It's been a tough few years losing this weight but I'm within 5 pounds of my goal!
Well first, let me give you some background info.
We all gain weight because of different reasons. For some of us it's because of a health issue. For others it's because of depression or some life altering event. And for some it's just because of bad eating habits and we've let it all get out of control. For me, all these reasons were a factor in my life. I managed to eat myself into a place where I weighed 30-35 pounds over my normal weight. I had some life altering events and depression that precipitated this over eating and you can check that out on this blog here. http://myjourneyfromspiritualabuse.blogspot.com/ I also didn't know that I had a health issue that caused my hormones to be crazy, out of wack, and that it would make it so terribly hard for me to lose weight. My health issue was endometriosis.
So let me share with you how I've managed to lose those stubborn pounds and the reason I'm so very excited right now!
After I left my former church in October 2009 (life altering event and cause of depression...see other blog) by May 2010 I was getting quite heavy and started working out like crazy and I was doing a very restrictive calorie diet. It was 1200 calories or less and I was doing one of Jillian Michaels workout videos daily. It didn't help much! I lost a few pounds and I was losing some inches but I was still depressed and it was just unsustainable. If I ate a brownie, I'd gain 2 pounds. I was starving myself daily and I wasn't losing weight. I was miserable. So then I kinda gave up. After months of striving I wasn't getting anywhere.
So by Feb 2011 I was the largest I have ever been in my life. I have no idea how large I was size wise because I wouldn't go shopping and lived in my yoga pants and only ever wore flowing skirts. I had a few size 12 items I would squeeze into but they were not flattering in the least! I just know that my bust and butt were the same size or bigger than when I was 9 months pregnant and I weighed the same size! Now that's depressing! So I'd say that's when my weight loss journey really began because I got fed up!
I was so tired all the time, I was hurting all the time and going out of the house was so awful because I didn't have anything that would fit me.
So then I started doing research and figured I might have an issue with endometriosis (5 miscarriages is kinda a clue). Well I stumbled upon progesterone cream! I tried that! It worked with my hormones and I was feeling much more like myself so the depression was lifting! It also helped me lose a few pounds. Not many, but I got down about 5-8 pounds. It was a start anyway!
Then in August 2011 I was doing more research and came across the "Endo diet". That helped mostly with managing my pain. It consisted of no wheat, dairy, red meat or soy. It helped to stabilize my weight a little so I wouldn't gain 2 pounds with each brownie or cheat day! So for a while I kept hovering between 165-170. In Feb 2012 I had surgery and it was a confirmed diagnosis of endometriosis.
Well in October of 2012 I decided that I'd yo-yoed enough and that I'd get a gym membership. I did that for six months. In the first two months I lost 10 pounds. So I was sitting at 160. I worked out 5 days a week and I was so sick almost the entire time! I caught every virus from the gym!
I never got past that 160 mark the entire time I worked out and immediately gained back 5 pounds after my 6 month membership ended.
So then in April of this year my Pastors wife talked to me about what she was learning because of her diabetes and we agreed we would go on a low carb diet. The more research I did the more I saw how people with endometriosis were using the ketogenic diet to help them lose weight and stabilize their glucose levels. Most people don't know that glucose spikes actually cause spikes in estrogen production and that increase causes endometrium to grow! Since my surgery, I'm doing all I can to avoid another one!
So, from April to August I had lost another 10 pounds. So I was hovering around 155 but couldn't manage to get past that point. UNTIL NOW!!!!!
Something changed. I started taking something that made the difference. What it does is reduce oxidative stress by an average of 40% in 30 days. Most people have no clue what oxidative stress is so do some research if you want to know.
I don't know why this is working for me. Obviously I had some kind of underlying issue that this pill is helping me with because since October 29th I've lost 10 pounds! Now I have to confess I could have probably lost more if I hadn't spent so many days overindulging because of Thanksgiving and our anniversary. I have to confess too that I've only worked out 4 days this past month. I spent about only 25 minutes on my exercise bike when I did. So as you can believe I've been completely shocked by this. I'm not working out like a mad woman. I am still trying to do my ketogenic diet (I've been very, very, very bad though this month) because it is still good for the endometriosis thing, but I've upped my carb intake and I'm not as restrictive as I have been in the past. I've added some more "carby" veggies and legumes to my diet and I'm still losing weight! It's like my metabolism just decided to turn itself on after years of inactivity!
So what's my weight now?????
145!!!!!!
I'm only 5 pounds away from my goal and previous weight of 140! So I'm ecstatic!
So I won't spill the beans about what helped me because I want you, reader, to watch a video and then message me! Go to http://abcliveit.com/site/ABC_Investigative_Report_%26_Update.html
Then tell me what you think! You can message me at Malindashepard@yahoo.com
