Starting with a blood pressure issue during my last pregnancy..
....to a friend not too much older than me having a stroke last year...
...to my own mother's blood pressure issues over the past few months..
God's definitely trying to get my attention. I'm headed down that same road if I don't start making changes now.
My goals are simple:
- more exercise
- less junk, processed food
- less snacking
It's been two days so far, and I've had two days of success. I'm sure it's not always going to be smooth, and this page will be where I come to vent, celebrate, or plan for the future!
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November 4, 2011 Update
I honestly don't remember what day I originally started this blog, but I think it was about four months ago. A lot has happened in that four months when it comes to our healthy/food makeover, and I'm sorry I haven't updated this part recently.
We've done a lot in the way of food/diet makeovers in this house. We've stopped buying processed crackers, snacks, and chips. Pretty much all munchies have stopped, and have been replaced by fresh fruits and vegetables. I've been pleasantly surprised at the effects these changes have had. Just to name a few:
- our overall moods have DRASTICALLY increased here. There's much less in the way of whining, grumpiness and complaining (Oh yeah, and in the kids, too!!). We all feel better, emotionally and physically
- the kids (and the parents!) have started asking for, or reaching for, fruits and vegetables when it comes time for eating. My children actually STOPPED eating mac and cheese the other day to eat fresh garden salads. My husband and I were shocked, and pleasantly surprised!
- I'm not sure exactly how much weight my husband has lost, but I am down 20 pounds since the creation of this blog, and 34 pounds since the beginning of 2011. This was done without any dieting, without any food journals (I HATE food journals), and without any feeling of deprivation. It was purely done with changing what food choices were in our house, and by increasing the amounts of vegetables and fruits we consumed. This translates into about 3 dress sizes of lost weight.
- I have been working out, with the goal of more days WITH a workout than WITHOUT. No magic number, just trying to workout on the majority of the days of the week. A workout started as 30 minutes of power walking and 10 minutes of toning, and we are now up to 35 minutes of cardio (20 minutes jogging, 15 for a warmup and cooldown) and 15 minutes of toning exercises.
Things are going well, and the best part is that this new way of eating/living has become a habit - one so strong that I physically notice a difference when I can't workout or eat healthy options (I went away for a weekend and lived on snacks/munchies/pizza and no workouts and felt MISERABLE by the time I got back!). I urge you to try it yourself and share your thoughts here!
