Healthy Choices

WhooHoo!! And the numbers are in!!

The beginning of the month is when I take my official weight and measurements to track my progress from the preceding month of eating healthy and exercising. Do I eat “healthy” every single day? No – I am human after all and well, I really REALLY like pizza….and chocolate…and Olive Garden bread sticks. What matters though is that even though I experience “setbacks” (this month it was totally due to a seizure and a subsequent Fibro Flare) and do enjoy a weekly “cheat day” (Reference my August blog ‘Fibro, Weight Loss, and FOOD’), I don’t allow these obstacles to become roadblocks on my journey to a Happier, Healthier Me!

This month I weighed in at 185 pounds. That is 5.2 pounds down from last month AND I lost another 3.5 inches off my body over all! This brings my total weight loss to 47 lbs and 13.75 inches gone! It’s not easy and yes there are sacrifices and new habits to build, but the end product is SO worth it!

I did experience some weight gain after my seizure which caused me to fall further into the depression that the episode had already created for me. During the middle of the month I had weighed myself at 182 and I was stoked and ready to go for those two additional pounds that would bring me another ten pounds closer to my 145lb goal. And then my body went through a trauma and I was forced to resort to the pain medications and muscle relaxers that I had been able to avoid for the past several months. I also couldn’t exercise which I quickly realized didn’t help my mental state either – I had gotten used to that daily endorphin rush from working out and not being able to hit the gym, much less move in general, really got me down. I felt like I was falling back into that pit of immobility and despair that I had been fighting tooth and nail to get out of! Depression leads to really poor eating decisions for me too and the fact that moving was nearly impossible made cooking pretty low on my list of activities. For two days I ate only what I could just open and eat….which meant lots of breads, fruits, cheese, and a whole bag of Cheetos. My hands and arms hurt so much I couldn’t even use my shaker bottle to make Nutrimeal shakes and I couldn’t tighten the blender well enough to get it to turn on – talk about frustrating! Thankfully my body was able to recover sufficiently over the next two to three days that I was able to start making very simple meals and was able to get myself back on track with my healthy lifestyle. But the damage was done. I put on 6 pounds over the week following my attack because I couldn’t workout the way I was accustomed to and I admit that my depression was still affecting my food choices.

Breaking the cycle of poor eating habits is tough, really tough, but if you are going to accomplish your weight loss goals and live a healthier lifestyle, it is well worth the effort that it takes. The USANA foods help me make good eating decisions for my busy life with the Nutrimeal shakes that I can take with me anywhere and I am allowed to enjoy rich chocolate snacks that won’t destroy my hard work or make me feel guilty – even though they are guilty good. The Nutritionals help my body to function the way that it was intended to, recover more quickly when my illness strikes, and gives me the energy to bust out my workouts at the gym. It’s not a diet; it’s a lifestyle and a truly rewarding one at that.

One of these days I will find the courage to write about my depression but for now, I want to just encourage you by letting you know that you are not alone and I do understand. Every choice that we make in our lives affects every facet of our being – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I challenge you to make one healthy decision each day and I guarantee that if you stick by that one healthy decision you will begin to see changes in other parts of your life that you didn’t necessarily consciously make. Making healthy decisions isn’t always popular or easy, but the feeling of complete liberation is so worth the energy that it took to get the momentum going. There will be curves in the road that force us to change direction, hills that make us work a little harder, and potholes were we will get stuck, but if you allow your vision for a Happier and Healthier You be the driving force then I know that you will be successful. And remember – you are never alone! You always have me!

Be Happy, Be Healthy!

Rachel