I am an emotional eater. Always have been. It has been such an outlet for me and the stresses in my life. When I turned 40, I determined to get into the best health that I could. I began weight watchers and lost about 25 lbs and also started running and got myself to the point of running 5K, I just never ran an official 5k. In May that year, I started having some foot issues and stopped running until it eased up. Then summer came and it was crazy busy. I also have a difficult time with feeling defeated when I can't accomplish something. When I hit the track again, I was so discouraged and was no where near what I was before the foot problem. So between the two, I quit. Then in August of that year, we were told Dave was terminal. At that point, I had to take a backseat and I had to start focusing on his care and the care of my kids. So, taking care of me was not the priority. Slowly, during that time, I gained back the 25 lbs I had lost plus another 10.
Once Dave passed away, it was time for me again. Since I had a lot on my plate and knew I had a lot of healing and processing to do, I decided to "baby step" changes in my life. My first, was on July 26, 2013 when I gave up pop. I basically drank a cup of coffee when I got up and drank pop the rest of the day. This was a huge step for me and I was so proud as each day went by and I wasn't drinking pop. I still have not had any and I do not miss it!!
I knew I needed to make some more changes, but wasn't sure what was next. A couple of months later, a few of my friends started using Isagenix. I watched as they were sharing their success stories and decided that I would give it a try as well. So, on Dec 9, 2013, I jumped on that bandwagon and decided to get some weight off...like 70 lbs of weight off. Could I really do this??? That is a pretty lofty goal...
One of the things that Isagenix discourages is drinking coffee...anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE coffee. But I decided if I could give up pop, I could do coffee too. So my last cup of coffee was on Dec 8, 2013. My goal was to not drink any till I hit my goal weight, but I ended up making it ONE ENTIRE YEAR without a drop!!! On Dec 9, 2014, I had my first cup of coffee...YUMMMMM!!!!! So delicious in taste...but SO TERRIBLE in how I felt after I drank it!!! My mouth was running faster than my head and I felt like someone was twisting me inside between my heart and my stomach. HORRIBLE!!!! So bad, that I am almost afraid to drink it again! Decaf please??? And to think I used to NEED this to function?!?!?!
Then another baby step came in January when I started jogging again. I started training on my treadmill and was very dedicated to getting up at 4:00 every day and working out first thing! I was using the couch to 5k program, determined that I would run an official 5K this year. And in May, I did just that!!! There was nothing like that moment of crossing the finish line on something I NEVER would have dreamed I could accomplish! NEW!!!! I have continued to run and I love it! It is my therapy-physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually! I had a set-back in August when I started having pain in my knee and it got really bad. I was so depressed thinking I was going to need surgery and I knew that I would be laid up for a while. I also remembered what happened when I had a foot injury 2 years ago...it really depressed me. After attempting to just rest the knee for a while and seeing no improvement, I went to the doctor expecting to hear I had a torn meniscus...but instead he said it was a tendon issue and I could return to running as I was able to tolerate it!!! I was ecstatic...and scared too that I would give up. But...I was determined...and I started on Week 1 Day 1 of my 5k training. I didn't even feel like I was running when I started again. When I stopped I was doing 3 cycles of 17 min run/1 min walk...and now I was doing next to nothing. But I slowly rebuilt...slowly...and I once again am able to run 5K...my goal is 10k and I will do it! My favorite run is getting up on Sunday morning and running the sun up while listening to my worship and praying and thinking. I am even running OUTSIDE in the cold...Yes folks, miracles happen!
Back to the weight loss...Most of my journey in my health has occurred in 2014. I hit it hard and strong for the first part of the year then really started battling with emotional eating again after all the problems I was having with my daughter. So from April until Nov, I yo-yo'd the same 5-7 lbs. By the end of Nov, I saw that the scale was starting to creep up again, not a lot, but enough for me to know either I was going to keep going up or do something about it and get serious again. So, a friend of mine and I determined to hit it hard as of Dec 1st. And I have!!! I am currently down 63 pounds and only 7 more to go to reach my goal!!! I have gained so much confidence and feel good about how I look...for the first time in my life. I still can't believe the girl looking back at me in the mirror!!!
This journey has been a huge "NEW" in my life for many reasons. I have proven to myself what I CAN do...that when I put my mind to something, I can accomplish it and accomplish it well! I have a "NEW" life in front of me and have done some things I never would have done 63 lbs ago! The old has past, the NEW has come!!!
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