Tuesday, July 27, 2010

How I got to where I am today...my journey, part 1...

Yesterday was my first blog post!  I am new to this so I am going to try to be a bit more coherent today. :-)
I need to go back a ways to explain my motivation in tying together organic food and modern day slavery.  I don't need to start at the very beginning, I will start my story 4 years ago.
I had my 3rd child, Danny,  4 years ago, 2006,  and I was very unhealthy and overweight.  I loved all the bad stuff...sugar, fast food, and TV.  I was not physically active and I didn't take care of myself.  Throughout my first 3 pregnancies, I ate, a lot!  I loved McDonald's, buffalo wings, pizza, and tacos.  I drank soda instead of water, I ate candy instead of fruit, and french fries were my vegetables.  My idea of exercise was watching the contestants exercise on the show Biggest Loser while I was eating chips or ice cream. That 3rd pregnancy did not go well.  Danny was born almost 4 weeks early because my health was so bad.  My blood pressure sky-rocketed and it became an emergency situation.  I was 36 weeks pregnant and he had to be born quickly because we were both in danger. He ended up being the smallest of my 4 children and my recovery after having him was slow.  When my son Danny reached 1 I had not only not lost any weight, I had gained weight after he was born!  Around Thanksgiving, 2007, my mom took some pictures of me with my oldest daughter.  I was horrified when I saw the pictures.  I couldn't believe how bad I looked.  I very rarely let anyone take pictures of me and I didn't know what I looked like.  The image I saw in the mirror wasn't realistic, I guess.  I decided that I needed to do something about it, so I bought some exercise DVDs and started to change my eating habits.  The first thing to go was soda and fast food.  Everyday, before the changes, I ate take out for lunch and I snacked continuously throughout the day at work.  I worked in a preschool and there was always a birthday party going on!  Lots of doughnuts, cupcakes, cookies, chips, candy, etc. It's almost impossible to eat healthy in that environment.

I did a lot of research online about what foods are healthy, my mom and my sister have a lot of knowledge about healthy eating too, so they gave me advice. I counted calories, eliminated fast food, soda, and desserts.  I started bringing Lean Cuisine meals for lunch, I packed healthy snacks like granola, trail mix, and Kashi bars.  I exercised every night after work at 4pm and I was keeping my portion sizes small at dinner and not eating after 8pm at night.  It worked and I lost 28 pounds, it took about 10 months!  I felt great and I looked great!  I started going to the hair salon, wearing makeup, and buying more fashionable clothes.  Before I just wore T-shirts and jeans everywhere, with no makeup and with my hair in a ponytail.  Shortly after I lost the weight, I became pregnant with my 4th child and although I was happy to have another baby, I was upset that I was going to have to gain weight!  As a direct result of the changes I had made in my diet, my fourth pregnancy went really well!  I gained weight like I was supposed to, I ate very well.  I did crave Zaxby's hot wings and Larry's subs, but I was able to enjoy my favorites and still eating healthy the rest of the time.  When Eva was born, she was over 8 pounds, the biggest of my kids.  She was very healthy and still is.  Unfortunately, my health took a turn for the worst after she was born.

To Be Continued...

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