Discussion Board

Time to start rolling out the red carpet for the New Year. I am making big plans for 2012. This is going to be an extraordinary year. I'm certain of that.

Fantastic! I've enjoyed reading your posts the last few months, and I remember you from ages ago. I'm looking forward to seeing your wonderful progress become even more wonderful

Ben

Thank you Ben. I am also looking forward to progress. I think I have finally battled all of the big demons and I am ready to get down to business. This past year was about learning for me. I was looking for a quick fix. Now I know that I actually want to change my lifestyle and live a healthy and strong life and I have all the tools I need to do that now. I am SO excited about the new year.

Yay! It's great to hear you sounding so happy and positive. I'm looking forward to your 2012 posts.

Thank you. I appreciate having such amazing support and encouragement. It really makes it easier to get through the difficult times and it definitely makes celebrating victories all that much better.

Happy New Year! This past year has been incredible, but I am looking forward once again with the expectation that the coming year will be even better. I feel like I have come so far. It sure isn't as quickly as some. I would love to say that after this last year I am at my goal weight, but there were too many side trails and bumps in the road. This year, however, is going to be a bit different. Now that I have conquered some of my biggest challenges, I am ready to move along steadily and see results.

I am starting a fun project this year. I love to blog. I also love information. I have many friends and family that I know are like I used to be. They just don't know. I am not just talking about food, but everything in life that deals with health and wellness. I spent a majority of my 2011 researching and trying to educate myself on good health. This year I am ready to share what I learned in fun and very simple way. I will be choosing one aspect of life that I have changed and blogging about it each day for 365 days. This will keep me focused and moving forward. Hopefully, it will also speak to my friends and family in some small way so that they will choose to make healthier choices. If you are interested in following along, the link is in my signature.

It is going to be a very good year!!! Amazing things are happening already!!!

My kitchen is ready for the new year too. I reorganized my cupboards yesterday. I feel like, in order to make great changes, you have to step outside of routines. I moved everything around in my kitchen yesterday... food, dishes... etc. I am fascinated by muscle memory. We do so many things without thinking each day. I figure, if I have to THINK about it, it will promote consistent change and better habits. I just want to be able to be conscious of my actions each day, knowing I am making the best choices. It is something as simple as moving the salt. It isn't in the same place and I can't just grab it out of habit. I have to stop and think about it. When the new spot becomes habit... I will change it again...and again and again... until I break the salt habit.

So, onward we go... into this great new year. I wish all of you a healthy and happy year!

Ahhh... the scale is moving down again. What an interesting process this is when you can really see and feel why your body does what it does. I really had no idea that a little oil could be so damaging in so many ways. It wasn't that I wasn't listening to "the plan" but it was an addiction. In fact, it still is. I don't crave cheese. I don't crave meat. Those addictions went away overnight. I do crave oil... or the way that food tastes when oil is added. In fact, there was a point yesterday when I had eaten and I was full... not hungry at all... and not satisfied at all. I wanted more food, but not just any food. I wanted something with fat in it...like my chips and hummus. I just had a cup of iced tea instead.

Awareness is everything. Eating consciously is important.

I feel amazing this morning. Oil is obviously BAD, BAD, BAD for me.

I have been really feeling the need to get an exercise routine back into my life. I have become basically sedentary this past year... almost 8 months being really bad where I had to nap a couple of times a day because of my severe anemia. We moved into this new house in September and it really inspired me to get moving - around the house. Plus I was doing routine iron infusions that gave me energy. The iron infusions stopped when we lost our insurance and I figured the energy would as well. Not so. I have found it to be based largely on the food I eat as well. My kidneys are obviously functioning better in some way... while they cannot pinpoint how... I have not needed an iron infusion since the summer and I was getting them routine for the year since I was diagnosed. So... the point of that being... if I had insurance I would not even be getting them because the numbers are saying I don't need it. My body is telling me the same. I wake up early with more energy. I am busy around the house lots during the day. I still get tired easily... but wonder if that will change as I get more strength. I decided I needed to be exercising. I know that I need to build up my bones and muscles and strengthen my heart.

My sister talks so much about running. She is a runner. I think about how I haven't "run" most of my life. I don't think I could run if I wanted to. That made me want to fight to run. Silly goal. I don't actually want to be a runner or anything. I just want to be able to go out and jog if I wanted to. So... I started yesterday... walking in place with short 1 minute bursts of jogging place. I didn't know I could do it. I did it for 20 minutes and it felt amazing. I am going to try and walk each, in place or outside (depending on the weather). Just another piece to the 'getting healthy' puzzle that needs to be put in.

Oh... and the scale was down again this morning. My body is obviously very happy with how I am eating.

I sat and watched Rip Esselstyn and his movie about The Engine 2 Diet. I loved that he showed how to make some "plant strong" meals. It was awesome. One of the things I was really happy to be reminded of, in the movie, was that POMI is an awesome brand of tomatoes to buy that is not in a can loaded with BPA. That was an awesome reminder, as I had forgotten about them. Now I can feel good about buying tomatoes again. I am still needing to transition to cooking my own beans instead of buying canned. I know it isn't that difficult. It is more of a time constraint because I forget and then I can't make a recipe until the next day. I'm working on that one.

A great day! I feel fantastic. I am trying hard not to look back. I am also thrilled with the progress my family is making. They are doing amazing and loving the food now. Life is good. I am motivated to work out tonight and do my walking/jogging in place, so that is next in the evening.

Your inspiration is palpable. Thanks so much!

You're helping me to focus again and be strong.

Julie

Ahh... thank you Julie... for your kind words. I feel like a train wreck sometimes and I try to keep focused on the fact that I can and will do this, rather than keeping my focus on past failures. It is getting easier each day.

I woke up this morning with a new found feeling of energy and health. I wanted to cry, honestly. I just keep feeling better and better ~ when I think I am already feeling great. I have learned so much this past year about myself and my habits. I have also learned that I needed to go through a process to detach myself from my old lifestyle (a process that will continue for quite some time, I am sure).

People can tell you to do something and for those that can just do it ~ extraordinary. I have to muddle through and learn it for myself with the signs pointing in the right direction. I have moved through the phases of giving up the things I feel I was addicted to. I am in another phase now... giving up oil. My brain is bursting this morning with awareness. Giving up something is as easy as making a choice, then making a plan minus beating oneself up. I had determined in the new year to avoid oil at all cost. It took two days for me to falter. I sat and stared out the window thinking WHY? Well, because I didn't have a plan. Plain and simple. I didn't have an alternative. I allowed oil in the house without providing a delicious choice. So, the answer to me... fix it NOW. Today I am going to start making my own hummus and other plant strong dips for my guys to dip their baked chips and pieces of tortilla and veggies in. It is as simple as planning, planning, planning! In my case: it cannot be in the house. I was keeping the chips and hummus for my husband and son... without thinking through an alternative. I think they have come a long way and if I take the time to make it - they are going to eat it. Problem solved - no more oil in my house. Just one more step up the ladder of living strong and healthy.

I have found that I am enjoying my exercise! That is a new one for me. I am even craving it already because I actually found something I like. I never imagined it would be running. Ack! I hate runners! lol... I have watched them jog their perfect bodies on the road in rain, snow and sleet for years just wanting to run them down with my car. Now I want to be one? Life makes no sense. Just running in place feels SO good. I had no idea. I didn't even know this body could run. I'm jogging with a hundred extra pounds on my frame.... I can only imagine how amazing it will feel when I start dropping that weight. I don't have a goal to run a marathon or anything like that. I simply want to be able to go out my door and jog... so simple and something I have NEVER done. The last time I even remember running was in high school and it was a trauma. I remember doing track and field and having to launch my chubby body over hurdles... not a good experience at all. I think, shortly after that trauma, I got a note from my mom that said I could no longer participate in physical education. She was sparing me the humiliation... and I was walking deeper into my life of bad health, even at that young age.

Is it any wonder that I now see how important those hurdles really were? That was a huge turning point in my life, that I had totally forgotten until I recently started my exercise. I won't be giving up so easily this time. I will be fighting through. I'm kinda tired of being the fat kid that everyone points at!

The thing I loved most about today was grocery shopping. $110.00 for an entire 7 days of meals... all planned. It was amazing. They had every single thing I needed. My husband picked up a few things that were off plan, but in each case I just ignored it and he put them right back on the shelf after reading the label. I didn't want to cause any conflict, but I was hopeful that he would make great choices and he did. It was outstanding. I have the most fun in the bulk isles... with all the different fun things. So many types of rices and flours and gluten free pastas. It was fun, fun, fun. Then I came home and cooked and loved everything I cooked. I think we are finally leveling out in our house. *sigh* Happy New Year to ME.

Today was good. I had a bit of an issue this morning that scared me. I woke up feeling sick to my stomach at 3 am. I was awake for about an hour and fell back to sleep, then woke up at around 7 am with a really lightheaded feeling. I was a little worried because I know I am always on that edge of "do I need dialysis?" However, by 9 I was feeling great. I concluded that I am just detoxing and it does require a bit more from my body because my kidneys are not as effective as they should be. My doctor said it will sometimes take longer for things to leave my system. I guess that is what happened this morning. Glad I felt great all day.

I have a new found peace and contentment about the WOE. It is finally becoming natural. I am able to make great choices without feeling deprived. It is becoming a way of life for me and I have never felt better. Now it is just onward... slow and steady... letting it really become concrete in my life. That is all I care about right now. All the foods I used to eat mean very little to me now because I see how healthy and fit I can be.

I feel for you - that sounds scary and unpleasant!

I did have quite a bit of detox-like symptoms when I started to really stick to this plan and lose weight. Mine came in the form of terrible migraine headaches, then months into it I had a period of about a month with intermittent nausea and digestive stuff. I think of it as detox later on because I felt miles better once it was all over - even better than I had before!




This is so wonderful!!! Hooray!

Nicole