My Journey Thus Far....part 2

In November of 2011, I attended a friend's  wedding (photographed on the left).  All smiles right?  What you don't know was that I agonized with what to wear to this wedding.  It stressed me out so much because it was SO difficult finding something that would fit me.  I just felt so frustrated with constantly struggling with this same issue all the time.  I always looked for something that would be flattering, but would also help camouflage my problem areas.  I knew it had to be something stretchy, loose and/or have big prints on it.  Or if not, it had to be all dark colors.  I hated having this constant stressor whenever I needed to attend a party.




 Not being able to wear what I want to wear, plus having some serious health issues finally pushed me to make a real change in my lifestyle.  Two weeks after the wedding, I felt some chest pains that I had never before felt.   I've felt chest pains here and there in the past but nothing like this.  This time it was much stronger.  I placed my hands on my chest and I couldn't move because the pain was unbearable.  Actually I couldn't move also because I was terrified for my life.

Luckily, I ended up being ok.  But I knew that if I didn't make changes, I will not live long enough to see my girls grow into beautiful young ladies.  Also, I realized that I was paving an unhealthy lifestyle for them as well.  I sat for a moment, taking everything in and I literally told myself ''enough is enough".  I had to just stop with all of the excuses and make a change for myself and my family.  If I didn't, no one else was going to do it.

my husband and I

I took it upon myself to clear all the cupboards and refrigerator of all things unhealthy and start completely over, from scratch.  It was pretty drastic, but I was feeling dramatic and motivated after that scare.  I had to devise a plan to get my husband on board  with me as well though because while I was feeling super motivated to start eating healthy, he was not.  So I made him a deal.  I would prepare all of our meals--breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks--for the next two weeks just to try to see if it would be something he can enjoy and be satisfied with.  He wouldn't have to lift a finger in the kitchen if he would just stick to what I gave him.  Just two weeks.  He agreed to the plan.  Having this goal of having something to prove to someone kept me motivated for the two weeks.  The thought of successfully breaking the cycle of eating unhealthy when it comes to my children also kept me motivated.

Left: July 2009 Right: March 2013

After the two weeks passed, my husband and I both realized that:
-we lost a little bit of weight
-we didn't feel as tired or sluggish
-we had more energy
-we felt satiated after every meal but didn't feel disgustingly full and sick to our stomachs

Just knowing how this felt like motivated me to keep going.  It was like a feeling I didn't want to lose.  And it was this feeling that helped motivate me to do a ton of research on healthy eating and practicing it to a point where it is now second nature.  There is a learning curve and do not get me wrong, I don't eat clean every single day of my life.  But life is all about learning and adjusting, making mistakes and then getting back up and trying again.  Just hang in there.

We have since made significant changes to our diets like eliminating white rice completely and changing our cooking methods to grilling/baking from frying.  I will discuss all of this in a different post.