SSC Week 2

It’s Week 2 of Slim Camp, how y’all doing?

I’ll tell you, I did better the week before I started SC than I did last week. This past week I’ve done pretty good with my eating -except for a couple of times I gave in and had to have some diet pop – but I only worked out once. My excuse? A deadline on a story.

The thing that frustrates me about it all is that this is the whole reason I need to get my habits under control, so that I don’t gain 10-15 pounds every time I write a book. While this one is just a ashort story, and I won’t gain 10 pounds, but it brings the “habit’ factor really home.

So this week..Determination has set in, and I’m going to fight my unhealthy habits. :fight:

Check back on Monday for a healthy recipe! And now, our guest post from Amie …..

IT’S NOT JUST A DIET
by Amie Stuart

It’s a way of life. I guess if any of you read my blog post from last week, you know I’ve lost a grand total of 45 pounds in a year. I wish it was more, but I’m also very proud of myself for a) sticking to it and b) losing the most amount of weight at one time since I was 19 and did Nutri-system. I’ve done a lot of diets since then, and before then—I remember my mother taking me to Weight Watchers. I was ten and all I remember is a dark room, a scale and a bunch of old folks. It scarred me for life.

Anyway about a year ago I got to thinking I had a thyroid problem, or at the very least there was something wrong with me (I was run down, depressed, my skin was gross, I had zits and I was at my heaviest, but I knew it wasn’t JUST depression). I did some research and discovered a local doctor who prescribed naturally derived thyroid meds, and made an appointment. The doctor sent me for a bunch of blood work and started me on some vitamins and stuff. I was skeptical—of the vitamins which were very expensive and seeing a nutritionist. After all, I’m the woman who went on the SBD for six weeks and didn’t lose a pound. Finally I go to see the nutritionist who is nutty but seems to know her stuff. I have candida overgrowth and PMDD, she says.

Changing my diet will stop the PMDD (imagine PMS on CRACK with an Uzi and no chocolate) and get rid of the headaches I’d had for 18 months (Beth remember me complaining way back when about my headaches? Candida). She also gives me more vitamins and supplements to take. Ok, I figure I’ll give it two months and see what happens.

THEN I went back to the doctor for my test results. I did indeed have a thyroid problem, and insulin resistance and a Vitamin D deficiency along with a host of other problems. To be honest, I walked out of there shell-shocked and unable to believe I’d been a functioning human being. But maybe sometimes that’s what you need to make you change your life.

And it truly has been a lifestyle change—not just for myself but for my kids. I talk to them a lot about diet, and exercise, and being active because I don’t ever want them to go through this. There’s no more cookies in the house, I gave up birthday cakes, we drink soy and almond milk, I bought a wok (LOVE MY WOK!), I’m sensitive to wheat so I have to really limit the amount of bread I eat and pasta is a big no-no as is….sugar. That’s right….I gave up sugar (and no splenda or aspartame either—it’s stevia all the way. The nutritionist doesn’t want me using any artificial sweeteners). I won’t say I never cheat though, because I do, and I’m the world’s worst exerciser. Exercise will be my big challenge to conquer in Sasha’s Slim Camp.

I guess if I could leave you with one or two important thoughts, it’d be these:
Change takes time: So go easy on yourself. I did the diet first, and had to adjust to a ton of medicine and vitamins, THEN I gave up caffeine and finally, in June I quit smoking (though I did smoke at Nationals, I haven’t smoked since).
Celebrate your small victories: Don’t focus on the big picture of say 100 pounds. Focus on small goals of 25 and 50 pounds. And don’t forget every pound gone is progress. Every extra step you walk is progress. And every day you’re going to be healthier than you were the day before. I never ever thought I’d see a size 18 again but I have, and all the changes I’ve made were worth the time and effort and expense because I do feel better, I AM healthier and that’s the most important thing.