If you're a bird, I'm a bird

These are the two pictures I have taken recently to document my before & after weight loss. Over the last year, I have realized how closely related physical and mental health is. I do not think I am weak because I have experienced depression in my life, but I view myself as strong because I sought help instead of taking my life. That is not something to ashamed of. Left- March 2015                       Right- October 2015 Left- October 2014                               Right- October 2015

May 2015 (I'll do a full body shot soon.) When I first wrote my goals March 23, this is what I wrote:  These are my goals: 1) Be able to wear my engagemen t and wedding rings 2) Wear a size M top 3) Wear size 6 or 8 jeans 4) Weight wise, I'd like to be back at 155lbs (or less). This is where I am at now. I can wear my London Blue Topaz engagement ring. I bought some Medium tops at the consignment store yesterday and they fit! Weight wise, I am at 155 right now. I am going to shoot for 5 more pounds. My 10 jeans fit me comfortably and Joe says my black pants look too baggy. I agree. I haven't tried sizing down pants yet. Before, I think I squeezed into a 10  when I should have been in a 12 probably. Look how miserable I was... 10/17/15 Update: I have marked all of my goals off my list now! I wear a size 8 jeans, weight 151 pounds, medium and small tops, and both wedding rings!  November 2014 (181 lbs.) Four generations (I hated lookin...

My Testimony:  I was 135 when we started dating. I was 155 on our wedding day. That was 6 years ago. Since then I have been using food to celebrate and grieve during married life. My body grew two babies, suffered from depression and unemployment. Finally decided to take care of me again. Found a job, got help for depression, seeing a counselor a couple times a month. When I went to the OB/GYN in March, I was 181. I signed up for a nutritional system and practiced self-discipl ine by limiting my calories, increasing my protein, and removing toxins from my body. My goal when we started out 2m 11d ago was to get to 155 again. I weighed 154 this morning!!!! I feel great mentally, physically, and spiritually. I'm fitting into clothes I haven't worn in a while and having to buy new ones. My arms and legs are getting firmer. Confidence is soaring. Let me know if you want to start your journey back to health too! 

On Wednesday, April 15, Joe and I weighed for our Isagenix Weight Loss and Deep Cleanse program. I was soooo nervous. My breasts were sore and so heavy. I was not feeling hopeful. We always do Joe's measurements first. He lost a whopping 28 lbs. and 16 inches!! Then it was my turn. *sigh* As I was documenting each measurement, they were smaller than the Day 11 measurements and hope began to soar. When I weighed, I couldn't believe my eyes! The scale said I lost 12 lbs. in 30 Days!!! As I added up all my measurements, I lost a total of 22.75  inches!! I had a piece of my niece's birthday waiting on the counter for me. I really debated not eating it. I was so proud of my weight loss that I didn't feel good about eating it. It was good, what little I did eat. Then my head started to hurt. I had all these glorious plans for eating out three meals a day. Little did I know that the foods I thought I wanted, ended up not being all that I thought they'd be. I ate a ch...

Still going strong with Isagenix. Last time I weighed I was down 7 pounds but I do not weigh often because I get discouraged. Joe is down over 20+ pounds now. His pants pull away from his body and he has tightened his belt 2 notches. It is amazing how much food you can eat with a 400-600 HEALTHY meal. Joe and I decided to eat our meal at lunch today because he forgot to take his shake packet to work. We'll be drinking our protein shake for dinner instead. Arrived to work early so I walked instead of sitting in the van Our last day of Isagenix is Wednesday, April 15. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we aren't sticking to the plan. We are eating some of our favorite foods- hamburgers, Chinese, pizza, coffee, and BBQ. Our next 30-Day box is being shipped out today and we will start Sunday, April 19. Making my 400-600 calorie lunch strawberries, tomatoes, flax seed pitas, 3 boiled eggs, and almond butter

I'm going to be honest. I'm feeling a little discouraged on this Saturday morning. I am faithfully doing Isagenix. No cheating. I weighed this morning and I was 174.4. I notice changes in some parts of my body and I wish there were more changes in other parts. I am trying to "up" the physical exercise and Joe and I are going to do some "lunges, squats, crunches, push-ups" kind of exercises in the evenings, in addition to our family walk. We are also still going to try to do our individual walks during the day. Joe is looking fabulous! He's lost quite a bit weight and it is noticeable. I do not feel like my 6.8lbs. pounds is, even to me. I know guys lose weight easier and the heavier you are the more pounds you have to lose. It is not fair to compare myself to him because it is like apples and oranges. I'm not going to give up, I'm just going to push harder. I guess that is why people say not to weigh yourself everyday or do not look at the nu...

On Friday, March 27, Joe and I weighed and measured necks, arms, chest, diaphragm, abdomen, buttocks, thighs, calves, and upper knees with a tape measure. Joe went first and lost 6 inches and 13 pounds. I was nervous so he wrote everything for me. I lost 8.4 pounds and lost 11.25 inches!! Grant it, we had just finished a cleanse so we had been drinking liquids for two days so I see why they have you measure on Day 11. It is getting harder for me to drink enough water the longer we have been doing this. I guess because I was hungrier at the beginning when we first started, I would drink water to fight off the pangs. Now I find myself getting a dry throat from not drinking enough. Omelet in the pan Our 400-600 calorie meals are still going well. I think the one we had last night is my favorite. It was a spinach, tomato egg omelet. I baked 2 corn tortillas and had a homemade tomatillo salsa that Joe made and a cup of strawberries. The omelet was 6 eggs (1 whole one and 5 white...

Saturday, March 28, 2015- As I scroll through my facebook feed, there is a picture of chocolate cake...and frogmore stew...and steak...then my co-worker comes back from lunch and tells me about she ate at an expensive restaurant during her lunch break. I bought my kids and in-laws a hot and ready pizza from Little Caesars. The aroma filled the van and my tongue salivated. I scroll through Pinterest and see food recipes and photographs all over the place. Oh, and my mom sends a plate of cookies home with my kids. It's like " Don't all my friends know that they are torturing me?"  Joe and I have already planned a "break" after the 30 days. Our 30th Day is April 15 so on April 17th, we are going to The Filling Station for dinner, Open Mic Night at Common Ground, and breakfast at IHOP. We'll start Day 1 again on Sunday, April 19. What do you do when you have cravings? R

Friday, March 27- I was reading yesterday that during day 1 of the 2 day, your body only releases 20% of the fat burning and toxins, but on the 2nd day your body removes 80%. Although, it is difficult doing two days worth, it is much more beneficial to stick with it. So Day 10 & 11 are both cleanse days. Joe and I are weighing and measuring tonight! I'm so excited because I know there is going to be a change!

16 ounces of Cleanse for Life So Day 10 is another cleanse day! Today I just drink and pee! Flushing out the junk! I do feel great and pleased with the journey so far. I have noticed changes in my body and the way my clothes fit. So excited for tomorrow night after the kids go to bed and we get to weigh and measure each other. I will definitely document the results in a blog with total inches and pounds lost. Stay tuned! P.S. Joe signed up someone else to start Isagenix last night!

This Isagenix system just helps manage calorie intake and for some that is the hard part of so-called "dieting". The two protein shakes I drink are 240 calories each. The dinners are 400-600 calories. I drink 88 ounces or more of water a day. Isagenix takes the difficulty out of making and preparing healthy choices. Sure, I have cravings for the "bad" foods every now and then. We'll take a few days off at the end of our 30 days to go out to eat and have some coffee and then we will start it back up again for another 30 days. Do you want more information on transforming your life?

Sauteed vegetables, quinoa, and lemon-pepper salmon Run Keeper app  So my husband and I are on Day 8 today (March 24). The picture to the left is the dinner I made last night before Joseph got home from work. I actually made this with both kids home too. I decided to pick them up from school a little early and thought I would attempt prepping dinner while they were home too. I managed to accomplish both and I was proud of myself. I had blueberries and walnuts for dessert. We measure and weigh the food for dinners. We stick to the exact timetable and guidelines recommended in the program guide.  I am seeing visible changes in the mirror and in my clothes. I also "feel" healthier and slimmer. Joe and I communicate throughout the day to check on each other, and in the evenings we talk about any cravings or struggles we had that day. We are in a facebook group "Team Anchored" with other people who are also on the Isagenix journey.  I have a Run Keeper...

On Saturday, March 21, we started the shake days again. So much easier! It is a little harder to drink water on the weekends I noticed. So I pulled out the tape measure yesterday and wrapped it around a few body parts. Every body part was smaller than the original measure just 6 days ago. I have noticed that my stomach feels harder and less flabby. I feel like my back is also slimmer. We aren't going to weigh and record our measurements until Day 11. At church yesterday, I asked the pastor's wife about exercising. She said her husband does, but she doesn't. I think I am going to try to get 30-minutes of walking in a day. It can only help, right? Dinners have been so good! 400-600 calories of healthy foods is a lot of food! We had a massive chicken salad last night with a ton of vegetables and olive oil and balsamic vinegar. So yummy! Need to go fill up my water bottle again. R  

Sunday, 3/8/15- Joe and I talked to Pastor Chris at church about his weight loss. It was noticeable. They were doing Isagenix . Mrs. Donna told us at a birthday party that they were doing a weight loss program. Pastor Chris said he lost 25lbs. in a month and his wife loss 10lbs. He told us that he does a shake for breakfast and lunch, snacks provided in between, cleanses, and a 400-600 calorie meal at night, like grilled chicken, sweet potato, and asparagus. He said he carries around a gallon of water and drinks that a day. Joe and I were both interested in learning more so Joe called my cousin, Jesse, to ask him some more questions, who was posting pictures of shakes on facebook.  Isagenix marketing logo Tuesday, 3/10/15- Joe signed up for Isagenix under Jesse. Wednesday, 3/11/15- I signed up for Isagenix under Joe. My package is on the way! I'm excited to get started. I'm pretty determined too.  Thursday, 3/12/15- Joe received a call from Jesse that he was go...