I am so on board! I need to lose another 30 lbs or so. Don't pay attention to my avatar pic... lol that was pre-weight aka my goal weight... and that just happened in a little over two years... I kick myself for that.... BUT anywho... When I took that picture, I was happy and healthy. That pic was taken when I went to AZ for my yoga teaching certificate. It's a certificate for Christian yoga, which would have worked out at the job I was at, but they ended up stealing money from me and no one in TN wants to hire a "Christian yoga" teacher b/c they are afraid of the controversy... ooooo
scary lol So that was the beginning of the depression. I stopped doing yoga and found comfort in food. Another failed job and LOTS of serious, hurtful family drama later, I had to become a bus driver... yes, from massage therapist/yoga teacher to school bus driver... I give props to those ladies b/c it's SO much harder than it seems! There was the next trigger. Now I really wasn't moving... and now I was smoking! I had given up on myself! (sorry this is a bit wordy btw... didn't mean for it to be, just wanted to give out some encouragement

) I started getting on top of the weight thing right after Christmas after I saw myself in pictures and realized how bad it was. How the heck did I allow myself to gain 50+ lbs?! I'm only 24! How the heck does that happen?? So, to date, I've lost 20 lbs or so! I'm still working on the no smoking thing, but I'm doing great b/c I've only smoked one pack all week! (From a pack a day!) I've become recently unemployed and have tons of time, so I just, in the last couple of weeks, have decided to participate in a marathon next year for a dear friend's daughter who died and her organs saved 8 lives. A great cause with a great benefit for me! Here's the best part:
I EAT WHATEVER I WANT!!! I don't have to pay for diet food or programs! I combine my foods for optimum nutritional value! Obviously I try to stay away from fast food and processed food. But it's really soooo simple! You can eat meat w/ veggies or carbs w/ veggies, but NOT carbs w/ meat. We are not carnivores so the meat slows down in our intestines and allows the carbs to absorb longer, which means you get every bit of the good and way toooooo much of the bad! AND *giggle* if you want that suicide by chocolate brownie cake w/ ice cream and chocolate sauce on top, EAT IT!!! BUT (here's where you're gonna get the looks in the restaurant haha) You have to eat it FIRST! THEN eat a salad! The enzymes in the salad break down the sugars so very little of it is absorbed. And if I really want that steak and potatoes, I eat it! I just make sure I go back to the "diet" the next day. Up until I started training for the marathon a couple of weeks ago, I have only been doing some light yoga to keep me limber for baby makin', so I give all the credit to the weight loss to the "diet!" You can google food combining for some more specific charts, but I find it better to just keep it simple. Don't deny yourself of carbs and risk getting all moody and p.o.'d b/c it really is something you need... make healthier choices about WHAT carbs you eat and just don't eat meat with them! Hope this helps! Again... sorry so long... I got a little excited
