Giant victories.

I have lost my goal weight of 65lbs. 5 months and a ton of hard work, and I got there! I set another goal to get to my ideal weight, and that is less than 40 lbs away. I am stronger, I am smaller, I am more toned. I have more stamina and more energy. I feel amazing! I went from a size 24 in 3/4x tops, down to a 14/16 waist and l/xl tops.
Before Picture

"During" picture, since I am still working for it.

Little Victories

I have a now lost 32 lbs! It is amazing that I have been able to accomplish this! I went from not being able to walk up the stairs without being out of breath, to walking 4-5km a day! Stationary biking 10km, and so much more. My strength is amazing, I can run up an down the stairs without running out of breath, hold my daughter without being winded, stand on my toes without my planters fasciitis acting up. I can squat down or sit on my knees without falling or hurting. My biggest little victories to date are seeing my toes and fitting into a winter coat that I got 2 years ago that was to tight to wear, slimming down 2 pant sizes and watching my back fat disappear. I still have a ways to go, and have hit my first weight plateau, but I am not scared. I have gained muscle and I know that gaining muscle will make my weight stay steady until it kicks up again. I feel great and am so proud of myself for what I have accomplished thus far. Keeping it up!

You'll Never Finish If You Don't Start!- My Accountability

In the last 6 weeks, I have lost 24 lbs! I am very proud of myself. I am obese and have been since I was 5 years old. Between 2008 and 2013 I gained 80 lbs. I had help of course, with 3 pregnancies, sharing food with the toddlers...But it was always my decision to eat what I did. I had a very poor diet filled mostly with fast food, eating it at least 4 times a week, if not more some weeks. It was disgusting, but it was an addiction, it was all my brain wanted. I was extremely sedentary, I sat down at the computer day in and day out and ate, always unhealthy foods while wasting my mind away on the computer. I ate chips and cookies, entire boxes of crackers, the kids Halloween candy...It was getting very very out of hand. I never could stop though. I then became addicted to soda pop, drinking 1-2 litres of cola a day.

What changed?
Around the end of September, I ended up in the hospital for severe stomach pain and was diagnosed with esophagitis and an ulcer. I had been taking anti-inflammatory NSAIDS, twice daily, for nearly a year for my back pain, drinking carbonated beverages all day through out the day every day. I ate greasy crap foods...No wonder I had this ulcer and this inflammation. I was put on some proton-pump inhibitors, and amazingly it go rid of the pain...Which meant I could eat, and drink pop without the effects of the burning sensation in my upper stomach. I stopped taking them at the beginning of December, and glory be, I was in worse pain then I was in September. I said to myself, and to my husband, that's it! No more pop, its killing me. And out it went. I started to drink water, and only water. Still we were eating junk and nothing was changing. I was so tired running around with the kids, I couldn't even fold laundry because it made me so tired. My heart would pound nearly through my chest when i would run up the stairs. I felt sick to my stomach and had pain in my knees and hips and arms all the time, so much that it became a regular part of life. One night, a few days before Christmas my brain just snapped. I started researching things like weight loss pills, and detox diets, but it was all ridiculously expensive and I was in no shape to starve myself. I couldn't even fathom charting what I ate, I always ended up very embarrassed by the result. I was an addict and I either needed desperate help or needed to change my way of thinking and do this the right way. I didn't want it to be a new years resolution, because who ever sticks to those? I made Christmas day my "last meal". The last day I could eat whatever I wanted and as much as i wanted, because it was gooood food. Turkey, mashed potatoes, broccoli and cheese sauce, buttered buns, cookies, candies, bars. And I did. I had my last hurrah. The next day I gave my husband all the junkfood, either hide it or get rid of it, I don't want the temptation. It was hard at first, the first week I still ate quite a lot. I then stumbled across Myfitnesspal.com, and they have a free calorie counter on there, so I tracked my calories for the day and realized, my goodness, even thought I thought I took all the unhealthy things out of my diet, I am still eating a ridiculous amount of calories! I think the first day I logged about 2800. Yikes. I changed things, switched them out for healthier items, white bread became brown, taco wraps became lettuce wraps, chips became cucumbers, Italian dressing became balsamic vinaigrette. It took me 3 weeks to change the way I ate. To look down on the bad foods and up on the good. To realize that if I paid attention to the "per serving" in the label, then I could eat more without out eating more. One third of a cucumber and calorie wise balsamic dressing was only 50 calories! And it was an entire bowl full, that filled me and satisfied me. Once I did that the weight started to melt off. I added in walking. I walk my son to his school bus stop daily, so there was 20 mins out of my day I already used for exercise, and his bus stop is right on a city pathway, so I started to walk. After I his bus would pick him up, I would turn around and keep going, starting with 30 mins a day, or every other day. Then my husband brought my exercise bike back into the livingroom from the dusty spare bedroom. And I sat on that for 15 mins every few days.

2 months later, I eat better, I can think straight, I can concentrate, I don't feel sick all the time, I can breath when I run up the stairs. I can do 25 mins on the bike, I can now do a slow jog when walk. I can play with my kids. I can eat enough to satisfy me instead of gorging or grazing all day. I know I have a long way to go, but it's a start, and I see the difference, and am incredibly happy to see results and very proud of myself. I am happier then I have been for years, and this has done nothing but improve my life. So I will continue. For me.

Dec 26, 2013 - Feb 2, 2014- 24 lbs and 10 inches lost. Goal 65 lbs.
My Inspiration; My kids, my brothers, my bffs (hubby included), Aaron Goodwin.

2014?! Where did all the time go?!

Wow, I cannot believe it is 2014 already! This year hubby and I celebrate 10 years together. I am amazed we have made it this far together. Our road has been bumpy, but it has always been happy and full of love.

Kayla is now 20 months old. In just 4 short months, she will be 2. It is hard to believe what we have been through to get her here and she is perfectly healthy. She still has her bicuspid aortic valve, but for the time being, she has adjusted to it and doesn't need to see her cardiologist until she is 4 years old. She is rarely sick and is always happy. She is amazing. To watch her grow and thrive and learn, it is such a great experience. She has started to talk more, she copies words and gets her point through now. She is funny, has a great sense of humor.

Isaac is going in to his second semester of Kindergarten tomorrow. He does so well in school. He was recently diagnosed with ADHD and ODD, but it really hasn't been an issue for a few months. He turned 5 as well in November. He is such a bright child, good at math, funny, loves to draw and sing and play. His favorite subject in school is music, and he is learning to read.

The year had been hard but had been good to us. I am so blessed to have these two amazing children.