Before and So Far

Exhausted, sluggish, bloated, uncomfortable and sick.  That was me in January.  I could add embarrassed and discouraged to the list as well.  I can say that God is faithfully doing a work in my heart and body that I am so thankful for.  I will say right off the bat that I could not be on the journey I am on…alone.  I have Jesus.  I have a great family.  I have a wonderful church family and a community of  ladies who keep me accountable.  I don’t remember how I heard about Trim Healthy Mama.  I know it was from a like-minded friend on Facebook.  Two homeschooling mamas did YEARS of research and wrote a book together about health, fitness, hormones and eating right.  I was intrigued!  You see, I’ve tried it ALL!!  I’ve been on so many diets that I can’t remember all their names!  I will name a few that you will be familiar with.

~Weight Watchers ~ Jennie Craig ~ Formula 3 ~ Atkins ~ Physicians Weight Loss Center

That’s the tip of the dieting iceberg!  I had some success with these different plans but, nothing that is like Trim Healthy Mama.  I was so tired of counting calories, fat, carbs…you name it!  No more counting is freeing!  For you men who are worried…they are revising the book and it will be called Trim Healthy You in the future!  🙂

Here I am at my heaviest…304.  Wow!  I know many of you wouldn’t tell your weight in a million years!  It’s apart of my story though and I pray it will encourage someone else!

I remember this day well!  I had taken the boys to Jungle Island in Miami Beach for the day.  It was so hot outside and I felt like dying!  I was soaked in sweat and I could hardly keep up with them to walk around.  I had to sit down frequently during the day.  I checked the schedule for shows that we could go sit and watch.  I wanted the boys to have fun yet, I was struggling just to make it through the park. Miami was a hard week for me.  Walking anywhere we needed to go in the heat made it hard to do much of anything for me. I felt like a party pooper!  I felt like we couldn’t enjoy ourselves that week because of me.

I don’t know what shifted in my mind but, I know it was all the Lord’s doing..His work.  In January I purchased the book.  Trim Healthy Mama was written by two sisters, Serene and Pearl.  They have a deep passion for health and had been studying and writing this book for over 5 years!  WOW!  I’ve learned things about my body that I’d have never known before reading the book.  I started implementing the plan in the book the second week of January.  No January 1st resolutions.  I’ve always failed at those!  I waited til the week after!

So, here I am 7 months later still plugging away.  It’s not a speedy weight loss plan.  It’s honestly a new way of eating.  No more junk!!!  No more garbage.  No more sugar highs and crashes.  I have gone from a size 26/28 to a size 18/20.  That has been so nice!!!  Trying on size 18’s again has been a lot of fun.  I have also lost 50 pounds!  I am at 253.6 today.

I’m not positive what my goal weight will be.  Maybe 150 but, my main focus in on being healthy.  I was telling my youngest son the other day that being skinny does not mean that you are healthy!  I know many thin folks who fill their bodies with junk.    My other goal is to be off of my blood pressure medication.  I think I’m getting close to that goal!

I know some of you are mortified at my current weight but, I feel so much better!!!  I can do so much more now than I could then!  I help Shan on our farm a lot more now than I did last summer!  I used to sit inside or find things to do while he and the boys would do laborious jobs in the barn or the yard.  Now, I try my best to help and to work along side of them.  I smile when I see my 6 year old and know that I’ve lost his weight in body fat plus a bag of potatoes!

I will continue to share about my journey with you!  This is just a before refection and to show you where I am now,  50 pounds into my journey!!   Here is a picture my mom took for me on Friday when I hit my first big goal!

 

Here’s a link to the Trim Healthy Mama website.  Here is a link to their Facebook Page!  If you buy the book, let me know!  I’d love to encourage and support you in any way I can!  “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”  Phil. 4:13