July 20, 2015.... the day I decided to get my life and health back. I have tried so many diets and bought many get fit quick machines and/or tools to no avail. I had reversed my diabetes and thought I was doing a fairly good job of keeping it at bay....and then I got my test results back. My type 2 diabetes had returned with a vengeance, my blood pressure was through the roof and my cholesterol etc were off the charts. I had not heard from my doctor on what to do so kind of brushed it off.

 

One day a gal who was friends with several of my friends contacted me regarding Shakeology. She had seen my posts regarding needing to get healthy and not having much success. She did not pressure me, just put a little bug in my ear. I am one of those people who may buy all the other kinds of tools but did not put any stock in quick fix meal replacement or pill types of diets. I brushed her off and then Kathy a lady I met through another friend on Facebook sort of took me under her wing, she gently prodded me and planted seeds and then sat back and waited for them to take root and boy did they.

 

I steadfastly believed unless you learned to modify your eating habits you would never lose weigh successfully... did I live by that.... no. Mid July my doctor informed me I was going to have to go back on Metformin for my diabetes. I was crushed and just ignored her but lamented on my FB page about it. Then Heather contacted me again and I thought what do I have to lose but told her I would likely only do one month. Shakeology is expensive and I decided if I was paying that much for a month I better make the best of it and do it 100%. I opted for the 21 Day Fix challenge pack.

 

Like I said, I was going to give this my all, I got my package and set about preparing. I spent days trying to come up with a food plan, how I was going to prep etc. I worked myself into such a frenzy my eye started twitching and I was in tears. HOW can I do this if it is this hard and I have not even started!!! I pushed it aside for a day or so and then decided I just had to start as simply as possible.

 

A week in I had become a food prepping fool. I pre-blended my fruits and veggies and pre-measured and froze them. I made batches of quinoa, chili, soup, roasted beets, cooked ground chicken, you name it I prepped it. I threw out every single thing in my house that was processed. That day I cut out all sugar...no more bacon breakfast cheese egg bagels every morning at work, no more 5 shot espresso, no more Joe Browns popcorn every afternoon.

 

I started this journey on 7-20-15 weighing 280.4 pounds, BMI of 54.2 and 290.25 inches (total of different body parts). My A1C was 6.8 and my blood pressure was 142/82. Below are what my cholesterol etc were at. I was a heart attach in the making.

 

• Cholesterol242 mg/dL<=239 mg/dLH

• Fasting Trig233 mg/dL<=199 mg/dLH

• HDL Chol46 mg/dL>=40 mg/dL 

• LDL Calc149 mg/dL<=159 mg/dL 

   

I asked my doctor if I could hold off on the meds until I finished this 21 day course and she agreed. I was not able to do exercise, I could barely walk down the hall at my apartments without being in pain. All of the sudden my 21 days was up and had lost 13.4 pounds and 8 inches! But even better than  that they reran my blood tests and the results were astounding! My blood pressure was down to 128/72 and my A1C was 5.9 I was no longer considered diabetic! BUT check out my labs for cholesterol!

 

• Cholesterol136 mg/dL<=239 mg/dL 

• Fasting Trig182 mg/dL<=199 mg/dL 

• HDL Chol40 mg/dL>=40 mg/dL 

• LDL Calc59 mg/dL<=159 mg/dL

 

Slowly I started walking, I had shin splints that would not stop. I could not walk across my parking lot, and it is small, without shin splints. I decided I was going to do one more round of the 21 day fix clean eating and lost another 8.5 pounds and 8.3 inches! How could stop this new lifestyle! I will say without a doubt that Shakeology helped me have ZERO cravings. I know clean eating played a huge part in that as well but I literally had no desire for sugar or carbs or coffee. All of the sudden people are asking me what I was doing, my skin was clearer and I was happier and the weight loss was starting to show. Eventually I was walking a mile, then 2 then 3 and now I walk/hike between 7-15 a day depending on the day. I have even started jogging and am going to do a 5K and a half marathon this year.

 

I am astounded at the people who have started following my blog, that reach out to me on Facebook. I am talking people from all over the world, it is unreal! When I decided to do this I made a choice to be transparent and honest. To put it all out there for anyone to see, it helped me be accountable. I believe in this more than I ever thought possible. I no longer eat red meat, I only eat pork if I am at my moms lol. I eat minimal chicken and have started the process of becoming vegetarian and ultimately will become vegan.

 

I have friends who share their immense knowledge with me regarding the dangers of types of food. I am a google searching healthaphobe. I want to know everything I can about GMO and dangers of certain foods. I am determined to live the healthiest life I can and to share my knowledge with anyone wanting to hear it. I became a coach for Beach Body although I have not done anything with it. I will include my information if anyone is interested at the end of the blog.

When people ask me what they need to know or do to have success like I have, I tell them the following:

• Take pictures, measure and weigh

• Throw out and do not purchase processed foods (if you do nothing else this will help you lose weight and live longer)

• NEVER EVER say ONLY or JUST when talking about your losses

• This is a journey not a race so slow and steady

• Every body is different you will not lose the same as anyone else. Do not get discouraged if you are not losing weight at the pace you want. Look at your pictures, look at your clothes, how are you feeling, measure yourself again... those things are so much more important than that damn number on the scale.

• • NEVER EVER say ONLY or JUST when talking about your losses (I know I said this before but I cannot say it enough)

• • Challenge yourself to also include 21 days of no negativity. My friend challenged me to that and it has become second nature for me now.. ok I fail at it now and again but I am human!

• They say 80/20 as far as being clean but for me I am clean 100% of the time. My idea of a cheat is a little ranch on the side if I am eating salad out or dry toast if I am having breakfast at a restaurant. You do not have to be as rigid as I am but I am unwilling to undo all my hard work. AND I truly do not feel deprived.

• You WILL hit plateaus so do not get discouraged, do not use it as an excuse to stop being healthy.

 

My goal initially was to lose 150 pounds but I am more realistic now and realize my body is not the same as it was when I weighed 130 and it likely will not look good on me. I am now content to continue on this journey and I will know when it is time to start the maintenance part of my new life.

I am including a few stats and pictures from my start to now. As I said pictures say everything!

July 20, 2015 I weighed 280.4 -- February 14, 2016 I weigh 199.4

 

• Neck 16.5                                Neck 13.5

• Upper arm L 16 / R 16         Upper arm L 11.5 / R 12.5

• Chest 56                                 Chest 44

• Waist 50.5                              Waist 38

• Hips 54.5                                Hips 43

• Thigh L 24.75 / R 25            Thigh L 19.5 / R 19.5

• Calf L 15.5 / R 15.5                Calf L 13.5 / R 13.5

• BMI 54.2                                 BMI 43.1