Sondra's Health Journey

If you are reading this I hope you can find some helpful, tips & information on how to get you & your family off to better health by eating better foods for you. Don’t fear, this isn’t an all organic, all natural type of food diet for you. In fact, it’s not diet at all. These are some tips I’m going to share to help make small changes that add up to a lot!

 

But first let me tell you how I got to the unhealthy & unhappy weight I was at. I never worried much about my weight after high school. When I graduated I was 115 pounds & a size 2. So, why would I worry? Well I met my husband & we got married in 2006. When we got married I was between 125-135 in weight. I really was not concerned at all.

                                                 


We found out we were pregnant with our son Nathan & let me tell you, he was nothing short of a miracle. After 5 miscarriages & a partial molar pregnancy, we were stunned to hear God had blessed us with this little boy. Now my pregnancy was no walk in the park. I lost 30 pounds during the 1^st trimester due to Hypremesis Gravidarum (excessive nausea & vomiting) it was horrible! 26 weeks of HG. One day I was able to eat & keep it down & boy did I EAT!! I gained the 30 pounds & lost & then almost 45 more to go along with it. Not healthy at all.  Like most women, we have children. It’s a joyous & wonderful experience. I wouldn’t trade being a mother for anything in this world. After the birth of my 1^st son I dropped down to 150 pretty quickly, it wasn’t the 135 I was when my husband & I got married, but it wasn’t bad to me. I wasn’t so concerned with my weight. 150 is a healthy weight for my height & my build.

                                 

 

                                  

 

 

 

Well after I got comfortable with my new weight, a couple months later I found out I was pregnant with Caleb. I love how that happens to us, we get down to where we want to be & then, another baby..Lol! But hey, we love him. I was very careful about what I ate this time & stayed active. I managed to only gain 25 pounds this time. It was pretty easy to get off after he was born as well. I breastfed him for 15months, so I burned those 500 calories a day & the weight stayed away.

                                 

                                
 

 

Well after he stopped nursing, it slowly crept up on me. I didn’t really realize it until my clothes were too tight & I ended up in some of the pictures. I found myself always cropping my photos from the waist up. I was so disgusted with how I looked. I finally couldn’t take it anymore. So I looked for help. I knew I needed someone to teach me how to eat & what to stay away from. Thank you Lord for Victoria. She’s the nutritionist I worked with at The Diet Center in Conway. I went to see her 3 days a week. I wrote in a food journal, I drank water like I was suppose to, & most importantly I ate what I was suppose to. I ate more following her instructions than I did without her. I ate 5-6 meals a day. I feel like I’m always eating, but I do it. I know my body needs it. I haven’t been so hard the last month because of the holidays & preparing for surgery next week. But as soon as I’m at my recovery mark, I’m hitting it hard again. Why? Because I love the way I feel & look & I love that I taught myself how to fuel my body instead of feeding my body. So here are a few basic things to trade off with cooking.

                                                                        July 2012

                                      

 

                                                                     January 2013
                                                      
                                                           Down 29 pounds & 4 sizes

*DON’T USE SALT!! Sodium is the main reason why we retain water & look swollen & feel bloated. Sodium is good for you, but you have to moderate it. The less Sodium an item has the better off you are.

 

Replacement for Salt

-Mrs. Dash (So many flavors to choose from & all are sodium free)

-Garlic Powder & Onion Powder (the powders are sodium free!! Yay!!)

-Pepper (it’s actually a fat burning seasoning)

-Chile Powder (also a thermogenic fat burner)

-Cinnamon (thermogenic fat burner)

 

These are just a few things you can start exchanging out in your cooking, also Mrs. Dash has sodium free marinades! And they are awesome!! So you don’t have to eat tasteless food, you just have to learn how to replace the really bad things. These are some small steps to start. I’ll work this week on putting a simple diagram of the foods I eat. I mainly follow the food pyramid & the more raw fruits & veggies you eat, the better off you are. I promise, it is not that hard. It was very emotional for me in the beginning because I had an emotional relationship with food (which is not healthy at all) I began to turn to food for everything. So I needed to end it for my health & for my family. My husband needs his wife & my boys need their mommy. If I kept heading down that road, it would not end well. My children will only eat well if I eat well. We know our children learn from our habits. I do not want my food habits to be theirs. I hope you know you are not alone in this journey. We will all shed tears together & encourage each other. It’s no so much about a number on the scale as it is how you feel when you look at yourself. Believe me I do not want to share all these photos..LOL! It was very emotional going back through them, but my husband reminded me of how far I’ve come & how far I will go. Don’t worry you will do the same & we can do it together!

 

-Sondra