Energy

As you will see by my soon to come updates, I have been working on me.

I am now pressing hard to work out daily, and to eat right daily. Yeah, I don’t always make it, but, you gotta try, right?

My spouse has had some major health issues this year, and was recently told that she was “this close to being totally disabled”.

This was a wake up call for me. I realized that I had a choice. I could do all I can to get stronger, to take care of myself so that I can take care of this family, or a could wither, struggling to take care of myself, much less the challenges she will face. My son is only a teen, and I don’t want to put him in the situation to take care of us both, so I had to stand up.

My game plan is to beat the Fibro, the arthritis and hip surgeries. To beat the migraines and the high blood pressure. I need to be strong enough to take care of a sick wife, to spend long hours in the hospital at her bedside, and still have the strength to smile through homework help with the kiddo.

Basically, I need to get my cape out of storage, get it ironed, and learn to wear it, full time!

I know lots of you do this very thing, day after day. You have ill spouses, special needs children, mothers and father who don’t know who you are anymore. You work your asses off every day to bring light.

I read your stories, I cry with you. I also learn from you.

I learn how to be strong from you too. Since I have started working out, I have met lots of strong men and women who’s stories would break your heart, and yet, they lift me up, and I learn how to live grace, and how to be the strength my family needs.

So, this is where you find me today. Let’s move forward together, stronger, smarter and healthier.

 

Diet Post

Hi Everyone,

Last week was supposed to be about artificial sweeteners, but I didn’t focus very well on that.  I focused primarily on my anniversary and left the rest to take care of itself.

Of course, the effort I put in is a direct correlation to the results I get out, and last weeks effort was plenty obvious! ;-(

For anniversary, and it was a simply wonderful anniversary, I indulged in food and drink that I had given up 3 months ago. The scale wasn’t the worse indicator of this indulgence. The migraine Friday (the first since I went on this diet) was the final straw to prove there are just some foods and drink I need to stay away from, regardless of weight loss. The bigger health picture suffered.

The great news about this week was my meeting with my doctor, who says, because of the weight I have lost and the efforts I have put in to this point, I can start reducing certain medications that I have to take on a daily basis. I have to do this under his supervision, but I am on track.

If you ever watch shows like The Biggest Loser, you see most of the time people can improve their health tremendously by losing weight and exercising regularly. This is one of my biggest goals of 2014, to reduce or eliminate a lot of the medications I have to take, especially those for high blood pressure.

This weeks focus is going to be to simply tighten up my calorie counting and see some results. Weight wise, this week was a break even, with no loss or gain.

Hope you all have a great week on the scale!

Jojo

 

New year, new leaf!

Hi Everyone!

I turned over a new leaf (again) a couple of months ago, but haven’t been blogging about it. Now it’s time to get things caught up!

I don’t plan on posting a quit meter very often, so I’ll catch you up, then leave it for special occasions.
1 year, 7 months and 15 days. This one is in the bag!

I have been posting a weekly diet post on Facebook, but I’m bringing that back here.

I didn’t weigh-in last week or post last week, because I wanted to take a break. I think it allowed for a little reflection on the holidays and what is going on with my body.

Sugar, sugar, sugar. Sugar is bad. Duh! I ate a lot of sweets over the holidays, always my downfall, but I have honestly never reflected on how it effects me. I think for every bite of chocolate came hours of craving for more. During the weeks I’ve been “good” I have had few cravings, and a normal hunger response. The first few days after my last “sweets fest” saw intense cravings for sweets and was hungry all the time.
Now that I have reasserted my eating plan, I have felt a lot better with less cravings.

Lots have folks have asked me why I am dieting. First, selective clothing choices can hide lots of extra poundage, and I was heavier than I looked. Second, one of my 2014 goals is to maximize my health. In 2013, I was diagnosed with hypertension. Already dealing with Fibromyalgia and degenerative joint disease, the high blood pressure diagnosis was a clear signal that my body needs a change. For 2014, working with my doctor, I intend to remove as many of the contributing factors to these problems as I can. A friend described it very well, “Take the blood pressure drugs and eat the mashed potatoes and gravy, or stop eating the mashed potatoes and gravy so you can stop taking the drugs.”

I have been reading a lot about foods and am slowing getting rid of the foods that cause or contribute to inflammation and high blood pressure. I have also decided to add three foods to my daily diet. These foods seem to have amazing benefits for the body, and I plan on reaping some of those.

I won’t list all the benefits here, Google is much better at providing this info than I am, and even a quick search for each of these will be an eye opener.
The first, coconut everything. I buy whole coconut and toast my own and drink the fresh coconut water inside. Coconut oil, extra virgin cold pressed, is helpful inside and out.
Second is Kefir. Yep, your bodies ability to process nutrients is just as important as the nutrients themselves.
Last, and this is the one with the biggest bang for the buck, Chia seeds. This one is good for everything, and may be a big weapon in the blood pressure fight if all the hype is true.

So, that is where I’m starting the new year. Better food and more exercise for better health in 2014!

I’m 1.4 pounds lighter than last weigh-in, and just a little smarter (I hope). Who is with me? Let’s make this year amazing!

Jo