had a minor setback this fall and winter as I began eating sugar again, and emotionally eating. I thought I had a handle on it, but I have never been plant strong or sugar FREE for Halloween or Christmas yet. I realized that I had emotional issues with this holiday that surfaced... and thus I began to eat sugar again, to deal with that stress. I am not embarrassed to say I am part of a bible study we meet and discuss topics and books, and this months topic is a book entitled Christmas is not your birthday... and I learned after reflecting at home ..that my father and step-mother had provided me with a perfect Christmas for many years, but that I was trying to recreate that "perfect" Christmas with a much different, income, much different children and so I couldn't reproduce my childhood. During this bible study group we discussed how there is NO perfect Christmas, that we send cards that have a sanitized picture of the nativity... when in actuality in the real birth place of Jesus, the cave is small, dark and it had animal dung and flies.. on the night of his birth, there was nothing neat and clean about it. So how has this reflection? helped me eat less you ask? Well, I have figured out I can't recreate the best Christmas tree, the cutest house on the block , the best photo Christmas cards, the best dressed boy... the best cookies at the cookie swap... I have to save my energy for what really matters, time with family and my health.. SO this year .. I sent less Christmas cards, made only one kind of Christmas cookie and sent them right out of the house...so I wouldn't be tempted to nibble. This leaves me less anxious and stressed.
I tried to keep things simple.. but still have traditions... I also adopted a great new tradition called LIGHT Em UP!
check it out right here we have a jar filled with random acts of kindness we can do to friends, neighbors, teachers, and or strangers ( with parents help and permission) so I can teach my son the meaning of Christmas is not about gimmie, gimmie want , want .. what am I getting.. but about what can I give..... my time, my support and my love... to others...
I have to admit I was part of a friends fitness challenge this year too.. and although you read in the beginning of this post,, if you are still reading.. that I ran 4 miles a day all spring and all summer than I started P90X and then in October... I just fell off the map... Didn't have the motivation to work out daily and it hurt to know that I was so dedicated... and that I prioritized those work outs like they were my job.. and why wasn't I DOING what made me feel so good. I have since stopped beating myself up about it, and know my daily walking will suffice as I am working towards another important goal... but I did feel as if I let the group down, as I was so inspired by them and supported by them, but I didn't want to lie to the group and tell them I was working out daily and doing and drinking shakes if I really wasn't, I am a real person who fails some days and who makes mistakes... So I owned it and told them, I would see them again, when I was able to commit the effort and time I wanted to commit to working out. Last year I was a new me.. with a new lifestyle.. and 35 lbs lighter.... This year.. I am evolving once more... and I am a new me again... as I have been enrolled at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition since May.I will graduate this May.
I got to be part of a huge health and wellness movement in New York city this October...
This school has been a bigger experience than college was for me, I have left my iffy career, and made a new career, as a Holistic Health and Wellness Counselor. For the first time in my life, I feel like I am doing what I am meant to be doing. I work with clients who want to do group or private sessions with me by phone or in person, I also run group workshops and retreats. I work a lot on self-esteem issues and I do a lot of cooking classes for busy moms.
This school has opened my mind, spiritually and mentally more than any other experience I have ever had.IF I had not had this awakening I would still be slowly plodding through my life 209 lbs and feeling sad and tired and sick. I strongly feel that the stronger you are physically and mentally, the easier life becomes...and I am living proof of this.
Be well this holiday season- and remember there is no Perfect Christmas....
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