Moore to Less

So I was a little hesitant to share this info yet, but hopefully it'll continue so here goes-This is week four that I have been doing a beta testing program for Jeremy Reid Fitness. The workouts have absolutely been the most physically challenging thing I've ever done in my life, and I have been losing weight consistently (about 7+lbs in 3 weeks) but the biggest and most important change is the fact that this is literally the first time in my entire life that I have felt free of my food addiction. Take a few minutes to process that. It's crazy. Even when I changed my lifestyle in 2009, I struggled DAILY to not overeat, with cravings, honestly in the past 4 years just thinking about food all the time, trying not to emotional eat, failing not quite as much as I started succeeding at not turning to food but just honestly a constant, epic, all-consuming battle. However since starting this nutritional program (no supplements, just a different way of eating than I have eve...

12 years ago on Sunday I married Keith. We had been dating for 13 months and known each other 17 months. Friends boycotted our wedding, family told us we were ruining each others lives. He wasn’t christian enough, I wasn’t christian enough. Or maybe we both weren't Christian enough. We were too young. We hadn’t dated long enough. He was my only boyfriend. The list of why we shouldn’t take this step was shared with us over and over and over. We ignored everyone, listened to our hearts, put our hands together, and jumped forward together into life. I was 21, and he was 23. We were so young. Statistics said we’d be divorced far longer than we’d remain married. I grew up with no father figure, his parents divorced after 30 years of marriage. We had no examples to follow of a healthy relationship. We fought. We got counseling. We battled 3 years of infertility. We had a beautiful baby girl and I almost died. I laid in the ICU, in severe heart failure, and he held our newborn daughter...

I decided recently that while I adore teaching and training hooping, the passion for me lies in HOOPING, not in being a FITNESS instructor, kwim? So I have been reevaluating what that means for me/our business etc. I decided I wanted to focus more on the nutrition component for the morbidly obese/those just changing their lifestyles to prioritize healthy eating for the long term. I have many things already in place, as this has been on my heart since I changed my lifestyle-I am in my junior year of completing my degree in Exercise Science with a specialty in nutrition. I am SafeServ certified. I am a certified Nutrition and Wellness Consultant. So on and so forth. Once I decided this (literally last week, I finally just accepted this was on my heart, even though it feels scary, this "unknown"-I know how to be a fitness instructor after almost 4 years!!). It also feels scary because it means I will only teach hoop classes and not contribute towards our business with any of ...

Back to typing tonight...today's food and workout was tough but better than yesterday (er, at least the food since y'know, we were kinda stuck in the car all day and didn't actually workout LOL). Food is HARD, honestly eating so much protein is really hard, just figuring it all out, and finding recipes and such. Let's put it this way, my macros used to be like 60/20/20 for carbs/protein/fat and now it's like protein and carbs have switched spots AHHHH! I feel GOOD though, super full all day, made some awesome egg white oatmeal that I've never had before (creamy) and some yummy cheesy cauliflower soup for dinner. the workout was HARD. I am not a heavy sweaty person except when running hard but wow, this interval training for 40 minutes had me dripping. GROSS. But good. We will see what tomorrow brings!!

Just stopping by to give a quick update. Things are going well. Into almost week 4, and I am happy with what's been going on-SO HAPPY! I have lost 13lbs in 3 weeks so far, and I expect another pound or so this week too, although I won't be weighing for almost 2 weeks, until we get home from traveling. Which, quite honestly, is sort of freaking me out, HAHA but I look forward to it. I have been amazingly on plan, I am loving what I am doing right now, it fits so perfectly with my lifestyle and makes my eating plan so not stressful or take more time out of my day, it's delicious and low-maintenance. We were in Philly this past weekend, in Florida now, and then going back to Philly, then going home (we left our van in Philly and flew to FL). However K is flying to Nashville on Friday for a training and I am flying back to Philly with all 3 kids alone. Good times. I had one little bit of off plan this past weekend, but it was controlled and I didn't give in to impulse...

Slacking a bit on my updates, but we have been traveling so much it's just been unreal. I feel so blessed that this is our life, we love it and are so fortunate...and yet it's absolutely a NIGHTMARE and so freaking hard for me to eat on plan when traveling. Luckily my new meal plan makes it soooo much more manageable, and enjoyable really-not a lot of thought involved-but it's still such a temptation. I am a foodie. I love food. I love to try new foods and regional places. This is in no way conducive to losing weight for me, LOL. So I abstain from the food, and I'm a little sad, but I know it's for the greater good. When I am at my goal weight, and have more calories and a bit more leniency with my plan (this does NOT mean I eat whatever I want and go back to old habits-it just means I'll get around 500 more calories a day to indulge in for special occasions), then I will enjoy traveling even more. So we've been on the road for a week now-first Philly...

I have been feeling so reticent about talking about, or even honestly THINKING about this new season of weight loss. I have so many thoughts, and regardless of who reads this, I want to maintain the rawness, and the reality of what this journey is about. It isn't pretty, it most CERTAINLY isn't perfect, but it's mine, and a huge part of accepting this condition of obesity is acknowledging and owning that it isn't linear, it isn't a destination or certain number on the scale, but the journey to health and wellness that is completely multi-faceted. So here it is, continuing on, through my shame of not being able to have gained 10lbs during pregnancy and be back to my prepregnancy weight a month after birth. You laugh, but I had this locked down. I knew what I was doing, and I just thought that would be the way it was. I was ridiculously deceived :) Enough about what wasn't, here is me, embracing what is, and doing what I need to do to be where I want to go...

Trying something new. Hijacked my recipe blog to post my thoughts about round 5829 of weight loss. I feel like I wanted a new space, and I love LJ, and might cross-post or whatever, but I want to blog daily about my journey just in this.  This is different this time, and yet it's the same old same old, at the same time. What? But it is. And it isn't. And I am frustrated, and annoyed, but finally to the point of moving forward, which is always good.  Here's the thing. I gained a little over 50lbs with my pregnancy with Lachlan.  Before that, I had gained about 20lbs, trying to figure out what I wanted to weigh, where I liked what I looked like, and basically just get my head not so effed up when it comes to food addiction.  So really, ultimately, by the end of my pregnancy with Lachlan, in March 2012, I was up about 70lbs from my absolutely lowest ever of 145lbs.  I had so many feelings surrounding all of this, and right after I had Lac...