Before and After

Here I am! Two months after having my son. I weighed about 335lbs.

Here I am today- 212lbs.

YOU CAN DO IT TOO!!!

Together We Can Change The WORLD!!!

I used to think that one person could not make a big enough change to really affect anything in this world. Well, I am certainly NOT taking credit for all of the hardwork that my friends and family have put in to their bodies and lifestyles, but I am happy to report that A LOT of my friends and family have contacted me to let me know how they are moving their bodies and how they are losing weight and feeling great!! Most all of them have noted that I have (somehow??) inspired them to make the changes in their lives. My goal was to help one person change their life for the better. I think I have reached my goal a couple of times over. :) Thank you all for ALL of YOUR hardwork! Keep it up! Together we can influence others in our communities and all over the world. We can also radically change the direction that future generations are headed by making changes to our food supply and by instilling in them a need and WANT to MOVE OUR BODIES every day!!

Please take the time today to comment on this blog and let me and my other readers know how much weight you have lost (even if it is just 1 or 2 pounds) and how you are moving your bodies today. I want to CELEBRATE each and every one of you!

TOP NEWS STORY: KRISTY ATE CAKE!!!

Yes, World, Kristy ate cake. I am not sure why people are so very shocked by this, but some people are. It was a co-worker's birthday today and one of the ladies in her department baked her a chocolate cake. When I went down to deliver some paperwork, I decided that I wanted a piece of her cake. (To be clear, it was the smallest sliver of a piece of cake that I could cut with the knife that they had. It was probably less than 30 calories worth of cake and the amount of icing that I ate was less than the amount left on the spoon after it is scraped off... small piece, in other words.) I ate it and it was good. I think some people are so very shocked because, if I was doing a "diet," a piece of cake would be forbidden. However, I am not doing a diet. I am not depriving myself of anything that I want. I am simply eating a small portion and accounting for all of the calories that I consume. It is funny, though, to see the look on peoples' faces when they see me eating things that would not be "on" a traditional diet. I have always tried to live my life by this motto: never do anything that you would not want to see posted all over the front page of the newspaper, on the news, or on the internet. However, I didn't realize that it should also extend to the food and drink that I put in my mouth. I believe that a lot of people who are overweight have a issue with this at one point or another. Most overweight people have attempted diets all through their lives and most all of the diets, even if they initially worked, failed in the long run. I, myself, had the same problem. One of the ways that I sabotaged myself was to drive by fast food restaurants on my way somewhere and buy food that I would eat while I was en route. Once I reached my destination, I would dispose of the trash in a trash can without anyone knowing what I had eaten. I would, also, go to the refrigerator while no one was looking or while everyone was asleep and eat portions of whatever food I wanted. If someone asked me shortly afterward if I had eaten yet, I would say, "Nope!" Then I would eat again, especially if they were eating something appealing. For some reason, I thought the food didn't count if I was eating it without anyone knowing. However, it does count and in a BIG way! When you are sneaking food, you are not being honest with yourself. You are not considering the food simply as fuel for your body, but you are considering it a comfort item or something to do when you are bored. When you tell people about your eating habits, you say things like, "I always eat healthy food- just salads and chicken, mainly." You never "remember" (more like CHOOSE) to tell them about the bag of McDonald's that you ate on the way in to work or the bag of Krystal's consumed on the way home. The worse part is you start to believe yourself. When my OBGYN asked me about my weight gain after I had my son, I said, "I have no idea why I am not losing weight! I eat veggies and chicken and I ride my stationary bike or walk." He said, "well, I guess some people just can't lose the weight. Maybe you should speak to a surgeon about gastric bypass surgery." I went home and thought about what he had said. I thought about it on and off for a couple of months. Then I started actually walking to prepare for my first 5K. Then I started actually eating the right healthy foods and avoiding fast food and processed foods. Then I started actually riding my stationary bike. Amazingly, the pounds started coming off- without surgery and without being dishonest to myself or anyone else. If you are overweight and you are truly ready to make a change in your life, YOU CAN DO IT! You have the power to make the decision to do the things that you need to do to take control of your life and make the changes that need to be made. Honesty is the first and most important thing that you must commit yourself to. Once you commit to being honest, with a little direction and education in food and fitness, you can redefine and remake yourself into anything you want to be! Just MOVE YOUR BODY!

Be Quiet and LISTEN!

It took me getting laid-off from work to learn that sometimes you just have to be quiet and LISTEN. Listen to your body and what it is telling you when it comes to food, weight, fitness, and situations (you know, that feeling that you get in your gut telling you that something is wrong or something wonderful is about to happen). Listen to nature and revel in its beauty. (I knew nature had sounds, but I really didn't know what they were until I spent time every day enjoying it.) Most importantly, I learned to listen to God. During my daily walks, I asked God to show me my purpose in life. Show me why I was placed on the Earth and what good works He wanted me to do. I asked him to guide me in the direction that he wanted me to go. Guidance was something that I needed more than anything. Without my job, I felt lost. I didn't know how to be a full-time mother and wife. I didn't know how to begin a good job search on the internet. It had been 10 years since I had looked for a job. But I did know how to give thanks to God and how to ask for help when I really needed it most. I knew there must be a purpose for me, since God allowed me to make the choice to live on August 17, 2008 when I went into respiratory arrest after having my son. I just had no idea what that purpose was. I decided to listen with my heart and wait until God showed me what He had in store. As the summer and fall of 2010 progressed, I began to be contacted by distant family members, friends from long ago, and some people that I have never spoken to, all asking for advice and guidance with losing weight or becoming healthier. It soon became clear to me that my purpose is to help others- "pay it forward" for all of the blessings that my family and I have received. My 5K walks are one way that I have found to pay it forward. I am also committed to instilling the same spirit in my son. We collected pajamas for the Pajama Program instead of presents for Drew's birthday. We purchased toys for foster care children at Christmas (Drew LOVED buying toys for "the boys"). This year, we will continue those traditions and I plan to find a few more charitable activities that we can do. In addition to that, Zach Marcy (Owner/trainer with Synergize Fat Loss) and I are working on developing a Lifestyle Makeover Program to help people who are overweight, obese, and morbidly obese change their lifestyle to one of positivity, healthy eating, and exercise. I feel like this is the direction that God has led me and I am listening!

A Weekend Day In The Life Of Kristy

Today was unusual for me in a couple of ways and very normal in many others. Drew woke up about 2 hours early this morning at 6:30 a.m. After getting him out of bed, I fixed his cereal and fruit and my Raisin Almond Crunch and Vanilla Coconut Milk for breakfast. After we ate breakfast, we played for a while and watched a little tv until his Daddy got up. Drew and Daddy decided to chase me around the house about 10 or 11 times. You might think that a 2 year old doesn't run that fast...you would be wrong! I was really running! After more playing and a shared snack of pineapple and cheese, Drew laid down early for a nap. I sat down to work on some research at the computer. Normally, his naps last 2-3 hours. Not today! Today he was up in 45 minutes. Daddy fed him lunch while I got dressed. I stole a bite of Richard's salad that he had made himself for lunch, ate a couple more pieces of cheese, and decided to eat strawberry Greek yogurt for lunch. I wasn't very hungry. After we finished lunch and got ready, Drew and I left for our Saturday afternoon shopping excursion. Today we were venturing out to Trader Joe's. It was his first time being there and my third. Although, I had never been to this particular location before. I was going there for two specific items- Trader Joe's Sea Salt and Black Pepper Rice Crisps and Trader Joe's Horseradish Hummus. When we finally found the store, I was rather disappointed. They did not have my Horseradish Hummus that I have been craving for a while now. (Thanks for getting me hooked, Shannon!) Nor did they have the Rice Crisps. Grrr! I did buy one container of Red Pepper Hummus. Then we left for Whole Foods! We LOVE Whole Foods! It is an hour away from my house (21.5 miles, I think), thanks to the red lights around Gwinnett Place Mall, but it is so worth it to us. I found everything I was looking for- squash, zucchini, onions, navel oranges, mandarin oranges, cage-free eggs, grapes, chicken breasts, and fajita mix veggies. (I think that is all that we got this trip...oh, and I found a mixed vegetable hummus, too) I have learned to bring a small cooler with ice packs to keep my refrigerated stuff cold. As it turns out, it was an especially good idea, because I decided that I wanted to take Drew to Stevie-B's for dinner on the way back to Loganville. We stopped by Stevie-B's and had pizza. Yes, I broke my generally gluten-free eating plan to have three pieces of Stevie-B's cheese pizza (171 calories per slice). After we ate, Drew wanted to play the "racing car game." So we went into the game room and he attempted to drive the racing simulator game a couple of times. Then we headed out to Kroger before heading home. We usually buy a couple of things from Kroger, but today I went solely for Baby Spinach for salads. Of course, I left with a couple more items.... blue cheese crumbles (possibly my favorite food), Drew's juice (100% fruit and veggie juice- no added sugar, dyes, or preservatives), and a bag of Pop Chips for me to try since my Rice Crisps could not be found today. (I will let you guys know how they are when I try them. Jillian Micheals loves them.) After we got home and unloaded the groceries, Drew jumped in his stroller and he and I went for a walk. I love my walks- especially my walks with Drew! He is so inquisitive about everything he sees and hears and he just likes to chat while I am huffing and puffing his 40 lb body up the hills in his big travel system stroller. (We have a jogging stroller that my parents were so very generous enough to buy for us, but we don't like it very much... the front wheel does not pivot, it pulls to one side, one tire is flat, and Drew does not like to be tilted back while he is riding around. He prefers the big stroller. So I push... hard, sometimes.) When we got home, it was winding down time- bath, Shrek, and bed. So here I sit, blogging for you guys. I hope everyone had a great day today and I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into my life- it was not very typical, lunch and dinner wise. Oh, well! I wish you all a wonderful Easter tomorrow! I am heading to shower and bed! Good night!

Work Time Versus ME Time

One of the biggest lessons that I learned while being laid-off is: I am NOT the job! I work only to pay the bills and put food on the table. After 4:30 p.m. (the time I get off of work), is ME time and I need to use that time to focus on me- my family, friends, and my life's purpose. In my previous job, I felt incredible pressure to "get it all done" within the work day and I would often stay at work late, come in early, and work through lunch to make sure that all work was accomplished during that day. Since getting my new job, I have made it a priority to take ME time. I work hard during my work hours and get everything that I can accomplished in that time. However, when 4:30 p.m. arrives, I am walking out the door. My priority at that time is myself. I need to get home, eat dinner, and get my exercise in, along with see/talk to my family and friends. I love my job, but I love my family, friends, and myself so much more! I have discovered, as many of you have commented, that my attitude is so much different now. I believe that my priority shift has helped greatly. If your priority is work or if work is keeping you busy, mentally or physically, long after your work day has ended, ask yourself why you are wasting your ME time on a job. You deserve to be able to focus on yourself and YOUR goals for a period of time every day. Start today by deciding that you will leave the job at quiting time and spend the rest of the day focusing on yourself and your family and friends. See how much of a difference it will make in your stress level and general outlook on life.

Meals: Before and After

There have been lots of requests to see before and after sample menus. Here you go:


Before April 2010:

• Breakfast: 2 sausage McMuffins with cheese and large sweet tea with light ice



• Lunch: turkey, cheese, sandwich spread or mayo, and spicy mustard on wheat bread; fruit and jello cup; Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips, 4 double stuffed Oreos



• Dinner: two chicken breasts; steam in the bag veggies with cheese sauce; mashed potatoes -or- hamburger helper made with ground turkey



• I would drink tea in the morning and then water or lemonade for the rest of the day. Every now and then I would get a Mountain Dew.

Now:

• Breakfast: Love Grown Foods Apple Walnut Delight - or - Raisin Almond Crunch Granola with So Delicious Coconut Milk



• Snack: fruit and cheese or cashews -or- Greek yogurt with fruit



• Lunch: baby spinach and spring mix salad with diced chicken, onions, reduced fat blue cheese, and extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar dressing and grapes or half of navel orange- or - leftover from night before and grapes or half of navel orange



• Snack: fruit and cheese or cashews - or- hummus and rice chips



• Dinner: one small chicken breast and steamed fresh veggies (no sauce- just sea salt and pepper) -or- salad (see above) -or- quinoa with veggies - or- turkey and veggie meatloaf with fruit



• I only drink water all day. No soda and no alcohol.
  
  

My portion sizes have drastically decreased. My sodium intake has drastically decreased. I do eat other foods and they are generally gluten-free.

I never choose to go to fast food anymore. But if I have to go to fast food, I get a salad with grilled chicken, no croutons, and oil and vinegar dressing or lite Italian dressing. I prefer to go to actual restaurants. Before I go, I research the menu and nutritional information on the internet or on my phone app. Then I usually choose the lowest calorie and sodium choice. Most of the time you are better off getting a small steak and grilled or steamed veggies than you are getting a salad. Just do your research! Contact me if you need extra help with restaurant food choices. I am always willing to help!

Don't Let Stress Stress You Out!!

Our lives are inherently filled with stress of all varieties- good stress, bad stress, horrendous stress! No matter what type of stress it is, it manifests itself within your body in a lot of ways. The most notable ways are PAIN- pain in your muscles and headaches- and weight gain- no matter how little you are eating. Before changing my lifestyle and before being laid-off from my job, I was under a great deal of stress from work. I have recently learned from other people that worked with me (and for me) that my attitude was pretty bad ("mean and grumpy" is what they said). I have apologized for that, because it was certainly not intentional and I honestly didn't realize that people thought that. I also noticed that I "needed" chocolate and Mountain Dew to get through the most stressful days. I am now battling to shake the chocolate and Mountain Dew off of my hips and stomach! The biggest problem with stress is that, if you do not relieve the stress in your muscles through exercise, your body will hold on tight to all of your weight. Your body believes that there is a crisis and it goes into survival mode, not allowing itself to burn any of the fat. This is why a lot of people think that they are "eating right," but they are not losing any weight. Stress also caused me to have headaches and pain in my neck and back. Once I started walking, I discovered that I was able to relieve a great deal of that stress every day after work by "walking it out." Headaches would go away while I was walking and tension in my neck and back would disappear. I believe that is also why I started craving my walks. It would reduce my stress to a level where I could come home and relax before bedtime. Walks are a great time to think and talk to God. Lots of seemingly insurmountable issues have become small pebbles by the end of my walks. I strongly suggest that the next time you are feeling "stressed out," before you take any kind of medication or sit your rear end in a chair, hit the pavement and take a walk. Let me know how you feel when you get back!

How To Build A Puzzle (as taught to a 2 year old)

A couple of weeks ago I bought Drew a Thomas the Train 35 piece puzzle. He was so excited to put it together when we got home. I opened the box, poured out the pieces, and he said, "what do we do now?" I told him to find all of the pieces of Thomas and put Thomas together first. Then work from there to complete the puzzle. He followed my directions and, with a little help, he completed the puzzle in about 5 minutes. I then bought him three more Thomas the Train puzzles and we were putting them together last night using the same strategy. I didn't realize until this morning, when I heard Drew and his daddy putting together the puzzles, that I taught him to put the puzzle together in a completely different way than I had been taught so many years ago. I was always taught to find all of the outside border pieces and put them together first. Then fill in the middle. I think this is a perfect way to illustrate my point about diet versus lifestyle change. A diet comes in a box and has a lot of parameters. You can eat this... You can NOT eat this... You must do this... Everywhere you turn, there are rules and borders. It is very hard to stick to and accomplish long-term change with a diet because you are simply following rules and you can not see how all of the pieces come together to make the picture. However, with a lifestyle change, you start with what you know- yourself- and work out from there. As you grow and learn more about a healthier lifestyle, the picture begins to come into view. There are no borders or parameters other than the ones that you place on yourself. There are thousands of ways to MOVE YOUR BODY, burn calories, and get exercise. Likewise, there are ways to incorporate your favorite treats into a healthy lifestyle. When you are ready, start from the middle and you will build a picture more beautiful than any box could ever present!

Your excuses are killing you!

"I can't exercise because I have a bad knee.... I have a bad shoulder.... I have a bad back." I have said all of these things in the past. While it is true that I have had two knee surgeries, shoulder surgery, back injections and physical therapy (a lot of physical therapy), not to mention the gallbladder surgery and c-section surgery, I will NOT allow those issues to stand in the way of a healthier life. I have watched mouths drop when I begin to tell how many surgeries and injuries I have had over the years. One lady said, "...and you are walking every day??? How?" Well, the short answer is, by putting one foot in front of the other. (Not to be a smart mouth, but it is true, even with pain, slowly you can walk or ride a recumbent bike or do another modified exercise until you rebuild the muscles around the injury site.) The longer answer is, I decided to get my injuries FIXED and not allow them to debilitate me for the rest of my life. I had a doctor tell me that, because of my size, I would have to live with knee pain, injections, and eventually, pretty soon, a full knee replacement. I thought about that for about 5 minutes and I said, "No, I won't!" I then found another doctor and another doctor until I found one that said, "I will go in and see what I can do to fix it." Long story short, it has been FIXED! It has been rehabilitated and it works GREAT! If you are living with injuries or other problems that you have been using as excuses for not moving your body, get them FIXED! If your doctor says you have to live with the issues, get a second and third opinion. My best friend, Jennie, has had back pain for as long as she can remember and knee pain for the last year or so. She finally decided to get it checked out and discovered on a MRI of her back, that she had a volleyball sized tumor in her abdomen. Her doctor decided that taking the tumor out was more important than the knee and back issues and surgery was scheduled. A few hours after her surgery to remove the tumor, she was up and walking around the hospital with me and her husband. I asked if she had any pain and she said, "No, my back pain seems to be gone. But maybe that is because of the pain meds." I am happy to report that she still has no back pain (and no pain meds) and with the exception of fatigue after exercise, no knee pain. The tumor had caused many issues in her body that are all clearing up. You never really know the root of some problems until you have them checked out! Medical science has come a long way and they can really do wonderful things. Sometimes you just have to find the right doctor. I am certainly not saying that someone with a knee or back injury should go walk up Stone Mountain today (although I would LOVE to do that) or walk a 5K anytime soon, but I am saying that you can get up out of your chair, couch, or bed and begin slowly moving your body. Moving your body more and more every day until one day you call me and say, "do you want to go walk up Stone Mountain today and do a 5K with me in two months?" No matter where you are physically, you can begin to move your body and you will be amazed at the fact that the more you ask your body to do, the more it CAN do! Try it! Baby steps is where you start and giant leaps are what you will see when you look back! When you decide that the time is right to change your life, set your mind to focus on your goal and no excuses will stand in your way.

If you don't BUY it, you won't EAT it!

When I started to change my lifestyle to a healthier one, it didn't take me long to discover one simple truth: if I don't buy it, I won't eat it! It is amazing how things, like pizza, have to be eaten when they are in the house, but when they are not in the house, I can do without them. The same concept applies with kids. If you only buy the healthy food and introduce your children to fruits and vegetables at a young age, they will choose to eat the healthier foods. For example, I asked Drew (my 2 1/2 yr old) what he wanted for dinner tonight. His choice was organic no sugar added applesauce, plain green beans, and cheese. He also wanted a plain hotdog (98% fat free turkey dog with no bun), but we were out of them. He likes to eat green beans, corn on the cob, broccoli, and okra (he prefers the okra fried, but when I make it for him I bake them). I love Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and I would LOVE to work with him on the project. It is a subject that is very close to my heart. It amazes me and, quite frankly, frustrates me to watch shows about morbidly obese people who are eating tons of fried, greasy, sugar, and sodium filled foods. The worst part of it is, these people have very little, if any, mobility and the only way that they get the food is that someone brings it to them. I would like 5 minutes alone with the enabling person..... Anyway, when you go to the grocery store it is your chance to make a choice- healthy or not healthy. If you have any type of Little Debbie snack cakes in your house, you have chosen "not healthy." If you are buying the sodium filled microwavable "diet" meals, you have chosen "not healthy." If you have sugar-filled cereals and pastries in your house, you have chosen "not healthy." Even if your kids are "not allowed to have them," they are being taught that it is still ok to eat those things because Mom and Dad eat them. It is up to us, the adults, to help the future generations to make better choices for themselves and their families. I feel like I wasted a lot of years in a huge body, because I just didn't understand what I was doing. I believe that God has given me a purpose to help as many people as I can to turn this epidemic around. Stay tuned for my next Kristy's Korner blog on the Synergize Fat Loss website. It will be grocery store tips! :) Additionally, if you are having issues with grocery store shopping, I will offer to help. I will go shopping with you and show you how to make better choices for yourself. Just let me know if you need me! If anyone can help me connect with Jamie Oliver, I would greatly appreciate it!

"How are you going to count THOSE calories???" My response, "I AM NOT!"

This is not usually a restaurant critique blog, but I feel compelled to talk about my evening! There are times in life when you just need to escape and relax. Tonight I had a wonderful opportunity to do just that with my three best friends from high school. We went to Sip Wine and Tapas in Milton, GA for dinner. It was great! If you have never had tapas before, as Jennie explained it to us, "tapas means little plates." The food is brought in very small portions (usually 2 or 3 bite sized portions) on a small plate and it is meant to share with the others at the table. We began with the Truffle Papas Fritas that were spiced with truffle oil. They were very yummy! Then we tried the Grilled Marinated Shrimp and Andouille. Very tasty! Then we tried the Kobe Beef Sliders and the Artisan Cheese Plate. Very, very good! Starting to feel a little full, we moved to the Pistachio Crusted Scallops and BBQ Pork Tacos. None of the plates allowed you to eat more than 2-3 bites of each thing (since we were sharing each plate with 4 people). Everything we tasted, we loved! Finally, since it was Shannon's birthday and since we had tasted everything else :) , we tried three desserts- Flourless Chocolate Tort, Apple Blackberry Crisp, and the Coconut Chocolate Pie. It was all fabulous! The restaurant has a lot of gluten-free offerings, the kitchen is open to view, and all offerings are cooked to order. All of the food was fresh and vibrant! Although I did not participate in the wine tasting, they do offer a large selection of wines that are apparently pretty yummy as well. The atmosphere was relaxing and the staff members were very attentive. At the end of the dinner, Jennie asked me how I was going to determine my calories and enter them into my phone app. I said, "I am not!" This was a free meal. While I do not think that we ate more than 800 calories each- probably more like 600- I am not worried about it. I had a great time with great friends and we all deserve an evening off! I will get back to the calorie watch tomorrow. If you are looking for a fun evening, I highly suggest checking out Sip Wine and Tapas. While you are there, try the food and don't worry about your calories! Tomorrow is another day!

A Snapshot of My Frig

This is a picture of my refrigerator from April 8, 2011. The lemonade belongs to my husband and the egg salad belongs to my son. Otherwise, I would eat almost everything else in the frig. There is asparagus, squash, zucchini, cheese, green beans, free range eggs, gluten-free chili, organic reduced fat sour cream, my oat cereal, onions, red, orange, and yellow bell peppers, blue cheese crumbles, Greek yogurt, and chicken. The blue pitcher has sweet tea made with Truvia. However, I have weaned myself off of caffeine entirely now, so I don't drink it. My coconut milk is in the small (Drew's) refrigerator. I haven't used butter in a long time, but we do have unsalted butter, just in case we need it. There is also baby spinach behind the sour cream. There are grapes beside the blue cheese crumbles on the bottom shelf.

Thanksgiving Cranberry Salad (serves 2)

Here is one of the recipes that I enjoy quiet frequently! Thanksgiving Cranberry Salad (serves 2):

• 2 3/4 cups Popeye Baby Spinach Salad


• 3 cups Fresh Selections (Kroger brand) Baby Spring Mix Salad


• 1 Tbsp Fresh Gourmet Sliced Almonds Honey Roasted


• 2 Tbsp Fresh Gourmet Cranberries Dried and Sweet


• 1/4 cup Stella Reduced Fat Blue Cheese Crumbles


• 7 slices Chiquita Juicy Green Apple Bites


• 4 Tbsp Naturally Fresh Pomegranate Mixed Berry Vinaigrette (to make it gluten-free, use red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil instead)


• Chop each apple slice into bite size pieces (5-7 pieces per slice).

Add all ingredients together and toss to coat with dressing. Serve immediately. Enjoy! 148 calories per serving!!"

The SCALE! (Read at your own risk!)

I know this is NOT going to be popular with any of my trainer friends, BUT if you have not been where I have been, you will most likely not understand! If you have ever set a goal, you know that you want to be able to assess how close you are to reaching that goal every day. If you see that you are making progress, you are much more likely to continue on your path. However, when it comes to weight loss, all trainers and weight loss "professionals" will tell you that you should ONLY step on the scale one time per week. It should be the same day each week and it should be first thing in the morning after you have urinated and without any clothes on. They tell you this because the scale can fluctuate anywhere between 1-5 lbs a day depending on sodium intake, gluten intake, general water weight, etc. If you are a female, it can also fluctuate 3-5 lbs during the week before your menstrual period begins. Seeing these fluctuations can be disappointing to someone who is trying hard to lose weight... UNLESS YOU UNDERSTAND THEM! If you understand what certain foods will do to your body weight and that drinking more water can make you retain LESS than drinking less water, and your body cycles in general, then you will not be disappointed or frustrated by deviations in the scale. Personally, I am obsessed with the scale... there, I admitted it! I step on the scale multiple times through out the day. Because of that, I know when something I ate had too much sodium in it. I know when I am approaching the week before my menstrual cycle. I know when I have had enough water or when I need more. I know what different foods will do to the numbers on the scale. If you want to know what keeps me motivated, it is the numbers on the scale. I do weigh every morning after urinating and without any clothes on. It is when I weigh the least. Those are the weights that count. The other ones through out the day are ways that I can monitor the results of my food and water intake. I am a "numbers girl." English was NOT my subject, but math and science were my favorites! In order for me to stay motivated and stay on the path, I need to know where I am at any given moment. The scale is my GPS of weight loss. I will tell you, though, if you plan to become obsessed with your scale, like I am, do your research. Get a good scale that does not only show you weight, but also water percentage, BMI, and body fat percentage. Those numbers are extremely important. Google them and find out why. Do your research! You are important enough to take the time to research the science of your body. Trust me, it is FASCINATING!

Celebrate the small stuff!

As I mentioned in Week 2- DON'T GIVE UP!, we celebrate everything in my house. Those who know me well, know that is not a totally new concept for me. (We used to have full-on parties for everything we could think of.) Now that we are older and we have a son, we have transformed what we mean by celebrate. With Drew, we have started "celebrating" all of the positive things that he does and all of his accomplishments. Unless it is a physically dangerous situation, I always try to praise Drew for what he is trying to do (which normally is "helping"), before I tell him "No" or explain why he can't/shouldn't do what his is trying to do. For example, every time he hears me at the refrigerator refilling my cup with ice and water, he runs over and grabs the bottom of the cup. Instead of yelling "No!" (which was, of course, my first instinct), I take a sturdier hold on my cup and thank him for helping. I have realized that usually he is trying to do something good, but he may be going about it in a way that a parent would normally not allow. Every since he could walk, if his milk cup was empty, he would go to his refrigerator and get the gallon of milk and lug it, as best he could, to where ever I was so that I could refill his cup. At first glance, you think this 13 month old is going to pour milk all over the living room, but because I never hollered at him for bringing the milk jug to me, he has never tried to open it himself. I just refill his cup and say, "Thank you" and he teeters back to the refrigerator and puts the jug back. More than dealing with Drew, this has also translated into my weight loss. The day I was laid-off, I remember walking down the hallway at work and noticing that for the first time in a LONG time, I could see my feet! My belly was no longer obscuring the view. I was so happy and I remember, when I was talking to my aunt on the phone that night, while I was riding my bike and trying to reframe my situation, I mentioned to her that I could see my feet! She celebrated with me for a second. It was great to have something positive to celebrate in a situation that seemed so negative in the moment. Every time I lose a pound or even a fraction of a pound (my scale goes to tenths), I have a private celebration for myself in the bathroom! When I hit certain milestones, I celebrate by telling all of my family and friends on Facebook and they celebrate with me. I still celebrate every time I have to buy a smaller clothing size or bra size. It is the small celebrations that make it easy to keep going! We still celebrate all of the big things, like birthdays, around here too, of course! We just keep all of the unhealthy eating out of the small celebrations. What do I mean by "celebrate?" Celebrate to me means recognizing the event. When you have lost a pound or a half of a pound on the scale, stop and congratulate yourself. SMILE!! Be proud of all of your hard work! You deserve recognition, if only by yourself. You did this and you can continue to do whatever you set your mind to. Break down your big goals into small attainable goals and start achieving them! When a co-worker (and dear friend), who had been telling me that she could not walk down stairs, walked down two flights of stairs in the parking deck one day, I stopped my car, rolled down the window and yelled "did you just walk down the stairs??" She said, "Yes!" I clapped and told her how proud I was of her. She had no way of knowing that I had seen her walking down those stairs, but I know it must have felt good to celebrate that milestone. I smiled for hours after getting to witness that. She continued to walk down the stairs and even added the stairs inside of the courthouse. I continued to celebrate with her every time I witnessed her accomplishing another positive fitness goal. Celebrate each and every achievement, even if you just say, "Way to go me!!!" However, I would prefer if you allow me to celebrate those small achievements with you. :) Let me know how you are doing on your goals and I will celebrate!!

Live your life in COLOR!

A year ago, my closet and drawers consisted mainly of black, gray, and blue clothing. Today my closet and drawers are bursting with color! I have lots of purple, pink, red, orange, and green, in addition to my black, gray, and blue. When I started thinking about why my color pallet has changed so much, I realized that it has to do with my outlook on life. It starts with my core belief: Everything happens for a reason. The good, the bad, and the in between are all happenings in our lives for a reason. I believe that God is guiding my life in a direction and the trials and tribulations that I endure along the way are here to teach me something or provide some part of my character that I will need to use down the road. I believe that was true with my miscarriage, the death of my grandparents, the death of my car and subsequently Richard's car, my near-death experience with Preeclampsia when I had Drew, getting laid-off from my job, my mother's breast cancer, and the list goes on and on. I have been through a lot in the last 6 or 7 years and I have learned a valuable lesson or have been able to grow from each experience. I also believe that everything in life turns out better when you look at the positive side. When my mom and my best friend's mom went through their breast cancer treatments, I told them to, not look at it as a death sentence or "I might die from this," but look at it like you would a broken leg. I have a broken leg and these are the steps I need to take to fix it. I believe that the positive attitude, that both wonderful ladies maintained during their treatments, led to the treatments being much less painful and debilitating than they would have been if they had allowed themselves to dwell on the negativity of the situation. Both are cancer free and doing well! When I woke up on a ventilator after having Drew, I was happy to be on the ventilator because I felt so much better. At that moment, I decided that I would have the same type of outlook with my condition. "I have a very weak heart and very high blood pressure and my lungs are full of fluid. What steps do I need to complete to get better and get out of here so that I can see my brand new baby??" I kept a positive attitude through out my 6 day stay in ICU and "remarkably," according to the doctors, managed to recover fully! My lungs are perfect! My blood pressure is under control without blood pressure medication! My heart is at above normal functioning! Positivity can pull you through the toughest of situations. When I have something happen to me or a loved one now I try to reframe the situation and focus on the positive. For example, when I got laid-off, after the initial shock wore off, I reframed the situation and said, "Now I get to spend the summer with my son! I am going to have a great summer!" When a friend found out that her son was diagnosed with autism, I said, "Autistic people are brilliant people! You just have to find his awesome talent and help it blossom!" Yes, there are struggles in your life, but it can be as good or as bad as you make it! See the positive and bring your life into full COLOR!

When I want to eat something, I EAT IT!

I hear this from people all time, "I know it so hard, but keep up the good work!" I have to be honest... it is NOT hard! It is not hard for me, because I am NOT on a "diet." I have changed the way I see food. Food is fuel for my body. My body is a high performance machine. Therefore, I only need to use the best fuel for my high performance machine. Just like in a motor vehicle, if you put junk in, it will gum up the engine and the vehicle will not perform up to standards (and will eventually die). High calorie and high sugar foods make me feel terrible. Therefore, I do not choose to eat them on a regular basis. However, I am not depriving myself of anything and I do eat what I want. So, if I am at a birthday party and I want a piece of cake, I eat a small piece of cake. If I am out with friends at a restaurant and I decide to share wings with my best friend, I eat 6-8 wings with blue cheese dressing. If I decide that I want pizza, I order pizza and I eat 1-2 pieces of pizza. The trick is portion control and making sure that you hold yourself accountable for every calorie that you consume. In other words, I record what I ate on my phone app and plan my exercise for the day to burn those added calories. Simple math... calories in need to equal calories out to not gain any weight. If calories in are less than calories out (but you ate at least the amount of calories that your body needs every day- See Week 2-Don't Give Up! ), you will lose weight! Conversely, if calories in are more than calories out,... yep, you gain weight! See, you have it! I do not eat cake, pizza, or wings on a weekly or even monthly basis. They are treats for me. I use the treats sparingly. If I have a tough day, like this past Monday for example, I may eat 2 or 3 of my Dove dark chocolate miniatures. They give me pick-me-up that I need, I am eating "chocolate" (something just about every girl wants when her day is going crazy), and it is only 210 calories for 5 candies. For everyone who is struggling on a "diet," whether it is a points counting diet, a specific meal plan diet, etc, it will not work as long as you see it as a "diet." A "diet" presupposes that there is a date when you will be "OFF of the diet." When you are finally "off of the diet," you will begin to eat the same junk food that you were eating when you got to the weight that you were at before. Before you know it, you will be back there and beyond. Trust me, I know! I was there! You have to make a lifestyle change and change the way you see food. Then stop depriving yourself! You can do this! Go!

Week 2- DON'T GIVE UP!!!

So, you decided to change your life and you are starting with your food and exercise. Week 1, you take my advice and get a phone app or website to help you know how many calories you should be eating and help you track your calories consumed and calories burned. You start eating fresh or frozen whole foods with no preservatives or chemicals and you are closely watching your sodium and sugar intake. You also start moving your body more than you ever have and you are 7 days into your new "exercise" routine. You weigh yourself and notice... I lost 8 pounds!!!! YIPPEE!!! Celebrate! (I am sure at some point I will blog about "celebrating the small stuff," but for now, just know that we celebrate everything around here!!) You are off and running into week 2! At this point, you become one of two types of people. One eats a lot less calories than the app or website tells you to because you think "if I lost 8 pounds eating 1300 calories a day, I will lose 15 pounds eating 800 calories a day." We will call you Person A. The other continues to follow the recommended caloric intake and continues on the same exercise plan. We will call you Person B. At the end of the week, Person A weighs in and gained 1 lb! Person B weighs in and loses 1 lb. They are both very upset and return to me to let me know that the "Kristy plan" is not working. After asking Person A how many calories they ate and how many calories they burned each day, I explain to Person A that they have put their body into starvation mode. The 1300 calories, that the app or website told you to eat based on the questions that you answered about your lifestyle, are the calories that your body burns going about your regular day, without any additional activity. Your body NEEDS these calories. When your body does not get the amount of calories that it needs, it begins to believe that some type of tragedy has happened and you are starving. At that point, your body does not trust that it will receive the food it needs to survive and it will hold on to all of the fat that it possibly can. I explain to Person A that week 2 is always lower in the losing category than week 1, but you need to bulk up your calories and continue on your path. Week 3 will be better! Then I turn to Person B. I explain to Person B that the difference between week 1 and week 2 is that in week 1, because you are watching your sodium and sugar, you are losing a lot of initial water weight that the sodium has made you retain all of these years. If you were a big soda drinker, even diet sodas, and you cut them out in week 1, you have also lost what I call "soda weight." Soda weight is the beginning of the excess weight that you have put on from either the high amount of sugar in the regular soda or from eating the food that the artificial sugars in the diet sodas makes you crave. Once the initial water weight and any "soda weight" is gone in week 1, you are beginning to work on your body and actual fat cells. Week 2 is always lower than week 1. It is expected! So many people tend to get excited about week 1 and run into the end of week 2 with a huge disappointment. Don't get down on yourself and do not give up! Just continue on your path, Person B. Weeks 3 and 4 will be better! Keep up your hard work and the benefits will begin to show!

"Healthy food is too expensive. My budget can't handle it."

"Healthy food is too expensive. My budget can't handle it." I can't tell you how many times I have heard this and it is simply not true. While the price of a salad may be more than the price of a double cheeseburger at fast food restaurants, the price of healthy food at the grocery store (if you watch your portion sizes) is not much more (if it is more at all). Since I started watching my calories and eliminating processed foods from my diet, I have noticed that I do not choose to go to fast food restaurants. If I have to eat out, I would prefer a sit down restaurant where they have more healthy choices and fresher foods. However, I don't eat out much at all. A great way to save money is to bring your lunch to work and eat at home as much as possible. Once I began eliminating the processed foods and fast foods, I noticed a huge improvement in the way I felt. "Why is healthy food so important to me now??" When I started looking at the high number of people that I know who have been diagnosed with issues such as cancer, diabetes, Attention Deficet Disorders- all issues that were no where close to being as prevelant 10 or 15 years ago, as they are now, I started to wonder why that is.... I believe it has to do with our food choices! I believe that our nation, as a whole, has sought the "quick fix" for everything, including our food. Emphasis has been taken off of what we are eating and how important the choice of food is to our bodies and has been placed on "how fast can I get this done and move on to the next thing on my To Do list." We have strayed away from cooking a nutritious meal from real foods and we seek the meal-in-a-box that can be thrown in the microwave. If you spend 5 minutes looking into the nutritional values associated with microwavable and other boxed meals- even those that are labeled as healthy diet foods- you will notice that the calories, sodium, and sugar are far higher in the small portion of food that is contained in that box than would be in a whole meal cooked from scratch using whole real foods. Additionally, when I used to eat those boxed meals, I would still be hungry and have to eat one or two other things to feel full- packing on the calories. You will also notice that the ingredients inside of that boxed meal are, for the most part, unrecognizable. They do not even resemble any food source that is raised on a farm or grown from the ground. Most of the ingredients are chemicals or a genetically modified food (soy and corn are the most genetically modified (GMO) foods in the USA). I believe that these chemicals and GMO foods are directly contributing to the higher incidents of disease and disorders in our society. For these reasons, I decided that my family and I would begin eating pure whole foods that I can recognize as having been raised on a farm or grown from the ground and that do not include added preservatives and chemicals. I mainly shop only the outside aisles of Kroger or Walmart and buy organic as much as I can. If there is any way to reduce the risk of my son, my husband, or myself contracting a deadly disease or disorder, I want to know that I did everything I could to reduce it.

Your eyes want it, but does your stomach NEED it???

At the end of August 2010, as my 34th birthday loomed, I decided to upgrade my cellphone and, once I did, I discovered the joy of cellphone applications! I found one to track my walking through GPS, accurately tracking my distance and speed, and one to easily find nutritional information on most all of the chain restaurants. Most importantly, I found an app to use to track my calories consumed and my calories burned. This app opened my eyes almost as much as the movies Food, Inc and Super Size Me. (If you haven't seen these movies, I highly suggest that you check them out...WOW! You can rent them from Netflix or any other movies rental place.) I am definitely more of a logical and analytical person and sometimes I need to be able to see things in black and white to get the point. This app certainly helped with that. I had already started reading all of the nutritional labels on foods at the grocery store, before I decided which products to purchase. I had also been keeping up with my calories, as much as possible, in my head. I was losing weight, so I must have been doing a pretty good job, but the app made it all so much easier. While paying close attention to my portion size, I began HONESTLY (that is important) and more accurately accounting for all of the calories that I consumed in a day. When I measured or counted out a "portion" of a certain product, it was often shocking how small of an amount that "portion" actually was. The amount that I would have eaten before I started HONESTLY tracking my calories, would have been 3-4 times the size of one portion and I would have counted it as "one portion" when figuring out how many calories I had eaten. My eyes had been trained in today's society to believe that more is better and that "one portion" should almost fill the drastically oversized plates that are used in so many homes and restaurants. My eyes were WRONG! More is not better. In fact, when I began eating the correct portion sizes, I noticed that I wasn't feeling overly stuffed when I was done eating and I just generally felt better.

No matter what happens, stay the course!

On June 17, 2010, I was told that my position was being eliminated and I was laid-off from my job of 10 years. While a thousand things were flying through my mind and after a couple of hours (yes, hours!) of riding my stationary bike, I made a decision to be positive. My faith in God told me that there was a reason for this seemingly bad situation and God would provide for me and my family. I wasn't sure.... didn't even have a clue as to how we were going to survive financially until I was able to find another job, but I trusted that it would all work out for the best. As it turns out, being laid-off was a HUGE blessing! I was able to spend the summer and fall with Drew. We had a blast! My parents had given us a year long pass to Zoo Atlanta the previous Christmas and we used it. Drew and I also frequented our neighborhood swimming pool. And we had some very good quality time with Richard. (If you aren't familiar with our schedules, he and I work almost opposite schedules and rarely get to see each other in the light of day during the week.) At that point, the Georgia heat was setting in and it was getting too hot to walk outside. Luckily, about 5 years ago, a friend offered to let me borrow her recumbent stationary bike, that was just sitting in storage, to rehab my knee. I never really used it and it was just sitting in our office taking up space. Once it became evident that I couldn't breathe to walk in 90+ degree temperatures, I discovered my LOVE for the bike. I hauled it out of the office and into the living room, where I could watch tv and ride, while keeping an eye on Drew. It has been the best thing to have! I could ride anytime... in the middle of the night, early morning, during Drew's naps... anytime! As soon as the temperature started being less than 80 degrees in the mornings, I started getting up and going for a walk by myself before the heat of the day set in. I loved walking early in the morning! It allowed me to see nature and listen to the birds. I used my walks to talk to God and sort out where my life was headed. Since I had been working from the time I was a senior in high school, I was always on the go and never really stopped to smell the flowers or appreciate the dew on the grass or the beautiful sounds of nature. My walks brought me so much closer to God and allowed me to appreciate all of the splender of His creations. I decided that, no matter what happened job wise, I would try to instill a need and obligation in my son to always be thankful for what you have and "give back" as much as possible.

Exercise can be addictive...(believe it or not!)

When I got home from work the Monday after we completed The Promise Walk 5K, I wanted to get outside and walk. I had built a routine over the last month- coming home from work, walking, eating dinner, etc. So, I put on my walking clothes and tennis shoes and I went. Every day I went for a walk after work. I walked when the weather was gorgeous and I walked when it was raining outside. I walked... and I loved it! I also bought a scale that was a little more fancy then the one I had and could more accurately measure my hefty weight. The scale also measured body fat percentage, bone mass, body water percentage, and Body Mass Index (BMI). As soon as I got home, I opened the scale, programed my information (age and height) into the scale and stepped on.... I had lost almost 15 pounds. I was so excited that my walking alone had caused such a change on the scale. I had also noticed that my energy level was significantly higher than it had been just a month before. I was able to chase and play with my one and half year old son much easier. I continued walking every day and my clothes started gradually getting bigger. The wheels in my head started turning... if I could lose this much weight just by walking every day, what could I do if I started watching my calories....

The beginning...

I began my journey to change my life, not because I was unhappy with anything in my life (in fact, I was very happy with my life), but because I didn't want to look incredibly out of shape and embarrass myself at The 1st Annual Promise Walk 5K for Preeclampsia. It had nothing to do with weight loss or changing my eating habits. If you had asked me about my eating habits in March or April of 2010, I would have told you that I DO eat healthy- mainly just chicken, turkey, veggies, and no fried foods. I thought I was doing well for myself and I thought I was beautiful, all 335 lbs of me. At the end of March 2010, my dear friend, Michelle asked me if I would consider participating in The 1st Annual Promise Walk 5K for Preeclampsia with her. Since we had both recently suffered with Preeclampsia (read our stories here), without any thought at all, I said, "YES!" Once she left that day, it hit me that I had not really exercised in.... well, forever. Had the walk been that day, I would have definitely done it, but it would have been very difficult. So I recruited my husband and he and I started walking... EVERY DAY. We only had a month to get ready for the 5K (3.1 miles) walk. We started small (less than a mile per day) and gradually added more to the walk every couple of days. When May 8, 2010 arrived, we were ready (for the most part). I wasn't quite prepared for the hills that were on the walking course, but my brother-in-law, Marc, graciously offered to push my son's stroller for me so that I could just haul myself up the hills. There was an option to stop at the 2.5K mark, but I completed the whole 5K (and I was not at the back of the pack)! It felt great! Check out our pictures here!