Skip to main content

my journey

As many of my readers know, I have never been a toothpick and have struggled with my weight all of my life. Well, I have decided to begin what will be a very long journey to a healthier lifestyle for me and my family. Tonight I want to share just what has sparked this journey in me. Many of you don't know the extent of my struggles, but it started when I was a child and only given beans and potatoes on most nights for meals. The nights we were given other things, they were all loaded with carbs and fat. Not healthy! As I grew up, I moved in with my aunt who later adopted us. It was then that we were afforded the luxury of different foods. Many of those that we chose were fat and carb loaded because that was what we knew. After graduation of high school, I moved in with my sister in Florida. Our car broke down a few weeks later and we were forced to ride our bicycles everywhere. While this was not our choice, we both trimmed down and I was at the lowest weight since being a young child. This didn't last. When I moved in with my husband, I had access to a car and the weight began to pile on again. It was the nonexistent exercise and loads of fast food that killed me. I continued to gain. Off and on I have lost up to 13 pounds and gained it right back. I have however hovered at around 275. I haven't gone above that. And I will not. This passed week, my roommate tried on her wedding dress. It didn't fit and we have 8 weeks to get her back into it. So, I went to the computer and printed off the guidelines for the southbeach diet. While many may argue that this isn't a healthy approach, I must remind you that I AM ADDICTED TO CARBS and must start somewhere. Since I have the support of my roomie, I am able to get through this. Today is day 3 and while it is hard, I am doing it. I tried doing this diet alone a few times before and it never worked because I lacked the support system that I needed. Now that that is in place, I can and will succeed. With day three down, I am feeling less carb cravings which is great. I am still cooking carbs for the kids and hubbs, but I am not touching them. It is hard because hubbs continues to offer me brownies and mountain dew, both of which i cannon have right now. I am resisting, and although it is hard, it will get easier as this process goes on. When we moved out of our apartment and into the house, I was weighing 272, I am already down to 265! It isn't much of a loss, but every pound is a great loss when you are as big as I am and while some may argue that I am not that big, to me, I am huge. Why, you might ask, am I posting my weight here? As a journal as well as hopefully an inspiration to someone out there who is also struggling with their weight.

Note: I am not claiming that the south beach diet is for you, it's simply what I chose to use for my weightloss. There are tons of diets out there and you should contact your doctor and discuss your weightloss wishes with them as well as what might be healthy for you.

A big thank you to Juanita for going on this journey with me! And a thank you to my Mom. She's doing something similar in Indiana while I am doing this in Florida. She's a great inspiration and has already lost 20 pounds!!! While I haven't had the best role models in my life, she continues to amaze me with all kinds of things!

More to come in the coming days as I jot down my highs and lows of this dieting process. Well, I shouldn't say dieting, I should stay lifestyle change process because that's really what it is. It is a lifestyle change. Crash dieting has been proven ineffective and the only way I can ensure that I will keep the weight off is to change my lifestyle.

One quote I want to leave you with is this:

"Be the change you want to see in the world." I don't know who originally said it, but about a year and a half ago, my friend Chris posted it as his status on facebook and I absolutely love it! If you want to see yourself getting thinner, you have to be that change and that's just what I am doing.

God bless you and have a great night :)

Comments

  1. AnonymousMonday, February 20, 2012

    GOOD LUCK Dawn!!!!!!!! I am so very Proud of you for deciding to make this lifestyle change : ) and for setting a good example for your two beautiful girls I hope and pray that you are successful on this journey and remember you are only as strong as you choose to be, and you are choosing to be strong : ) God Bless you and remember to take your family on this journey with you because you are not alone
    Ande

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The importance of connections

 Many times, we don't take the opportunity in life to think about connections. Much like the way legos connect to erect the building or vehicle you are trying to create, without connecting pieces, our lives would fall apart. It's not often that we take time to reflect on those connections in meaningful ways. If I am honest, when we moved from Indiana back to Florida, we didn't appreciate the connections we had and so as I look back I wonder what life would have been like if we'd not only appreciated those connections, but supported them in meaningful ways.  Since moving to Greenville, not only have we made connections, but we've made it a part of life to connect with those people we've met that have become more like family than friends. We took the time to find a church that really believes in connecting with their people and not in a way that makes the patrons of the church feel like they are just a player in the game of chess and that player's job is to be
Post a Comment
Read more

Oatmeal Energy Bites

 I have tried a few times and failed to save this on my computer, so I'm going to try here. Please see below:  Oatmeal Energy Bites Ingredients:  1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter 1 1/3 cups rolled oats 1 tbsp ground flaxseed 1 tbsp chia seed 1/4 cup shredded coconut 1/2 cup honey 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips 1 scoop protein powder (I use Shakeology) Instructions:  Mix all ingredients together well.  Using 1 tbsp of mixture, roll into balls.  Freeze to enjoy later.  Hope you enjoy it! 
Post a Comment
Read more

Workout #27

So, here's the challenge. And above, you can see my entry. Kenzie had done crosswords or circle a words (I can't remember) with Gigi and I snapped a pic of her doing it. I absolutely love the design of the sketch we were supposed to use for this lo. It allows for a simple, yet stunning layout. It allows room for journaling as you can see that I added as well as plenty of negative space! And the breakdown goes like this, picture was taken from my collection, background paper was from k and company the best of k and company pad, the circles were literally just picked out of my scrap box. I didn't even look at the papers, i just did a random pick. the lettering was taken from an old sheet of alphas i had and I think they worked out great!!! Simple yet Stunning! Thank you Scrap Fit for the challenge.
5 comments
Read more