I can't believe how much has changed since the beginning - stick with me here on this recap of my journey so far.......

Hello everyone!  I hope this update finds you well!!

So, the summer break is coming to a screeching halt as school in my area starts back up on Monday.  That means I go back to work too.  BOO on that but hey, it's my job to be there for the kids and that's what I'll be doing!  Seems like the summer break just went way too fast this year!  We were busy with my surgery, volleyball, and trips so that's most likely why it seems to have gone so fast - tooo fast!  I guess though when you are living life instead of watching it pass you by it does go quickly!

This update is going to be chalk full of a lot of great things so I hope you will continue to read. For starters, I saw my Endocrinologist last week for blood work - I am axiously awaiting those results.  My thryoid levels, Vitamin D and calcium levels.  I'm expecting that they will be great based on how I'm feeling.

As I sit here today, I realized that about 5 years ago exactly is when I first became the sickest I've ever been.  As you know, I've been pretty sick at times in my life but this time, my life was changed in so many ways.  Initially the changes were not good and the things that were to come over the course of the following year were the worst of the worst for me and my family.  Some of the things that happened, I've never talked about because it was/is too personal and painful.......we were at our worst financially, emotionally, and for me, physically with illness that seemed like it would never get better.  Early on, before being diagnosed with FMS, I honestly in my heart thought I was going to die.  That alone is the scariest feeling to have.  Initially, all I could do was lay in bed, sleep and go to Dr's to try to figure out what in the world was going on.

My first diagnosis was bronchitis, then pnemonia......then everything else started happening....migraines, vertigo, terrible pain in my legs and hips that was 100% unexplainable.  I saw neurologists, had cat scans, MRI, blood draws, chiropractic care - you name it and NOTHING seemed to help and there were no results from the tests.  I began to feel like I was crazy and I think the Dr's thought so too!  None of them could make sense of what I was going through.  I finally recovered from the bronchial issues but had a migraine and vertigo for 3 months straight - the meds the neurologist put me on helped some but the migraine would come back.  The vertigo was just there constantly and the pain in my legs and hips never let up.  I could barely walk by myself let alone get out of bed and function.  It was the literal rock bottom, the worst.  That December of 2010 I finally ended up seeing a Rheumatologist who was the one to diagnose me with FMS.  I was SO relieved to have an answer even though I had no clue what it would mean for me.  Initially he put me on a medication, I can't recall what but it didn't help so I stopped taking it.  We decided at my next visit to just increase the antidepressant that I was on - Effexor - as that was also known to help with FMS pain at higher doses.  So he doubled it and within a day the pain in my legs vanished!!  PROGRESS!  Slowly over the course of another few months I was feeling well enough to be out of bed and sit in "my chair"......that is when I started doing mad research on Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue (which I had been diagnosed with many years prior) Lupus (which I suspected I had due to the tell-tell rash I always got on my face), Lyme disease which was suspect due to all my symptoms and life history of illness........and I started my blog to document all the stuff I was finding.  I began to think that if I could help even just one other person that it would all be worth it because NOBODY deserves to live like I was......and I now know that way too many people do!

So that is, in a nutshell, the beginning of my story and journey.  I started looking for natural ways to heal myself - I knew that I couldn't live like that forever and I had a family to take care of.  I was in search of natural ways to heal myself because I knew I couldn't be on pain killers and medications for the rest of my life.  I started juicing, was contemplating going to the Mayo Clinic for help but ended up finding a Dr about an hour away that dealt primarily in FMS.  I began seeing him 1x a week for a year. My treatment included acupuncture, massage and chiropractic care.  One of the first things he did was a blood panel that looked at all my micronutrients - come to find out I was depleted of all my antioxidants so I immediately started on them all - I must of been taking 10-15 different supplements - it's all in previous blog posts with pictures....seriously crazy stuff.  After going 1x a week for 6 months I started to feel somewhat normal again - seriously relieved that I could drive and function on a somewhat normal level but I still didn't feel "normal" whatever that was.

After a year of driving an hour each way to see this Dr I found a local chiropractor who specialized in chronic illness, specifically FMS so I started to see him.  Now that I was feeling so much better I felt that change could happen.  He did a follow up on the blood work and this time all my levels were good.  So I was able to stop taking the multiple pills and go down to about 5 different vitamins.  I saw him weekly as well to keep my spinal health in good condition and had him do acupuncture on me as needed.

Slowly I was feeling better......my business that I had for 12 years leading up to this was gone...since I couldn't work to save my life......other things we had were gone......but my life was moving on.  Don't get me wrong, I was still having pain, fatigued beyond belief but I was out of bed and functioning to the best of my ability.  The pain wasn't constant but would pop up randomly and was definitely there.

Now let's fast forward a bit.  My thyroid started to become a huge issue - as you know that's dealt with now.  I'm finally feeling like things are looking up all around.  When I exercise I get pain in my hips, my hips are always the problem for me.  But with regular chiropractic care that seems to help a lot.

People who are like me and have multiple issues with health have to deal with things one at a time.....there is so much going on that we just have to pick one thing to handle......it's taken me 5 yrs to get a handle on everything and the last thing to deal with is my weight......since getting sick 5 yrs ago I've gained 65 lbs - SIXTY FIVE POUNDS! That's 13# a year, which doesn't seem like a lot but year after year it added up to where I am now.  I think my thyroid, laying in bed, having no energy, eating on the go and fast food is definitely to blame......my lack of motivation to do anything about it and lack of knowing what to do about it too.  It seemed like such a huge feat to try to lose it all,,,,,,,,and I didn't know where to even begin.  Getting to the gym was not an option because I had no energy....none.  Cooking healthy didn't happen, no energy.  Ordering pizza, getting subway or other fast food was easy, so that's pretty much what we did.

Everything started to change when a friend of mine introduced me to a company that is focused on lifestyle, weight loss and fitness.  I researched this until I was blue in the face as I didn't want another scam or gimmick to deal with.  I didn't want to waste money or time that I didn't have.  I've tried it all, believe me.  There are so many out there, so many that don't work that I wasn't about to take a chance on another failure.  Honestly, it's taken me a couple years to really get on board with this and already in just a couple months I'm down 14 lbs, feeling the best I've felt in as long as I can remember, my skin issues are clearing up and I have energy - yes energy!  I want to scream from the mountain tops.  Here is a little video that tells you about it.

If this video doesn't play you can also view it here - just click on the first video

I'll be 100% honest - I've done the challenge before and lost some weight then as well (2013) but I was still dealing with stress and my illnesses and didn't really give my lifestyle, ways of looking at food and eating the attention I should have.  I wasn't eating right and wasn't sticking to a better eating plan.  Because of that, I gained back what I lost initially.  As would anyone who goes back to eating out, fast food, sugars and all the processed crap that is in our face everyday.  It takes some effort to eat better than that.  It's a lifestyle change and that takes time and energy I just didn't have to give.  Be honest, it's easier to stay the same and not work on betting ourselves UNTIL we hit that point that we know something has to be done.  I'm on TWO medications for the rest of my life - Synthroid for my thryoid and Effexor because #1 the withdrawls to come off it will send me in a downward spiral I'm not willing to endure and #2 it was the only thing that helped my hip pain.  Not bad for someone who has all the chronic illnesses I have.

I've been on this challenge now for 2 months and I'm down 14 lbs and 10 inches overall.  I'm feeling the best I've felt in as long as I can remember.  I have energy to do things with my kids and husband.....I'm starting to work out at the gym - WHAT?  Yes, working out at the gym! This is a new me that I'm loving!  At the rate I'm going, I expect I'll be down to the size I was 5 yrs ago PRE-ILLNESS by mid 2016, maybe even sooner.  And it doesn't end there!  Once I'm down to where I began I plan on maintaining that with my new lifestyle and living the life I only dreamed I could!  Do I avoid going out to eat, NO....Do I get to enjoy treats time to time - absolutely!  Is it hard?  Sometimes but those are the times that I have to be strong and remember WHY I'm doing what I am.

Remember, I have always said that I started this blog and share information in hopes that I can help someone which is ultimately exactly what I want to do.  If I can help someone change their life and circumstances then I have succeeded in my mission.  This is no different.  I know there are people out there who have struggled with weight gain and an inability to lose it for whatever reason.  Just like me, it seems that no matter what you do, aside from starving yourself, you can't lose the weight.  I've always said if I even look at a piece of cake I gain 10lbs - because that is how I really felt. I struggled to control my cravings and didn't even try to have will power when faced with an opportunity to have cookies, cake, ice cream, pizza, burgers - all the good stuff that isn't so good in the long run.  Right now, I can walk away from it all - because I'm seeing how much better I feel without it.  Even without going to the gym I'm losing the weight just from changing the way I'm eating.

If you are reading this now - congratulations for sticking it out!  I know this is long but I have so much to say - I could continue but this is enough for now.  I'm just so excited about where this long journey has taken me and where it will continue to take me.  I'm sure I will have set backs, we all do...I'm not perfect and the healing process is long - we all have to remember how long it took us to get where we are and allow the time to change ourselves inside and out.

I encourage anyone out there to reach out to me to talk if you want some guidance - that's why I'm here - my mission is to help anyone and everyone who is ready for change in their life, suffering from illness and ready to do something and make changes.  I've taken the journey and am still on it....

Until next time - to your health - xoxoxoxo