My name is Rachel. I will turn 32 years old on April 21st. I am married now for 10 years and with my husband for almost 15 years. I have three beautiful daughters, Lillian who is 11 years old, Isabella who is 7 years old and Scarlett who is 4 years old. I am a stay at home mom and I make tutu dresses and sell them on Etsy. I also am an amateur photographer and also sell prints on Etsy.
I am making this blog because for about 10 years now I have been struggling with weight gain. After I had my first baby I gained about 30 pounds that never left. My skin got loose with stretch marks and it was mostly in my belly area. After I had my second baby I gained even more that never left me. I also had some depression that didn't help with eating well and moving my body. When my 2nd daughter was almost 1 year I decided to get a gym membership and start eating better, also had a falling out in my husbands family, nothing was going right and I needed a change. I started that weight loss journey at 189 pounds. I am only 5ft 3in so 189lbs looks like a lot more. With help from my mom who also joined me every morning at the gym I lost 36 pounds. I was comfortable and happy at 153 pounds, and then we decided to have one more baby, trying for a boy. I gained again, before giving birth I was at 199lbs. After birth I was able to get down to 170 pretty quickly but with bad eating habits and a lot of sitting on my butt later I shot up to 204lbs with in a year. I also had a bad living situation when we decided to live with some friends, it didn't end well and we no longer talk. I was not happy at this point, my husband had to stay 2 hours away for 3-4 days at a time for his work and I had no other friends. This was summer of 2010. I went another year like this. The thing that slapped me in the face was going to a beach spring of 2011, the kind of beach where you have a gagillion stairs to climb if you want to leave. I could barely walk up the stairs…I cried and was so embarrassed. A few months later I had the guts to get a gym membership yet again and start eating better. I went from 204lbs to 198lbs in about 3 months. I was gaining a bit of muscle as well. I also was not going all the time, maybe 3 days a week. 2012 popped up quickly and I found out about Insanity from an online friend. I bought it. I loved it. I was able to build up my cardio so well that I could run if I wanted to. I also quit smoking because of this program. I would have finished the program and almost did but I got really tired suddenly after we moved closer to my husbands work. I was at 180lbs, I think, might have been lower, can't remember. I started gaining weight yet again, I tried so hard to get myself to do Insanity or even just go for walks but I had breathing troubles and my heart was racing in my chest. I was pretty depressed, sad, irritable and just angry all the time. I was always hungry and very sleepy. Later that year I finally decided to go see the doctor and see what was going on, at this point I was 210lbs. After 2 doctors, an ultrasound, and blood work I found out I had Graves Disease. Its an over active thyroid. By February 2013 I was 220lbs. Now most people lose a lot of weight with this disease but I'm convinced I was Hypothyroid before becoming hyperthyroid. Which makes you gain a lot of weight. I opted to have my thyroid removed because I felt it was the best course of action. After surgery, 3 days later, I found out I had Thyroid Cancer also. Now once the thyroid is gone the Graves is gone but now I had to deal with cancer. I had to eat a very strict low iodine diet which allowed me to lose some weight, not much but I went down to 210lbs again. I did radiation. Now it has been almost a year and I am sitting at 227lbs. I have been terrible about eating right and I barely do anything physical. I was just deciding I was going to be happy at this weight, well I thought that at 220…I figured my body wanted to be 220lbs so whatever, until it decided to be 227lbs. I am always tired, my back hurts, my legs hurt and I have breathing issues. Some of my symptoms are related to not having a thyroid and balancing my medication for that, but if I was at a healthy weight I think the symptoms would be easier to deal with.
I watched Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead a few weeks ago and I am so convinced by juicing and fasting. The men in this documentary had way more weight and major health problems before doing this program. Now they did 60 days, I am only starting with 15 days. I will repeat the 15 days every other month for probably 6 months, than every 3 months from there on out. Its totally healthy, its basically a vegans diet. It just fruits and vegetables, that's it. Now when I am not juicing I will be eating some dairy but I think grains will stay away for now. I will post links to the website.
Okay well I think that's about it, I do have a goal of at least getting under 200lbs just in the next 15 days. I will be working out as well, not right away but in a few days when my body is use to what I am doing. The work out program I am going to do is Jillian Michael's 30 day shred.
Lets get started!!!
So I am starting out at 231 lbs. It is afternoon so I probably weigh less but thats what the scale read right now. I will only be sharing pictures at the end.
leafy greens
1 medium sweet potatoes
Afternoon snack:
Kale avocado salad
