Let me tell you a little story about me. I have struggled with my weight for a good amount of my life. I was a thin cutie up until about 4th grade. Then in 8th grade while I was being home-schooled, I decided to take the extra time to work on losing that weight. I did Herbalife and lost a good 15 to 20 lbs (I think it is probably a good thing I don’t remember the exact number… that would be a bit obsessive). In 9th grade I went back to school and lost even more weight through P.E. and I loved it; loved the physical activity and the way it made me feel. For the next four years, I did great and loved it — I never felt as ’skinny’ as I wanted to be but most would say that at that time, I was a stick for my height.
Through college I worked as a Preschool TA and Camp Counselor, so I was constantly active — super great for my physique and health, but as soon as I got married it all went downhill from there. I started a birth control that threw my entire body into a haze! I had extreme heat flashes, the bottoms of my feet were rock hard and I put on a whopping 30 lbs in a matter of 4 months. Now that is just not normal. I went to the Doctor and had that changed… from that moment on I felt back to normal. But that didn’t mean that I went and magically lost the 30 lbs that the previous birth control had graced me with (note the sarcasm here); the Doctor specifically noted that this would not reverse any of the effects, simply stop them. Wow, what horrible news. Ever since then I have tried and tried again to eat better, workout on a consistent basis and I still have never really been able to attack it.
After I got off of birth control for good, I started going to Weight Watchers with my parents and we all had great results. After the first 3 months, I had lost 18 lbs! I was SO happy and felt SO amazingly good. I maintained that weight loss for a good 9 months (yay for me!) but in the mean time, I had acquired a shoulder injury and it was not so easy to keep up with my regular cardio workouts (walking was even tough somedays). That is when it went downhill (again). Four months later, I had gained back about 4 lbs. Two months after that it was about 15 lbs (scary fast, huh?!). And just 1 month after that I was back at my old starting weight. Devastating to say the least. So here I am, just wondering how I can get back on track — but not wanting to do the whole, lose weight, gain weight thing again, and I found this book!
It is called Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels (of The Biggest Loser). I didn’t want one of her workout books because I know she is beyond crazy! I grabbed this one because it holds every tid bit that she has learned over her years of research and weight loss. Did you know that she was not always perfect? It is true. She struggled with her weight her whole life (just like me!) and that is what intrigued me. I guess, I just want to know that I am not alone here. I have only read the Introduction and Chapters 1-2 but I am already extremely motivated, freaked out and just completely amazed with the knowledge I have acquired.
I would have never guessed that my stressful mindset and lifestyle could make me gain weight — or lack of sleep/relaxation, processed foods, pollution, toxins in the air……. yes, the list goes on. All of these things are in every one of our lives. If you want to be literally ’scared’ into living healthy, get this book — NOW! This isn’t just for those who want to lose weight (though that is a huge portion of the book) but its for those who want to live healthy lifestyles, running away from the crazy toxins that were placed into our lives only within the last 30 years or so. Intrigued yet? I hope so. Let me know what you think of this book if you do end up reading it; would love the input!
Thanks for letting me share my story and bearing with me. It feels good to get it all out — now to bed to start anew!
{P.S. No, I have not turned Vegetarian or Organic over night — I have much too little self control for that– I am simply excited!}
