Lifestyle GAIN; not Weight LOSS

Motherhood brought countless highs, and unfortunately SO many lows when it came to my body. I made every excuse from being too tired, to not wanting to put my baby in the gym daycare.
Yes, I am a stay at home mom -- I call it a "stay in the van mom" because we are never actually home which makes it difficult to have a workout routine. I couldn't commit to something that was so sporadic. (TYPE A PERSONALITY HERE) It's easy to workout during "nap time" but sometimes nap time doesn't happen, sometimes that's my lunch break and so on and so forth so it was easier to just not.

I'm 5'7'' and at my heaviest I was 152. I'm not exactly a couch potato and I always get *those* looks when I talk about my excess weight because 152 looks so much thinner on someone that's 5'7" compared to someone that's 5". I don't like to use the term "being fat" because the struggle with weight is so much more than "being" anything. If I was "being" anything I was being an awesome mom and I let my body pay the price. And I was okay with that, for a while.
I continued to purchase larger clothes and pushed my pre-pregnancy ones further to the back of the closet. I held onto them hoping that one day they'd eventually fit again.
Eventually I stopped caring about all the accessorizing and appearance worries that accompany being a woman. I don't think I've ever really been high maintenance to begin with BUT I didn't care about much. I cared only about clothes that wouldn't hug my waist because of the excess muffin top.
Ricky and I have been married 7 years.
Over those 7 years I gained about 25 pounds. 2/3 of them coming from post Charley era.
About a year ago I was still sporadic with my workouts and I hit a plateau. No matter what I did or did not eat and how much I did or did not exercise my weight stayed around 147. This is the most discouraging part of weight loss and why I never saw results. Every time I restarted I kept telling myself just stop stopping but somehow a vacation would come around, a sickness, and sometimes just life and here I was starting over.... again.

For the last 2 years I have mostly purchased organic foods and ate what I believed to be more of a balanced diet than most. However, I felt like I needed carbs with every meal or else I didn't feel full. I wasn't ever super heavy on desserts. But Coca Cola. Oh how I LOVED Coke. I loved it so much that knowing how terrible it was for me I still consumed it, and I even enjoyed every sip.

So 5 weeks ago I started over again.
I was mad enough with myself that I just could not get this working out thing to work for me.
I'm a do-er. I'm a not a give-up-er. I am a commiter.
Prior to Charley I went to the gym quite a bit - especially when Ricky was deployed.
I danced and played various sports for most of my adolescent life so I knew some where deep down I had an "athlete" version of myself.
It just really needed some commitment. I did have a brief break up with the scale and I really had to have a clear, focused mind.

I started being conscious about what I ate and how I fueled my body.
I broke up with Coke.
I made it a habit to eat breakfast - a healthy one at that.
I controlled my portions.
I began to eat smaller, more frequent meals.

These are the habits I had to change for me. If you also struggle at the table and in the kitchen a rule of thumb to follow would be to stay on the outskirts of the grocery store. Anything that you eat from the center aisle at the store is usually processed and will give you higher calories and less nutrients.
For example: 1 cup of strawberries is only 49 calories & 12 carbs + a ton of vitamins and minerals. A cup of strawberries is a great snack and there's enough to give you that full feeling once you break up with heavy carb foods.
On the flip side 11 (ELEVEN) Dorito's chips give you 140 calories no vitamins/minerals and 16 carbs...and that's if you stop eating at 11 chips.


So the first couple days I was pretty bitchy because my mind kept telling me that I was hungry. I knew I wasn't because I had been eating good food, frequently.
I fought with my mind and sipped on my water. Angry.
Knowing I had to fight if I wanted complete control and annoyed that my mind was trying to make me fail.

2 weeks into my routine was the ultimate test.
I went on vacation for my 25th birthday.
I came home from vacation 2 pounds heavier and I made good food choices on vacation and continued on my workout routine. I wasn't upset about the 2 pounds because the memories on vacation were worth more than 2 pound gain.

My workout routine looks like this:
Monday: Legs/Cardio
Tuesday: Low Intensity
Wednesday: Arms & Abs
Thursday: Low Intensity
Friday: Full Body
Saturday: Low Intensity
Sunday: Low Intensity and/or stretching

My dogs are thoroughly happy with my low intensity workout.
Low intensity means they get at least a 30 minute walk... so everyone wins!

I also discovered a minor setback with my back.
I have to take things slow for a little while so that I can fully recover.
I was upset. I was frustrated & I was in annoying, aching pain.
I was experiencing tingling/numbness up my back more than 75% of the time no matter what position I was in.
I made an appointment with a chiropractor. He sent me for X-rays and I returned the following day.
I was expecting to see my spine in alignment with only small little thing that needed a single adjustment and then I'd be good.
I knew from my research with the body & my 8 days experience on a spinal cord injury (jury duty) that numbness/tingling meant I struck a nerve (literally).
So.

I have degenerative disk disease, a compressed disc right before my tailbone L-5 (thus the tingling), mild scoliosis and an anterior pelvic tilt. I don't really like the fact of claiming to have a "disease" so I'll just refer to it as a compressed disc.

I was in tears when this sunk in.
I was in tears because I had just found & was regaining my strength.
I had dusted off the athletic version of myself and quitting now meant restarting again & I promised myself no more quitting.
I have made modifications to my workouts, I have focused on heating my back, decompressing my back with a series of yoga poses (down dog, child's pose), low impact (bicycling over running), and of course: supplementation & essential oils.

I completed the full 12 weeks of my work out program - modified.
During the 12 weeks I took 2 vacations & did not go "full throttle" at the gym as I didn't want to aggravate my back.

I lost:
12.5 inches
8.2 pounds
1.1% BMI
2.8% Body Fat 

& finally it's not so much about what you look like it's more about what you feel like but it's always a good feeling when they sync up together.

SECRET: 

There isn't one. 

I changed my lifestyle.

I do take supplements. Ask me which ones

I do use essential oils in my workout routine.

I take pre-workout.

I drink protein shakes.

I didn't take any weight loss "pills"

I didn't "wrap"

I'm a hard work & dedication type of girl.

My favorite helpers:
I really love my POLAR FT4
My Slimming Waist Belt 
Various Essential Oils
Metabolic Blend appetite control bars
C4 Pre-workout
Muscle Pharm Combat Protein

A Full Circle

By now you've probably realized that my Facebook, Instagram & Blog consist of

• Charley
• Scout
• Oils

I guess you could say I'm somewhat predictable, right??

Boy have I got a twist for you!

So it's no surprise that Scout has been influential on my feelings about shelters, lost pet protocols, and the importance of microchipping & collars. Although, I'm not sure any of those things could have brought my baby home -- we make ourselves SO available to find if anyone is looking for who could have possibly owned the most perfect dog... IT'S US AND WE MISS HIM.

A four legged guy stole my heart a few weeks ago. Almost filling a void that I thought could never be touched. I'm not saying that Scout has a replacement but there is something happening that is making my heart happy, less broken and more hopeful. 

Saturday June 20th: Ricky, Charley and I were camping at East Canyon.

About 6:30pm the DNR officer brought around a friendly black lab full of energy. He was asking each camper if the dog belonged to them. This black lab had been dropped off to the camp host at 9am that morning it had been 9ish hours and nobody had come looking for the sweet, frumpy fella. The DNR officer assumed someone had to be missing this guy and his owners were probably out boating. I told him about Scout. I word vomit his story anytime I meet a "dog person" in hopes that if/when they find a pet they feel differently about the shelters. I hope that they see the heartbreak in my eyes and the lump in my throat and think of ME AND SCOUT whenever they find a lost pet. I hope that they stop what they're doing and take the honest approach so that someone somewhere doesn't do what they did to us, to someone else. The DNR officer was all about protocol. He agree'd to take him to the shelter if nobody had claimed him by Monday. I told him I would help advertise him on our state Lost & Found Pet's page so that together we could give this boy his family back. 

Monday June 22nd: I called East Canyon to ask if the black lab from the weekend had been reunited with his family. The girl (not the DNR officer) on the other end of the phone told me "OH! *THAT* black lab. Yeah, he lives on the other side of the dam and he always comes over here and then goes back home." I couldn't have asked for anything more. I am always grateful when a family get's their reunion. 

 Saturday June 26th: My soon to be SIL tags me in a picture "Linds it's the dog from the weekend!?" We were both confused. Why is the dog from last Saturday sitting in the shelter?? I thought he went home?? he had been there since Monday!? What in the world!!!? I immediately scrolled and scrolled and found everything I could on this guy. He was sitting out, waiting for his family this whole time -- I thought he was home? I suppose there was another friendly black lab from the other side of the dam? I immediately texted the number tied to the post about this lab. His stray hold was up and he was ready to be adopted. He got a LOT of buzz on Facebook, but I texted her to let her know that I will take him if it boils down to his "due out" day. I wasn't looking for another dog. He found me. I begged and begged Ricky to adopt him but we agree'd that we'd ONLY take him if it came down to his freedom or death. 

Monday June 29th: This sweet lab had a LOT of action on Facebook. Plenty of people fantasizing about adopting a giant, long haired, young black lab but when it came down to it -- he was still sitting in a shelter. In a shelter where one person besides myself cared about the importance of his life. He had more people encouraging permanent sleep than I even want to know about. I told the animal control officer about Scout. I told her how I appreciated the system and why things have to happen this way. I told her I was grateful for her pleading to keep this guy alive when the "experts" wanted him gone. 
He had been described as "aggressive" and "too energetic" he's a 1.5 LABRADOR RETRIEVER. Please tell me what kind of behavior is expected from this 1.5 year old lab?? I didn't (and still don't) buy the aggressive thing (but I'll tell you more in a minute).
Somewhere deep down dislodged in his long body was a microchip tied to a family. I assume it was a family that thought the idea of getting a puppy would be "CUTE" but I don't know for sure. I do know that the must've rehomed him pretty quick because we are his 3rd home and he's 1.5.
Family #2 liked to blame animal control because they kept "picking him up." The funny thing about that is.... if he isn't OUT he wouldn't keep getting "picked up." 

Buddy's FREEDOM ride

Do you know how many times I visited EVERY shelter when Scout went missing? Do you know how many times I would have KILLED to walk into a shelter and see him in a kennel losing his sweet little mind? Do you know how many times I would have LOVED for animal control to pick up Scout so I can pay that impound fee? I would have begged for it. BEGGED.

Family #2 didn't want Buddy. They kept him tied up outside, and he chewed off his rope. It was probably 90+ degree's that day. I wonder if he had shade? Water? Food?
It was a small town with only one shelter. If they missed him or even pretended to care they could have gone into the ONE shelter in town and picked him up. They didn't.

That same Monday someone put Buddy (an intact male) in a kennel with ANOTHER intact male. They got into somewhat of a fight (that's the "aggression" they were talking about). The idiot that put him in a kennel with another male HIT BUDDY WITH A SHOVEL and he tried to bite her.
If someone hit me with a shovel, I would bite too!
Because of the stupidity of this person regularly tending animals he would have been euthanized if I didn't head up there in a timely manner and come to his rescue.
I called Ricky. I told him we HAD to go get him. I loaded up Charley in the car. It was about 8pm and it was an hour away. There is NO way I could have lived with myself had the outcome been different.

Myself and the Animal Control Officer were the only ones that saw something in him. Something worth saving. I agree'd to foster him. I didn't know what I was doing but I knew it was the only option.

A few days in I could not believe what a GOOD dog he was. Hardly jumped, never barked and friendly like most labs are. It was refreshing. Our current dog loves dogs, but hate's people. His social skills have dramatically improved but he doesn't exactly scream "I want to be your friend" in the way that buddy does. Ziggy walks up to people with his hair up and his eyes angry. Buddy walks up to people with his tongue out and his tail wagging. I have forgotten in the past year and a half what it's like to have a dog that likes people. Scout loved people. I see the mannerisms in Buddy that I forgot that Scout had. 

7/6: I became a failure (Foster Fail) for all the right reasons and Buddy became ours. 

So I suppose this is some kind of sign from the universe letting me know that it's possible that just maybe Scout did end up in a good home. Maybe it's just as good of a home as mine and maybe miracles do happen. Maybe Buddy is here as a staple that even after so many homes and shelters happy endings CAN happen.

Anyhow, 

Buddy is now furever ours.