My life seems to have taken on a life of it's own! I realized today that I need to slow it down a bit and get some control over it. I have not been able to exercise since Sunday. And I have had 2 meals each day. My weight has maintained itself, but I am feeling bad that the weight loss has stalled. I have found that my morning coffee with my in-laws each day has caused my body some distress. Since I know I am allergic to the coffee, but in love with it as well, I now have the horrible struggle of going off of it again. I am not feeling very strong right now, nor ready to battle the withdrawals that I know will be coming. I wish I could have stayed strong and not have gone back to drinking the coffee. But I know wishing won't change what is.
My Isagenix team is a source of strength for me. I will have to go back and reread their emails and embrace their victories in order to find the strength to renew my commitment to a healthier lifestyle.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Saturday's look back
Well, we did great yesterday, considering. We started out with our bar, and of course the free coffee. Yummy!
We met a lot of interesting people yesterday and today. This morning we met a wonderful gentleman from New York. He shared so much of his story with us, that we feel we made a new friend. We went to this Sushi Bar for lunch (since I don't like Sushi, I figured I had it made, I could just have water and visit), but it turns out that this wonderful man was treating Dwaine & I to lunch. Fortunately they also served an upscale menu. I had a sea food salad. The salad was small, yet very tasty with shrimp, crab and scallops with a light vinaigrette dressing. It was like having a healthy snack.
I should mention that by this time, while following my Isagenix diet (since January 10th of this year) I had gotten down to 157 lbs. That is almost 40 lbs. I would like to lose another 30 or so pounds. And so the journey continues.
We met a lot of interesting people yesterday and today. This morning we met a wonderful gentleman from New York. He shared so much of his story with us, that we feel we made a new friend. We went to this Sushi Bar for lunch (since I don't like Sushi, I figured I had it made, I could just have water and visit), but it turns out that this wonderful man was treating Dwaine & I to lunch. Fortunately they also served an upscale menu. I had a sea food salad. The salad was small, yet very tasty with shrimp, crab and scallops with a light vinaigrette dressing. It was like having a healthy snack.
I should mention that by this time, while following my Isagenix diet (since January 10th of this year) I had gotten down to 157 lbs. That is almost 40 lbs. I would like to lose another 30 or so pounds. And so the journey continues.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Monday, Recuperation Day?
9 AM and the phone is ringing off the hook. Oops it's 10:30 and I am still in a dire need of a shower only to get a call from my sister-in-law saying that they were minutes away from our house. I went flying up the stairs woke Dwaine up, jumped in the shower, turned off the water and the door bell rang!
So begins my week. I have been cooking and eating ever since. I have hives on my hands, a rash on my neck & forehead and a massive headache. And I wonder why? I would have to say, that I did not rise up to this challenge very well!
Tomorrow if all is right with the world I will start out by exercising and then I will proceed to do a cleanse day or at the very least, embrace a shake and a bar for 2 of my meals and let the healing begin!
So begins my week. I have been cooking and eating ever since. I have hives on my hands, a rash on my neck & forehead and a massive headache. And I wonder why? I would have to say, that I did not rise up to this challenge very well!
Tomorrow if all is right with the world I will start out by exercising and then I will proceed to do a cleanse day or at the very least, embrace a shake and a bar for 2 of my meals and let the healing begin!
Hurray we made it home!
Wow, we made it home. I have to admit, I didn't wrap up the trip as I would have liked. We did well up until it got dark outside. I only had 2 1/2 hours of sleep Saturday night, so I started out the journey back home a bit deprived of sleep. My wonderful partner, doesn't do night driving well after about 9 or 10 pm as he needs his sleep. I usually do quite well at night, so I take that shift.
Starting out later than we wanted too, with not much sleep, sort of set the stage for diet disaster. By 8 PM we were both tired and still had 6 hours of driving to go. We decided we needed to eat. Well, most fast foods are out of the question for me due to the gluten issue, but I had seen a ton of KFC's on the way there, so I was thinking that would be the best choice of fast food. Now picture my husband driving, a man who can get lost in a paper bag and a person who hates driving in the unknown at night. He missed one KFC then another, then another. Finally, I remembered that the GPS can lead us to one without any problem. I was so happy with myself! I punched in the KFC and away we went! ONLY in our life can we pick a KFC that doesn't exist for the public! That's right! We followed the GPS around one turn after another only to finally reach the location and we couldn't find the KFC if our life depended on it! Up and Down the road, past the location that the GPS kept announcing was the location. We finally turned into this private drive, past a sign giving out warnings that tresspassors will be prosecuted and that we were being taped on camera! Imagine my delight at the thought of being in a strange state in jail, tired & hungry without my KFC! We booked out of there like a bat out of hell. Turns out that it was a huge UPS corporate office with KFC someplace deep in its bowels. We didn't stick around.
Once again, I punched in the KFC and we found another location. We drove and drove and drove and finally we arrived! The neighborhood didn't look very promising and the restaurant looked a bit dirty, but after all we went through, I think I might have eaten the chicken even if it was thrown on the floor and stomped on.
This restaurant has a policy where you get a free $5 box meal if your order isn't served up within 90 seconds. And of course our order wasn't served up on time and we won a free meal. Now all we have to do is drive to Kentucky to get it!
Now, a normal person would probably figured out by this time, that God was trying to spare my body from ingesting this nasty food, but not me, oh no! I proceeded to devour 5 legs. We were given 12 pieces instead of 10, since we purchased the Sunday special, 10 pieces for $10. We must have looked really bedraggled and poor and hungry that the guy gave us 2 extra pieces. We didn't order any drinks or sides, but it didn't matter, we were on the slippery slope of killer fast foods!
Now we felt better than ever on the whole trip up until this point. And boy oh boy, did we ever pay for this choice!
It was all down hill from here.
It was dark and it started to rain. Did I mention the thousands of semi trucks that drive on this highway? Picture it dark, raining, semi's and road construction! Yep that was what we had to struggle with until I started dozing at the wheel. Dwaine was fast asleep next to me and I was heading to lala land. I saw a rest site ahead and I pulled in (see what KFC can do do one). We slept for about 2 1/2 hours.
Now, a smart individual would learn from these lessons, but oh, no, I wasn't through yet! I was still tired and groggy, so what did we chose to do? We headed for a Mc Donald's! Those we could find without a GPS and we were sure we could find one open. Yep, we sure did.
And what did I see when I first entered? A giant bill board showing a chocolate shake with whipped cream and a cherry. Of course I passed that up, as I am on this magnificent journey to health! Well, I did pass it up for about 30 seconds.
You guessed I ate the whole thing! And now we got to drive home in snow, rain, slush, etc.
We ended up not getting home until 6;30 am. That was one longggggggggggggg drive!
We managed to crawl up to bed and slept until 9 AM.
Starting out later than we wanted too, with not much sleep, sort of set the stage for diet disaster. By 8 PM we were both tired and still had 6 hours of driving to go. We decided we needed to eat. Well, most fast foods are out of the question for me due to the gluten issue, but I had seen a ton of KFC's on the way there, so I was thinking that would be the best choice of fast food. Now picture my husband driving, a man who can get lost in a paper bag and a person who hates driving in the unknown at night. He missed one KFC then another, then another. Finally, I remembered that the GPS can lead us to one without any problem. I was so happy with myself! I punched in the KFC and away we went! ONLY in our life can we pick a KFC that doesn't exist for the public! That's right! We followed the GPS around one turn after another only to finally reach the location and we couldn't find the KFC if our life depended on it! Up and Down the road, past the location that the GPS kept announcing was the location. We finally turned into this private drive, past a sign giving out warnings that tresspassors will be prosecuted and that we were being taped on camera! Imagine my delight at the thought of being in a strange state in jail, tired & hungry without my KFC! We booked out of there like a bat out of hell. Turns out that it was a huge UPS corporate office with KFC someplace deep in its bowels. We didn't stick around.
Once again, I punched in the KFC and we found another location. We drove and drove and drove and finally we arrived! The neighborhood didn't look very promising and the restaurant looked a bit dirty, but after all we went through, I think I might have eaten the chicken even if it was thrown on the floor and stomped on.
This restaurant has a policy where you get a free $5 box meal if your order isn't served up within 90 seconds. And of course our order wasn't served up on time and we won a free meal. Now all we have to do is drive to Kentucky to get it!
Now, a normal person would probably figured out by this time, that God was trying to spare my body from ingesting this nasty food, but not me, oh no! I proceeded to devour 5 legs. We were given 12 pieces instead of 10, since we purchased the Sunday special, 10 pieces for $10. We must have looked really bedraggled and poor and hungry that the guy gave us 2 extra pieces. We didn't order any drinks or sides, but it didn't matter, we were on the slippery slope of killer fast foods!
Now we felt better than ever on the whole trip up until this point. And boy oh boy, did we ever pay for this choice!
It was all down hill from here.
It was dark and it started to rain. Did I mention the thousands of semi trucks that drive on this highway? Picture it dark, raining, semi's and road construction! Yep that was what we had to struggle with until I started dozing at the wheel. Dwaine was fast asleep next to me and I was heading to lala land. I saw a rest site ahead and I pulled in (see what KFC can do do one). We slept for about 2 1/2 hours.
Now, a smart individual would learn from these lessons, but oh, no, I wasn't through yet! I was still tired and groggy, so what did we chose to do? We headed for a Mc Donald's! Those we could find without a GPS and we were sure we could find one open. Yep, we sure did.
And what did I see when I first entered? A giant bill board showing a chocolate shake with whipped cream and a cherry. Of course I passed that up, as I am on this magnificent journey to health! Well, I did pass it up for about 30 seconds.
You guessed I ate the whole thing! And now we got to drive home in snow, rain, slush, etc.
We ended up not getting home until 6;30 am. That was one longggggggggggggg drive!
We managed to crawl up to bed and slept until 9 AM.
Sunday Last Day of Trip
OK, last day. I felt that I did pretty well all in all. My belt buckle even feels a little looser today. I had my shake and bar and homeward bound and all is well with the world. We left later than we had wanted to, so that means we will be home around 1:30 AM.
Formal Dinner
Saturday night was a fun night. We had a formal affair to attend. There was lots of food to pick from. I picked my meal carefully ( having to avoid gluten really helped me this time). I had some salmon & prime rib, water, coffee and a stir fried veg mix. Not too bad considering. The one splurge I allowed myself was some ice cream. You wouldn't believe what I went through for that ice cream One would think that I was given several omens to skip the ice cream, but oh no, I became more determined than ever! I waited in line for the ice cream only to have it within my reach, when low and behold the person (idiot is what I was thinking at the time) ahead of me knocked over the ice cream glasses. They used martini glasses for the sundaes and boy was there a pile of them on the ground at my feet! I am not sure if I was more in shock, anger or just plain sad, but I stared at the mess for a few moments before I bent down to help clean up the mess. Just my luck, they decided to close that line, for safety sake (I personally thought that the people were being lazy and wanted the break). So I proceeded to another line, then another line and then another line! By this time I had worked up a major craving! I did finally get my sundae. I can't say it was really worth all that either!
Midway through the vacation
Ok, so far, so good. We made it halfway through the vacation and stayed on track. Today is Saturday, lots of meetings and a formal dinner to look forward to this evening. Let's see how we do today.
Week end event
I am not sure if the wifi is free at this hotel, so I will not post these blogs until I get home. After seeing the prices here, I want to make sure I have enough money for gas to get home. Wouldn't that be stressful, getting 2/3 of the way home and then run out of gas? I don't think Dwaine would enjoy that journey too much!
Well, we made it through Friday with having a shake for breakfast in our room, a cup of coffee (they gave us such good free coffee in the room, who could resist?). We proceeded for the next 3 hours walking through two of the gardens in this complex. There are three gardens, but not enough time to see them all in one day.
It was strange being inside, yet feeling as if we were outside. The weather had gotten bad on Friday. There were storms & tornadoes everywhere, but we were inside a tropical paradise without all the bad bugs & creepy crawly things! Who could complain? We visited some of the shops & stopped at a romantic spot over looking the waterfalls and just soaked up the beauty.
We checked out some of the restaurants (not the one from the night before,we knew that one would break the bank). We found a Mexican restaurant that was open for lunch at 11 AM and was reasonably priced. We could eat for $100, have desert, drinks and include tip. But that would have broke our diet plans and the bank! So, we had a reasonable meal. I had limited choices as I can't have gluten, corn or potatoes. They made me a delicious pork chop with asparagus, red rice and a cabbage & Jamiaca salad with a light oil, vinegar dressing. Absolutely heavenly! Dwaine ate their burrito, with what tasted like a smoked pulled chicken . We relaxed and enjoyed the gardens ( we sat in the outside cafe') which technically is inside under the atrium. Wow what life!
Our dinner meal was .... a bar! That's right! We were still full from our lovely lunch and want to stick to the plan. We are really feeling great. Tons of walking and eating healthy! This really is the life!
Well, we made it through Friday with having a shake for breakfast in our room, a cup of coffee (they gave us such good free coffee in the room, who could resist?). We proceeded for the next 3 hours walking through two of the gardens in this complex. There are three gardens, but not enough time to see them all in one day.
It was strange being inside, yet feeling as if we were outside. The weather had gotten bad on Friday. There were storms & tornadoes everywhere, but we were inside a tropical paradise without all the bad bugs & creepy crawly things! Who could complain? We visited some of the shops & stopped at a romantic spot over looking the waterfalls and just soaked up the beauty.
We checked out some of the restaurants (not the one from the night before,we knew that one would break the bank). We found a Mexican restaurant that was open for lunch at 11 AM and was reasonably priced. We could eat for $100, have desert, drinks and include tip. But that would have broke our diet plans and the bank! So, we had a reasonable meal. I had limited choices as I can't have gluten, corn or potatoes. They made me a delicious pork chop with asparagus, red rice and a cabbage & Jamiaca salad with a light oil, vinegar dressing. Absolutely heavenly! Dwaine ate their burrito, with what tasted like a smoked pulled chicken . We relaxed and enjoyed the gardens ( we sat in the outside cafe') which technically is inside under the atrium. Wow what life!
Our dinner meal was .... a bar! That's right! We were still full from our lovely lunch and want to stick to the plan. We are really feeling great. Tons of walking and eating healthy! This really is the life!
Tennessee we arrived
Well, we made it! We arrived in Tennessee last night around 9 PM. We got to the most awesome hotel I have seen. We are staying at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. It's absolutely unbelievable.
But, is even more unbelievable is that both Dwaine & I stuck to our eating plan all the way down and we still had energy left. We started out our day yesterday taking this delightful chocolate shake. We loaded a cooler with bottled water, fresh veggies, cheese, crackers, pears, bananas and wine. (We had to include a portion of grapes)!
The drive lasted about 11 hours. We had good weather, lots of sunshine and warmer and warmer weather! :) It wasn't too painful leaving the 30's behind for 70's. The traffic was good most of the way. We did hit 3 areas where the traffic came to a crawl and we lost some time. But all in all it was a nice drive. I ended up doing most of the driving, which was ok, as I was too tired to look at the computer or read, but wide awake enough to be bored. Dwaine on the other hand can always rest. So, it worked out well. I was too busy to dig around for food to eat.
We ended up eating a meal replacement bar (which we love) as our lunch along with water. When we made the halfway point we both decided to have a banana with water. Not bad yet, huh!
As we were getting closer to Tennessee and it was getting dark out, we decided to have another bar for our dinner. Good thing too.
We arrived at this magnificent hotel only to find that it was a massive hotel (little village actually) with 3 atriums and our room was hidden off in the maze of walkways and rivers.
Since we packed up our house, not really knowing what we needed to wear at the events or what we would need (for reading, in case we got bored) or what we might need for substance (after all we wouldn't want to starve) in case we ran out of money, we had to make 2 trips from the car to the room.
Well, we managed to get lost twice. But at last we did make it to the room!
We proceeded to unpack. Of course, by this time we were stressed, a bit stiff from sitting so long. So, we walked around one of the gardens for about an hour or so, by that time we were hungry! That meant we had to eat. Fortunately for us all the restaurants were closed, except the one that would have cost us $100 for a meal, if we watched what we ordered. We decided we would prefer to eat the whole weekend instead of just one meal. So, off we went to our room.
I tell you the broccoli, cauliflower and carrots never tasted so good! Of course the cheese and (gluten free) crackers and wine didn't hurt the palate either. It seemed so romantic sitting in this lovely room with the man I love, eating cheese and drinking wine, and yet our calories for the day were well within our plan.
That was a good start to this vacation.
But, is even more unbelievable is that both Dwaine & I stuck to our eating plan all the way down and we still had energy left. We started out our day yesterday taking this delightful chocolate shake. We loaded a cooler with bottled water, fresh veggies, cheese, crackers, pears, bananas and wine. (We had to include a portion of grapes)!
The drive lasted about 11 hours. We had good weather, lots of sunshine and warmer and warmer weather! :) It wasn't too painful leaving the 30's behind for 70's. The traffic was good most of the way. We did hit 3 areas where the traffic came to a crawl and we lost some time. But all in all it was a nice drive. I ended up doing most of the driving, which was ok, as I was too tired to look at the computer or read, but wide awake enough to be bored. Dwaine on the other hand can always rest. So, it worked out well. I was too busy to dig around for food to eat.
We ended up eating a meal replacement bar (which we love) as our lunch along with water. When we made the halfway point we both decided to have a banana with water. Not bad yet, huh!
As we were getting closer to Tennessee and it was getting dark out, we decided to have another bar for our dinner. Good thing too.
We arrived at this magnificent hotel only to find that it was a massive hotel (little village actually) with 3 atriums and our room was hidden off in the maze of walkways and rivers.
Since we packed up our house, not really knowing what we needed to wear at the events or what we would need (for reading, in case we got bored) or what we might need for substance (after all we wouldn't want to starve) in case we ran out of money, we had to make 2 trips from the car to the room.
Well, we managed to get lost twice. But at last we did make it to the room!
We proceeded to unpack. Of course, by this time we were stressed, a bit stiff from sitting so long. So, we walked around one of the gardens for about an hour or so, by that time we were hungry! That meant we had to eat. Fortunately for us all the restaurants were closed, except the one that would have cost us $100 for a meal, if we watched what we ordered. We decided we would prefer to eat the whole weekend instead of just one meal. So, off we went to our room.
I tell you the broccoli, cauliflower and carrots never tasted so good! Of course the cheese and (gluten free) crackers and wine didn't hurt the palate either. It seemed so romantic sitting in this lovely room with the man I love, eating cheese and drinking wine, and yet our calories for the day were well within our plan.
That was a good start to this vacation.
Tennessee here we come
Hi!
My husband, Dwaine and I are heading out to Tennessee for a few days, we are planning on following our diet plan the whole trip. Can't wait to see how we do.
My husband, Dwaine and I are heading out to Tennessee for a few days, we are planning on following our diet plan the whole trip. Can't wait to see how we do.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Journey to Health
Hi!
My name is Nancy and I want to share my story as I travel the journey to health.
A little over a year ago, I finally hit my lowest of low points with my health. I ended up with high blood pressure (which for me was unusual as my blood pressure always ran low) and had been told that I had high cholesterol, not to mention that my hormone levels were near extinction. I weighed 194 lbs.
I had been struggling with allergies ever since my second pregnancy decades earlier. I seemed to attract new allergies like nails to a magnet. I suffered in spring with the tree pollens, in rainy weather with mold, summer with grass pollens and fall with ragweed and mold. The rainy weather or windy days would drag me down this tunnel of fatigue.
But it was the food allergies that finally did me in. I found that I was allergic and sensitive to the majority of foods. Well, I would give up wheat and caffeine on and off over the years.
When one of daughters came down with food allergies in her early years, I cooked everything from scratch and our family flourished. I managed to handle my life and health ok.
But speed ahead, girls out of the house, busy life, lots of stress, more fast foods, instant meals and my health sank faster than a boulder in the lake.
Soon, I could barely get out of bed and function. My eyes were red, itchy & weepy. My mind was foggy, every muscle in my back shouted out with pain. My stomach turned hard like a rock and my intestines felt like the router rooter man came for a visit. My joints hurt, I started to dread the stairs. My joy for life was gone. I just was happy to force myself to get up and get working each day.
Then one day I was told that I could no longer eat gluten. That meant no more wheat, barley or rye in any product. Well, I already knew what that meant. No more eating out, unless I would go to a better restaurant where they sell pure meats, no fillers, and would make the food accordingly. Which all in all wouldn't be so bad, except we were one of the households who fell victim to the
economy. My husband was laid off for quite some time by this point. And now I was told I couldn't eat noodles, bread, oatmeal, prepared boxed foods, condiments, you get the idea. If you ever read the labels on food, if it isn't in it's natural state it probably has gluten in it. But, alas there is an epidemic out there for us gluten free people and the food industry has come to the rescue! They have developed some decent products that are gluten free! Now, if I could afford the groceries, I could join the world of the living and live the life of luxury, right? Well not in my world, that wasn't to be.
There was another curve ball waiting for me. Once I stopped eating gluten and oats (some people who can't eat gluten also can't eat oats, at least for the first year or two, I was told). I found that all of my food allergies acted up more. I became even sicker when I ate corn or potatoes or certain fruits, such as lemons, pineapple etc. My list of edible foods plummeted! And all those lovely gluten free products that I found as substitutes, well guess what they used in making them, corn and or potatoes!
Well, that really was depressing. I just eliminated over half of the foods that most of us love to eat! No more bread, pizza, noodles, soups, sandwiches, pancakes, cereal, etc... Wow, I thought forget it, I would just go back to eating what I wanted.
When I eat gluten, corn or potatoes I wake up at night burning up! I feel like I am the furnace working hard to heat the house. My back muscles feel like they had quite a work out, and my mind, well I might as well as had a good night out drinking, because the fog I had to get through just to acknowledge the headache, well you get the picture! The hives and the sore mouth I could live with. But my eyes! Those gave it away to anyone who could see. I had the darkest circles under my bright red, itchy, weeping eyes. I must have been a sight!
Well, one day a good friend of mine shared a product that she was trying with me. She told me it could help me lose weight. Well, been there a dozen or more times and I was too sick, tired and poor to want to try another weight loss product that wouldn't work for me. I had thousands of dollars worth of products I bought trying to feel better. You know, every ad that came in the mail promising weight loss, everything from patches, to tablets, not to mention all the supplements to help with sluggish thyroid, stiff joints, sore muscles, products to improve the eyes, etc. We just didn't have the income any more to try another product, that will just end up on the shelf!
But, as she was a good friend, I listened to her, looked at the product and took home some samples. I must say I was a bit excited that I might have found something I could eat for breakfast that was more of a breakfast food. The shakes and bars that she had were gluten free and I could eat them. They did not have anything in them that I was allergic too! I felt like it was a miracle. So, I started on my journey to health...
First I only had a shake maybe 3 times a week. I just didn't have the money to spend on the product. After a couple of months, I noticed I was feeling better. I was enjoying the shakes and had some good days. I shared this information with some friends and my daughters and a few of us tried the products here and there. Well, those of us who were taking the shakes started feeling a little better and we lost a little weight, but that's pretty much where we stayed.
Then came 2011. 2010 was one of the hardest years of my life for so many reasons. So I embraced the new year with great joy!
I was feeling better physically. I wasn't 100 percent, but I would say that I was 50 percent better than I had been, and that was just with taking the shake once a day. I felt well enough that I really looked at myself and realized how obese I was. It's funny how we can have such a distorted view of ourselves isn't it?
When I was in high school, I only weighed around 110 to 115 lbs. I thought I was heavy. I didn't feel like I looked very nice. Well, welcome to life 35 years later and add on another 80 lbs and I felt like I looked a bit heavier, but not all that much! Talk about delusional!
Well, two of my daughters and two of my friends decided that they would join me in a contest, using these products to lose weight. There was a contest that paid out a nice amount of money, enough to be an added incentive to give this product a real trial run as a weight loss program.
So, January 10th, the journey began. We took 30 days and committed to a better life style, breaking one bad habit, adding one good habit, exercising 30 minutes a day, taking the products as suggested and seeing what would happen.
Well, we started on a journey that has evolved into my third daughter joining us this month, a couple other friends and my husband, a friend's husband and son. Just with my two daughters and I, we have lost over 100lbs total since January 10th! If I add in my friends we are closer to 200 lbs. I am almost down 40 lbs myself. Me, the person who didn't lose weight even if I didn't eat anything.
The day I decided to start taking the shakes for my breakfast faithfully was when I my body reacted violently to the foods it couldn't tolerate anymore, and my mouth and throat broke out in hives. It hurt so bad to swallow the saliva that I couldn't even think about drinking water or eating. After one week with out food or drink and no relief in site, I started forcing down one shake a day. Then one night when I couldn't take the pain anymore. I came downstairs (so as not to bother my husband and to be alone, so I could cry), but my husband followed me down. He got out a diet soda and that fizz gave me the first relief in over a week. I then got my tea tree oil, spread that on the hives in my mouth & throat and lived on one shake and one or two cans of soda for the next week. Guess how much weight I lost in those two weeks. Nope, nothing, not one pound. Talk about the unfairness of it all!
So imagine my delight when I finally found a program that worked for me! I am half way to my goal now. I have gone down 3 pants sizes. But even better than that I am feeling alive and happy !
I still struggle with not eating corn & potatoes. I have been successful for the most part with the gluten. I may eat gluten unknowingly, when I forget that it might be in a salad dressing or dip. But, my body instantly lets me know when I have done so.
I didn't mention all the bouts I had with constipation or diarrhea or vomiting, but that is because those things are fleeting and could be fixed more easily than all my other symptoms. For me the migraines, the vision loss, the fatigue, those were completely debilitating, they could last and would last for days, weeks or continuously.
If I ate something that caused me to vomit, it would put me out for a day, but my eyes were a constant problem. If you never had really itchy, tired, sore eyes, that just plain wore you out, you couldn't understand, some of the many challenges I had to face day in and day out. My body was tired and worn out. I could feel the end around the bend.
But, not any more! And not only do I feel better I look better too. I will post some before pictures and some current ones. And you can be the judge.
Ironically, my youngest daughter, the one that just joined our team in this healthier life style, has been encouraging me to start a blog. Now, she doesn't need to lose any weight, she may want to lose a couple of pounds, but she has never been heavy. She grew up with food allergies and the better eating habits that
seemed to have stuck with her all through her life. But she's working on creating even better habits as well as toning up. So, she is my inspiration for this blog.
My name is Nancy and I want to share my story as I travel the journey to health.
A little over a year ago, I finally hit my lowest of low points with my health. I ended up with high blood pressure (which for me was unusual as my blood pressure always ran low) and had been told that I had high cholesterol, not to mention that my hormone levels were near extinction. I weighed 194 lbs.
I had been struggling with allergies ever since my second pregnancy decades earlier. I seemed to attract new allergies like nails to a magnet. I suffered in spring with the tree pollens, in rainy weather with mold, summer with grass pollens and fall with ragweed and mold. The rainy weather or windy days would drag me down this tunnel of fatigue.
But it was the food allergies that finally did me in. I found that I was allergic and sensitive to the majority of foods. Well, I would give up wheat and caffeine on and off over the years.
When one of daughters came down with food allergies in her early years, I cooked everything from scratch and our family flourished. I managed to handle my life and health ok.
But speed ahead, girls out of the house, busy life, lots of stress, more fast foods, instant meals and my health sank faster than a boulder in the lake.
Soon, I could barely get out of bed and function. My eyes were red, itchy & weepy. My mind was foggy, every muscle in my back shouted out with pain. My stomach turned hard like a rock and my intestines felt like the router rooter man came for a visit. My joints hurt, I started to dread the stairs. My joy for life was gone. I just was happy to force myself to get up and get working each day.
Then one day I was told that I could no longer eat gluten. That meant no more wheat, barley or rye in any product. Well, I already knew what that meant. No more eating out, unless I would go to a better restaurant where they sell pure meats, no fillers, and would make the food accordingly. Which all in all wouldn't be so bad, except we were one of the households who fell victim to the
economy. My husband was laid off for quite some time by this point. And now I was told I couldn't eat noodles, bread, oatmeal, prepared boxed foods, condiments, you get the idea. If you ever read the labels on food, if it isn't in it's natural state it probably has gluten in it. But, alas there is an epidemic out there for us gluten free people and the food industry has come to the rescue! They have developed some decent products that are gluten free! Now, if I could afford the groceries, I could join the world of the living and live the life of luxury, right? Well not in my world, that wasn't to be.
There was another curve ball waiting for me. Once I stopped eating gluten and oats (some people who can't eat gluten also can't eat oats, at least for the first year or two, I was told). I found that all of my food allergies acted up more. I became even sicker when I ate corn or potatoes or certain fruits, such as lemons, pineapple etc. My list of edible foods plummeted! And all those lovely gluten free products that I found as substitutes, well guess what they used in making them, corn and or potatoes!
Well, that really was depressing. I just eliminated over half of the foods that most of us love to eat! No more bread, pizza, noodles, soups, sandwiches, pancakes, cereal, etc... Wow, I thought forget it, I would just go back to eating what I wanted.
When I eat gluten, corn or potatoes I wake up at night burning up! I feel like I am the furnace working hard to heat the house. My back muscles feel like they had quite a work out, and my mind, well I might as well as had a good night out drinking, because the fog I had to get through just to acknowledge the headache, well you get the picture! The hives and the sore mouth I could live with. But my eyes! Those gave it away to anyone who could see. I had the darkest circles under my bright red, itchy, weeping eyes. I must have been a sight!
Well, one day a good friend of mine shared a product that she was trying with me. She told me it could help me lose weight. Well, been there a dozen or more times and I was too sick, tired and poor to want to try another weight loss product that wouldn't work for me. I had thousands of dollars worth of products I bought trying to feel better. You know, every ad that came in the mail promising weight loss, everything from patches, to tablets, not to mention all the supplements to help with sluggish thyroid, stiff joints, sore muscles, products to improve the eyes, etc. We just didn't have the income any more to try another product, that will just end up on the shelf!
But, as she was a good friend, I listened to her, looked at the product and took home some samples. I must say I was a bit excited that I might have found something I could eat for breakfast that was more of a breakfast food. The shakes and bars that she had were gluten free and I could eat them. They did not have anything in them that I was allergic too! I felt like it was a miracle. So, I started on my journey to health...
First I only had a shake maybe 3 times a week. I just didn't have the money to spend on the product. After a couple of months, I noticed I was feeling better. I was enjoying the shakes and had some good days. I shared this information with some friends and my daughters and a few of us tried the products here and there. Well, those of us who were taking the shakes started feeling a little better and we lost a little weight, but that's pretty much where we stayed.
Then came 2011. 2010 was one of the hardest years of my life for so many reasons. So I embraced the new year with great joy!
I was feeling better physically. I wasn't 100 percent, but I would say that I was 50 percent better than I had been, and that was just with taking the shake once a day. I felt well enough that I really looked at myself and realized how obese I was. It's funny how we can have such a distorted view of ourselves isn't it?
When I was in high school, I only weighed around 110 to 115 lbs. I thought I was heavy. I didn't feel like I looked very nice. Well, welcome to life 35 years later and add on another 80 lbs and I felt like I looked a bit heavier, but not all that much! Talk about delusional!
Well, two of my daughters and two of my friends decided that they would join me in a contest, using these products to lose weight. There was a contest that paid out a nice amount of money, enough to be an added incentive to give this product a real trial run as a weight loss program.
So, January 10th, the journey began. We took 30 days and committed to a better life style, breaking one bad habit, adding one good habit, exercising 30 minutes a day, taking the products as suggested and seeing what would happen.
Well, we started on a journey that has evolved into my third daughter joining us this month, a couple other friends and my husband, a friend's husband and son. Just with my two daughters and I, we have lost over 100lbs total since January 10th! If I add in my friends we are closer to 200 lbs. I am almost down 40 lbs myself. Me, the person who didn't lose weight even if I didn't eat anything.
The day I decided to start taking the shakes for my breakfast faithfully was when I my body reacted violently to the foods it couldn't tolerate anymore, and my mouth and throat broke out in hives. It hurt so bad to swallow the saliva that I couldn't even think about drinking water or eating. After one week with out food or drink and no relief in site, I started forcing down one shake a day. Then one night when I couldn't take the pain anymore. I came downstairs (so as not to bother my husband and to be alone, so I could cry), but my husband followed me down. He got out a diet soda and that fizz gave me the first relief in over a week. I then got my tea tree oil, spread that on the hives in my mouth & throat and lived on one shake and one or two cans of soda for the next week. Guess how much weight I lost in those two weeks. Nope, nothing, not one pound. Talk about the unfairness of it all!
So imagine my delight when I finally found a program that worked for me! I am half way to my goal now. I have gone down 3 pants sizes. But even better than that I am feeling alive and happy !
I still struggle with not eating corn & potatoes. I have been successful for the most part with the gluten. I may eat gluten unknowingly, when I forget that it might be in a salad dressing or dip. But, my body instantly lets me know when I have done so.
I didn't mention all the bouts I had with constipation or diarrhea or vomiting, but that is because those things are fleeting and could be fixed more easily than all my other symptoms. For me the migraines, the vision loss, the fatigue, those were completely debilitating, they could last and would last for days, weeks or continuously.
If I ate something that caused me to vomit, it would put me out for a day, but my eyes were a constant problem. If you never had really itchy, tired, sore eyes, that just plain wore you out, you couldn't understand, some of the many challenges I had to face day in and day out. My body was tired and worn out. I could feel the end around the bend.
But, not any more! And not only do I feel better I look better too. I will post some before pictures and some current ones. And you can be the judge.
Ironically, my youngest daughter, the one that just joined our team in this healthier life style, has been encouraging me to start a blog. Now, she doesn't need to lose any weight, she may want to lose a couple of pounds, but she has never been heavy. She grew up with food allergies and the better eating habits that
seemed to have stuck with her all through her life. But she's working on creating even better habits as well as toning up. So, she is my inspiration for this blog.
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