My journey to a healthier ME!!

I decided in December that the year 2013 was going to be the year that I changed my life! Not that I have a bad life, it's great! But it can always be better. And to start of I wanted to get health. Not lose weight necessarily but be healthy. Jimmy and I have 3 beautiful children that are such a blessing in our lives! But we didn't get them easily. Any one who knows me knows that I don't have "easy" pregnancies. With all three of my children I had a condition known as hyperemesis gravidarum. ( Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is a condition of pregnancy characterized by intractable nausea, vomiting, and dehydration and is estimated to affect 0.5-2.0% of pregnant women.^[1][2] Malnutrition and other serious complications such as fluid or electrolyte imbalances may result. Hyperemesis is considered a rare complication of pregnancy but, because nausea and vomiting during pregnancy exist on a spectrum, it is often difficult to distinguish this condition from the more common form of nausea and vomiting experienced during pregnancy known as morning sickness.)
So in short I pretty much felt like I was on my death bed during my pregnancies. I couldn't even drink water. I would cry because I was so thirsty but knew that it would just come right back up! Now you would think that after the first pregnancy I would never want another baby. But 3 babies later here we are....knowing we will have one more in the future! So I want to be as healthy as I possibly can before I have to go through that again!!

After having Taylor, our oldest, I also learned that I had hypothyroidism. Which explained my EXTREME fatigue and lack of energy. I was told I would have to be on my thyroid medicine for the rest of my life. That did not sit well with me, but I just did as the Dr. said and have taken it ever since. Because of my hypothyroidism I struggled to lose weight after I had Taylor. I went from being 120 lbs when Jimmy and I first got married to 140 after I had Taylor. Then 11 months later I got pregnant with Carson, after I had him my weight fluctuated between 140 and 145. Then after having Cache I initially got back down to 140 but by the time he was about 2 months old the pound started creeping up and up. I hated how I felt, I hated how I looked! I was depressed. I even had one of the boys that we teach in our primary class ask me if I was pregnant as I was sitting there holding my 4 month old baby!!! I decide things had to change, not just for me but for my family also. I told Taylor that we were going to start eating better and exercising. She started crying! She didn't want to exercise! (She didn't really know what it was! LOL) I want to be an example to my kids of what a healthy life style is. So we started eating really healthily, I'm talking green smoothies, no processed foods and very little meat. But even with the change in diet I still wasn't feeling great and just seemed to be putting on the pounds. I had no clothes to wear so Jimmy FORCED me to go shopping! He watched the kids for 3 hours while I went shopping. I went to store after store after store and the only thing I got was a headache and more depressed. I had finally had it and decided I needed to start running! I didn't want to. I've always hated running but I needed to! So I bought a pair of running shoes! And I found myself a wonderful running partner (my cousin, Carin) Carin and I have been doing the couch to 5k program and are training to run a 5k (my 1st) in July. At first it was a little difficult for me. I always felt great after running but my feet were killing me. My back was aching and I was still so tired through out the day, especially by 2 pm I was completely drained! So I decided to go and have my thyroid levels rechecked, I went to the Dr. and guess what they told me?! "You need more meds"  They increased my dosage of the meds I am already taking and wanted to put me on medication for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. I told them I could agree to the increase in my meds but would not take the others! I knew I didn't have either of those conditions and was not going to be drugged up because the Dr. didn't want to really find the problem or a real solution. So I started looking for other options. And I kept remembering something that a friend of mine talked to me about years back. And that was Isagenix. I looked into it a bit but wasn't quite sure if it was really for me. Then a few weeks later I saw a post on a facebook group that I am a part of. and this lady was sharing a story of one of her isagenix team members. She shared her before and after pictures and that compelled me to talk to her about it. I talked to Jimmy about it to find out his thoughts because I also wanted to find something that was going to help him to feel better and have the energy he needs. He told me that whatever I decided, he would support me in it. And so I jumped in! I ordered the product and with in the first few days I could tell a difference! I had more energy, I didn't crave junk food! We made shakes one night with Jimmy's brother and kids and put candy bar bits in. We had almost a whole bag of peanut butter cups left over, normally that bag would have been gone in a few days. I think it lasted a couple of weeks! So I was no longer craving junk and I was losing weight. After using these products for a month I have lost 9 lbs and a total of 22.5 inches over all, and I feel great! I know not everyone might feel that Isagenix is for them but for me it was part of the answer!  Carin and I are on week 6 of our training and I am coming to love running! I'm excited to continue my journey to a healthier me with my healthy eating habits, my running and Isagenix!  I'll continue to post about my goals and progress! So stay tuned and if you have any questions...I'm happy to share!

It's been awhile!

Holy smokes it's been a long time!!! Does anyone even blog anymore?!!!  Wow so much has happened since my last post that I don't even know where to start! Lets see.... we bought a house out in San Tan Valley, AZ. we have been here for just over 2 years! Jimmy is working up in Globe now at the hospital there. It's been good but the drive is killer :( I'm ready for him to be working in the valley again! We got a van... with Jimmy working so far away we decided that we needed a second vehicle. So we got a VW Routan.

The kids are growing up so fast! Taylor will be 5 this November, but acts more like she'll be 15! She has been going to pre-school and just loves it! Her teacher Rondalee Jones is wonderful and she loves her. She'll be going to pre-school for 1 more year because she misses the dead line for kindergarten. But that's ok with me.... I'm not ready to send her off into the world just yet! She is starting dance in August and is really excited about that!

Carson is going to be 3 in a little over a month! And I think his terrible twos will follow him well into this next year of his life. He is such a loving, funny and mischievous little guy! He has a fascination with rocks, water and trucks! Doesn't sound at all like a boy, does he? He loves to tease Taylor but also looks up to her! Taylor spent the night at Nana and Papa's house a few weeks ago and her really missed her!
 
Then there is Cache! Yep that's right!!! There's another one! Cache Allen Martin was born on September 22, 2012. He weighed 8lbs 4oz. our biggest baby yet! He is such a sweet and fun loving little guy. He is 8 month old now and all over the place! He LOVES to eat and LOVES to laugh! Out of all our kids he is the one that we've been able to get to laugh the easiest. Even when he is in a bad mood because he is tired or hungry you can get him to laugh! He loves Taylor and Carson, and he thinks he's one of the big kids and will get right in all the action!

It's definitely busy with three little ones but also a lot of fun!

They're so goofy! ;)

Well I think that's a good start. Be looking for more posts to come! I hope to be better now that we finally have a new computer!!!