Progress Update - Almost 6 months

For two years, I was completely confident that I was so different, so special, with such unique and weird food issues, that this program wouldn't work for me. I straight up told my friend (who is now my coach) that it wasn't going to work and I wasn't going to do it...and I didn't say that just once, I said it repeatedly for two years. 

By October of 2020, I hit a point where I had nothing else to lose by trying this program. I was following my own special elimination diet. I was feeling like crap from nearly every food I ate. I was so sure that this program wouldn't work, that I twisted it around in my mind and thought it would be one more thing to add to my list of failures (up there with whole30, keto, WW, intermittent fasting, dairy free, gluten free, soy free, low carb, pescatarian, blah blah blah) and say "yep, that didn't work for me". 

I told my coach I'd commit to it for a month (but really, I was thinking two weeks in my head). I gave it two weeks at 100% expecting ZERO results, expecting to fail. I convinced myself I had to give it my all, and then when I failed it was because the program didn't work, not because I didn't follow the program (it was that twisted in my head).

I started program on October 12, 2020. By October 15, I knew this was different. Three full days and I knew this program was going to change my life. Turns out I'm not special. I'm not unique. I'm not the one person it doesn't work for. This program works for 100% of the people, 100% of the time, if you commit to it 100%. It's not a magic drug, pill or potion - it's real food, and a real shift in mindset, and it WORKS. 

All it took was me being desperate enough to try one more thing to feel better. I didn't care about the number on the scale - I cared about feeling better. I cared about eating food again. I cared about my clothes fitting properly.

I found my hope on this program. I found myself. I want that for you too. Let me help you find your hope. Let me help you find yourself. It's worth it.

This is about being HEALTHY. I’m not gonna talk to you about “summer bodies” or whatever, because I think that’s crap. Your body is your body no matter the season. 

I am going to talk to you about how I finally got to the point where I feel so good on the inside, the outside doesn’t matter. Yes, I am loving buying new clothes. I am also loving being able to do things physically that I couldn’t do before (cross my legs comfortably, run and chase my kids, play hopscotch and not want to keel over, curl my legs up under me in a chair, etc), but all of that is secondary to this immense feeling of happiness and excitement, and the ability to feel so friggin good, that I’ve been able to dream again. Not short term wishy washy ideas, but big, exciting, amazing goals for myself and my future. When I say this program changed my life, I mean it changed ME. Now that I’m feeling more like myself, my life is changing - and I couldn’t be happier about it. It’s wild and wonderful to have dreams & know they’re possible and achievable.

When you’re ready to dream again, let me know - I’ll share everything I have learned, and we can enjoy this journey together.

www.MyJourneyToAHealthyMe.com

Post-Holiday Weekend Exhaustion?

How are you feeling after the holiday weekend? Are you tired and exhausted and worn out from all the holiday excitement? Did you take a nap? Did the stress and chaos give you a headache? Are you rejuvenated and ready to go today?

I used to *need* a strong kick of caffeine just to get through the day - that afternoon slump around 3pm was awful. When I had several busy and/or stressful days in a row, I’d tell myself I earned a nap - and then I would prioritize that nap on weekends. I have never had a lot of luck with sleeping in (so I’m always up around the same time every day), but for a long time (years!) I would wake in the middle of the night, and lay in bed for an hour or more trying to fall back asleep. No matter when I went to bed, I wasn’t getting enough sleep. That constant cycle of being tired, and needing caffeine, and then being even more tired, and then getting a headache from being so tired, was…exhausting. 

I didn’t even know it was possible to break that cycle…but I did! I changed my diet. I prioritized myself. I am sleeping solidly and soundly 8-9 hours a night (yes, for real!) now. I take Natural Vitality Calm, a powdered form of magnesium, at bedtime and I swear it helps with my sleep. I haven’t had a headache in months. 

Look at my eyes in these pictures. There’s no filters on them. Look how tired I am in the photo on the left, with circles under my eyes. I wasn’t healthy! My sleep wasn’t healthy! I was so bloated and inflamed! 

Look at me on the right - awake, alert, and I feel like my eyes are brighter and clearer. It’s not just about surviving each day, it’s about living each day. Join me in living each day, I would love to share this program with you and help you feel amazing and get the good sleep too!

Christmas on Optavia

I love cooking and baking. I especially love the tradition I have with my children to bake holiday cookies - peanut butter blossoms, cut-out sugar cookies with frosting, snickerdoodles, oatmeal chocolate chip, and sometimes even more. We bake everything dairy-free, and often gluten-free also, and it is something we all enjoy. 

I'm not going to lie, it was REALLY difficult this year to not taste-test the batter (especially the oatmeal chocolate chip batter) or the cookies (the peanut butter blossoms are my favorite!) but I asked myself one simple question and it helped me refocus: "What do I want more - that cookie, that I already know how it tastes (and honestly, it's probably not as good as I'm imagining it to be), OR to keep feeling amazing and not destroy my stomach by eating foods it isn't used to?" The answer was simple at that point. Maybe some day it won't be simple, but this year, it was easy to choose ME over the cookies. It was easy to put myself first, and break that habit, and remind myself it was things like those cookies that got me to where I was in the first place. There is a time and place for choosing to indulge in a sweet treat, but I am not at that time nor that place right now, and I made a very conscious and intentional choice to NOT taste-test the sweets this year. 

But what about dinner? 

I know there are tons of ways to create Optavia-compliant holiday meals and side dishes. Several are listed here. Much like Thanksgiving, I just don't have the same sentimental attachment to holiday foods that a lot of people seem to have. I don't need the meat and cheesy side dishes. As a kid, I would only eat mashed potatoes (no gravy) and pumpkin pie and cookies. 

I know a lot of people make the conscious choice to go off-plan for the holidays, to splurge a little bit, or take small tastes of foods that they would normally not eat while following Optavia. All of that is fine, especially when it is an intentional decision. 

So what did I eat?

I had my five Fuelings - I added a dash of nutmeg to a creamy vanilla shake and it was delicious! - and I ate seafood and spaghetti squash, with salad, for my Lean and Green. It was yummy, it was filling, and it kept me in Fat-Burn!

A Tale of Two Dresses

I bought the dress on the right to wear for an event a few years ago. I loved it - the material, the fit, the way the bottom hem looks. When I got home though, it was a little too snug to wear comfortably. I called all over town looking for another store with the same dress in a bigger size - found it - and went and bought it. That's the dress on the left. I don't have many occasions to get dressed up (especially this year), but I last wore the larger size dress to a Roaring 20s party last December, and absolutely loved being dressed up and out with my friends and felt good in what I was wearing (despite hiding behind a shawl). 

I tried on dresses last night so my daughter and I could take silly pictures in front of the tree (you've seen the pics from the 50s and 60s floating around of women decked out posing with their trees, right?) and the larger size dress was falling off me, so I tried on the smaller size, and that's what I'm wearing in the picture. It actually has too much room in it now, but I still love the material and the way the dress flares, and that's the dress my daughter chose for me to wear last night for our silly pictures because she likes the hem too. 

So, I'm officially retiring the dress on the left, and probably need to retire the dress on the right too, and buy myself some new fancy clothes for the off-chance of getting dressed up and going out someday ever again. If you're like me and have a closet full of clothes you hold on to, on the off chance of maybe possibly fitting into them again someday, let me help you get your someday sooner rather than later. It took me 2 years to decide to commit to this program, and choose myself and my health; don't wait as long as I did. Give yourself the gift of health this holiday season. I'd love to celebrate you fitting into your "someday" clothes in a few weeks!