Why I've Started This Blog

My family has eaten healthy foods since I was 13... No refined sugar (honey, stevia, agave nectar, etc were the only sweeteners allowed), low starch, almost no grains, and basically no processed food. I lost 20 lbs when we did that, and for my size, maintained a healthy weight of 95 lbs. When I was 19, I started doing yoga on a regular basis, and felt better than I ever had! I was toned, my body was a perfect hourglass, my skin was clear, everything was perfect!

I stayed that way for a few years. Then I began dating my now husband. He lived further away, and so we'd hang out at coffee shops with our meals being Chick-Fil-A... Obviously it wasn't the healthiest diet (especially compared to what I'd been used to). Slowly, my weight creeped up on me. By the time we got married 10 months later, I had probably gained around 10-12 lbs. It wasn't terrible. My clothes still fit, I still felt okay in my body. And then life decided to sucker punch me. 

Married life was (and still sometimes is) more stressful than I anticipated. I had stopped doing yoga about 6 months before I was dating, and I chose to handle the stress by eating ice cream, lots of Hershey's bars, and pretty much ALL of the junk food. Combine that with getting pregnant (unplanned), and I gained A LOT. I ended up miscarrying very early on, but my body thought it was still pregnant. In 5 months time, I looked like I was 5 months pregnant. My stomach had stretched, my boobs had grown, my clothes and bras stopped fitting, and I stopped feeling like I was attractive to my husband. That's when I realized I needed to make a change. And FAST!

In January, I, along  with the hubby, started the HCG Diet. We both lost a lot of weight. He was back to the size he was when we started dating, and I was back down to my wedding weight! We started going to the gym every day, I started running and was planning on running a 5k sometime this year. Then through some crazy stuff that happened in April, my self-care went downhill. I stopped running and going to the gym. I stopped cooking meals. I was eating Chick-Fil-A and McDonald's daily. I ate so much junk food, that within 3 months, I gained every bit of weight I had lost back, PLUS an extra 5 lbs... Yeah. I was 133 lbs. (Which for my 5'0" tiny frame IS considered overweight. NOOOOOO!)

Okay, I KNEW a bigger change needed to happen. I tried doing the HCG diet again in August while I was out of town, but barely lost at all. When I got back in town, I pretty much jumped off the bandwagon and gave up. But I felt like a failure. I knew I needed to make a change, but maybe the diet wasn't going to fix it this time. In August, I got hooked on Kombucha, so I decided to brew my own at home. 

Which brings me to now. 

I'm now on my second batch of homemade kombucha. I'm drinking it every day. From now on, I'm cooking at home. Except Wednesday night Torchy's Tacos (which are fairly healthy). I'm giving up my sugary drinks, fries, ice cream, etc. and I'm putting that money into a yoga class. I'm going to get up and go to the fitness center in the mornings. 

I've realized I'm where I am because I let my stress and my emotions control me for too long. But I can change that. It's my life, and I'm taking it back.