Daily Thought!

Good Morning!

Many of my co-workers receive a daily quote on how to be stronger, and to not allow others to put them down and find the strength to stand up and be heard. Fighting the injustice of weight loss every day is the same as allowing someone to put you down. We must find the inner strength to overcome the injustice of losing weight!  I read everyday how others are losing weight and they are finding happiness in his/her own daily battles.  Finding something to celebrate everyday with only a few pounds of weight loss is better than going the opposite way of gaining weight.

SO with this I am finding my own inner personal strength and looking past the injustice of weight loss and coming to terms that everyone will lose at a different pace and to not allow myself to become discouraged with this person is losing faster than me. ALAS; I must find what makes me happy and stay true to me so that the injustice of losing weight does not win the battle!  What are some of your ways to beat the injustice of losing weight? Do you feel that exercise helps with beating the injustice of losing weight? For instance if you begin weight lifting does this help to increase or decrease weight loss. Many say that muscle mass increases and thus helping to decrease fat. I believe I will delve into researching this matter and see what others are really saying and believing about this phenomenon.

SO what are some of your ways that you use to fight the injustice of losing weight? I find that walking helps to clear the cob-webs and keep the mind from becoming stagnant, and thus helping in keeping the thought process clear. If we allow our mind to become clogged then we are not able to climb the hill and win the battle against the injustice of weight loss or weight gain!

I thank you all who read my blog and I do hope you find some words of wisdom from within!

God Speed!

Cheryl

Awesomeness!

Hello! 

Well today has been a good day thus far. I walked on the treadmill this morning and did my 1 mile in 19 minutes and then completed the other 1/2 mile on the hill incline. I set the incline to 4, then 6 and finally 8. With the last 5 minutes on the 8 incline with the speed set at 2.8 and with the last 2 minutes turned the speed to 3.0. It was challenging but I persevered and was able to complete the challenge I set for myself today!.  SO were you able to  complete & complete your inner challenge(s) today and most importantly do you feel like you WON!?  I know you did and that is wonderful and I am so proud of you for working past the desire to stop, and say tomorrow is another day. 

Did some errands today, came home and made my breakfast; wait for it, I know what you are thinking, she did not follow her regimen.  I have to say you would be SO wrong with that thought today.  I actually made a very good breakfast: my breakfast included "pancakes" I know you are saying how can you follow your regimen with pancakes; well these are made with Pork Skin so no carbs. The pancakes were cooked in light virgin oil, also made 2 fried eggs, and 2 turkey hot dogs and lastly  American cheese. All in all most likely about 10 carbs total Oh yeah! It was good eating a pancake sandwich and feeling full after eating only one sandwich.  I was able to find some sugar free Popsicles and they have around 6 carbs, so this will be counted in my daily 20 carbs per day since it is summer and very hot outside. 

My next thing is to begin working on my arms with doing toning exercises to help with the wave of the flag (LOL) I know you are saying she is not right in the noggin! I just have to keep everything light and airy as this will help me to continue on my goal path. Everyday I must say to myself this is going to help me to reach my goal weight and beat the injustice of losing weight and I will be the winner. 

The winner you say: yes, we will win with increasing our health, decreasing the bad food choices, and ultimately find a happy medium to continue the journey to healthy eating, and continue  on our weight loss and/or maintaining our new found weight. I know each of you are going to win, and overcome the challenges you face on a daily basis! Just know that I am here and ready to listen or just read what you have to write about! 

I hope you enjoy the reading the today! 

God Speed! 

Cheryl 

Struggles !!!

Good Evening!

Struggles; what does that mean to you and how does that affect your ability to lose weight, and make good food choices?  Everyday I struggle with decisions that are related to life and unfortunately food is a struggle choice everyday.  We all must decide on what to eat today and does this meal contain "high carbs, low carbs, no carbs" and will it really satisfy our hunger for the day.  Sure sure you are saying, it is not really that hard. BUT you are so WRONG!

Tomorrow test yourself with the food choices you have to make all day. Are you going to count your carbs, calories, sugar, fat or other. SO take a tablet with you and track all these tomorrow and then see if the food choices were hard for you throughout the day. For example how many carbs & sugar are in your yogurt, then look at your bread you may eat for the day; how carbs, sugar including the fat count. So for me my daily lunch is "tuna, mayo, 2 hard boiled eggs, pickles" so with that being said, how many carbs, sugar and calories? Carbs = 4, eggs are free. Good food choice. Sugar free jello this is zero carbs. Think about it?

Then making a decision for the evening meal is even more challenging; why you ask because now you must include your family in the meal planning decision and if you have children....just think about that! Do you go for the good food choices are the bad food choices so you do not have too cook for the evening? Most families favorite food is "pizza" and we all know how much fat and carbs are in that meal, yep you are so right! Here is good recipe for pizza;  7 cups mozzarella cheese and 6 eggs mix together than place on a cookie sheet and place your pepperoni and bake for 45 minutes until golden brown.....just like pizza and zero carbs to 4! Oh yeah I know what you are thinking does it really take like pizza; I have to say "yes"!!!!

Just remember we are never alone when we are making choices and sometimes just having someone to write to or listen helps us to move past the struggles we are facing everyday.

God Speed!
Cheryl

Good Evening!

I hope today finds you all well! I know it has been a crazy weekend and a crazy few days.  This past weekend was spent with some great friends and we just had a blast hanging out and of course you guessed it "food" was the hot topic for us! We had a good time just eating carb after carb! Oh yeah you say!!!! Why did you do that and then you ask how did I feel? Well let me just tell you; eating the food was a great experience  with my taste buds but the after affect was not so good for my mind, body and just in general! Why you ask did I then partake in eating food that was not conducive for my health and well being?  That is the million dollar question?!

SO with the million dollar question; we must ask ourselves why we do what we do? Why do we say it is OK to eat this carb just this once and then feel bad after we have consumed the food? Why do we say well today is my "cheat" day when in fact everyday is a "cheat" day. Yes I know you are all saying "what" we do not have a cheat day everyday. I know you do!!! Let me eat this candy bar and then start over tomorrow, or let me eat this piece of bread, or ice cream, or the big one "chocolate" candy. Honestly can you say you do not do this?  When you are having a stressful day what is the one thing you turn to for comfort....."yes you are right on with your answer FOOD"!!  We all have this in our genetic make-up some of us are stronger than others, you know I am right!

NOW we must ask ourselves was the food intake worth the after affects of how we felt or feel a few days after? I have to "say that would be a big NO"! So then why do we do what we do? I cannot answer that question for you I can only the answer the question for myself, but will I like the answer I have, probably not! SO then why do I constantly battle with myself when I know the outcome and the after affects of eating incorrectly.

My question to you is how do you feel when you have done something with a "Statement only this one time"? The only answer is the truthful answer to yourself. You only have to be truthful to you and to no one else and on the flip side the "higher power" will always know what you are doing and what you are promising to lose this one pound or more! I know from this past week and month, what I must do achieve the ultimate goal I have set for myself.  Only you know what you are striving for and you are the only one that can obtain this goal and be true to you!

God Speed!
Cheryl

Obesity and Losing Weight Challenge

Good Evening!


Hope all is well for everyone. Here is thought for us to ponder on; what are some causes for obesity other than genetics. For instance how many commercials on TV are related to "fast food" restaurants with french fries, hamburgers, chocolate milk shakes. Or how about the "ice cream" commercials try this kind versus that one! So with all the commercials we have been watching bring us to say "wow" that looks good, and I want to eat this or I want to eat that. What are we do when we are trying to lose weight!

Right now a pizza commercial is on for Caesars Caesars' little pizza, and if you are feeling hungry this commercial only offers you the choice to go find something to eat that includes a major buco loads of carbohydrates. When you are out and about how many find it easier to stop and find a carb to eat rather than finding protein food that does not include carbohydrates.  Why o why does America feel the need to show commercials with carbohydrates; when losing weight is challenging enough everyday with all other life challenges we are facing!

I know the injustice is just not "right" for those who fight everyday to lose weight whether you are working to lose one pound to greater than 100 pounds. What should we do to move past the injustice of the food commercials. What you say? We can make a difference in the lives of others! Oh yes we can, we just need to find a special way to help each other with the daily food challenges we might face on a daily basis!

I hope you all find the readings enjoyable, as I am finding joy in writing them and I am open to any topics you might find interesting to write about. I look forward to hearing from you on any topic!

God Speed!

Cheryl

Addiction to Food!

Good Evening!

Well today was a weigh in day! I know you are asking "how much" well my friends and family said to me; just remember a loss is a loss no matter how much  or how little!.  For me the scale only tipped a few pounds. So I had to ponder on the food choices I have been making for the past few weeks, and did these choices impact my ability to tip the scale with a higher weight loss!  I am going to have to say yes with some of the dietary choices I have eaten. With that being said we must ask ourselves are we addicted to food and and does this addition hinder our ability to lose, or does our mind keep us from losing?  So here is the definition for the word Addiction: (   ad·dic·tion)

noun  the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity. "he committed the theft to finance his drug addiction"  

1. :

   So with this definition do I feel I have a food addiction? Is it hard for me to say "no" when someone offers me a chocolate candy bar, or sweet cookie, or bagel with cream cheese. TO be quite honest I have to say "no" to this question. I have become very strict with my food regime, however; I do have an occasional slip up with a bite here or there. I know you are saying well that is not too bad! That is wrong! A slip here a slip there will cause a major slip and backslide that takes weeks to overcome the injustice of losing only a few pounds here or there! Yep! You are right on target with saying; wow I never looked at that way before! So, I must forge ahead with my healthy choices and hopefully this will help to beat the injustice of losing weight and regaining control of my own life and thought processes!

I have not forgotten what my goal is, and I will continue to work towards this everyday, and I must remember that yesterday is gone, tomorrow has not arrived and to focus on today! Even if I must take one- minute-by-minute to meet till the day is complete! A positive outlook will always over shine the negative outlook, and we cannot continue to beat ourselves up and feel like we did not accomplish a goal or take a giant step forward!  Today is the day of the rest of our lives and we must strive daily to be the best we can be!  I know you are saying "Blahblahblah" and that fine too! I on the other hand will continue to fight the injustice of losing weight, and continue to keep my head held high and work to overcome my "addiction" to a little here and a little there! SINCE that is keeping me from meeting my goal and hitting the mark!

I offer you kudos to those that are trying and willing to look past the injustice of losing weight and forging ahead with your inner strength and positive thoughts that are helping you to move forward, and not to look in the review mirror! Ask yourself what does looking back achieve for you? Other than make you sad, depressed or angry depending on what is looking back at you from the review mirror!

I must let go and move on and face tomorrow with good choices and strive to be the best I can be tomorrow!  Always remember that we are not guaranteed any day! So live today, with love and laughter in your heart!

God Speed!
Cheryl

Daily Battles

Good Sunday Morning!

It will be a good day and hopefully bring with it great food choices!  Saturday is gone and past and lets just say I am glad that day is over and done!  The day started out well enough, I decided to clean the upstairs and completed that task, and then decided to donate some of my clothes that are "to big" so to speak. Yes; that is an awesome feeling when you try on something and it is to big and falls off! I do not have the heart to part with some of "work clothes" since my sister helped me to pick them out during my heavy time.  Some say they are pretty dresses!  A friend told me one day "I really like your dress" and I said my dress; she was referring to my shirt that almost hung like a dress. I shared that one with Poppi, who thought she was right on!  I cannot help but chuckle silently when I think about that one!

SO many of you are wondering about Saturday and what caused the day break down. After I finished cleaning upstairs, I finally got to enjoy the pool, and met some nice neighbors and read a book and I did finally enjoy the water! It has been a long time since I was able to swim and get in and out of the pool. I love swimming and could live in the pool water all year round.  Any ways I digress; so after the pool we came home, and got ready to run our errands. Completed my wonderful day at the nail spa and then we decided to eat supper. The waitress was not in a very happy mood.  Up until this point my food intake was spectacular! My atkins chocolate shake, and only my drinks in the morning.  I know what you are thinking and this time "you are so right"! I had a chicken sandwich with avocado and bacon, that part was excellent, the non-excellent part was the "bread and FF".  I only ate half the sandwich and some of the FF.

In the journey of weight loss; we are constantly fighting the battle of should I or shouldn't I. The thing you must remember is to look at each day as a new beginning with the hopes, of jumping over the hurdles that are thrown your way!  Struggles come everyday and we cannot beat ourselves up when we fall down. We must pick ourselves up and say "wow" I took a detour, and now I must get back on the road and continue my journey. THE one thing WE must never do is say "I AM A FAILURE" why you ask! When you state this comment you are placing a negative thought in your subconscious, and this will keep playing over and over until  you give up thus allowing the injustice of "weight loss"  to win the battle!  The question is do you want defeat  the weight loss injustice? I know I do; this is why I write my story to share with you, and for you to share with others if you have someone who needs to be uplifted on his/her struggle with from the injustice of  the weight loss battle!

God Speed!

Cheryl

Chiropractor and Weight Loss interesting thought!

Good Evening!

Today was an interesting day to say the least!

So think about this; for instance we wake up every day, which is a good thing right! I mean it is better to be on this side of the ground instead of under the ground! I know you are thinking what in the world does this have to do with weight loss? Well in many ways it does, if we are on this side, then we have continue to control our thought processes and define our ambitions and stay focused on the goal at hand; right?

SO today I began my day as I usually do, get up and the usual routine of thinking about what to wear to work and sometimes, my  mood defines what I am going to wear to work. For instance if I am feeling blue then I wear blue, if I am feeling sad, I might wear grey or something dark.  Today I felt in a mixed mood; this helped to create a different version of my lunch! SO lunch today; "Chicken Salad with 2 hard boiled eggs, some pickles, and olives" with a side of sugar free jello! I know what you are thinking wow that is boring and uck! For me it has been a stable to help me to pound off the pounds....LOL!

Then  some of us took a stroll to the mini cafeteria, where I decided to eat something different.....wait for it I know,  what you are thinking Uh-OH another bagel fiasco right: well today you are thinking in the wrong direction...I included a "chicken cobb salad and did not even add my "ranch dressing" oh yeah "baby", and it was so good too! I also had a glass of unsweetened goji green tea! It was so good and thus added some extra steps back to the office. Go me!

SO today I had an appointment with a Chiropractor and his practice is based on how the spine and nerves intertwine. He looks for spinal deformities and will base your therapy on your deformity. He explained to me a pinched nerve can affect other systems within the body. So what I learned today was the accident that I had diving into the swimming pool and jarring my neck at the age of 12/13. That I most likely caused some nerve damage to my neck spine. Oh yeah what a shocker! I know you are thinking she is trying to blame this on her craziness! Ha- ha-ha-ha! On a serious note it was interesting to learn.  With that being said this pinched nerve could also be the cause of some of weight loss struggles as it is near the gland that controls the thyroid.  I was like WOW! Is this a bright spot in the weight loss injustice, which I have been dealing with for the past 37 years! I know we can only hope and pray.

I must still continue to follow my program to the strongest letter of the law and continue to fight the injustice everyday! I came home from the appointment and Poppi asked me if I was going to work out and I said "no", what you say! Well on the way up the stairs I changed my mind since our dinner was cooking in the oven and would not be ready for an hour. So did 25 minutes on the treadmill, with walking my mile in 20 minutes and the last five minutes all uphill with a high speed! Oh yeah go me! I felt better too!

What challenges did you face today and what did you do to overcome the challenges with eating today and just life in general?  Our food choices are sometimes based on our mood and how we are feeling that day. What is your favorite food when you are having a bad day?

Thanks for reading I hope you enjoy the post!

God Speed!

Cheryl

How does being bullied affect your "weight" either losing or gaining?

Good Evening!

Well I have many things running through my mind with food and weight loss and I was having a conversation the other day with a friend. Yes, I do actually have a friend or too, LOL!   Anyways; I digress with this banter.  SO my friend and I were talking about how something from your childhood, teen years, young adulthood, and yes even as a "grown-up"; how a bully can affect your weight. How you ask? Well if you stop and think about it, it revolves around the negative comments. Negative comments, stay with you and affects your self esteem. Remember when you have low self-esteem  you may turn to food for comfort, you know I am right!!

SO, what we need to ask ourselves; how do we overcome these negative comments, and how do we deal with "bullies"?  Bullies will always find away to make you feel inadequate and this is done with a derogatory comment, and a bully knows how to make sure each word will affect your self esteem. It is truly amazing for me to see things differently, and to reflect on how certain things changed my behavior. For instance in this story; a person was being bullied by some people and this caused this person to lease self esteem, and with the loss of his/her self esteem they began to deteriorate in other ways that was noticeable by others causing worry and concern in this persons well being.  I know you are asking what became of this person. Well this person was able to fight back and find the inner strength he/she needed to believe in themselves once more.  How many of you have been bullied during your life; work, home, or by a complete stranger. What you said by a complete stranger; yes, that is true. When you go shopping or playing at the beach or in the park, someone can upset you with a derogatory comment, which is said loud enough for you to hear. How many have had this happen to you?  My question to you is; how do you, and or how did you handle this? Did you turn to food to soothe the soul?  If we answer yes; what then should be our new practice to help each of us deal with a bully?  

We allow a bully to win when we turn to food, and this food then becomes our saving grace to hide behind so we do not have to deal with the problem at hand; the “derogatory comment" that has hurt our feelings/pride.  We must ask ourselves how do we overcome the bullying and take back control of inner strength to say "no" to the food we eat to console our egos?

I have had to face many things in my life; and one that was the hardest to admit is; that I have been hit head on by a bully! The words and comments that were made unfortunately were reinforced by some people, who I thought were my friends, and that really hurt me.  Alas I have grown from this experience and I am moving forward, and I do hope that I have learned not turn to food to soothe my soul! 

I am heading in the right direction, and hopefully and thus reducing my need to overcome eating food to soothe my soul~!

God Speed!

Cheryl

Good Evening!

Well my mind has been running non-stop on what to write about. SO today I decided to write about “good-n-plenty” yep just like the candy! However; this good-n-plenty is about the choices we make  whether they are good or bad  when we choose something to eat.

For instance there are plenty of programs out there to help us to lose the weight “so” they claim. If you follow this program or follow that program you will lose 10 lbs.  There is plenty of good advice from multiple health care providers, and  those pretending to be health care gurus who are offering you the best chance of shedding those pounds. 

How many articles have you read or seen where the person just took the bull by the horn and gave up on the good-n-plenty and went straight for the gusto on taking control of his/her life and then before you know it they have lost the weight and the loss of pounds could range from 20 to 100 pounds. The question then becomes what is stopping us from taking back control of our lives to remove the excess weight we are carrying? 

Our mind is what is holding us back and we are over processing the idea of losing weight and this I tell you is what is holding us back. Today we must take control over the “thought demons” and pass over the “good-n-plenty” and say today will be my day to jump start on my new life goals!

Each day is new day, even if you back slide you must just say “don’t look back-look forward” and then start over and find the strength to continue to push past the “thought demons”.  For me this is my new mantra; don’t look back but look forward and push through the pain and suffering of the good-n-plenty’s; and focus on the end goal.

Each person needs to list the positive and negatives associated with the good-n-plenty. The products, the tools that suck you in, and most definitely the marketing strategy. The marketing strategy is what lures you to the self then you are captivated by the label and begin reading the magic words; the promise of losing weight! My goal is not to be tempted by the product that lures to the program calling "lose weight with me"!  My inner goal will be to follow the program my Dr has prescribed for me and seems to be working fairly well! 

I know that  everyone's body is not made the same. Our genetic make-up is what makes each of  us different  and that helps to define the person we are meant to be. Just remember that everyone that over eats will/ or might  eventually gain the extra pounds.  Side note: putting on the pounds is easy it is taking off the pounds that is hard.  Just know I am here to listen and share my story. Sometimes we have to share our failures to gain successes! 

God speed!

Cheryl 

Good Morning!

It has been awhile since I wrote to you all and so I wanted to drop a line to let you know that each day is a challenge! These daily challenges will never change; how we deal with these challenges will help each of us to overcome our personal challenges.  SO for example the last four weeks I told you all  how I lost 10 lbs total. Well these next four weeks have been a tough road for me. With all the new changes and challenges at work with the added stressors related to our deadlines can cause a diet meltdown; I was coping well with these stressors until the other day! Oh no you say; the questions you are asking yourself did she fall completely off the wagon ‘so to speak’ not totally! I just had to eat a bagel with cream cheese; and you all are saying well that is not too bad, ugh yes it is! A bagel with cream cheese is packed with mega carbohydrates that can stop your metabolism to shut down completely and not even allow a 1 Lb weight loss. Then to top that off that the other day was “national doughnut day” and the office staff brought in Krispy Kreme doughnuts! Well my defenses were already weakened with the ‘bagel’ fiasco.

Alas I succumbed to the doughnut. The truth is to admit your weakness and failures as these will help you to overcome them in the future. Those that do admit to his/her failures are the ones hiding behind insecurities of self doubt!  So to round out the challenges going on in my life; a change within my husband’s health has curtailed our daily 2 mile walk outside, however; I have not allowed that to stop me! Oh yeah: I am walking on the treadmill. Alas it is not the same as the fresh air and sunshine albeit I have noticed that walking on the treadmill has increased my stamina for the 2 miles walks outside!

My treadmill routine is walking as fast as I can during the first mile and alas I have done the first 1 mile in 19 minutes for the past 2 days and then doing the next ½ mi in 10 minutes and all uphill with a four level incline! Boy that was a killer the first time!  Doing 2 miles on the treadmill is challenging so currently I am  currently doing 1 & half miles and hopefully will increase this week to meet the 2 mile walk.  Then do the last mile all uphill oh my pray for me! LOL!

My next appointment is coming up in a few weeks so it is time for me to buckle down and stay focused on the goal ahead, which is reaching the 8 lb mark! I know I can achieve this goal and will work extra hard on meeting this challenge head on in the next few weeks!

 God speed to you all!

Cheryl

Good Morning!

How many people play the “blame game” when it comes to weight loss? I know I did and sometimes I still do. It does seem like it is everyone else’s fault for why I cannot lose weight.  Some of our blame game excuses are:  my husband is not supportive of the need to change our eating habits.  My Mom is the reason I am so fat because she let me eat anything and everything in sight.  My work days are so long, that it is easier to grab a fast food meal in place of eating a salad or making a light dinner at home. These are just a few blame game excuses and this is so sad that we feel that we need to blame others! 
When in fact we are in control of our own eating habits and the choices we make on a daily basis. IT is no different than the friends we hang out with, the movies and TV shows we want to watch. Do we blame others when we sit down and watch TV?  Do we blame others for the friends we hang out with?  Do we blame others for the clothes we choose to wear? Personally No! So why should we blame others for our inability to make healthy food choices? 

If they chose to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge are you going to follow suit? I would certainly hope NOT!  So why follow them in the food choices as well!!! 

We are our own worst enemy when it comes to eating and it so easy to blame others for our weight challenges!  I know I was and sometimes I can still be one of those people. It does seem easier to blame others than to take responsibility for our own actions and make the changes we need to make in our own life! 

God speed to you all!
Cheryl 

  Hello my name is Cheryl Macias and I currently reside in NC. 

Many of my friends remember me when I was a svelte 125 lbs before I gave birth to three amazing children.  Since then I have been struggling with weight loss for over the past 37 years, and like most of you out there, I have TRIED it all! 

To say the least some worked for a short time span and some did not work at all.  I followed my own thought process of "well I am exercising so why is the weight not coming off" because I was still eating incorrectly. However; I did not fully understand that concept during my younger life years; meaning my early twenties into my forty's so to speak. 

So; I began doing the Special K diet and followed that for awhile and it did not offer me any weight loss. I then began the slim fast program and was able to lose some weight with exercise and dancing. At one time I dropped about 50 lbs. Wow you say, but I still did not fully understand that I needed to continue this program or that I needed to gradually add food back into my routine.

I met my current husband while I was doing the Slim Fast  diet, and for awhile the weight did stay off, but then alas love took over and then food began to creep back in slowly and before I knew all my lost weigh piled back on with a few more pounds.  During this time we became sedentary, and this did not help either.  So for the next 12 years; I just grew and grew and kept blaming all my weight gain on my "body" and its inability to lose weight when I would try a different diet regime.  Low and behold I ballooned to a weight that was out of control.

SO through my weight loss struggles, I offered a new position with one of the  local hospitals, and the stress from this position caused me to continue to get bigger and bigger and bigger, until one day at my doctor’s appointment, my doctor mentioned a weight loss program that did not entail "bypass surgery" or anything like that. I thought what is that I have to lose other than my life "right". How many of you are saying the same thing? We are all in the same boat!

SO, while I continuing through my weight loss struggles, and all the life stresses from the position I was currently working, I decided to look for another job. With all my health factors and the weight continued weight again, I needed to decide what was more important life or death! One of my guardian angels pointed me in the right direction for a new position and low and behold; I received a second chance at life with my new job!. How you ask well with this new position was the opportunity to increase my daily exercise regime, which at this time I did have one, (yes you are right)! So this new position actually required me to walk from one end of the hospital to the other. Well let me tell you that was not an easy feat for the first week or so. It took me 25 minutes to walk only a "half mile" yes you are saying “25 minutes” how sad is that fact!  So began the journey of increasing my physical activity in a small way, and then I made the appointment to meet with the “Diet Dr.” and thus began my weight loss journey.  Here is my journey since then beginning in November 2014.

I met with the Dr and did my little self speal about life and eating habits and still blaming being overweight on my body and metabolism "oh yes" I did.  Well I went to the first meeting and only half haphazardly listened. I went home and reviewed the material and said I will begin the following week; I had all this food and did not want it to go to waste. Of course all this dieting began during Thanksgiving and Christmas!  Wow!

 I slowly began following the program and it was time for me to go back to my first appointment and the moment of true of how much weight did I really lose; and it was only lost three pounds.  Yep you are right! I really wasn't following the program as designed.  Well my Dr said we can only move forward so I set my own personal goal to lose (x) number of pounds in the next four weeks.  My four weeks appointment came and when I climbed on the scale, I lost 8 lbs boy that was an awesome feeling!   Needless to say I was committed at this time SO I continued on the same path and this time my husband joined me in the fight against being overweight!

We continued to follow the diet program 100% for the next four weeks and I dropped another 8 lbs. I felt invincible!  So I thought well I am doing good, so I strayed the next few weeks, and when I returned for my next appointment and  I got on the scale it was only 2 lbs, I was heartbroken and of course I did not take blame why should I right!  Wrong, I only had myself to blame for not meeting my goal. SO once more; I again took control and this time I included walking into the mix. Side note it only takes me 10 minutes now to walk from the parking deck to my office OH YEAH!

SO our next month journey included walking 2 miles and the first time it took me over 1 hour to complete the course. I did not let that stop me; I continued following the program and continued to walk every night once I got home. This also includes my 1 mile every day at work rounding out to 3 miles per day.  My 2 mile was a heart pumping walk, we found a great path around our house that includes all up hill and then all downhill increasing our target heart rate to be the fat burning zone. My 2 mile walk became easier and easier until we completed our course in 50 minutes, then 45 minutes,  then 40 minutes; until today I did my walk in 39 minutes! Oh yeah I was excited and very proud of myself. I digress, during this time I went to my Dr. Appointment and got on the scale! I did it I meet the small goal I set for myself of losing 10 pounds in one month! I was elated and excited and so proud of myself.  At this point and time I have lost a total of 32 pounds, and I now fully understand the need to reach my target goal.

Weight loss is not easy and is the most challenging life changing area we will face on a daily basis!  I want you to know that I am here to listen and help to the best of my ability. God Speed to all that are willing to step up and challenge themselves to lose weight and become more active and fit!

Cheryl