So, today I made the decision to take care of my health…
For the past 8 months I have changed my diet with the help of my amazing friend and health coach Nancy.
When I first embarked on a healthy journey, I did it because the truth was after I had the baby I was so busy between the two kids and work that I stopped taking care of myself.
During the first two years after the baby was born I completely neglected myself. I wanted to go back to school; I wanted to have energy to do fun things with the kids. However, all I did was fill my days full of to do lists that and goals for in which I never accomplished.
Funny thing is I didn’t even watch TV during those two years, I don’t know where my time went. If I had any minute in my day I spent looking at Pinterest and wishing I had energy to do any of those cute things, or to complete anything other than kid related or work related.
I was blessed enough that my husband worked long hours during those two years so whenever he was home I spent the time talking to him. Our marriage was not affected by those two years; in fact it was stronger since he kept motivating me to find things that made me happy.
Trust me the kids made me happy, work made me happy. I just lost myself between those two for a little bit…
So, one day I decided I had enough. It was time. I had to take care of myself and so my journey began…
I started eating right and through that I discovered a few things about myself that made me really upset….
- Whenever I was upset and I would eat…
- Whenever I had lost control over a situation I would open my drawer stacked with sweets and I would eat….
- Whenever I was frustrated I would eat…
The truth was I ate whenever I wasn’t in control and I realized that happened more often than not….
I needed to control my lack of control and that was so scary….
I had to learn how to deal with my emotions. I think I was hiding my frustration, my exhaustion, and my fears into my eating.
Just so you have a clear picture.
I used to weight 140 lbs. when I got married.
I got pregnant a few years later and at the end of my pregnancy I weighed 180 lbs.
After the first baby I never lost the pounds. I mean I would lose 10 and gain 10 I became a yo-yo.
When I got pregnant the second time I weighed 180 lbs.
At the end of my pregnancy I was 240 lbs. I was huge and I started to feel pain everywhere.
When the baby was 18 months that is when I decided to change. I was weighing pretty much 196 lbs.
My body was ache; I had no energy to run around with the kids.
So I started my healthy journey (no I am not selling anything and if you want to talk to a health coach I can connect you with one but it won’t be me).
The first few days I felt yuck. I didn’t like the fact that I had to eat something pre-planned every 3 hours.
Trust me there was a lot of food to be eaten but none were “good” to my taste and I hated that.
I hated that even my food was being regulated by external forces and I lost control of that too.
I emptied my chocolate stash… Whenever I got frustrated and reached for it and it was gone it was all gone. I became angry with myself.
I was angry because I couldn’t hide from reality anymore. I had to “deal” with emotions; I had to “deal” with failures.
It was a rough path there for a while; but in the meantime I gained confidence.
I learned how to “deal” with things.
The pounds started to leave my body and by month 4 I had reached my personal goal of 160 lbs.
Even though my BMI was still saying I was overweight I felt good, I actually felt really good for the first time.
I would come home and play in the playground with the kids, climbing steps, swinging, I would find activities for us to do on the weekends, we started going on longer walks.
As a family we started eating really well…. My friends, I am proud to say my kids absolutely love to eat fruits and veggies…. They like their pasta, but they don’t really eat hot dogs or hamburgers… They eat a pretty healthy diet, and to my Brazilian friends, I do make rice and beans but they don’t really like rice. Go figure…
They rather eat a plate of green beans with apples than chicken nuggets.
Anyways, I started to feel good and when mom feels good the family is healthier.
It has been 8 months since my journey began. Yes, I started January 1st.
I am proud to say that I now weigh 159 lbs. I haven’t gained any of the pounds back even with the stress of having to resign from my job to move, even after living off my suitcase for almost 5 weeks now.
I feel good and I am telling you about my journey for two reasons.
1- if I can do it so can you… Trust me, I am stubborn as they come…. If you ever thought about starting something for yourself, I want to remind you that YOU CAN DO IT….
2- I am telling you this for accountability purposes… In the last few weeks I went out and bought myself some chocolate and I found myself snacking on it in the afternoon and I realized that I started to cheat myself again.
I don’t want to be where I was 8 months ago… I figured if I told others I would have to be accountable for my actions…
Trust me I started this journey not because of anyone else. I started this journey because I wanted to be healthier for my kids and my husband…. I wanted to be healthier for me… I wanted to have energy to go and explore the world… I wanted to have energy to accomplish my goals…. I am doing this for me…
Thank you for listening to my confession and help me stay accountable.
If you would like to start a new journey for yourself and need help getting started please reach out…
I would love to connect you with people who will help inspire you to achieve those goals….
If you think my story can inspire someone in your life please share it with them!
With love,
Raquel
