I’m Seeing Green

If you are a part of my facebook summer challenge group, then you already know that today is all about goals. And although this post is going to be a hodge-podge of non-sense, I promise in the end it will in fact be about goals. So let’s get to it…

About two weeks ago, I went to my doctor for my yearly check-up (I’m only 6 months late this year!!!!!!!) and I got a talkin’ to! My doctor felt some bumps (rash like) under my knees, on the inside of my elbows and near the nape of my neck. She looked at me straight in the eyes and said “Are you following your Celiac diet?”… if you are not familiar with Celiac Disease, it is an autoimmune disease that requires omitting gluten completed from your diet. I looked at my Dr. and was honest, “No, I haven’t”. She replied with… “Then we both know the reason for your hormonal imbalance and fatigue”.

Just like that… I got caught. The truth of the matter is that I haven’t been following my Celiac diet and not only is my skin and hormones telling so… something else told on me too.

I had blood drawn that day and my iron levels are literally close to extinct. Despite being pumped (literally) full of iron less than two years ago, it is all gone.

My doctor and I chatted and it’s two-fold for me. One, I have a genetic pre-disposition in which I do not absorb iron in the way the “average” person does. Two, when I consume gluten, my body stops absorbing much of the nutrients I give it via food.

So I learned my lesson… mainly because I paid $150 for every iron drip I got that summer two years ago… and I had 8 iron drips. That’s $500 gone… like forever. And for what? Well, you know… bread, cupcakes, cereal, pasta and so on, and so forth.

So first I got a little angry at myself… then I went to the grocery store, and there I bought one of the biggest bags of spinach you have ever seen. And I ate it! Not the entire thing in one day, but day by day. Every morning since then, I have had 2 GIANT handfuls of spinach with breakfast… sauteed with onions, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil.

Guys……. I can’t eat another bite of mushy, somewhat cold but still a little warm, runny spinach, possibly ever!

I’m seeing green and it isn’t good.

But do you know what is good? Setting goals, learning lessons, re-adjusting, re-committing and staying motivated so that in the end, you can in fact meet your goals.

For the last two weeks, I haven’t even looked at gluten. I haven’t been tempted to eat it and I don’t want to even touch it. I am off to the store again today to get a different form of iron that will not drive me to the insanity (I’m an emotional eater and dramatic person). I am going to keep going… I am going to continue staying away from foods and choices in life that do my body no good and I am going to be thankful for my body and all it does for me.

The amazing this about my goals this month is that they are not what I am currently focusing on. This month I wanted to lose 10 in. off of my entire body as well as focus on taking my vitamins much more religiously everyday. Now please understand that I am still working towards those goals, however some new motivation came over me this month that I wasn’t expecting and rather than brush it under the rug, it’s good to scoop it up and put it to work in my life.

Maybe your goals for this month are no longer in the picture, maybe they are looking you straight in your face because you are THAT close to reaching them, or maybe you are exactly where you started this month and are lacking a bit of motivation. Well, will you remind yourself of something today…

EVERYTHING IN LIFE IS HARD BEFORE IT GETS EASY!

This truth isn’t because you aren’t good enough, strong enough, smart enough or pretty enough… this truth is due to the fact that we are all human, trying to do “it all” everyday of our lives and if things didn’t take hard work and effort, then we would never see self-growth.

So I ask you today…. what are your goals? What lessons have your learned so far this month? How have you become motivated, or maybe you have lost your motivation… how and why? Have you committed or re-committed to anything lately? And finally, what goals are you going to accomplish in the coming weeks, months and years?

 

 

 

 

FURTHER, FASTER, HIGHER

You know the famous saying, “A picture is worth 1,000 words.” That saying could not be more spot on. I gained a pound and a half this week. Bummer. I was scrolling through Pinterest last night and came across the picture above and I was instantly encouraged.

TURN YOUR SETBACK INTO YOUR COMEBACK

This simple phrase has the propensity to propel me and you into CHANGE.  It is just the motivation that I needed to hear to set my feet on the right path and to keep going. SO, this is what I will focus my attention on. This is what I choose to dwell on this week. See, it’s so easy to give up once you have backslidden into old habits, but you just have to remember, TODAY IS A NEW DAY. A FRESH START. A NEW BEGINNING.

You can choose to continue down your path of destruction and completely negate all of your hard work, or you can choose to pick up where you left off, dust off the baggage, and keep chugging along. Some of you might think that I am being too hard on myself, but trust me, I have been in this position so many times before. I usually give up by now and say, “this isn’t working and it’s not worth it.” Have you ever read the definition of insanity? It’s “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” So, let’s not get discouraged today and continue in our old  routine behavior, because it isn’t working and it has kept us stuck and in a rut. Let us set our hearts on the prize, run the race, and finish strong! Tell yourself:

Today I am strong. Today I can do this. Today I can go further, faster, higher.

Today I choose to turn my setback into a COMEBACK!

Motivation

Hey guys, it’s me, Sarah! Yesterday I bought a Fitbit, and I have to say, I couldn’t have done it without Leah’s help! A Fitbit is a device that is used to push your fitness to the next level. It counts how many calories you have burned throughout your day, keeps track of your sleep patterns, and helps you manage your weight goals. There were so many questions I had. For example, which Fitbit has a screen? Which Fitbit is right for me? Do you need a subscription? Does it count steps and stairs? How do you know what size to get? Can I shower with it on? If you’re having some of the same questions as I did, you can find the answers at www.fitbit.com.

So now, I have to get active! This is the hardest part for me. I’m very good about changing my eating habits, but it takes everything inside of me to get my booty off the couch. Im exhausted most days, because my little sweetheart still gets up twice a night and is starting to lose her second nap. SO, how do you motivate yourself to get up and MOVE?

There are three things that help me to stay motivated:

1. Find someone to hold you accountable, to encourage you, and hey, maybe even join you
2. Getting equipped with resources that can help you count calories and track your exercise so you know exactly where you’re at during the day so there is no guessing (For example: Fitbit, BodyMedia Fit Armband, MyFitnessPal, and LoseIt!)
3. Research Fitness, Healthy Eating (learning to read labels), and Food Substitution

I cannot wait for Leah to blog about how sitting for most of your day is the new smoking. It literally kills you, causing tumors and disease. I think most of us Americans go to our job without eating breakfast, sit at a desk all day, and drive our cars into our garage only to sit down to a dinner in front of the TV. Let’s face it, we need all the help we can get!

The reason that I like devices like the Fitbit, BodyMedia Armband, and MyFitnessPal, is because it spells out exactly how much activity you have gotten during your day, the quality of sleep you are receiving, and you can also track your food consumption so that there is no guessing. This has been the single most eye opening realization for me through my weight loss journey. I thought I was eating good, but once I logged it into MyFitnessPal and saw how much sodium, calories, and sugar that was actually in the food I was inhaling, I WAS SHOCKED.

So join me in getting healthy and making REALISTIC, lasting goals. By the way guys, I’m down 12lbs this month! YES!

6 Months Later

In this post, I shared with you all the story of my sister and her current healthy lifestyle haul. She is still doing great however has had 2 surgeries in the last 3 months or so and I thought I would share with you all the details.

My sister has always been a nauseous person, even as a baby (via my mom). Her nausea was so bad and common that we all just grew accustom to it. She was generally a picky eater and I figured that between her weight, inability to eat many foods and nausea, well I guess I just thought she would just live this way. After all, I see and hear many people who are in a very similar situation regularly.

When my sister started making her health a priority earlier this year, everyone around her was unbelievably proud of her and cheering her on. However some things just didn’t change despite her weight loss, specifically her nausea and inability to do long exercises because of asthma. She had been exercising regularly so her stamina should have been increasing and she was clearly eating the right types of foods because she was losing weight and doing it quickly. To say we were perplexed is an understatement.

Shortly after going to the doctor or for a mild case of strep, she was sent to an E.N.T. doctor to see what was going on. Here she found out that she had absurdly large tonsils and that they needed to be removed quickly. She had the surgery and the recovery, was, well pretty rough.

Just a few weeks after finally feeling like herself again, her nausea became much, much worse than it has been in the past. After going back to her doctor and having a few tests done, it came back that her gallbladder was only working at around 20%, her liver enzymes were elevated and that she had bilirubin in her urine. Long story short, she needed her gallbladder out and a.s.a.p.

Two weeks ago, she had it out and although the recovery is happening, it is taking quite a bit of time. She is still in a bit of pain and has days were she is totally and completed exhausted and still nauseous. After taking to her surgeon and doing a bit of investigated myself, I found out some very interesting information.   All of this information leads me (and her surgeon confirmed it) that her gallbladder troubles were in fact due to her rapid weight loss. Tomorrow I will be going over in depth the gallbladder, how it works and how to properly take care of it. Until then, here is a picture of my beautiful sister after losing 83lbs. in only 6 months.