I've been very busy the last few weeks, and sadly my little friend here was neglected. So, here we go.  I've been challenged lately to really sit back and look at what is going on in my life.  I am stretched in lots of directions.  The thing is...I love all the directions.  I love being a wife. I'm married to my best friend. It's amazing to see how our relationship has grown over the years...we are coming up on our 10 year anniversary next month...10 years!! And you know...I love him more today than I did the day I married him.  I love being a mom. Seriously. Greatest. Job. Ever.  Though I would love to have more...if these two kids are the only two God chooses to bless me with...my cup runneth over. I love being a rehab nurse.  Children teach you so much about life.  Getting to be even a small part of their recovery after trauma is inspiring...amazing really.  Then there is being a Health Coach.  Now that, that is truly inspiring.  Imagine getting to help people find themselves...helping them realize that they don't have to live in pain, on medications, unhappy with excess weight...imagine a job that paid you to simply love people.  It's an incredible opportunity to be a part of changing the world.
   Change.  That word is a hard one isn't it.  Change is hard in so many ways...but necessary. I've been asked to make a lot of changes in my world lately.  Most of them have been hard. Really hard. Emotionally I've been, well, I'll be honest. I've been a wreck.  But, then I remember that if things didn't change I wouldn't grow. If I hadn't made the decision to take control of my health last year I would still be where I was then.  Thinking about things that way make the growing pains a little easier.
  In regards to this little mustard seed of a business I've started...Joe and I have joined forces.  He's great with people and starting up conversations.  Which is good because I get nervous starting the conversation. I have no problem talking about it...I would shout it from the mountain tops I'm so excited to make a difference! But it's helpful to have that person to walk along with you and help get people excited.  That's what I mostly want to do.  Excite people about the possibility of health.  Not short term, but long term.  Did you know that if an overweight person loses 50 lbs you can extend your life by 10 years? That is huge. That could be the difference between meeting a grandchild or great grandchild.  Can you imagine if we got this generation healthy what that would mean for our children? The benefits of such a change are insurmountable.  Can you see it??

Thoughts on being an Health Coach...

So, I do a lot of fun things in my life. I gotta admit. I get to play with two pretty fun people every day. I am married to my very best friend...who happens to be totally hot (seriously, have you seen the man lately??). I get to teach nursing students how to do the job I love so much.  I get to help people get well...and now, I get to help others get healthy.  How fun is that??? I seriously get excited to text my clients to find out how their week is going.  I might annoy the crap out of them with my frequent texts...I'm kind of love texting...truth be told I kind of want to kiss on the face the person who invented texting...but I digress. The best part of my day is sharing in the joy of pounds and inches lost.  Over all, my clients have lost over 100 lbs combined.  I started doing this "business" for a completely different reason than most people do it.  Sure, the money is great but what I get to be a part of...witnessing a total transformation...I'm getting giddy just thinking about it.  I love it. LOVE IT!! If you have ever wanted to change your life for the better...learn habits that will stick with you the rest of your life--maybe get rid of costly dangerous medications--even reverse type 2 diabetes (YEP! Talk to my hubs!! He got off meds in 5 months flat!) Talk to me! Call me...TEXT ME!! :) Check out  my website  Lets do this. One person at a time...one family at a time...together we can get America healthy!!

Cheating, working out, babies...crazy

Ok so I will admit, I cheated on Superbowl. I knowingly made my favorite naughty treat...scotcheroos...those delicious chewy rice crispy treats made with peanut butter and topped with chocolate...stupid stupid me. I did eat lots of veggies and a healthy spinach artichoke dip I made but...as I knew I would, ate a few of those darned heavenly bites. I have been working out though so I told myself that would make up for my sins...but honestly I felt like poop yesterday and now when I eat sugar my heart rate goes up a ton and makes me feel all panicky and weird. So...I should know better right? Just proof that I am human...and not a diet robot. Oh well, back in the saddle.  I haven't set foot on the scale yet this week because I just don't want to know. Ha. I will wait until next week. :) I found this fantastic workout video that I have been hiding in a drawer for like 2 years. It's the flat belly express from prevention.  It's perfect for the weightloss portion of TSFL as it is low-moderate impact, and 45 minutes in length.  Just what we recommend! I did a Zumba class with my friend Barb last weekend...we've done the videos in my living room multiple times but the live class is nothing like the videos. At all. It was quite an experience. There was a catwalk involved. That part was excruciating but we did it. I think we'll try it again this weekend. 

  I've been looking at bathing suits...as I posted in my last update, we are planning a trip to Hawaii in three months. I think I will need to go personally try some on to see what style I like the best...I am terrified at the thought of strolling around mostly naked in a public setting...but...I am determined to do it with confidence and grace. Ok well, the grace part might not be so attainable (those that know me best know why that it next to impossible) but I think I can manage the confidence bit. Maybe. :) I do know that it will involve pink and black in some fashion. My favorite color combo. :) Plus black makes everyone look hot. 

  Most people who know me know I love babies. I would have had a dozen if I could have. Of course I realize that is a pipe dream and I am irrational, but, it's true. I wanted to be the cheaper by the dozen family. Crazy, I know. Seriously. But it's true. Knowing this was a crazy impossibility, especially since I married an only child, I settled on 3-4.  We agreed on this number until we had our "perfect pair". I am so blessed to have 2 beautiful, healthy children...but I still feel like our family is not complete. My husband doesn't share this feeling...although I think most men tend to be more practical and less romantic about this subject. We've gone back and forth multiple times and each time he is on board, I'm not ready, and vice versa.  Right now I am looking forward to Hawaii...and that bathing suit...and I don't want to be pregnant in it. Which I know is totally selfish. But, it's the truth. So my goal was to wait. He sees our kids getting older (our daughter will be 7 this summer and our son will be 5 this fall) as a negative thing...that they'd be too far apart. I see it as an asset. They will both be in school for a good part of the day...I'll have time with the baby and really, I'm the one who will have to deal with it anyways right? I want to understand and respect his point of view...I do...but I also want him to understand mine. It's such an important part of who I am. I am a mom. I always wanted a big family. But I hate whining because I am so very blessed to have the two that I have. The other reality of the situation is that I am 32. I am not old by any means, but women do have a time limit on safe pregnancies...and I have already had one high risk pregnancy.  This is a big prayer request for me right now.  I know God is in control of this situation and my heart will be calmed and changed in the manner He sees fit. Hopefully He sees fit to change my husbands heart ... :)

  So that's what's happening in my little world today. Off to go work off the rest of my Sunday. :)  

Swimsuits and sunshine...

So what did I say about blogging? I am seriously horrid at this.  Really. I would make it a resolution but, well I'm terrible at those too so I'll just keep plugging along at my tempo. :)  We're planning a trip to Hawaii for our 10th anniversary this Spring.  We bought a groupon with our friends last year and are kindof at the mercy of the resort people as to if there will be a resort available in the great island state when we want to go..as we can only book 60 days in advance.  So...we're toning up and working our bodies to beach perfection in anticipation of this adventure.  I myself have never walked on a beach in a bathing suit without something over the top of it. (except for the time I maybe mentioned in my first blog).  So...I am kind of excited to do it. I will have to find the perfect bathing suit, but darn it anyways if I haven't worked hard for this body I am going to show it off! This is a huge step for me as I am self conscious to the core. I still see the chubby girl in the mirror even though she is long gone. It will be a long time before that is gone, if ever, but I do feel like I am getting better about that. I'm not going to go on national tv and sport the bathing suit I am pretty sure Kirstie Allie did all the revealing necessary for an entire generation...but maybe I'll be photographed in it. Maybe. :)

Two in one day...boy I'm starting strong :)

So I told my sweet husband I was writing a blog and while he was excited for me, he was a little hurt that I didn't include him in my original story.  I told him it was my first post, that I was telling my story and he replied simply "well, I hate to break it to you babe, but I'm part of your story".  So true. :) So, let me tell you my husband's story.
  Joe and I met in September of 2000.  He was super fit.  In fact, I remember the first thing I noticed about him was his arms. What can I say, I'm an arm girl. :) As we started dating he fell into the same pattern that I did. Stable relationship=care less about your own physical appearance. We both gained weight.  Then after we got married, and I got pregnant, he gained sympathy weight.  He lost around 50 lbs when we did our program together in 2006, but gained it all back and then some while I was pregnant with our son.  We suffered a loss in our family in 2010, we lost Joe's mom.  Again, food and drink were a comfort to him...and didn't help the waistline.  He decided to start getting healthy in April of last year, cutting out alcohol and most soda and replacing it with water. That was basically his only change. He lost 25 lbs over the course of two months. I won't lie, I kinda wanted to pummel him.  Why is it that guys seem to loose weight so much quicker? Grr.  I digress. In July he had a small mishap with the wheel of his ATV at the beach that ended with him having what appeared to be a fairly minor road rash.  After a week it wasn't healing right. He felt weird, and it was super painful.  He went to the doctor where they worked him up for a blood infection and blood clots.  When his labs came back, we discovered the shocking news: he had Type 2 Diabetes.  Now, like me, my husband has never been morbidly obese.  His biggest was 270 and he is 6 feet tall.  Here he was, an otherwise "healthyish" 35 year old man with this diagnosis usually reserved for older, or more obese people.  There is some family history, but it is still not a diagnosis you would expect to hear this early in life. At this point, I was over halfway through my journey.  We were determined to get him well--and get him off his medications.  We quickly shooed away talk of insulin injections because we were certain that was not going to be an issue.  Three weeks later we saw a specialist.  His labs were already looking better, and he hadn't even started on program yet.  He joined me on TSFL (Which I should mention stands for Take Shape For Life) in September.  His blood sugars completely normalized in the first week. By October he had cut his medication in half.  In November we rechecked his labwork which showed a complete reversal in all areas--his levels were of a normal, healthy adult. In December he was taken off of all medication completely.  His doctors were shocked. He has lost almost 60 lbs--I'm so proud of him.  Although everyone's results can vary, it is an amazing example of what is possible with this program.
  What an amazing thing to be able to do for someone...get them off dangerous medications...help them achieve Optimal Health...help them get their life back.  Are you ready?

Here we go...again.

I'll be honest. I'm not a blogger. I am not even a great journalist. I have several unfinished journals that I started at various moments in my life...usually catastrophic events that I just HAD to write down so that I could re-live every painful moment later...you know, break ups, bad hair styles, drama and tension filled girl moments in high school that serve now as a funny anecdote to the "how stupid were we when" adage.  But I am determined to make this one stick.  I have been on a personal journey the past 8 months that I didn't write down...that I didn't share.  I can't contain myself any longer. So...here's my story.
  I have struggled with weight my entire life (I know, I know, who HASN'T?? And if you haven't, I hate you. Just kidding).  I don't think at any one time I was ever morbidly obese. I was what you might call pleasantly plump.  I always thought about how I'd like to wear a bathing suit and not feel like I had to wear an entire outfit over the top of it, thus making it useless.  I think maybe once when I was 19 and skinny for like 5 minutes I did run on a beach somewhere in a bikini...or maybe I dreamed that.  Anyways, as time went on I found myself married and (as people do when they are finally in stable relationships), gaining weight.  Then I got pregnant with our daughter.  I fell into the old trap of "Hey, I'm eating for two!".  So I did. Only I'm pretty sure I was eating for like 4 or 5 some days.  Anyways, after Noelle was born my dreams of breastfeeding were dashed by my body's seeming inability to produce enough milk.  I was devastated. I tried everything to make it work.  I turned to food for comfort hoping maybe if I ate more I would be able to feed my child.  Sadly, I was only able to feed myself...to a lovely 205 lbs.  My husband and I decided to do a weightloss program together in the spring of 2006.  By the end of that year I was a svelt (for me) 145 lbs size 8 and feeling good again.  I found out two months later we were expecting again.  My second pregnancy was much easier, and although I still gained almost 50 lbs, I was able to shed most of the weight rather quickly.  I eased back down to 150 where I stayed for a few years...and then it started creeping back.  I was wearing 12's again.  My 10's were tight...I had many days where I felt fat and unhappy.  I realized I didn't want my daughter to grow up watching me yo-yo diet and feel bad about myself because I had a piece of chocolate. I want her to be proud of her body and happy with what God gave her--but mindful of taking care of what has been gifted to her.  My hairstylist had been losing weight and when she told me she'd been doing TSFL I thought "well, that's great, but I can't afford that".  So I prayed about it. I talked to my husband...and we decided that with our tax returns, last year, I would make ME a priority.  And so began the final chapter in my battle with my weight. Where this choose your own adventure tale ends--rather begins--with the heroine finally beating the dreaded bulge. Finally blasting past my expectations...and getting out of my own way...out of my size 12's...and into a size 2.  And somewhere along the way I learned to like myself again.
  So I'd like to share this adventure--my tips, my recipes, my business...which I have to say, helping people get healthy...pretty great job :) After all, it's all for the love of something, isn't it?