Starting my transformation in ... 3.... 2....1...

Today is Day 1 of my total transformation.

I'm starting a new lifestyle. I'm going to eat better, workout more, and shed a ton of weight!

What will I do to accomplish all this, you ask?

 Start with the Beachbody 21 day Fix.

I've got my blender bottle, my Shakeology, my meal planner, my portion containers, and my workout dvds.

I'm ready to get healthier, build muscle and stamina, and keep up with my kids!

So, yesterday I took my measurements, weighed in, and took my before pix.

My beginning weight is 208.4 lbs. I'm really taking a step out of my comfort zone by sharing this picture!! But you know, it's part of the accountability!!  The more I share, the more I will be motivating myself to do better! :)

So my daily routine consists of eating from the following containers: 5 green, 3 purple, 5 red, 4 yellow, 1 each of blue and orange, and 5 teaspoons. Those teaspoons can be any of the nut or seed butters (peanut, almond, cashew, pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, tahini), EVOO, EVCO (that's extra virgin coconut oil if you didn't know), walnut oils, pumpkin seed oil, flaxseed oil.  The Shakeology shakes are considered 1 red, plus whatever you add to them, such as fruits or peanut butter. 

This is an example of one purple container. I can add this to my ShakeO, or eat it by itself (which is what I did today).

AAAAANNNNNDDDDDD THIS is my Shake! I combined a cup of cold coffee with my chocolate shake mix to make a mocha!! It was yummy! This was 1.5 of my red containers for the day because I added just a little extra to it... so I'm down to two more reds to actually eat from out of my 5.  There are literally thousands of shake recipes to choose from!! I'm going to also buy a new blender just for my shakes, so I don't have to compete with my family and our enormous blender. :)

My breakfast was 1 orange, 1 blue, 1 yellow, 1.5 reds. I had a snack of the 1 purple. Then I had the shake which was the 1.5 reds, I need to have a least half of the amount of greens at one point still, plus the remaining purple I'm going to be eating in a few minutes as a snack at a meeting. I think I'm going to be ok!! :)

The next step is to incorporate a workout from the 21 day Fix program. Tonight's workout is going to be the upper body. I need to go buy some resistance bands and a yoga mat still, but I'm determined to get this done!! 

Stay tuned to my next posts as I update you on my journey to a better, healthier me!! :)

Day one- My personal journey through Depression

Life is hard.  We all know that. If life was all roses and rainbows we would not be so different.

But life has thorns and thunderstorms.

Some of us can weather each storm and stay away from the thorns and live a "normal" life.  Then there are those of us that no matter how hard we try,  the thorns dig deeper into our souls and the storms are never ending.

When we reach the point of not being able to handle things,  the medical term is depression.  Some people are able to handle thier depression with lifestyle changes,  such as a change in diet and adding exercise.  Then there are people like me who just cannot fix themselves.

In 2008 I was diagnosed with severe post partum depression that had gone undiagnosed since '97/'98 when my first born was still a baby.  The diagnosis happened in the middle of my pregnancy (6.5mo) with my third child. There were so many things happening in my life that I couldn't handle.

I was put on Zoloft,  which was deemed the safest medication to use during pregnancy at that time.  I started out with 50mgs, then by the time he was born I was up to 150mgs. I stayed on the medication until my insurance coverage stopped,  which was 6 mo after he was born. So I want on it for a whole year. More like 8 months.  Then my therapist agreed I didn't need it anymore. So I stopped after lowering the dose  and finishing the bottle I had.

Only,  things got worse in my life and I ended up back in the vicious circle of depression.  It took me another 4 years, and finally a good insurance,  to admit I couldn't deal with life and I wasn't myself.
So three weeks ago my current doctor put me back on Zoloft, 50mgs. Life is a little better to deal with.  However the side effects I experienced with Zoloft were already wearing me thin and were almost outweighing the positive effects.  So yesterday my doctor said I could try something different if I wanted to. I said yes. Anything to get away from the awful side effects of excessive sweating.

So this morning was my first dose of Effexor. We shall see in two weeks how I'm doing with this new medication.