Healthy Living

Knowledge is just information, unless it is paired with action, at which point, we may call it Wisdom. Did you know that proper rest and sleep are absolutely necessary for weight loss? We all know that under-nourishing our bodies (aka - not eating enough) will cause our bodies to go into survival mode, storing fat for nourishment, uncertain as to when it will receive more of the necessary nutrients to keep it going (if you didn't, then there you are). Anyway, when we deplete our energies and deny our body sufficient time to fuel up from rest, it does the same. Storing up nutrition for energy reserves until it is able to relax after a decent amount of sleep. Now, I am by no means a medical or nutritional professional. So, please feel free to take my thoughts with a grain of salt, I am merely forwarding my experiences and recalling information from my college nutrition class. However, let me share my week with you. After several weeks of operating on an average high of 6 hour...

It has been about a week and I have been back on My Fitness Pal now. Great timing, right? Just before a baby shower on Saturday, an impromptu pre-Memorial Day dinner party at a friend's place and then Memorial Day, complete with picnic! Needless to say, I have been over my calorie budget each day since Friday. I do not regret it, I am not punishing myself for my choices, I am not feeling gross or completely out of line in my numbers or my decisions. I have maintained (as a matter of fact, I stepped on the scale this morning and was down 1 pound) and I am still waking up with relatively high energy levels - likely because I have been getting more sleep with the evening routine hubby and I have agreed to. How do I plan to move forward? I am working on adjusting our evening order of events, so that hubby and I are prioritizing our evening workout instead of skipping it once we sit down. I am taking a baby step in pre-tracking my food, without putting too much pressure on the eve...

It has been 3 months and 3 weeks since I began my weight loss journey from 251 pounds. I stepped on the scale this morning and saw the number: 208.6. This is the lowest weight I have been since hubby and I were married. This is the lightest I have been as a mom. This is the most progress I have made in any effort toward losing weight because I have never approached it from the standpoint of sustainability. There has never before been a mindset of maintenance, as our diet culture emphasizes the "quick fix," which will consistently bring short term success. I have begun maintaining habits that I know I will continue for the rest of my life. Here are some of my small changes: - This week I did not binge on brownies even though they are in my kitchen sitting on the counter where I work everyday. - I am more confident in myself and the way that I look than I ever have been. I.E. I have left the house several times after only looking in the mirror once and only grabbing the ou...

Welcome back! I have been unable to share more on my journey this past week due to some medical issues that have complicated my life. I'm better now, just healing. That is what I'm going to share about today. Without bogging you down with all of the details, I will just share that I spent last weekend in the hospital. I had surgery on Saturday and was released on Sunday afternoon. Thankfully, the infection that I contracted was centralized and seems to be responding well to the surgery and antibiotics. The incision was made just below my chin at the top of my neck. It is closing, but like any other surgery, I have to let my body heal. The doctors gave me clearance to do light workouts and walking, but make sure to keep an eye on the incision sight. With 2 little ones at home, it is hard to keep it light, but I have given myself permission to take the time I need to get our household back to normal. Unfortunately, that means I had to pause my 21 Day Fix (even with the 3 day...