Losing My Hind

Holy shit, I'm tired.  Really.  Tired.  I don't think I've felt this exhausted since I was pregnant.  Last night I went to bed at 8:45 and I woke up at almost 3 a.m. and couldn't fall asleep again.  My mind was racing. I only woke up because I had the urgent need to pee, and then I just stared at the darkness for two hours trying to go back to sleep.  It was not fun.I googled some of the things others have tried and supplementing with magnesium seems to help.  I have some of that in my medicine cabinet so I plan to take it tonight and hopefully catch a full 8 hours of sleep.My meals are delicious.  I had my omelette for breakfast, a salad for lunch with loads of veggies; tomato, cucumber, onion, bell pepper, and vinaigrette dressing.  Tonight's dinner was turkey meatballs and roasted cherry tomatoes.  It was amazing.  I'm loving that my taste buds are better now.  It's like I've cleansed my palette.  I took Daley for a walk after dinner and it was super…

Okay.  Today isn't so great.  I'm tired.  I'm cranky.  I'm not feeling very energetic.I know this is normal.  I read the book and this is probably what they call "the hangover" period. Thankfully, I didn't go crazy eating all the forbidden foods the day before I started this plan  I'm drinking more water so I have to pee.  All. The. Time.  It's annoying but it's not the worst thing in the world.  I envision that my body is shedding all the toxic stuff I'd been eating and drinking before.  I'm certain this feeling will pass.Not going to lie, I wanted to have a cocktail with dinner.  That was tough, but I survived.  I made shrimp and broccoli with garlic and ghee.  It was very good.  Lunch was great, too.  I made charred steak and onion salad.  Delicious.  I'm really having fun in the kitchen but I'm not loving all the prep work and dishes I have to do every day.  Sometimes I'm washing dishes twice a day.  My nails have never…

Today is my first day on Whole30.  I had a small panic attack this morning when I realized I couldn't put cheese in my omelette, but I got over that pretty quickly by adding more veggies instead.  Nothing makes me happier than eggs, onion, bell pepper and chopped broccoli.  So good. Lunch was pretty easy, too.  I had made my own lemon-garlic vinaigrette, and I even made my own mayonnaise in the blender for recipes I plan to make this week.  I taste-tested the mayo and HOLY HELL is that stuff good.  So much better than the jarred junk I've been buying for years.  I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to store-bough mayo.Dinner was great. I made beef and broccoli and ate it over mixed greens with some of the vinaigrette.  It was delicious.  I didn't feel over full, but I wasn't feeling hungry either. Not really having any cravings for carbs or junk food.  This is a great feeling!I'm feeling empowered and ready to tackle any challenges that come my way.  …

I've been struggling with weight loss for years.  Decades, really.  My family health history is filled with hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol.  I'm "lucky" to only have high blood pressure, and it was brought on during pregnancy in the form of pre-eclampsia.  Unfortunately, it never returned to normal levels after having kids.Over twenty years ago I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.  I've documented my struggles with this hormone disorder, and I've tried many things to keep my symptoms at bay.  When I began my fitness and nutrition journey almost 8 months ago, I was able to drop 30 pounds quickly.  The weight loss stalled.  My doctor ran numerous tests to check my hormone levels.  As expected, estrogen and progesterone were out of whack, my testosterone levels where a little higher.  Of course stress was a factor, my cortisol levels were extremely high. Then, my doctor mentioned trying something new.  An elimination diet could be helpfu…

If you follow me on social media you know I post a lot about my journey toward a healthy lifestyle.  I've struggled for years with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and it's made weight loss very difficult.  The battle may be long but I am a warrior and I will fight it until I achieve my goal.

Over the last two years I've lost and gained the same 50 pounds twice.  It's frustrating to say the least.  To work so hard at exercise and to face the same hurdles over and over again can really break a person down.  I'm in the midst of losing that weight again, so far I'm down 30 pounds, and I've learned a few things this time around.

The most important lesson I want to share is this:  Find your Why.

It sounds simple, right?  Why do I want to lose weight?  I could list a number of reasons, but this time I realized I needed to establish my clear, unwavering purpose for becoming healthy.  I needed to be honest with myself.  It's easy to forget (and forget often) th…

I know...I've been MIA for awhile.  So sorry, folks.  My life has been insanely chaotic since before the New Year.

The first week of January was awful.  I was sick with a terrible cold/flu thing, on top of getting my usual migraine during "that time of the month" and it was brutal.  I was so exhausted and had the fever and chills that go along with the winter crud.  I was so bummed because I had set a goal to run every day and was taken out of the game for five days.

Once I was well enough I started running again.  January is so cold in Wisconsin so I didn't dare try to do this outside but I managed to run three days per week at the gym. Then at the beginning of February I was benched once again.  It turns out I had a kidney stone, 8 mm, and I needed to have an ureteroscopy and laser lithotripsy to remove it.  I missed six days of work, and couldn't exercise for two weeks due to the stent that was placed to prevent blockage in the ureter..  I'm not even sure …