I’m Kendra,  and am honored to be blogging again for this great blog! My last post was when when I wrote about sugar free strawberry freezer jam. Thanks for having me back!! A little recap about me. I am a stay at home mommy that loves to craft, eat, exercise, budget {i know crazy huh!}, homeschool, and be with my family! I went to school and got a degree in Home and Family Living and to show for it I have a wonderful good looking husband, 3 beautiful kids and my blog where I write about The Things I Love! Today, I’m here to share a weight loss success story of a mother… me!

Talking about dieting and exercise to some people is almost as bad as talking politics. It can get heated and people feel frustrated and not agree with you. So PLEASE don’t be offended about what I write and also know I am not bragging or saying I am some amazing person. It took a lot of hard work and discipline.

So to start, I know there are a ton of ways to lose weight. Seriously, I googled a Peanut Butter Diet the other day and guess what, there was one!!! There are so many different ways to lose weight. My sister and her husband did the Body for Life Diet and exercise program and they did great. I have friends that did the HCG diet and did well. My sister’s neighbor swears by Bob Greene and his cookbook (which I am considering buying because the recipes look great) and lost about 75 lbs doing it. There are also amazing workout programs like Insanity, P90X, Jillian Michaels, T-Tapp, and good old Billy Blanks Taebo! So, as you can see there are a whole ton of eating and exercise programs you can use.

Weight Loss Success Story of a Mother

So, I will give you a little back ground about me. I grew up very active and never really had a problem with my weight. I wasn’t tiny by any means, just normal. I could eat a bowl of ice cream every night and it never affected me. My mom was the exact opposite, she weighed over 200 lbs my whole childhood and struggled every day with food. I remember when mom started losing all her weight, I was little nervous I would have the same problem. My mom looks amazing now, so go here if you want to read about her and her overcoming her addiction to food.

After I had my first child, I nursed her and got down to even smaller than I as before I had her. I thought how awesome it was to be able to eat whatever I wanted and be skinny!! Well I was wrong. After I had my second and gained 35lbs during pregnancy the weight didn’t come off. I nursed and nothing. I started eating a little bit better, but I was stuck at 165lbs. {I don’t think I have told anyone that, but who cares?!?!} Then my third came along and I gained the same and was again stuck at 165 lbs. Now I know that is not huge and that I was not considered morbidly obese or anything, but for my height-to-weight, the charts said I was overweight and I felt like I was.

The Weight Just Wasn’t Coming Off…

I started eating better and exercising A LOT and did some races and triathlons, but still no weight loss. The weird thing was, I could also eat what ever I wanted and I didn’t’ gain any either. So I just told myself I needed to be okay with where I was, but I wasn’t 🙁 I prayed and asked God to help me figure out what to do. I had a bunch of friends doing the HCG, and I was a bit tempted to try that. I called my mom one day and just told her that I was thinking about it. She encourage me to do this program that she has been doing for the last year and a half. I decided what the heck! I might as well try it. My mom has been doing the 12 Steps Addiction Recovery Program in our church, and even helped write the manual. She also added the Compulsive Eaters Anonymous program with it, which they also use the 12 steps. It is referred to as “CEA HOW.” It is for compulsive eaters {which I feel like I am, but only social, like at potlucks and such} It is also kind of a life long program for people that struggle with food addiction every single day.

Anyway, so I started the next day with this program. I found the eating plan that someone had posted online while searching the Internet. The real plan is a 12 step support group and you can join for free. But, you have a sponsor that you need to get the food plan from. You call people, and can also listen in on meetings over the phone {which I did hear once and it was inspiring}. It is great program if you need major help with your eating. A simple online search can help you learn more about the diet plan, from others who have used it.

Basically the gist of the diet is to get all the bad stuff out of your body. So, you go off grains and sugar for 30 days!! Yes, it was hard, but so worth it!! I am sure you are wondering “Why Grains?” Wheat is not bad for you by any means, but a lot of it can be. I didn’t really know this either, but grains are carbohydrates which actually turn to sugar in your body, and sugar is addicting and makes you crave more and more which makes you still feel hungry even when your not. Got it!

Go and read about the eating plan (check Pinterest!) or find a sponsor through the CEA How website. By signing up, you can get the food plan from them.

My Weight Loss After 30 Days…

I did it, I did it for 30 days and lost 14 lbs! After four years of trying. I was so excited! It was my birthday and Easter so I took a week off and then started another 30 days and lost 12 lbs!!!! Now I weigh 139! My goal weight was 145 because that’s what it says on the charts is a healthy weight for my height!! So a total of 26 lbs, and a lot of inches just from eating good and exercising. I am no barbie doll and I am no size tiny, but I feel good and I feel happy!

You can go to the website and see what to do after the 30 days. For me, it is going to be different because I got down to my goal weight and I am not actually in the program. For my mom, she will probably not EVER eat sugar again. She does eat grains now, but not a lot. She is amazing!! I was so grateful for the support from my mom and family to do this, but most especially for the help God gave me everyday to have the will power to do it. I have had people tell me that they don’t have enough will power to do it, and they are right, I couldn’t have done it with out God’s help everyday. He cares about us and will help us even with little things, whether it’s a small 5 lbs, 25 or even 97 like my mom lost. He cares that we are happy and that we take good care of our bodies.

You have to do what works for you. This is what worked for me along with exercising, and if you decide to use it, awesome! I think the major thing is just eating more healthy, watching your grain and sugar intake and the amount of calories we put into our bodies. I now know what I am going to do to get back down to weight after I have another baby! I have been off the actual eating plan for a little over a month and I had two days were I struggled and ate to much because of parties and such and I paid for it, I had major stomach ache and felt awful. I have maintained my weight and have been able to add grains to my meals. I also let my self have something sweet a few times a week, but have started to used mostly honey or agave instead or sugar.

What I Have Learned from Losing Weight…

I have learned a lot from eating this healthy way. I know what is good and not so good for my body and that I need to watch what I eat. I have learned how to eat way healthier, and plan on doing that. I have also learned to stop or not snack as much, and also to stop eating after dinner. I have come up with a new plan for myself of how I want to eat, because I don’t want to have to “diet” the rest of my life, I just want to have a healthy eating plan. Every Friday on my blog I will post some ideas of yummy healthy meals, exercises, and also good ways to not feel hungry and get rid of that 9:00 pm food craving so come visit me there!

>So here’s to healthy eating and trying to stay fit!!