Why I haven't Given Up Yet....

Lately I have been getting a lot of requests to share what workouts I am using and any other tips I have that have been aiding in my weight-loss. I plan on sharing my favorite FREE workouts in another post, but today we are talking about why I haven't given up yet. So far I have lost 36 lbs. I started my fitness journey in February, when I was diagnosed with PCOS, and it has been quite a journey over the past few months. This is the longest I have stayed with working out, since I had children. I use to always make excuses and let other things take priority over my workout time. I was notorious for sticking to something for about three weeks and then deciding it didn't work for me. I would give up because I would get discouraged. I have been asking myself lately what made this time different. Why haven't I given up this time around? As I've pondered this, a few things have come to mine.

The first thing is that I wanted this. I had been hating my fitness level for a long time. I had gained an extra 50 lbs after my brother died and my miscarriage. I felt lousy. I had no energy and was really depressed. I hated feeling that way. When I went to my doctor to come up with a game plan, I was told I had PCOS. I never thought I would say this, but PCOS had been a blessing in disguise because it has pushed me to make time for me. It has pushed me to make my health a priority. I was sitting by, letting my life go by and I didn't want to do that anymore. I wanted to be enjoying life, not just enduring it. Life is beautiful and should be absolutely enjoyed!

The second thing is that my mind set is different. Before I wanted to lose weight for all the wrong reasons. I wanted to lose weight because I felt that was what people expected. I mean you have kids and you lose the baby weight right? Well for me that didn't happen. I tried and tried, but struggled. Little did I know that I had PCOS then that was not helping me. I also wasn't working out. I tried to just diet to lose weight and that is not how my body works. I need exercise. Not only does it relieve my stress, but it is what my body needs. This time around, when it came time to lose weight and workout, I changed my thinking. I wasn't going to focus on calories or how much weight I lost a week....I was going to focus on getting healthy. I finally realized that healthy looks different on all of us. For some of us that means we are a size 4 and for others is doesn't. Realizing this was mind blowing. It set me up finally for some success. I tried to put healthy things into my body, but I didn't beat myself up over the fact that I had a cookie every once in a while or a slice of cake....we all know I love me some cake :) I focused on healthy living and getting active. I started off slow. If I slipped up, no worries. I dusted myself off and kept trying. Remember you only fail when you stop trying. Never forget this.

Stacia, who I follow on Instagram, always says that you must remember that it must start in your mind, and move to your heart, before it can reflect in your body. You have to want it, then believe it, then work hard to achieve it. It is all about mind, body, and soul. This has been a great encouragement to me.

The last thing that has helped me not give up, is I let go. I carried a lot of emotional baggage. I wasn't eating junk for no reason. I ate like crap because I was dealing with a lot. Grief can incapacitate you. Once I accepted why I was eating and living the way I was, I was able to change it. I had to let go of the grief, which is really hard. I have a Savior who loves me and knew what I was going through. That was a great strength to me. Dealing with infertility was really hard too and again it was through my Savior and my sweet family that I was able to get through that hard time. Another thing I did was get rid of negativity in my life. It is amazing how sometimes we have people in our lives or things that do not encourage us. I made sure I had only good things around me. I believe that all of this has helped me this time around.

I have found a love for healthy eating and have found balance. I still deal with grief....I still deal with infertility....and sometimes I have ugliness around me, but now I know not to turn to unhealthy habits when that stress hits. I have been trying to make lasting, good habits. I'm not in a race to get to a certain number on the scale. I am taking it a day at a time and making sure I get active and treat my body like the gift it is. We have been given this life and we should respect it. We need to respect ourselves and love ourselves....because when you do amazing things can happen :)

XO Danielle

My Healthy Living Journey Update and Other Tidbits...

Hi there! Today we are talking about fitness. I have received a few requests to talk about my weight loss progress, my routine, and what we're eating.

So here we go....

To start off, if your new to my blog you can read about why I started my weight loss journey and how I am dealing with PCOS here, here, and here. I do have PCOS, which royally SUCKS, but I am dealing with it and taking back control of my life.

Something amazing happened, once I started talking about my PCOS here on the blog and on my instagram feed...all of a sudden I was apart of this amazing group of women who too are struggling. I found great strength in their encouragement. I also found myself following like minded people (PCOS effected and not) who were working hard to gain back their health. It has been so inspiring. I have been sharing my progress on my feed pretty regularly. For me, posting has become a way to keep myself accountable. It is like my own little fitness journal.

I have been trying to workout 5-6 days a week. Sometimes I miss a day here or there, but I try to stick to that schedule as much as I can. I started out using the Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 (you can watch it on Amazon Prime right now) and her 30 Day Shred. These are amazing videos. When I started out 13 weeks ago, I could barely make it 30 minutes. Now I can go an hour. I had to work my way up. If you are new to working out, pace yourself. Just like Rome wasn't built in a day, you will have to take the same approach with working out. I also really like Fitness Blender. Kelli and her Hubby have hundreds of videos and workout programs that are free! These have become my daily favorites! You can create a calender to plan out your daily workouts. I really like this feature. They also have an app. I don't use the app though. I watch the videos on my laptop and hook it up to our flat screen, so I can see it on the big screen.

I also have a workout buddy who helps me stay accountable. Sam and I text each other, FB message, and tag each other on instagram. This is our way to cheer each other on. I love having someone else I am accountable to. We share our struggles, successes, and tips. It's been great!

Working out has become a way to gain control in my life. I have realized that I am a binge eater. When things start getting emotionally stressful and tough....I grave sugar....like I could devour a whole can icing kind of craving.  Because I realize that sugar becomes a crutch to me, I try to stay away. Sometimes I cave, but I really try to keep it away from me. When I start getting down and feeling emotional, I try to distract myself. If you know that you are someone who turns to food when times get tough, find another way to deal with that stress. Find a fun workout class you enjoy, do a craft, read a book...anything. Know what your trigger food is or that trigger emotion, so you can be aware and not fall into that trap.

Think about the way you eat. I know that because of my schedule, I ted to be a grazer. Because of this, having snacks ready to go in my fridge is a GREAT help to me. I bag carrots, cucumbers, etc and pair them with hummus. I also have hard boiled eggs and cut up fruit ready to go as well. You can see an example of some of the things I prep in my video HERE. Oh and protein bars are great too. My favorite right now are the Nature Valley Protein Chewy Granola Bars. I buy mine from Costco. They are delish!

I try to keep to a plant based diet. You can hear more about what I eat HERE. We eat meat sparingly and I have been trying to give us veggies at every meal. It's really just about making healthy food choices. That is what I focus on.

I also us an app to help keep track of what I'm eating and when I'm exercising. It's called Loseit and is free to download. I don't really count calories or focus too much on it, but I do like being able to keep a food journal and know that I am getting a good rainbow of fruits and veggies into each day. It also helps me keep track of my water intake. I try to drink a gallon of water a day! I even did a video on this HERE :)

Over all I think it is about changing your lifestyle. We have had a complete overhaul in our home. We are still figuring out what healthy living looks like for us. We take it a day at a time. I don't focus too much on the numbers on the scale (although I do love seeing them go down). I have lost 30 pounds so far and I hope to see that number continue to drop. I know that losing weight is hard...especially if you have PCOS or other health issues. I try to remember that it is about living a healthy life, whether that number goes down as fast as I would like it or not. Look for non-scale victories daily. Take your measurements, so you can see the progress as you become trimmer. I love flexing my muscles (yes I know I'm a dork), but I can already see my arms and legs thinning out and becoming stronger. I love that!

This was a LONG post, so if you made it to the end...thank you! I hope that this helps you in your own healthy living journey. Know that you can do this. If you want to follow my journey, follow me on instagram. Let me know about your journey as well, so I can cheer you on!

XO Danielle

A No Good Very Bummed Out Day...

Oh how I love my sweet little read heads. They are spunky and fun and always keeping me on my toes. Most days they are loud and ready to go first thing in he morning.....long before this mama has fully woken up and has her wits about her. They are patient though and wait for me to get myself going in the morning, so I can pay attention to whatever fun thing they want to show me.

Yesterday was rough for me. I have days where I don't even think about my PCOS and what that means for me health-wise or about the whole infertility factor of it......but some days....like yesterday I am reminded that adding more little red heads to our mix may not be happening. It bums me out and can really consume me. Why do I share this? Well, because I know I am not the only one that is going through this. Many of you have said that you too have gone through it or are going through it right now. I know that we can encourage one another and uplift each other out of these no good, very bummed out days.

I know I am blessed with the two I already have, and I wouldn't trade them for the world....but having a dream that then is cut short is hard.....and I am dealing with it. I am coping and try to just keep smiling when it's the last thing I feel like doing.

Having little red heads that do interpretive dances for you and a hubby that always knows when to send that text or give that call when he's at work really helps. They are all mine and I am so thankful for them. When times are hard, they know how to put a smile on my face.

I am definitely going to keep them :)

XO Danielle

How to Meal Prep for Your Week...

Morning lovelies! I hope you all are having a fabulous Easter Sunday and are now recovering from your sugar comas. Thankfully I was able to resist a bit of that sugary goodness, which seems to always come with Easter celebrations. I did however enjoy some yummy whole wheat cinnamon rolls in the morning (I'm sharing the recipe later next week) and a few of Miss Priss's Robin eggs...Oh boy are those things good. I'm thankful for my red head who gave me a handful to enjoy. It allowed me to give into my sweet tooth, without going overboard....I use to always go overboard, so I am counting my self-control as a HUGE non-scale victory this weekend! No pounds gained! Woot! Woot!

One way to help me constantly resist some of those sweet treats and junky snacks is by meal prepping. I started this just a few weeks ago and I have already seen what a HUGE difference it makes in my day. I am a busy mama (as I know you are all too), who doesn't always take the time to prepare fresh, healthy snacks for myself. I seem to always put myself on the back burner. Meal prepping has allowed me to make the healthy option the most convenient, so if I have to run out the door with kids, I can grab a quick tub of cut up veggies and not blow my whole day of healthy eating.

I made a video to show you what I meal prepped for this upcoming week. All of these yummy goodies will be enjoyed not by only me, but the rest of my family as well. I have found that when I take a little bit of time on Sunday to get this stuff prepared, our week seems to go a little smoother. We are filling up on healthy, fiber filled foods....are full longer...and are not indulging those sweet tooth's too much.

I would definitely give meal prepping a try. I love to scour instagram for ideas, using the hashtag #mealprep. So many people do meal prepping. You can do it for snacks or for your meals. Right now I just do it for my snacks.

Check out my video and see what I prepped this week :)

XO Danielle

My Battle with PCOS...

As promised, I am taking some time to talk about my battle with PCOS. I recently shared a post on instagram and used the #PCOS. I had no clue that there would be such a response from it. You all truly are some of the most encouraging people around. Many of you also suffer from this syndrome and were asking me questions and wanting me to write about it, so here I am. I will share a little bit of how I came to find out I had it and what I am doing to get it under control.

Here we go...

A year ago I had a miscarriage. After the miscarriage, I just never felt like I truly got back to normal. My cycle never returned back to it's "normal" cycle and I had a bunch of other symptoms as well. I kept gaining weight, no matter what I ate. I couldn't lose the weight I was gaining (no matter how hard I worked out), I would break out all the time on my face, and a few other things. With all of this happening, I knew it was time to ask my OB/GYN. I had my yearly appointment and told her all that I was experiencing. She wanted to do blood work and an ultra sound. I was hopeful, feeling like finally we could get things back to normal and get us back on the baby train. We have been wanting more children for years, so any amount of delay was very saddening to me.

I honestly thought it would be something with my thyroid or maybe I needed a hormone boost or something, I was not prepared when the doctor came in and told me I had PCOS. I had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. It  is a hormonal disorder that causes enlarged ovaries with small cysts. You can read more about it here.

The doctor took time explaining what I had and how it was greatly affecting hubby and I growing our family. Women who have PCOS, usually show certain signs or symptoms. I had a huge amount of them. You don't have to be overweight to have it, but it is common as it causes hormone imbalances that cause your body to produce large amounts of insulin and basically throws your body out of whack.

When you have PCOS, if you don't get it under control, you are at risk for diabetes, heart disease, and endocrine cancer. It also causes infertility.

I still remember when the doctor spoke those words. I broke down and started crying. It didn't seem fair. Yes I have two kiddos, but I really wanted more. I had prayed for more, so why was that being taken away from me? I felt that loss very deep. I was understandably bummed those first few days and cried a lot. Thankfully I have a great support in my Hubby, who was right there by my side. He's the best shoulder to cry on.

I have a really good doctor, who also suffers from PCOS, so she was able to share some first hand knowledge of what has worked for her to get it under control. She gave me some websites to go home and study. She told me that "yes PCOS has all these symptoms and all these health problems can occur because of it, but there is hope". She has been able to control her PCOS through diet and exercise. She said that I had to basically change everything I was doing. The diets to lose weight in the past never worked for me because calorie counting is not how my body loses weight. Foods like dairy, gluten, sugar, and refined carbs (white flour carbs), are hard for my body to digest, causing it to send out a lot of insulin. The more that I study, the more I understand. I was only diagnosed a few weeks ago, so it is all new to me.

After those first few days of my BIG time pity party, I started researching more. If I could find a way to control my PCOS with diet and exercise, than I needed to do it.

This is NOT just a temporary thing to allow me to ovulate and ultimately get pregnant, but is a life style change because I'll always have PCOS and I need to get it under control, so I can prevent some of those other health problems that come with it.

When I first started researching diets and stuff for PCOS, I was really overwhelmed. I decided to just try a few things at first and then I would continue to work my way through eliminating those things that are not good for me.

First off, I cut sugar out right away. In the past three weeks I have only had one churro at Costco and a bite of my daughter's cupcake. For this sugarholic, that is a big deal. I also started cutting out dairy and switching to a plant based, whole grain diet. Thankfully some of these changes we had been making over the past year, so I was not totally overwhelmed. The hardest thing for me has actually been the dairy. I still eat cheese with dinner sometimes, but I no longer snack on it. I also switched us over to soy milk. I am taking the dairy elimination at a slow pace, as it is the hardest one for me right now. Surprisingly sugar has not been a big deal. I am getting enough sweets from the fruits I eat that I feel quite satisfied in the sweet tooth area.

I have also been working out 6 days a week. Right now I am using Jillian Micheals Get Ripped in 30. I have lost 15 lbs so far and am feeling amazing. My energy is back and my face is even starting to clear up. Thank the heavens for that one. I was getting tired of feeling like a teenager.

It is still a struggle, but one I am willing to fight. I don't want the word "infertility" to define me. I know that with hard work I can do this. It may take a while, but I hope that God willing we will be able to get pregnant. I know it will take a while, but I am totally up for the challenge.

If you want to see how I am progressing, check me out on instagram. Posting has been a great encouragement to me, so I will keep that up. I hope it encourages you as well.

Thank you for listening and for always being amazing readers and friends.

If you want to learn more about controlling your PCOS with diet and exercise check out here and here. They have been some of my favorite sites to learn from.

Also most women with PCOS are referred to a fertility specialist to find out about invitro or taking fertility drugs. For Hubby and I this is not an option we are considering. I just wanted to let you know that it is something we have thought and prayed about, but do not feel it is what we should do at this time.

Thank you always for your love and support. You lovelies are the best!

XO Danielle

P.S.

The pictures above I pulled from my Instagram. They are some of my progress pictures I've been posting over the past few weeks :)